How to Create a Workout Routine

Having a fitness routine is crucial in achieving our fitness goals. Creating a workout routine may seem complicated, but it’s a lot easier than you may think.  When I started exercising years ago my initial goal was to lose weight. So I created a workout routine to help me achieve that goal. At first, I thought since I had no experience is fitness that I’d need to meet with a trainer and have them create a plan for me. But after hours of research, I realized that I could create my own personalized workout routine even with some research and planning. So, if you’re looking to create a workout routine and crush your fitness goals, here’s how.

Planning your Workout Routine

When creating a workout routine, they’re two questions you should ask yourself. The first question is, “what are your goals?” are you looking to lose weight, build muscle, training for a race, or improve your overall health. The goals you set will shape how you build your workout routine. The next question is, “how much time can you devote to exercise?”. It all depends on your schedule. After you’ve answered these two questions, it’s time to determine where you’d like to work out.

Where you choose to work out will depend on your goals, budget, and how much time you have to dedicate you to working out. If you’re someone who’s looking to lose weight but doesn’t have a lot of time to spare, then working out at home to YouTube videos might be ideal for you. Or if bulking up and building muscle is your goal, then you might want to consider investing a gym membership that’ll give you access to a variety of weights and machines. Finding a place that’s a good fit for you and your goals will help make achieving them easier. After you’ve found a place to work out, it’s time to focus on what exercises you should do to achieve your goals.

Building a Workout

It’s important to keep things simple if your workout is too complicated, you’re probably not going to stick with it. Start with a 5-10 min warm-up to get your blood flowing and get your muscles warm.

Examples of Warm-ups 

• Jogging in place
• Rowing machine
• Running up and down the stairs
• Jumping jacks
• Exercise bike

Then pick one exercise for each big muscle group and determine how many reps and sets you should do for each exercise. Reps are short for repetition which is a complete motion of an exercise, and sets are a consecutive number of reps without stopping. The number of reps and sets, as well as cardio, will depend on what your goal is. But 3-5 sets and 8-10 reps per set is a good place to start.

Big muscle groups and exercises

• Legs and glutes- squats, lunges, deadlifts, hip raises
• Core (lower back and abs)- planks, crunches, mountain climbers, torso twist
• Upper body (chest, shoulders, and upper back)- dips, arms circles, push-ups, bench press
• Arms- bicep curl, tricep extensions, shoulder taps, upright rows

Cardio exercises

• Running
• Burpees
• Jumping rope
• High knees

Don’t forget to stretch after your workout to reduce muscle fatigue.

Examples of Stretches 

• Full body stretch
• Cross-body shoulder stretch
• Overhead triceps stretch
• Standing Bent-Over Calf Stretch
• Simple quad stretches

Based on your schedule determine how many times you can work out a week, and remember something is better than nothing. Even if it’s only two times a week for an hour, that still takes you closer to achieving your goals.

Switch it up and Challenge Yourself

Don’t forget to create variety in your routine and switch things up. Challenge yourself with extra reps or harder exercises. Doing the same workout over and over again is bad for your body, it doesn’t give your muscles time to recover, and gets boring after a while. Give muscles groups a break and try to make your workout slightly harder each time.

Overall, the workout routine you create will depend on your goals, the amount of time you can set aside to work out, and where you decide to work out. Keep things simple, easy to follow, and remember to challenge yourself and add variety. With all this in mind, you’ll be able to create a workout routine that’s a perfect fit for and reach the goals you set for yourself. What’s apart of your workout routine?

For a free printable fitness planner and tips on staying motivated to achieve your fitness goals, then check out my other fitness related blog post:  How to Stay Motivated to Achieve Your Fitness Goals

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