Workout Plans and Progression Programs

Here is an example of what a typical week of working out might look for me:

• Monday – Chest
• Tuesday – Legs
• Wednesday – Back and Shoulders
• Thursday – Arms
• Friday – Cardio or rest
• Saturday – Legs
• Sunday – Arms

My goal before every workout is to do some sort of cardio before weights. I find this a great way to warmup since it gets the blood flowing and heart pumping. This will also help keep your heart rate higher through out your workout. Then once I hit weights, I always stretch. I would say that I didn’t make this an essential part of my workout up until a few months ago. Once my muscles and joints started to feel tight, I knew I needed to do something. Please be sure to stretch after your workouts, this is very important.

CARDIO IDEAS:

Changing it up with different cardio exercises is a great idea. Some ideas might include the following:

• Walking
• Jogging
• Running
• Sprints
• Stair-master
• Elliptical
•  Stairs

Shoot for anywhere around 15 minutes. As long as you keep your weight training at an uptempo pace, your whole workout will essentially be cardio. 

I also am a big advocate for playing around with the intensity and speeds of the cardio machines because running at the same pace for 10 – 15 minutes can be really boring and goes by slow. For example, when it comes to running on the treadmill, I usually try to turn it into some sort of circuit. This will not only get your body warmed up for your workout but will also get your heart rate high, burning plenty of calories. Here is a HIIT treadmill internal I might do:

– 1 minute speed 5 – 7 mph

– 2 minutes speed 6 – 8 mph 

– 1 minute speed 7 – 9 mph

– 30 seconds speed 8 – 10 mph

and then I will repeat this 2 – 3 times. Try incorporating something like this into your workouts and see if you notice a difference in how you feel and in how effective your workouts are. 

There is an abundance of workout plans and progression programs out there on the web which can all be great resources to reach your goal. It is all about finding the workout plan or progression program that fits you and which you start to see results from. At the end of the day it is on YOU to put in the work and make the most out of each and every workout to take that step closer to your fitness goals.