- The planned workout schedule should be laid out 4 to 6 weeks in advance. When you plan your schedule, write down every life event beforehand so you don't overbook yourself. You should plan one or two days a week to take off from exercise. Know which days of the week seem to be your busiest and don't exercise these days. These off days do not have to be the same days each week. Depending on your goals, schedule cardiovascular activity and strength training workouts at least 2 days a week each.
- It takes 2 to 4 weeks to create a habit. Putting together a workout schedule helps individuals create the habit of exercise. Writing workouts on your schedule makes you accountable to your fitness. As with anything in life, you need to have a plan of action to achieve a goal.
- Fitness enthusiasts talk often of exercise splits. Exercise splits refer to strength training workouts. Individuals can split body parts in seemingly endless variations. The whole body can be worked two to three times a week, depending on your fitness level and recovery time. When you split the workout into fewer and fewer muscle groups worked, the number of exercises and sets working each body part increases. For example, a common exercise split is working chest/shoulders/triceps (push muscles) one day and legs/back/biceps one or two days later. You can work all the upper body one day and the legs and abdominal muscles another. Other workout routines call for upper body push (chest/shoulders/triceps) and lower body pull (hamstrings/gluteus/spinal erectors) and then upper body pull (back/biceps) with lower body push (quadriceps). The variations continue until you work one body part per day. The exercise split chosen will depend on your goals.
- If your workout schedule demands cardiovascular and strength training workouts on the same day, strength train first. You should exercise anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes per day. Anything over 90 minutes can become counterproductive. It is better to schedule more short workouts during the week than exercising for 2 hours 2 days a week.
- All is not lost if you miss a day on your workout schedule. Do not use one missed workout to fall off the exercise wagon. Make up the day on an off day if possible, and if not, just go on to the next workout. Keep working toward your goals.
