How to Plan an Awesome Workout

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I don’t know about you guys, but I can’t just walk into the gym without a plan and expect to have a good workout. Even when I’m training my clients, I always plan their workout ahead of time.

But don’t get me wrong, planning a workout can be difficult in the beginning. It’s hard to know even where to start! So I thought I’d shed some light on how to plan a workout (or at least share what goes on in my head when I plan!).

Before I even get started, please remember that this is just what I do, this won’t necessarily work for everybody, you just need to find what works for you.

Step 1: decide what muscle groups you want to work today. Do you want to focus on just one muscle group? Maybe do all upper body? Or are total body workouts more your thing? Whatever it is, just make sure you don’t work the same muscle group 2 days in a row. Your muscles need at least 48 hours between workouts to recover.

Step 2: Now that you know what muscle groups to focus on, you need to pick a style. Do you want to superset everything? Incorporate dropsets? Or just regular sets with rest in between? If you don’t know what these terms mean, perform a quick Google search now!

Step 3: write all of your exercises down. I use a workout log that I bought off of Amazon (here). It really helps me stay organized and I can look back at past workouts to see what weight I lifted:

When planning the exercises, make sure to keep in mind the layout of your gym. You don’t want to superset two exercises that use equipment that are all the way across the gym from each other. Be efficient! If you’re using the cable machine for tricep pulldowns, superset it with something else on the cable machine. Nothing is worse than when 1 person hogs 5 pieces of equipment at once. Don’t be that person!!

Step 4: Workout! And make sure to record the number of sets and reps you completed, as well as the weight you lifted. This way the next time you do the same exercise, you don’t need to guess at what weight to lift. Plus it’s a great way to keep track of your progress!

That’s it! Everyone has their own way of planning, but this is what works best for me! I hope this helped some of you beginners. Working out isn’t so confusing as long as you’re prepared!