How to Design Your Own Personalized Workout Schedule for Beginners

STEP1

Ask yourself the following questions: Do you want to lose, gain, or maintain weight? What obligations do you have at what time of day and on what days? (consider when you work, you go to school, your favorite tv show is on, anything that takes your time on a weekly/daily basis) Are you training for something in specific? Are there areas of your body you want to train more than others? (gain muscle, lose flab, make stronger)

STEP 2 When you consider the above factors of what can influence your workout schedule, you're ready to decide what kind of activities will consist in your routine. Decide on at least two if not three different cardiovascular activities you would somewhat enjoy. The most popular is running because it works every muscle in your body most efficiently. Other activities you make choose can be an aerobics class, cycling, elliptical machine, swimming, etc. Anything that gets your heart pumping. If you are looking to get stronger and tone, you will need to add weights to your routine. If you are currently obese, adding muscle under the flab won't do you much good at this point and a focus on cardio is a must until you loose inches.
STEP 3 Now it's time to design individual workouts. Make up a few different ones so you don't get bored of the same activities. Your complete workout should be at least 30 minutes long, but as a beginner, no longer than 45 minutes. Always begin with 5 minutes of cardio to warm up your muscles and stretch; end with 5 minutes of easy cardio to relax muscles and take your heart rate down. For cardio, as a beginner, start at 20 minutes of cardio plus the 5 minutes of warm up and 5 minutes of cool down = 30 minutes total. Be sure not to over do it, but make sure your heart is pumping about average. For weights, review your goals. For toning workouts, use a small amount of weight to lift with a lot of repetitions (20-30). For strength workouts, use a large amount of weight with a few repetitions (8-12). You should do about 2-4 sets of each exercise. You know you're working too hard if it's bad pain. You know you're not working out hard enough if you don't feel "the burn." You should feel a burning of lactic acid being released the last couple repetitions of each set.
STEP 4 How much commitment will your goals need? That is, how committed are you? Some people can only squeeze in 3 days a week of workouts. It is highly recommended that one does at least 5. When placing your workouts you created from step 3, keep these rules in mind: 1. Never lift weights on 2 consecutive days, especially as a novice. There are exceptions, but don't worry about that until you advance more. 2. Mentally, you will not be determined to go to the gym to do a workout you just did the day before. Mix it up! 3. Avoid scheduling workouts you know you will not be motivated to attend. Once you get into a habit of skipping workouts here and there, you will eventually give up. 4. The best time of day to workout is in the mornings before breakfast. You will burn more fat since your glucose levels are the least during this time. 5. MAKE IT FUN! Working out does not have to be a chore!

• For ultimate results, change up your routine every 3 to 4 weeks. The human body conforms to habit after this amount of time. If you change your cardio activities or add resistance to cardio or strength training, you will burn more calories because your body is not use to the difference.
• As a beginner, be sure not to start a routine at an hour of straight cardio, then a half hour of weights. You can't run before you walk...literally! Listen to your body; if it says you're doing too much, you are simply doing too much! Keep in mind that if you do too much that you may start eating away muscle (which will make you worse off) or you can even get injured.