Starting Your Own Workout Routine

The type of workout routine you adopt will be dependent on your age, weight, lifestyle, amount of free time that you have, your goals and your diet. What works for one person who is the same age, weight and fitness level won’t necessarily work for another person of the same age weight and fitness level. While a personal trainer from a gym can help you develop a workout routine, the only way they can develop an effective one for you is if they know what you’re looking to get out of your workout routine. So where do you start?

What’s Your Situation?

The first thing you’ll want to do is determine how much time you have on your hands to workout. Do you have a spouse and kids to spend time with? Will you work out at home and at the gym or just at the gym? You should also decide whether or not you’ll be using free weights or if you’ll just be doing body weight exercises, which can still be done at your local gym.

What Exercises Do You Need To Do?

 A full body workout routine will work the best for beginners. This gives their entire body an even symmetrical look rather than having one part of the body look more developed and toned than another. Full body exercises include squats, hip raises, jumping knee tucks, dumbbell rows, step ups, hanging leg raises and straight leg deadlifts. You’ll want to make sure that you switch up your exercises every now and then to truly allow your body and your muscles to get the best workout possible.

How Many Sets and Repetitions To Do?

 It’s recommended that you do anywhere from three to five sets for each exercise. Doing any more than 25 total sets for each workout will actually do you more harm than good if you aren’t careful. If you find that you can do 25 and don’t feel as though you’ve really done anything, then you probably aren’t working hard enough.

As for repetitions, do anything from eight to 15 repetitions in order to truly burn fat and build muscle. If your goal is to build your size and strength, you’ll want to switch up your repetition ranges through the week. For instance, Mondays you can do five to eight reps, Wednesdays you can do 12 to 15 and Friday you can do eight to 12. If you lift weights, you can also switch up how much weight you work out with.

How Long Should You Exercise?

 It’s best if you limit your workouts to only 45 minutes to an hour. Make sure that you account for a five to ten-minute warm-up, rests between sets and stretching after your workout. If you can go for more than an hour and not feel worn out, then you’ll need to start pushing yourself harder and making each workout more of a challenge. Talk with a personal trainer about what changes you can make to your workout.

Staying in good shape can actually be fun, believe it or not. Explore different types of exercises and workouts to find which work the best for you and your fitness goals.