How to Design Your Own Workout Plan: A Guide for Beginners

If you want to improve your fitness, health, and well-being, having a workout plan is essential. A workout plan is a schedule of exercises that you perform on a regular basis, usually with a specific goal in mind. A workout plan can help you:

• Stay motivated and consistent with your training
• Track your progress and measure your results
• Avoid injuries and overtraining
• Customize your workouts to suit your needs and preferences
• Have fun and enjoy your workouts

But how do you design your own workout plan? What factors should you consider? What exercises should you choose? How often should you work out? How long should your workouts be? How do you adjust your plan as you go along?

In this article, we will answer these questions and more. We will guide you through the steps of creating your own workout plan, from setting your goals to evaluating your performance. By the end of this article, you will have a clear idea of how to design your own workout plan that works for you.

Step 1: Set Your Goals

The first step of designing your own workout plan is to set your goals. What do you want to achieve with your workouts? What are your reasons for working out? How do you want to feel and look?

Your goals can be anything that matters to you, such as:

• Losing weight or gaining muscle
• Improving your cardiovascular health or endurance
• Increasing your strength or power
• Enhancing your flexibility or mobility
• Boosting your mood or energy levels
• Reducing stress or pain
• Having fun or learning new skills

Whatever your goals are, make sure they are SMART:

• Specific: Define what exactly you want to achieve, how, and why.
• Measurable: Quantify your goals with numbers, such as how much weight you want to lose or how many push-ups you want to do.
• Achievable: Make sure your goals are realistic and within your reach, considering your current fitness level, resources, and limitations.
• Relevant: Choose goals that are meaningful and important to you, and that align with your values and interests.
• Time-bound: Set a deadline for your goals, and break them down into smaller milestones.

For example, a SMART goal could be:

I want to lose 10 kg of body fat in 3 months by following a balanced diet and doing cardio and strength training 3 times a week, because I want to improve my health and confidence.

Write down your goals and keep them somewhere visible, such as on a notebook, a calendar, or a poster. Review them regularly and remind yourself why you are working out.

Step 2: Choose Your Exercises

The next step of designing your own workout plan is to choose your exercises. Exercises are the specific movements that you perform during your workouts, such as squats, lunges, push-ups, planks, etc.

There are many types of exercises that you can choose from, depending on your goals, preferences, and equipment. Some of the most common types are:

• Cardio: Cardio exercises are those that raise your heart rate and make you breathe faster, such as running, cycling, swimming, jumping rope, etc. Cardio exercises can help you burn calories, improve your cardiovascular health, endurance, and mood.
• Strength: Strength exercises are those that challenge your muscles against resistance, such as lifting weights, using resistance bands, doing bodyweight exercises, etc. Strength exercises can help you build muscle mass, increase your strength, power, metabolism, and bone density.
• Flexibility: Flexibility exercises are those that stretch your muscles and joints, such as yoga, pilates, tai chi, etc. Flexibility exercises can help you improve your range of motion, mobility, posture, balance, and prevent injuries.
• Balance: Balance exercises are those that challenge your stability and coordination, such as standing on one leg, walking on a beam, doing balance ball exercises, etc. Balance exercises can help you improve your core strength, proprioception, and prevent falls.

You can choose one type of exercise or combine different types in one workout. For example,

A cardio-strength workout could consist of alternating between running intervals and doing strength exercises with dumbbells. A flexibility-balance workout could consist of doing yoga poses that stretch different muscle groups and challenge your balance.

When choosing your exercises,

make sure they are:

• Suitable: Choose exercises that match your goals, fitness level, and abilities. For example, if you want to lose weight, choose exercises that burn more calories, such as high-intensity interval training (HIIT). If you have knee problems, avoid exercises that put too much stress on your joints, such as jumping or running.
• Varied: Choose exercises that work different muscle groups and body parts, such as upper body, lower body, core, etc. This will help you avoid muscle imbalances, overuse injuries, and boredom. You can also vary the intensity, duration, and frequency of your exercises to keep your workouts challenging and interesting.
• Enjoyable: Choose exercises that you like and have fun doing. This will help you stay motivated and consistent with your workouts. You can also try new exercises or activities that you are curious about, such as dancing, boxing, or rock climbing.

To find exercises that suit you,

you can:

• Search online for exercise videos, articles, or apps that show you how to do different exercises with proper form and technique.
• Join a gym or a fitness class where you can learn from a trainer or an instructor how to do different exercises safely and effectively.
• Ask a friend or a family member who is into fitness to show you some exercises or join you for a workout.

Step 3: Plan Your Schedule

The third step of designing your own workout plan is to plan your schedule. Your schedule is when and how often you do your workouts, such as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 am, or every other day at 5 pm.

When planning your schedule,

consider the following factors:

• Frequency: Frequency is how often you work out per week or per month. The optimal frequency depends on your goals, fitness level, and recovery time. Generally, the more intense your workouts are, the less frequent they should be, and vice versa. For example, if you do HIIT workouts, you may need to rest for a day or two between sessions, whereas if you do low-intensity cardio workouts, you may be able to do them every day. A common recommendation is to work out at least 3 times a week for about 30 minutes each session, but you can adjust this according to your needs and preferences.
• Duration: Duration is how long each workout session lasts. The optimal duration depends on your goals, fitness level, and intensity. Generally, the more intense your workouts are, the shorter they should be, and vice versa. For example, if you do HIIT workouts, you may only need to work out for 15 to 20 minutes each session, whereas if you do low-intensity cardio workouts, you may need to work out for 45 to 60 minutes each session. A common recommendation is to work out for about 30 minutes each session, but you can adjust this according to your needs and preferences.
• Intensity: Intensity is how hard you work out during each session. The optimal intensity depends on your goals, fitness level, and duration. Generally, the higher your intensity is, the more calories you burn, the more muscle you build, and the more benefits you get from your workouts. However, working out too hard can also increase your risk of injuries, burnout, and overtraining. Therefore, it is important to balance your intensity with your frequency and duration. A common way to measure your intensity is by using the rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale, which ranges from 1 (very easy) to 10 (very hard). A common recommendation is to work out at an RPE of 6 to 8 for most of your sessions, but you can adjust this according to your needs and preferences.

To plan your schedule,

you can:

• Use a calendar or a planner to mark the days and times that you will work out.
• Set reminders or alarms on your phone or computer to notify you when it is time to work out.
• Find a workout buddy or a group that can join you for your workouts or hold you accountable.
• Make a backup plan in case something unexpected happens that prevents you from working out as planned, such as bad weather, illness, or injury.

Step 4: Monitor Your Progress

The fourth step of designing your own workout plan is to monitor your progress. Monitoring your progress is tracking and measuring how well you are doing with your workouts and how close you are to achieving your goals.

Monitoring your progress can help you:

• Stay motivated and focused on your goals
• See what works and what doesn’t work for you
• Celebrate your achievements and reward yourself
• Identify and overcome challenges and obstacles
• Adjust your plan as needed

To monitor your progress,

you can:

• Keep a workout log or journal where you record the details of each workout session, such as the date, time, exercises, sets, reps, weights, duration, intensity, etc. You can also write down how you felt before, during, and after each session, such as your mood, energy levels, pain levels, etc.
• Use a fitness tracker or an app that can measure various aspects of your workouts, such as the distance, speed, calories burned, heart rate, etc. You can also use these devices or apps to set goals and challenges for yourself or compete with others online.
• Take photos or videos of yourself before, during, and after your workouts, and compare them to see the changes in your appearance, posture, and performance.
• Take measurements of your body weight, body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, etc., and compare them to see the changes in your body composition and health.
• Take tests of your fitness level, such as the 1-mile run test, the push-up test, the sit-and-reach test, etc., and compare them to see the changes in your cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, and flexibility.