Planning Your Workout (Splits)

Like most things worth doing, for maximum effectiveness workouts require good planning. But how to go about setting up a workout “split” (as fitness buffs call it) is not always obvious. A good plan will help insure you get to your fitness goal – here’s how to create a plan.

1. Create a Plan: Pick a day of the week to create, check in or reset your plan (I usually chose Saturday or Sunday and then start my week the day after). Build an actual calendar schedule that fits your workout schedule each week. Get your work calendar for the week out, and map out when you will go to the gym and what you will do each day. This insures you have a “plan” that you will more readily stick to.

2. Establish your fitness goal (weight loss, muscle build, health) and insure you have the right balance in your plan to meet the goal (e.g. for weight loss, concentrate on 30-60 minutes of cardio per day, with some weight training – see below for sample splits).

3. Insure proper rest. You may be gung-ho on your new goals, but remember muscle build occurs on rest days. Take at least 1 if not 2 days off each week. A great solution for you go-getters is ‘active rest’ such as a light walk or gentle yoga class (not hot yoga).

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Sample “Splits”

For Weight Loss:

Saturday: 30-60 minutes cardio

Sunday: Upper body (2 exercises (2 sets of 12 reps) each focused on biceps, triceps, shoulders, back) + 20-30 minutes cardio

Monday: REST

Tuesday: 30-60 minutes cardio

Wednesday: Lower body weight training (squats, lunges, leg extension, hamstring curl – do 12 reps each x 2 sets) + 20-30 minutes cardio

Thursday: Abs (15 minutes) + 30-40 minutes cardio

Friday: REST

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For Sculpting

Saturday: Shoulders (3-4 different exercises: 3 sets of x 12 reps) + Abs (15 minutes) + 20 minutes cardio

Sunday: Biceps + Triceps (3 supersets or 3 exercises of each (3 sets @ 12 reps)) + 20 minutes cardio

Monday: REST

Tuesday: Legs (squats, lunges, leg extension, hamstring curl, calves)

Wednesday: Abs + 45 minutes cardio

Thursday: Chest + Back (3 supersets or 3 exercises of each (3 sets @ 12 reps)) + 20 minutes cardio

Friday: REST

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For Muscle Build

Saturday: Legs 1 (Squats, lunges, leg extension) 3-4 sets each x 12 reps

Sunday: Shoulders (3-4 different exercises: 3 sets of x 12 reps) + 20 minutes cardio

Monday: Biceps (3-4 different exercises: 3 sets of x 12 reps) + 20 minutes cardio

Tuesday: Legs 2 (hamstring curl, dead-lift, calves) – 3-4 sets each x 12 reps

Wednesday: Triceps (3-4 different exercises: 3 sets of x 12 reps) + 20 minutes cardio

Thursday: Back + Chest (Superset x 3 -or- 3-4 different exercises each: 3 sets of x 12 reps)+ 20 minutes cardio

Friday: REST