While the best way to build a workout program is to collaborate with a personal trainer, you can still create your own plan, writes Alyssa Ages.South agency/Getty Images
When it comes to building strength, there’s a difference between having a goal and having a plan. Goals, which many of us set around this time of year, focus on the end point but don’t necessarily come with a plan of action. That can make heading to the gym a confusing endeavour: Should you start on the machines? Pick up a kettlebell? How many times are you supposed to lift that dumbbell anyway?
Workout programs, which outline how many days you plan to train, the exercises you’ll do and how much work you’ll do on a given day, are a strategy illustrated on paper. They help you walk into the gym with confidence and feel empowered to return the next time.
“The most important thing about a workout program is helping you stay committed,” says Nsuani Baffoe, a personal trainer and owner of the Toronto gym Ferris 360. “It’s the plan that helps you show up day after day, week after week, month after month.”
A strong plan will have you doing a little more each time you train, following the principle of progressive overload. To build strength, you have to keep challenging your muscles. “The stimulus of the workout has to exceed what your body sees on a regular day, even if it’s by a small amount,” says Baffoe. To do that, you can either increase the weight you’re lifting, the number of times you lift it or the speed at which you move.
While the best way to build a workout program is to work with a personal trainer, even just for a few sessions to talk about your goals and make sure you are moving with proper form, that’s not feasible for everyone. With a little advanced planning, you can build your own.
Here’s how to get started.
How to build a workout program
Start by thinking about your “why.”
“With all goals, you always want to go back to where it shows up in everyday life,” says Baffoe. Do you want to be able to move things around the house on your own? Pick up your kids or grandkids? Lift grocery bags out of the cart and into your trunk? That’s what you’ll keep in mind when things get hard.
Then consider how much time you have to train. “You can achieve anything with unlimited amounts of time and resources, but that’s not how the world works,” says Baffoe. Canadian physical activity guidelines recommend two days of strength training a week, but if you can add a third, that’s even better, he says.
A program should be four to six weeks long and you can build one using a basic template from the internet. A program should be four-to-six weeks long and you can build one using a basic template like the one we created here. If you’re doing two days of training, each day will have a different set of exercises, but you’ll repeat those same movements for the duration of the program. So if day one has squats, lunges and bench presses, for example, you’ll always do squats, lunges and bench presses on that day. The repetitions, sets and weights may change from week to week as you get stronger.
For beginners, each day should include a set of exercises that works your entire body. Start with the bigger, more challenging movements first – squats, deadlifts, presses – so you’re not doing those movements while fatigued. Most of your exercises should work multiple joints and muscle groups at once to get the biggest bang for your buck. If you love isolation exercises like bicep curls, you can add those in at the end of your workout.
For each exercise, aim for between two and four sets with a goal of 10-12 repetitions a set. If by the end of the second set, you’re not feeling fatigued and your form is still solid, add either more weight or another set.
You can determine how much weight to lift by using the Repetitions in Reserve, or RIR, scale: If you finish a set and feel like you could do more than two additional repetitions without your form breaking down, increase weight on your next set. Your rest time should be about as long as it took you to do the work, says Baffoe.
As you train, track your progress either within the program sheet or even in a plain notebook. Being able to review what you’ve done can help you know where to start your next workout and remind you of how far you’ve come, which can be highly motivating.
Above all, Baffoe says, keep it simple so you’re more likely to stay engaged and committed.
“For the average person, let’s just get the basics down,” he says. “Move your body with a stimulus for a prescribed amount of time and get to the end of that time. You’ll feel much better about yourself.”
Alyssa Ages is a journalist and the author of Secrets of Giants: A Journey to Uncover the True Meaning of Strength. She is also a strongman competitor and endurance athlete, as well as a former personal trainer and group fitness instructor.