How to Write Structured Exercise Routine That Actually Works
If you’ve never written an exercise program before, you’ve probably got 100 questions about how to structure it, let alone where to start right? Let’s start with the most important question.
Why do we need to follow a structured exercise program?
You’ve probably seen all over social media that there’s a plethora of different exercises, and you’ve probably saved a few of those workouts to do when you go to the gym. We’ve all been there! But do you keep on doing them each week for the next 4-6 weeks or do you move on to new exercises in each session?
It’s best to follow a structured exercise program for a few reasons:
- Reinforce movement patterns by repeatedly doing the same exercises over a set period. Over time, you’ll be able to lift heavier with better technique, become more efficient and reduce your risk of injury.
- It allows you to progressively overload by doing more each week. By progressively overloading, you’re increasing the demand on your muscles by making each session a harder week to increase in size, strength and endurance.
- Promotes rest and recovery by having programmed rest days to give your body a break for muscle adaptations to occur. Remember: gains happen outside of the gym! If you’re flogging yourself 7 days a week, it can lead to overtraining and you could be out of the gym for months, rather than that 1 rest day.
- Take the guesswork out so you know exactly what you’re doing every time you step foot into the gym, rather than aimlessly walking around and checking Instagram for the next workout you can do.
Ok now let’s get to the good stuff!
How do you write an exercise program?
Writing a structured exercise program depends on what your goals are, from building strength, toning up to weight loss and even weight gain.
For a general program to start, it’s important to make sure you’re training the key movement patterns that closely mimic movements you do every day such as bending over to pick up your kid, lifting a box , or pushing yourself up off the floor.
If you want to train 2 days a week, it’s best to prioritise 2 full body days to target all muscle groups twice a week, rather than splitting it into lower/upper. It could look a little bit like this:
Day 1
- Knee dominant (e.g. BB back squat)
- Horizontal push (e.g. DB bench press)
- Hip dominant (e.g. BB hip thrust)
- Vertical pull (e.g. Lat pulldown)
- Anti-rotation (e.g. Cable pallof press)
- Anti-lateral-flexion (e.g. Side plank hold)
Day 2
- Hip dominant (e.g. BB deadlift)
- Vertical push (e.g. Seated DB overhead press)
- Knee dominant (e.g. DB walking lunges)
- Horizontal pull (e.g. BB bent over row)
- Anti-extension (e.g. Plank hold)
- Anti-flexion (e.g. 45-degree back extension
If you want to train 3 days a week (even better!), you could do 3 full body days OR if you have a longer training history, you could do 1 full-body day, 1-upper body day and 1 lower body day so there’s enough recovery for muscle groups between sessions.
And if you’re lucky enough to have more time to do 4 days a week, you’ve got a couple of options here too:
- 2 upper body days and 2 lower body days
- 1 lower body day, 1 upper body day, 1 push day and 1 pull day
At the end of the day, the best exercise program is the one that you can stick to!