A New Year is here. There are many people that want to start to exercise but have trouble with finding a proper exercise routine. That results in frustration and giving up an opportunity to become healthy. Well, help is on the way. From our research , we found a realistic and easy way to follow an exercise routine.
A well-rounded program includes cardio, weight training and flexibility. Knowing how to put these together in a week of workouts can be confusing. Should you do cardio and strength training on the same day? Which one should you do first? This will depend on your goals, schedule and fitness level, which means there are endless ways to set up your workout program. Below are some basic guidelines for getting started with a complete exercise program.
- For Beginners: You should start slowly with a basic cardio program and a full body resistance training routine. You'll want to have recovery days to allow your body to rest and your muscles to heal from your new routine. A typical beginner program will include about 3 days of cardio and 2 days of strength training. If you're not sure about your fitness level, you can take the quiz, What's Your Fitness Level? to get insight and resources to help you get started. Below is a sample schedule just to give you an idea of a typical week of workouts
| Monday: Cardio 20-30 minutes. You can choose from one of the following Sample Cardio Workouts: | Tuesday: Total Body Strength and core training. You can choose from one of the following Sample Strength Workouts:
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| Wednesday: Rest or gentle yoga/stretching | Thursday: Cardio-20-30 minutes. You can choose from one of the following Sample Cardio Workouts: |
| Friday: Total Body Strength and core training. You can choose from one of the following Sample Strength Workouts: | Saturday: Cardio-20-30 minutes. You can choose from one of the following Sample Cardio Workouts: |
- For Intermediate Exercisers: If you've been exercising for a while and your goal is to lose weight, you want to shoot for 20-60 minutes of cardio about 5 or more times a week. Your strength training schedule will depend on what type of workouts you're doing (e.g., total body training or a split routine). You can do cardio and weight training on the same day, depending on your time constraints. It doesn't matter which one you do first, so vary your routine and try different combinations to find the one that is right for you.
- Sample Split Routine for Upper and Lower Body:
| Monday: 30-Minute Cardio Medley Workout, Upper Body Training | Tuesday: 45-Minute Treadmill Interval Workout, Core Training |
| Wednesday: 30-Minute Low Impact Cardio Blast Workout (2 circuits), Lower body | Thursday: Rest, stretch or yoga |
| Friday: Total Body Strength or Circuit Training | Saturday: Cardio-60 minutes, stretch |
- For Intermediate/Advanced Exercisers: If you're more advanced, you can split your routine further, focusing more attention on each muscle group. You can also increase the intensity of your cardio, incorporating interval training and other advanced techniques to burn calories and build endurance.
- Sample Split Routing for Advanced Exercisers
Monday: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps, HIIT Cardio Tuesday: Lower Body and Core Wednesday: Back & Biceps, Boredom Buster Cardio Thursday: Rest, stretch or yoga Friday: Basic Total Body Strength Saturday: Advanced Intense Intervals
Now this should get you started on a realistic exercise routine and be sure to click the links for further information.Your road to health starts now.We thank about.com for this insightful article.If you would like to contact us with any questions or feedback, you can reach us by email.
Thank you for visiting!
Joseph A. Jones & The WellLife Team
