How to BUILD and Maintain a Workout Routine
It’s the new year, and you’ve decided to focus on your health—good for you! Did you know that 80% of resolution-makers don’t achieve their New Year’s resolutions? That doesn’t have to be you. You can’t just say you’re going to go on a diet and join a gym—you need to be able to motivate yourself and hold yourself accountable to your goals. It’s also important to have a proper support system in place to ensure you’ll see success.
Continue reading to learn more about how to establish a workout routine and keep at it, so you don’t become part of the 80% who fail.
The Principle of Training Specificity
According to the “U.S. Army Fitness Training Handbook,” there are seven principles known as PROVRBS that should be followed during any type of physical training or exercise program: progression, regularity, overload, variety, recovery, balance, and specificity.
Progression
When improving your level of fitness, it is important to increase the intensity and duration of your routine to see results without the risk of injury.
Regularity
“Use it or lose it” rings true, here. Maintain a consistent exercise routine, and your muscles will respond accordingly. Physical training should take place between three and five times a week.
Overload
To build muscle to increase strength, you must be gradually stressed by working against a greater load than you’re accustomed to. Push yourself so your heart works at a higher percentage of its maximum capacity.
Variety
It’s important to break up your training routine and try different activities! Mix it up to prevent boredom and achieve better results—try out a new sport, or take a class that you haven’t tried before
Recovery
Taking care of your body is just as important as training it. The rest periods between physical training helps to repair muscle damage. Alternating between light and intense training days is also considered recovery; however, the optimum recovery time is between 24 and 48 hours after exercise. Improper recovery can lead to an increase in injuries and muscle fatigue.
Balance
Don’t just focus on one part of the body. Your training program should be balanced and include routines for the upper body and lower body.
Specificity
Having a specific goal provides structure to your training. The final principle goes back on what the previous principles have explained by advising you to focus on a specific ability during training. In actuality, the principle of specificity challenges you to gear your training toward specific goals. If your goal is to become stronger, your training should have a great focus on weight training—activities such as swimming or endurance running won’t help you achieve this goal as efficiently. While it’s helpful to have a good base of fitness and do general conditioning routines, if you have a specific goal, you need to train specifically for that goal.
Setting up a Routine
Now that we’ve discussed the Principle of Training Specificity and the PROVRBS, let’s discuss setting up a training routine. If you’re looking to build strength, you should focus on low-rep, high-set schemes like six sets of three to five reps or three sets of eight to 12 reps. This type of training is more effective for putting on muscle size.
A week of workouts could look like this:
- Monday Back and chest
- Tuesday Quads, calves, and core
- Wednesday Biceps, triceps, and glutes
- Thursday Rest day
- Friday Hamstrings, lower back, and shoulders
- Saturday Core, tricep, and chest
- Sunday Quads, biceps, and obliques
Now that you’ve established a workout routine or a workout routine similar to this, how do you keep at it to ensure you see results? If you follow the Principle of Training Specificity, you’ll see both results and have a balanced workout routine.
How Can We Help?
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