When creating a sustainable fitness routine, there isn’t a “one size fits all” solution. Which workouts you do, when, and how many of them there are, all depends on a number of factors including: Your goals; the time you have; what’s available to you (eg. a gym/group ex classes); and what you enjoy. Then there are the health guidelines to consider: Are you exercising enough to meet the health guidelines? If not, that’s a fantastic place to start. Check out the video below for full guidelines and more information on that.
It’s also important to look at your start point – what are you doing right now? If you currently aren’t exercising at all, then scheduling 3x gym workouts and 3x group exercise classes into your week, isn’t very sustainable. You may be able to keep up with this for 1-2 weeks, but it will be difficult to maintain long-term because it’s such a huge jump from your start point, your body will struggle to keep up with this sudden change. A better idea in this case would be to schedule 1x gym session and a 30 minute brisk walk into your week. Do this for 2-3 weeks consistently before adding a second gym session, or a second 30 minute walk, or extending the 30 minutes to 40 minutes, and so on. In other words: Small, gradual changes are better (and more sustainable) than big leaps. Watch the video below for more on setting small, sustainable goals:
If you are already fairly active and just want to tweak your weekly schedule, take a look at whether or not you’re currently meeting the health guidelines for exercise. These are:
150 minutes moderate, or 75 minutes vigorous intensity cardiovascular exercise per week;
2-3x resistance training sessions per week, targeting all major muscle groups;
Reducing sedentary time (walking more)
There are no health guidelines for stretching & mobility, but it’s encouraged that this is done regularly (even daily!) to help with injury prevention and relaxation/recovery.
Also look at if you’re giving yourself a rest day. Each week should contain at least 1 rest day.
SUGGESTED WEEKLY WORKOUT SCHEDULE, COMBINING GYM + CLASSES:
Mon: 60 min aerobics class (moderate-high intensity cardio)
Tues: Gym (strength)
Wed: Active rest day (walking/stretching only)
Thurs: Gym (strength)
Fri: 45 min spinning class (high intensity cardio)
Sat: Weights-based class (muscular endurance)
Sun: BODYBALANCE class (stretching/mobility/mind-body)
This is a nicely balanced week of workouts as it includes 2x cardio classes, 3x resistance training workouts (2x strength in the gym, 1x endurance in a class), 1x mind/body class, and 1x rest day, which lies between the two heavy strength workouts. This schedule gives your body a variety of training styles which it needs to meet the health guidelines (moderate/high intensity cardio, resistance training 2-3x, and remaining active in between), as well as adequate time to recover between workouts.
Note: There is no need to do more than one workout per day. However, you can combine strength & cardio on the same day if you need to. You may want to do these back to back, or one in the morning & one in the evening. If doing them back to back, the workout you do first should be the one that is your priority that day. So if your priority is heavy strength training, do that first, and do the cardio afterwards. This ensures your energy is best placed and you aren’t fatigued for those heavy lifts.
Final point: Being consistent often comes from enjoyment and/or reward. So if your only goal right now is to get into a consistent exercise routine, my advice is simply to find a form of exercise you enjoy. Try a bunch of different things, and see what sticks.
There is no need to make it complicated.
Questions to ask yourself now:
What are your goals?
What exercise do you enjoy?
What do you not enjoy?
How much time do you have in the week for exercise?
What obstacles might prevent you from being consistent?
How could you overcome these obstacles?
Do you give yourself a rest day?
What is your reason/motivation for wanting to be consistent with exercise?
Conni Arnold Fitness 