Choosing the Right Workout Plan for YOU

You've managed to get back into the gym. You're feeling sore, but accomplished for making it through week one. You are actually starting to think that you can do this. Yet, you begin to wonder, where do I go from here? I'm going to show you how to choose the right workout plan for YOU.

Match Your Fitness Goals With the Right Workout Plan

Do you want to burn fat? Do you want to build muscle? Are you interested in focusing on cardio and endurance or strength and power? Do you play a sport that you want to focus your training on? These are all important things to consider when deciding on a workout plan. Why? Because no two person's goals are identical. Make your fitness goals align with the right workout plan.

courtesy of someecards.com

My workout plan is influenced by my friends. Most of my friends are into powerlifting and crossfit, so my workout contains exercise that exemplify these fitness philosophies. I play keeper in soccer so I need to be able to jump and sprint off my line explosively. This makes my workout routine based around three very broad goals:

1. Increase explosiveness through strength training
2. Increase cardiovascular endurance through conditioning
3. Increase core strength 

 Here is week one to four below:

Justin's Workout Plan, courtesy of Jimmy Lam

If you are new to creating a workout plan, I recommend checking out Men's Health or Bodybuilding.com. Both of these websites have a great selection of workout plans for all types of fitness goals and are great for people at any level of fitness and experience.

Be Realistic With Your Goals

If you have never worked out before, don't expect to start an advanced plan and succeed with zero failures. For me, I find my workout regiment exhausting and sometimes I don't accomplish everything I set out to for that workout day. But, I know that if I stick with it, I'll eventually get this routine under control. It will take about six weeks instead of four to complete this routine successfully, and for me, that's realistic. Lastly...

RECORD YOUR PROGRESS!!

I cannot stress this last point enough. If you don't write down how long you ran for or how much weight you lifted, you won't be able to benchmark your success. Finish this post, go to staples, buy a notebook and RECORD EVERYTHING. It's annoying, but it will put a smile on your face when you see how much you have improved.

Exercise of the Week: Push Press

Get excited people. I'm going to start to post a video of a weekly exercise I want you to incorporate into your workouts. Watch the video, do the exercise and tell me how it went in the comments section!