DIY Workout Program (Complete Guide)
Want to create a fitness routine that will get you amazing results? If so, you’ll want to make sure that you’re set up with everything you need to succeed. Your friendly online trainer is here to help you out! In this blog, I’m sharing all the steps you can take to create your DIY workout program. So grab your pen and paper (or laptop). Let’s get it done!
Set a Program Goal
An insanely high amount of people fail to maintain a consistent workout routine. For many, the culprit lies in diving in without having any real objectives to work toward. In my experience as a trainer, this quote from Bill Copeland, an American poet, writer, and historian, rings true:
The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.
You can spend time in the gym, performing exercises or attending classes but never really feel like you’re making progress. That’s because you don’t know where you’re going! That’s why the foundation of your workout program MUST be a goal.
How to Set Your Workout Program Goal
When I’m setting goals for myself or for my clients, I like to answer the following:
- What do I want to accomplish by working out? Be as specific as possible. For example, instead of writing, “I want to slim down,” try something like “I want to have sculpted arms” or “I’d like to reduce the fat in my belly.” If your goal is to improve your sports performance, try something like “I want to increase my vertical leap.”
- What will it take to achieve that goal? To return to the arm example, you may need to lose some body fat AND gain muscle in your arms. For the vertical leap, you would benefit from building muscle in your legs and increasing the explosive power in your legs. Write down what is required to achieve your specific goal.
You may need to conduct a Google search to find the right answers. Once you do, you’ll have a great foundation for which to create your workout plan.
Pick Your Workout Frequency
This one’s a biggie. Most people, when experiencing a moment of high motivation, drastically overestimate the amount of time they’re willing to spend working out. How do you know if you’ve committed to too much? Ask yourself the following question:
How many days do I currently spend in the gym? If the answer is 0, committing to 5–7 days of exercise is overkill. 2–3 days per week and only once a day, is a solid starting point. However, I truly believe that the best way to stay consistent is to start small. If ONE day is what you can commit to right now, one is perfect! You can always add on later.
Identify Available Equipment
Are you planning to work out at home? In a small studio? Or a big box fitness center? Each choice will affect the types of equipment you have access to. Although you don’t need much to get in a solid workout, the exercises you choose for your routine will have to be planned and/or modified to fit the tools you’re working with.
Make Your Equipment Lists
Here’s how you can get started.
- Make a list of the equipment that’s currently available to you. This includes anything you have at home or at your gym.
- Make a list of equipment that you WANT to gain access to. These are items you may not currently own or have access to, but would be ideal for helping you achieve your goal.
You don’t necessarily need additional equipment to start working out. However, if you have the resources or funds, it may be worth purchasing a few items you can add to your home gym. Alternatively, if you don’t currently have a gym membership, you may want to register for one at a local studio or company fitness center. You could also ask a friend if they have access to equipment at their home or apartment complex. There are so many options. If it benefits your program, they are totally worth exploring!
Plan Your Workout Routine
We’re finally getting down to the nitty gritty of your workout program… the routine! There are a couple of pieces in this process:
- Choosing the types of workouts
- Selecting specific exercises
- Putting together your routines
Workout Type
There are a wide variety of workout formats. Most of them fit within these three main types:
- Cardio — great for endurance and agility training, improving cardiovascular health, boosting energy levels, improving athletic skills, and staying mobile. Examples including walking, running, swimming, dancing, HIIT training, or playing sports.
- Strength Training — great for improving muscular strength, increasing range of motion, gaining lean muscle (aka sculpting), enhancing power in sports performance, and injury prevention. Examples include lifting weights, bodyweight strength work, and resistance training using bands, cables, or kettlebells.
- Mobility and Flexibility Work — great for reducing muscle tightness and soreness, preventing joint injury, improving range of motion during lifting, and promoting relaxation. Examples include yoga, tai chi, and static stretching (to name a few).
As you can see, certain goals fit best within each type of workout. Your goal will likely have one main type. However, a balanced program will ultimately include some combination of all of these.
The Exercises
As with the workout type, the exercises you choose will be based on your specific goal PLUS the equipment you have access to. Here are a few examples:
- Goal: Improve Vertical Leap — this will include exercises that both strengthen your legs, improve their power, and promote explosive movement such as dumbbell goblet squats, dumbbell weighted lunges, dumbbell step ups, and box hops.
- Goal: Definition in arm muscles — this will include exercises that work your arms (biceps, triceps, and deltoids), such as cable bicep curls, bench dips, and dumbbell rear delt flies.
- Goal: Reduce body fat by 10% — this will include exercises that will help with overall muscle gain and maximize fat loss. Hint: you’ll want to work the biggest muscles (aka legs and back) with exercises like barbell deadlifts, barbell squats, and cable lat pulldowns AND add a moderate routine of walking, jogging, or spinning (15–30 minutes) either during your warmup or as it’s own workout.
Here’s a good rule of thumb: Choose 3 exercises for each muscle group to repeat throughout your program. That way, you can have a bit of variety for your workout program, but practice each one often enough to master them.
Put Your Workouts Together
Now that you have the formats and the exercises, it’s time to plan your workouts. A good workout has 3 main elements:
- The warmup — what you use to get your blood flowing and heat up your muscles. This should include exercises that 1) lightly engage the muscles you’re going to work with your main exercises and 2) move your body in all directions. Time allotted: 10–15 minutes.
- Your main exercises — the strength moves or cardio work you plan to take up the bulk of your workout. A good rule of thumb for strength work is 1–2 moves per muscle group for each workout, depending on the amount of time you have. Time allotted: 20–40 minutes. For steady state cardio, such as running or cycling, simply choose the amount of time or distance you want to reach.
- A cooldown — the process of slowing down to reduce your heartrate and stretching to prevent muscle tightness. I typically allow about 2 minutes to slow the heartrate before diving into some yoga poses for deep stretch. Total time allotted: 10–15 minutes.
Based on the guidelines above, here’s what a workout might look like:
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Workout A
- Main Goal — Increase Vertical Leap
- Workout Goal — Legs and Core
- Warmup — Complete one minute of each move for 2 rounds: Jog Forward and Backpedal, Down Dog to Lizard Lunge, Single Leg Drop Crunches, Glute Bridges, Side Shuffles
- Workout — Kettlebell (KB)Squat to Clean, KB 3 Point Row, 1 KB Sliding Hip Abductions, Leg Lifts, Burpee Box Hops
- Cooldown — Seated Wide Leg Forward Fold + Side Bend, Low Lunge Quad Stretch, Deer Pose, Prone Chest Stretch, Standing Shoulder Stretch
Create two to three complete workouts that you can repeat for the duration of your workout program. You can label them with letters like I’ve done here (A, B, C, etc.) or you can number them instead.
Make Your Workout Calendar
A proper workout calendar includes the amount of days you plan to exercise each week, along with the workouts you plan to do on those days. A sample week might look like this:
- Monday — Workout A
- Tuesday — Rest Day
- Wednesday — Workout B
- Thursday — Rest Day
- Friday — Workout A
- Saturday — Hike with the family
- Sunday Rest Day
There aren’t any BEST days to work out, so choose the ones that are most convenient for you. Just remember that exercising for multiple days in a row may cause excessive fatigue, so be sure to plan rest days at least 2 to 3 times a week.
Pick A Start Date
You’ve got your plan. Now it’s time to commit! I’ve seen so many people dream up an ideal workout plan with the best of intentions, only to let life steamroll them into letting their goals drift away. I’d hate to see that happen to you too. Don’t feel ready? Well, here’s a hard truth.
You may never FEEL ready ~ Coach Nadia
Please don’t let that stop you from taking the first step.
Pro Tip: Take out your calendar and sharpie. Pick a day and write “Start Today!”
Optional Add: Nutrition
No healthy routine is complete without a mindful plan for healthy eating. Although this blog is focused specifically on your workout program, I’d be a bad friend and trainer if I didn’t at least give it an honorable mention. The fact is that MOST health and fitness goals cannot be achieved without some level of focus on nutrition. That includes:
- Consuming a balanced amount of proteins, carbs, and fats
- Eating 3 to 5 servings of fruit and vegetables daily
- Regulating consumption of foods that cause inflammation and negative health outcomes
This is just the starting point. If you’re looking to go deeper, check out my My Top 5 Healthy Eating Guidelines for those who want to get healthy and fit 😉
Plan Your Workout Program Today
If you’ve read through this piece, but haven’t started creating your own workout program, scroll back to the top and get it done. There’s a good chance that you arrived here, not simply because you want the information, but rather because you have a fitness goal you want to achieve and you’re finally ready to see it to fruition. I’m ready to see you succeed too, fam! So don’t wait. Start today!
Good luck,
Nadia ❤
I’m an online personal trainer 💪😘 I work with women over 30 who want to reduce pain in their muscles and joints, regain strength, and become the baddie they know they can be! If you’re interested in learning more about the programs I offer, the best place to connect with me is on Instagram @transformwithnadia. Send me a DM to chat and/or book a call!
