The key to designing a successful workout program is in knowing
exactly what is that you want to accomplish. Maybe you want to lose
weight, maybe you want to build-up your overall body muscle or maybe you
want to get rid of that beer belly, and turn it into a rock-hard
six-pack.
Knowing
what you want to accomplish allows you to include the right exercises
and routines into your workout program. Exercises, which meet your
specific needs and enable you to get the results you desire.
Comprehensive
men's workouts should include both cardio and weight exercises. The mix
of which will be determined by what you want to achieve, and your
current state of physical fitness.
If the primary concern is
losing weight, then your focus will be largely on cardio-based routines,
however, if you want to build muscle then your focus will be less on
cardio and more on weight training.
An effective workout schedule
will normally consist of a four to five day routine. This allows you
ample time to work your body, while also ensuring that you get enough
rest and recovery.
Of course, for some, it is simply not feasible
to schedule four or five days a week for working-out, if this is the
case you need to ensure that you are getting a complete and intensive
workout, on the days that you can schedule.
An example of a basic
five-day schedule focused on building overall body muscle mass, might
look something like this…. Remember, the make-up of a
schedule should reflect your personal plan
Monday: Chest and Triceps
Tuesday: Back and Biceps
Wednesday: Cardio and Abs
Thursday: Forearms and Legs
Friday: Upper Arms and Shoulders
Saturday: Off
Sunday: Off
If
you are very new to men's workouts, design a schedule that gradually
increases your fitness and strength levels over time. Start-out with
low-intensity cardio sessions and lightweight training exercises, and
build from there. As your body grows in strength and fitness, you can
increase the intensity of your cardio workouts, and the level and amount
of weight based exercises.
It is a good idea to space-out your
rest days. If you are working to a four-day schedule, you can have a
workout day followed by a day of rest.
Rest and recovery time is
as crucial to the muscle building process as the actual exercises and
routines that you perform as part of your workout schedule. Without
sufficient periods of rest your muscles will not repair themselves and
you will find it hard to build muscle mass.
Another important
aspect of a successful workout schedule is tracking. It is important
that you track each of your sessions. This requires that you take
detailed notes about the type of exercises you performed and the number
of sets and reps that make-up each circuit. Tracking allows you to
adjust your routines so that you get maximum benefit from the exercises
you perform.
When you have your schedule in place it is important
that you stick to it, this is the one commitment that you must make to
yourself from the get go. Missing a workout out session here and there
is inevitable. Things will come-up! However, you should not make a habit
of it.
If you do miss a scheduled session (for some very good
reason), try to make a little bit of time for quick twenty-minute
intensive workout. While a twenty-minute workout may not be much, it is
still much better than missing a scheduled session and doing nothing at
all.
Men's workouts designed to build muscle will only be
effective when based on a solid schedule, specifically tailored to meet
your needs and goals.