It can seem difficult and time-consuming to come up with and stick to a workout regime. It doesn’t have to be this way, it just takes some planning.

In this short blog, I’m going to show you how to build structure into your workouts in just 3 simple steps.

1. Plan out a consistent workout time

Whether you prefer working out first thing in the morning, mid-day, or in the evening, set and stick to a consistent time frame for when you will exercise.

Just like your meetings and other important tasks, your workouts should also be scheduled into your calendar.

If you leave it open-ended it may get pushed aside and forgotten. As busy professionals, it’s essential to plan and prepare in order to ensure important tasks such as exercising get accomplished.

2. Plan out how often you will exercise

Now that we have cleared time for when we will exercise, it is important to plan out how often we will exercise and which days of the week they will fall on.

Pick something that is realistic for your schedule and your goals. I suggest exercising between 3 and 5 days per week.

Once you have picked the days and times you will exercise each week make it a goal to stick with this schedule for at least 4 weeks before changing it.

This doesn’t mean that you have to workout Monday-Friday at 7 am every week forever, for example.

But if you are able to stick with your plan consistently for 4 weeks or so this will help you build structure around your workouts so when you are traveling or need to make adjustments you can without falling off track.

3. Plan out the basis for each workout

Try to avoid waiting until the workout to decide what the focus of your workouts will be.

To plan out your workouts consider these things:

• What is your MAIN goal overall? (build muscle, lose weight, or maintain)

• What equipment do you have access to?

• How familiar are you with exercise?

Let’s say you are a busy professional wanting to build strength and gain confidence in your body by building muscle that will help you burn fat and lean up. Well first off, you’ve come to the right place! 😉

Let’s also say you have some dumbbells at home and maybe a pull-up bar and some bands. You have a general idea of what you are doing but need a little direction.

Here’s what you can do:

Monday, Wednesday, & Friday can be your strength training days, and Tuesday and Saturday can be your cardio days.

Cardio days are easily taken care of by doing a 20-30 minute moderate paced jog or some interval training.

Complex programming is beyond the scope of this blog but here are some ideas for your strength training:

Plan out a full-body strength training workout for M/W/F built into circuits. Your circuits could look like this:

1a. Pick one lower body movement (squats, lunges, step-ups)
1b. Pick one upper body pull movement (pull-up, dumbbell row, curl)
1c. Pick one upper body push movement (push-ups, shoulder press, tricep dips)

Perform this combination 2-3 times, pick a new combo, and go again.

Finish with 2 or 3 core movements (sit-ups, planks, Russian twists, leg lifts, etc) to add to the end of your strength or cardio days and perform the core exercises 2-3 times.

That’s it. Keep it simple.

How much weight do you need? How many reps? What’s the best this and that?

It doesn’t matter right now. All that matters is that you have your basic structured outline and you stick with it.

Conclusion

As busy professionals, it can be difficult to plan and stick to exercising consistently.

The key is to build some STRUCTURE.

1. Plan out a consistent workout time

2. Plan out how often you will exercise

3. Plan out the basis for each workout

Planning ahead goes a long way.

I would imagine you’re great at planning your meetings and other important tasks for the day; your workouts should undergo that same type of planning.

Building structure around your workouts will help develop consistency which will in turn yield results.

Set and practice your new structured workout regime for the next 4 weeks before changing anything, then make adjustments as needed.

Keep your eyes out for my next blog in this series on structure. The next blog will help you build structure around your eating habits.

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