I am asked on a regular basis, how many workouts per week, how many exercises per muscle group, how long should I be in the gym, heavier or lighter weights, what sets and what reps?
Let's dive in...
The first thing we need to look at, is realistic time frames per week. Look over your work and family schedules and set aside adequate time to train. If that is before work, on your lunch break, or after work. Create an EFFICIENT workout schedule we can stick with moving forward.
Second, what are we trying to accomplish? Are we preparing for a half marathon, just trying to increase our health and fitness, working on getting shredded? Look at things like where your body fat is, how much muscle you have on your body along with present pounds of fat. Are you in the ideal ranges or do we need to kick things up a notch?
Let's say we are trying to run our 1st half marathon or 5k, you should not be in the gym working on your 1 rep max bench press, instead, you need to be more focused on your slow twitch muscles, flexibility and cardiovascular stamina.
On the flip side, let's say we need to increase our muscle mass and decrease our body fat (extremely common) we need to be utilizing the weights through proper strength training, proper weights and rep counts, and making sure we get our cardio in.
Now that we have more of an idea on what we are trying to accomplish, we need to build a plan.
A cardio program is going to look significantly different than a muscle growth fat loss plan.
If we need some muscular development, we need to start by training each muscle group properly throughout the week.
*Back - Shoulders - Chest - Arms - Legs - Core - Cardio.
Each muscle group needs around 6 - 8 exercises per, and the proper amount of reps.
Reps in the 1-5 range build super dense muscle and strength.
Reps in the 6-12 range build equal amounts of muscular power, strength, and size.
Reps in the 12+ range primarily build muscular endurance and size and also cardiovascular health.
What about sets? How many times should we cycle through our exercises?
The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) will break this down, suggesting the following set ranges:
2-3 sets will help build muscular endurance (12 to 20+ reps)
3-6 sets build muscular hypertrophy (6 to 12 reps)
3-5 sets build muscular power (3 to 5 reps)
2-6 sets build muscular strength (less than 6 reps)
"Kyle, just tell me what to do, that is what I am paying you for..."
Ok, hit 4 sets of 15 reps, 8 exercises per, 20mins of core work then finish with 20mins of cardio. Toss in a handful on bodyweight exercises mixed in with the strength work.
This would be the basic routine I would line up for my clients.
The exercises would differ dependent on injuries, fitness level and mobility.
I am not going to have my 75-year-old with an artificial hip attempt to deadlift 225lbs or run 1 mile for time.
Be smart and strategic about what exercises you chose, and why you chose them.
- For EXACT routines I do, check out my YouTube page, www.youtube.com/@KennyTRY
You need to focus on maximizing blood flow into the target muscle group on the day, then allow that muscle group to properly heal, recover, and grow.
Lastly, STOP NEGLECTING CARDIO.
I cannot stress this enough. Suck it up and go do it.
Each workout, spend 10-15mins warming up, the utilize strength training for approximately 45-60mins, then spend 20-25mins working on your cardiorespiratory stamina.
Mix steady state cardio and HIIT sessions daily.
Monitor and track your heart rate and become extremely familiar.
Line up the longer workout days on the days where you have a bit more time away from work, family ect.
Push the heart rate higher on the shorter workout days to maximize caloric burn and aim to keep the intensity up for the duration of your workout.
Line it up a week ahead of time so when you get to your workout, it is almost thoughtless, and you can put the focus into your sets and reps.
Finally, nutrition is 80% of your success.
Fine tuning your calorie consumption, macros, quality of foods, supplements and hydration is paramount in order for you to get where you need to go.
Every human is vastly different in the daily needs for their body to become healthier and more fit.
Nutrition programs are something I write up weekly for individuals to follow along, and I have a few for sale in my shop - Shop | KennyTRY Training
Anyways,
Go train hard.
Coach Kyle
KennyTRY Training
KennyTRY05@gmail.com
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