.png)
If you don’t have time to dedicate the following week to fitness, how about we take it out there? Why not get fitter first! So with that in mind, here are seven workouts to be done in just seven days. Read on and see what happens next.
What Is A Great Workout Plan And How Do I Set It Up? – We break down exactly what works when you plan your daily workout activities so that you can use them at work, while traveling or any other activity where flexibility and convenience are required. This also includes how we set our exercise plans for the weekend.
Week 1 – Full Body Training In Just Seven Day Periods
Monday - Monday off
Tuesday - 3 x 30 minute squats x 4 sets of 20 reps each
Wednesday - 2 x 25 minute ab exercises x 8 sets of 12 reps each
Thursday - 5 x 15 minute tricep dips x 5 sets of 10 reps each
Friday - 6 x 30 minute crunches x 5 sets of 10 reps per side –
Saturday - 3 x 20 minute full body deadlifts / curls x 5 sets of 12 reps each
Monday – Full body training session
Sunday - 3 x 20 minute pushups x 5 sets of 12 reps each
We are only going to do three different types of high intensity cardio in one day, which means we won’t be doing any strength movements throughout it. No matter how good these are, they wouldn’t give us anywhere near the results we are looking for. For example, a pushup wouldn’t work for anyone who has already done two or more moderate weight pushups with their legs back to start and a squat isn’t going to improve anyone’s performance either. Therefore, we want to focus on creating an effective training program designed around working on one muscle group in our leg muscles for seven consecutive days. And then, after a couple of weeks, a single ‘best’ session should become a solid foundation for building up to a more sophisticated compound movement such as bench pressing with barbells or sit-downs with dumbbells.
There will be some intense moments, but they should be short enough to allow us to build from, rather than getting stuck in a rut. On those occasions, however, the powerlifting sessions of the four days might become too aggressive, and this is OK, because they are important for building up to our major lifts later. As long as we maintain control of our technique and our own bodies and rep ranges, everything else comes easy. There are still plenty of opportunities to progress the routine over these ten days, so let’s explore these seven days and try to get ourselves right into shape!
Week Two – Complete Rest & Recovery For Our Pre-Workout Routine
Monday - Tuesday off
Wednesday - 1 x 5 x 50 minute circuit exercise on treadmill for max burn!
Thursday - 1 x 30 minute plank + 10% incline incline work
Friday - rest day of both 1 x 30 minute plank + 10% incline incline work and 1 x 60 minute kettlebell swings!
Saturday - rest day of both 1 x 30 minute plank + 10% incline incline work and 1 x 80 minute weighted hip bridges!
Sunday - rest day of both 1 x 60 minutes yoga flow practice and 2 x 5 x 50 minute circuit exercise for maximum burn!
Monday – Rest day of both 1 x 50 minutes core flow and 1 x 60 minutes meditation
Wednesday – 30 minute plyometrics
Thursday - Treadmill recovery day
Friday - Gym Pilates 45 min circuit workout
Saturday – Yoga Pita Flow Circuit workout
Sunday – Plyo 90 min circuit training (if needed)
So why would the majority of people attempt strength training twice a week with very little rest between. Well, in reality, strength training requires multiple bouts of training with short rests in order to recover between rounds, whereas our weekly routines usually rely heavily on HIIT training and sprinting at intense speeds. To combat this, we need to plan well and stick to a pattern, because over time, our metabolic rate slows down, so the longer you train, the harder your muscles need to work to maintain or regain peak Performance, which means less speed and force in the training cycle. And that has got a direct effect on our levels of Fatigue and our mood, whether we like it or not as the human brain is hard wired to fight fatigue if it sees previous effort being used to fuel, repair or develop new muscle tissue. That's why most people end up feeling hungrier and sore after doing lots of heavy amounts of resistance training (or the equivalent in running). Not only do we feel fatigued, but we often suffer from low testosterone and lower metabolism, meaning the energy we put into our workouts is drained away by toxins, making us feel tired and unenergetic.
In light of these issues, we need to rethink training patterns and our approach to training. What was once thought to be best practice will no longer serve us the same way. Instead, we need to find something that is effective and adaptable, because things are changing quicker than ever before. And we are living shorter lifespans, so even though the average person is now expected to live for nearly eight decades, we cannot afford to wait around forever. Most probably won't even be able to reach our 40s.
So, how does this apply to our training strategy? First, instead of targeting a large number of separate muscle groups, we need to think about working on certain areas and specific muscle groups over the course of several weeks or months and training primarily on those areas consistently to achieve better results than our usual, higher intensity training.
It sounds simple enough, but it actually involves quite a lot of change and experimentation in our routines. However, it's a valuable skill to learn because it allows you to increase your success rate dramatically and become more efficient and better trained. Plus, this strategy of planning is what most of us really need to master, otherwise we'll never get anywhere and instead, will struggle through life in some pretty miserable fashion. So here's what our ultimate pre-workout routine looks like – we might need to tweak it slightly slightly a few times, depending on our level as a beginner, but this is what we aim to emulate.
Treadmill circuit training
Core flow training
Lifted/weighted Hip Bridges
Core flow training
We start out by using a treadmill, which allows us to gradually increase the duration of our intervals. Ideally speaking, this is not a training program at all, as it's a regular exercise activity, as opposed to using a specialised machine with weights attached to it. The main point of using a treadmill is to make sure you're warming up before doing more intense aerobic exercises, and if we're really ambitious, we might add a few miles onto the distance between runs – it depends on how much time we have available!
We start with 30 minute circuits of 20 seconds at a slow walking pace for our legs, followed by a jog on our treadmills for an additional two minutes. Afterward, using a seated position, we then perform a brief hip bridge for a total of 30 seconds (which should feel challenging!) – this part of the workout is fairly basic if you haven't done many of the variations yet, meaning our knees should buckle and our shoulders drop slightly – and then finally a quick five minute plank. From there, we keep doing all of the above circuits until we are finished. This is a general idea of the kind of circuits we would implement in a normal full body workout, but remember, the timeframes of this circuit are just a suggestion. When you're trying to squeeze as much as possible into your weekly training plan, aim to include a variety of options and mix them up, because, even though they're similar in form, if you add too many different options they will become monotonous and boring. Instead, try adding in a wide variety of small variations to every circuit, and have multiple days dedicated to varying your form slightly, to ensure your muscles don't tire too quickly, and that you can always catch your breath between moves (which is super important to avoid excess heart beat rate if ever you want to achieve your goals!).
Full Body Cardio
Our cardiovascular system needs to be active for our lungs, heart and arteries to function properly, since otherwise blood flow to them will be blocked completely if that fails, so it's vital to be able to regularly warm up our hearts, and not spend a ton of time under pressure. Nowadays, it's possible to safely achieve this without carrying out any significant weight training at all, because of the availability of machines that take care of it for us, especially nowadays as cardio machines offer very affordable prices (the price of a typical fitness tracker has dropped by about 70% in recent years). You can choose any model that you can afford, but generally speaking, cardio machines are the best performing option. They provide high volumes of steady exercise for a long period of time and are relatively inexpensive. However, you must always look at which ones you can purchase, as although machines may not be ideal for everyone, some models still come with attachments for bands and straps that you can attach to your chest for strength training. Also, ensure you select suitable attachments that ensure stability and comfort (e.g. ankle straps and shoulder belts). Finally, it's really important to pick a machine that allows for fast and continuous changes in your workload, i.e. you shouldn't be starting out with a lower range of intensity than you