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This post is sponsored by Adidas. All words, advice and opinions are my own.
For best results in the gym, it's important to have a workout schedule you know you'll stick to. Whatever your goals, a well planned weekly workout routine will help to optimise your results and reduce the risk of injury.
So how do you start building a workout routine that provides maximum gains, but also fits around your life?
Take a look at my weekly workout routine and you'll see that I never train the same muscle group on two consecutive days. This is because muscles take up to 48 hours to repair themselves after a workout, so you need to give them time to recover.
Also, I can't always get to the gym every day, so some of these workouts are done at home.
Be sure to warm up before every workout, and stretch afterwards. Post workout stretching is essential to reduce muscle tension, enhance flexibility and reduce DOMS, or delayed onset muscle soreness - the achy feeling you get the next day.
My Weekly Workout Routine
Day 1: Upper body
I start the week strong with a good upper body strength training session which hits my chest, back, arms and shoulders.
There are so many good upper body exercises that I couldn't possibly list them all here, but a few of my favourites include deadlifts, bench press, hammer curls, skull crushers and press ups.
Day 2: Lower body
On the second day I focus on my glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves.
Some great moves to target your lower body are squats, lunges, hip thrusts, calf raises, pistol squats and donkey kicks.
Day 3: Core
I'll admit that this is my least favourite day of the week, but a strong core is important as it'll give you better posture and reduce the risk of lower back pain and muscle injuries.
Effective core exercises include planks, side planks, crunches, bicycle crunches, glute bridges and side-to-side heel touches.
Day 4: High intensity cardio
I do a cardio workout two days a week. This one is the most intense, and is usually a HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout. It really gets those endorphins flowing. I love it.
Day 5: Rest day
Rest days are one of the most important days of the week because without them, you won't get any benefit from your workouts. Your body needs time to recover if it's going to keep performing at its best.
I do yoga every day, which means I still do it on my rest day. However, feel free to spend your rest day doing absolutely nothing if that's what you prefer.
Day 6: Full body
I do a selection of exercises from days 1, 2 and 3, hitting all the major muscle groups.
Day 7: Steady state cardio
Today I'll go for a run in the park or get on the exercise bike and ride for as long as feels comfortable, at a steady pace. I don't push myself as hard as on day 4, but I still get in a good workout. As long as I get my heart beating faster and I'm slightly out of breath, that's ideal.
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I hope this post has given you an idea of how to build a balanced workout routine to achieve maximum results. If you're a beginner, take it slowly and build up your workouts gradually, and take a rest day any time you feel the need - none of this is set in stone.
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