How To Design Your Own Workout Plan
Creating your own workout plan can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be!
A beautiful handstand prep on the ladder barrel performed by Sarah, owner of The Pilates Line NY!
In my quest to help you take control of your own health and fitness as much as possible, I'm diving into how I make a workout for my clients. It's extremely important to me that I teach my clients how to move well and to understand what we're working on.
It's like that old saying:
"Give a woman a workout, she sweats for an hour.
Teach a woman to workout, she stays motivated, works out consistently, and finally feels in control of her life!"
(Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration in some cases but I'VE SEEN IT HAPPEN!)
There are a few major things to consider when building your own workout plan.
What's the goal? What are you working towards?
What are you focusing on to reach that goal?
How much time are you devoting to this workout plan?
Sarah gets to full handstand on the ladder barrel! GO SARAH!
What's your fitness or workout goal?
For most of us, the goal is just to "get in shape" or lose weight, but if you know how I feel about goal setting, you know that I'm a big fan of more specific, measurable goals.
If you're ditching the group fitness classes and designing your own workout routines, you need to know what you want.
When I design a program for a client I watch closely for some of their "weak links.” If we can target certain muscles that are weaker or need help activating, then not only can we be certain to improve their overall movement patterns but we will also make sure to illicit a response and produce real results!
That's how I like to choose my goals for clients.
In other words: if you're an amazing runner and your body is so adapted to running that you can rock out a killer run NBD, then you might want to try to work on an area that you don't already do perfectly. If you're already doing a great job at something, your body isn't going to change.
You can’t expect different results from doing the same thing. (Note: you can also strengthen your strengths, but that’s a whole other topic that I go into here).
So: what's the goal, or what’s your focus? I’m a major proponent of performance goals. If you want to have great arms and shoulders, maybe your goal is to be able to do a certain number of pull-ups or push-ups, or even a handstand!
That will give you an end goal you can plan for (lots of different variations of upper body strengthening exercises) and you'll feel amazing when you reach that goal and happen to notice that you ALSO ended up with arms you love to show off in sleeveless dresses!
How do you reach that workout or fitness goal?
There are so many choices when it comes to exercises that it can be super intimidating to just pull stuff out of thin air and put together a fitness routine. You've got to have a plan or a theme.
Every time I teach, I decide what movement to focus on for that workout session. This sets me up for success because I can try multiple variations of similar exercises, vary the load or movement plane, and narrow down the workout routine to something that will benefit my client's specific movement patterns so they can progress towards our goal.
Let's get back to the handstand goal. In order to perform a handstand, you have to be able to stabilize your entire body, upside down, while holding it up with your arms. So, if you think about it, you need to have a strong core and balance, strong shoulders and arms to hold you up, as well as have solid range of motion to bring your legs overhead.
That tells me we need to work on upper body strengthening exercises and become familiar with similar shapes and positions before you'll likely be able to perform a handstand.
When I know what I want to achieve, I suddenly have a direction to move towards. I've successfully narrowed down an endless array of exercises to choose from to help improve what needs improving.
What you’re looking for is progression.
How much time are you devoting to this workout plan?
Do you have 30 minutes 3 times per week for a workout? Do you have 2 hours 6 days per week? Knowing how much time you have to devote to your fitness routine is extremely important.
If you have longer workout sessions or more sessions per week, you'll want to plan more exercises. Some of them might be less important to the end goal, but still be great for an overall workout.
I wouldn't quite call them "filler" but those movements will help you work towards your goals faster than others.
Just remember, prioritize the straight forward methods first that will give you the most "bang for your buck" as you knock down those fitness milestones. You want to focus on the exercises that challenge you and help you build up to even more challenging stuff. That can be done in very little time or a lot of time.
What you're looking for is progression. Quite simply: can you do more this week than you did last week? If the answer is no, you might want to reconsider your choices.
Sarah getting weightless with the wall. Almost ready for free-standing handstands!
Back to that handstand idea...
You've seen my friend Sarah in the pictures above working on handstands a few different ways. These are pictures we took of her week over week to make sure she was improving and so that she could check her alignment and see what to practice on her own.
Her progress has been amazing! Of course, we didn't just start by throwing her upside down. We worked on shoulder strengthening and pressing movements like push ups and planks to build up her confidence and overall strength.
It's super important to always start at the beginning and listen to your body.
Sarah is a super strong lady and she also owns a Pilates studio in Westchester, The Pilates Line, and teaches her own assortment of rockstar clients.
She had a really strong foundation coming into this work, but we still started from the bottom to work our way up. Never skip the small stuff! Let the progress happen.
I hope this gives you some ideas on how to design and create your own fitness routine!
If you get overwhelmed, just take it back to basics:
Choose a movement. Example: Push-ups
Choose a do-able number of reps. Example: 3 sets of 2 reps
Try to do more next time. Example: 3 sets of 3 reps.
When the added reps get too excessive, add an extra set instead. Example: 4 sets of 3 reps.
When that feels good, change it up to make it more challenging and go back to your original rep scheme. Example: Push-ups with your feet on a wall, 3 sets of 2 reps.
If you have any questions about how to create and start a workout routine, email me at ashley@ashleybrownfitnessnutrition, head to my “Services” page, orrr just DM me on Instagram!
About Ashley:
Ashley is a Pilates instructor and personal trainer in NYC who specializes in biomechanics and exercise nutrition for women. She uses the science behind exercise physiology to empower her in-person and remote clients to lead healthy, happy lives. Her passion project is sharing this information through her blog, which focuses on Lifestyle, Exercise, Active recovery, and Nutrition and serves as the backbone for her online health and fitness programs. She aims to get this information into the hands of as many women as possible so they can feel stronger and more confident in their bodies! Follow her Instagram page for daily fitness and nutrition tips!