This is the ultimate guide at creating your own workout program. You can use this to set up any training plan, for any routine, for any sport or fitness goal. Whether you’re looking for weight management, to build strength, to run your first marathon, or just create a stronger and better you, this guide is for you. Strong goals and a structured training program is essential to become progressively better without injury. This guide will help you create a own program that suits your individual needs.
Click the links below to jump to a specific category. It will go over the following:
7. Support Your Workout Program with Proper Nutrition and Recovery
8. Setbacks and Injuries
9. Examples of Training Programs
Feel free to skip around, take notes, and come back any time.
The Importance of Goal Setting
One of the most critical component to creating your training plan is to have clear goals. Goals will allow you to have a way to track your progress, give you direction, and help prevent any plateaus. Let’s dive into how you can create a strong goal that is realistic and specific.
1. Start with the End in Mind
Start by thinking about what you want to achieve. Do you want to lose weight, build muscle, improve endurance, or get a better time in a race? Let’s get even more specific than what I said above.
Let’s not say “I want to build muscle.” Let’s create a specific goal. “I want to gain 10 lbs of muscle on my body in 10 months.”
Much better! Let’s try it again.
“I want to improve my endurance” becomes “I want to run a marathon (26.2 miles) by the end of the year (9 months)”
Now that we have these specific goals in mind, we have a clear path ahead.
Got a clear vision of your goal? Lets write it down.
2. Make Your Goals SMART
The SMART framework is an excellent way to approach goal-setting that ensures your objectives are clear and concise. Let’s look at how to apply it:
• Specific: Your goal should be specific. Remember what we talked about before? We do not want a vague goal, we want specifics!
• Measurable: Set a goal that allows you to track your progress. We want a quantifiable goal! I want to [specific goal with number] in [number in time]. Now we have a target to work towards and a timeline to measure our success. Now that we have two quantifiable numbers, we can chart our goals too! Scroll down for an example of charting your weight loss.
• Achievable: Set realistic goals that are obtainable. There’s no problem with reaching for the skies, but thinking you can add 100 lbs to your bench press in a couple of days is just impossible. Consider a gradual increase that allows for progress.
• Relevant: Your goal should be aligned with your broader life objectives and they should be meaningful to you. If weight management is a priority for you, focus on a goal of consistent cardiovascular exercise and better nutrition rather than getting faster at a run.
• Time-Bound: Create a deadline for yourself to create a sense of urgency. Again this ties it all together. Your deadline should be measurable and achievable.
As an Example:
“I will lose 10 lbs in 3 months.”
Specific: 10 lbs in 3 months
Measurable: They will need to lose 3.33 lbs a month.
Achievable: Yes. 3.33 lbs a month can sometimes be aggressive, but it is definitely achievable
Relevant: This client wants to bring his BMI down from Obese to Overweight. Losing 10 lbs would bring him into the overweight category.
Time-Bound: This has a deadline of 3 months.
Weight Loss Chart Example
Write down your goal and apply it to the SMART framework.
