Men's Health > Workouts > Workout Program

How To Choose The Best Workout Program

Get Ripped. Get Cut. Get The Body You Want Results Quickly. Results Safely When You Know How!

Since a workout program is a collection of exercises designed to help you meet your specific goals and needs, there are literally thousands of different workout programs you can choose from today.

To decide which program is best for you, you first need to determine your goals. After you’ve determined your goal, then you can decide which workout program best suites you.

Weight Loss Program

If your goal is to loose weight then try a cardio weight loss program. This type of program requires diet modification combined with aerobic activity of your choice. There are many different cardio workout activities such as running, swimming, biking, hiking, and skiing. Choose one or several exercises. Some people like to combine activities to keep from getting bored.

Beginners should start with 20 minute sessions 2 to 3 times per week. With each consecutive week, increase each session by five minutes. Add more days when you reach 30 minute sessions. Your goal is to exercise 30 minutes a day 4-5 times a week.

One thing to remember about cardio workouts is for the first 20 minutes the body is burning glucose. It is not until after the first 20 minutes that the body starts to burn the stored fat. That is why it is important to get your workouts to a minimum of 30 minutes per session.

Periodically during your workout, you should take your pulse. Ideally, your pulse should be no more than 70% of your maximum heart rate. To calculate your target heart rate, subtract your age from 220 and multiply it by .70. This is your target heart rate.

Building Muscle Mass

If you are attempting to build large muscles, then free weight lifting can help you obtain your goal. Many bodybuilding programs require a diet change. Most are based on eating six meals a day and working out 4 times a week.

A typical routine would be:

• Monday – Squats, leg raises, calf raises, leg curls, leg extensions
• Tuesday - Dumbbell press, military press, dead-lift, lateral raises
• Thursday- Flye Press, Incline Dumbbell Press, Decline Dumbbell Press, Incline Bench Press
• Friday - Barbell curl, tricep extension, dumbbell curl, kickbacks, ab crunches

To increase muscle mass, you should do more sets with less reps and heavier weights. Just remember, routine can vary depending on the muscles you wish to bulk up.

Strength Training

Strength training is designed to build strength, not necessarily bulk. The muscles will not be as big as they could be if you followed one designed for increasing muscle size.

Strength training requires high resistance (heavy weights), three sets of low reps (3-8), and explosive power.

With strength training, the muscles grow while at rest. During rest the repair process helps the muscle to grow.

Build Endurance

Endurance is important to help us sustain those long bike ride, marathon runs or cross country skiing. Building endurance requires long cycling rides or lengthy jogs. Long runs or rides should occur at least once a week for a minimum of 40 consecutive minutes. It is also important to ingest plenty of food and fluids during your training.

You should also be aware of some negative factors which can ruin a great program. These factors include impatience, too high expectations, exercising incorrectly, using the wrong program, exhaustion, and boredom. All of these factors can negatively impact the results from your program. To help combat these you should be patient with your results, don’t set your expectations too high, use the correct program, exercise correctly, pace yourself and vary your routine so you don’t get bored.

Drew Voight