Have you ever walked into the gym without a clue as to where to begin your workout? If you find yourself nodding your head to that question, you need to work on structuring your workout routine. Structuring your workout routine will ensure you are getting the most out of the time you spend at the gym. After all, if you are making the effort to exercise you would want to achieve the maximum results! Generally, a well-structured workout is broken up into 5 parts that begins with a warmup and ends in a cool down.
1. Warmup
The warmup is vital so you can avoid injury. All you need is 5 to 10 minutes of dynamic stretching or a light aerobic exercise. You should not overexert yourself during the warmup, the purpose is just to get your blood flowing and your muscles ready for the full workout ahead of you.
2. Compound movements
The next step following the warmup are your compound movements. These are typically full body movements that engage multiple muscles rather than a single muscle. Compound exercises include squats, lunges, deadlifts, and more.
3. Isolated movements
Contrary to the compound movements in the previous step, isolated movements focus on a single muscle. This can be a glute isolation or a dumbbell fly. There are many different ways to incorporate unilateral movements into your workout depending on what muscle group you’re focusing on that day.
4. Stability
Stability usually means core work. A strong core is essential for balance. Planks, Russians twists, and bicycle crunches are examples of core exercises you could incorporate.
5. Cool down
Last but not least is the cool down. Don’t skip the cool down step! All you need is 10 minutes of static stretching or a light aerobic exercise to cool down after you’ve completed your workout.
