Weekly Fitness Routine for Progression

Laura_buthlay

Hi! I am trying to find a routine that I am motivated to stick to but that doesn't put too much pressure on to scare me off again! I tend to look on instagram and pinterest for work out routine videos by health and fitness experts in the industry however, there are so many different videos for different body parts it seems impossible to train them all in a week without going every day??
Ideally I would like to maintain my weight, get fitter, and tone up. I would like to understand what mixture of exercise will work best for me e.g. cardio, HITT, strength training and for how long and how often each week (working out three times a week to begin with seems like a sensible target to me) Thank you in advance!

RoxieDawn

I would look for a 3 x week total body strength training program. At some point if you like you can sprinkle in some cardio of your choice on alternate days. Don't feel pressured to do cardio, you don't have to do any cardio, so if and when you feel you want to incorporate it do what ever type cardio you enjoying doing.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

sardelsa

You don't have to train different body parts each day, that is actually a fairly suboptimal way for a beginner to train.

Since your goal is to maintain and get more fit and tone up (and if by that you mean more definition, more muscle, less fat) then I would look into recomp where you can lose fat and gain some muscle slowly over time:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p1

I would also look into following a lifting program, there are many that are full body 3x per week:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

Sharon_C

I would not look to Pinterest for workout advice. There is a lot of woo on Pinterest. Unless, of course, you are following a known and respected trainer.

I started out with bodybuilding.com. There is a short quiz you can take and it will recommend programs for you.

And don't rely on motivation to keep you going. Motivation never sticks around for long.

stanmann571

Sharon_C wrote: »

I would not look to Pinterest for workout advice. There is a lot of woo on Pinterest. Unless, of course, you are following a known and respected trainer.

I started out with bodybuilding.com. There is a short quiz you can take and it will recommend programs for you.

And don't rely on motivation to keep you going. Motivation never sticks around for long.

bb.com isn't particularly less wooful than pintrest.

MegaMooseEsq

Keep it simple at first. Don't worry about optimum too much, instead focus on finding things that you like doing. Cardio is great for health and weight maintenance - what type doesn't really matter. Pick a goal that's easy for you - 20 minutes three times a week, for example, and try different things to see what you enjoy. Remember that no goal is too small if it's more than you're doing right now. I've found that pushing myself just a little bit, consistently, has gotten me a lot further than trying to do everything at once. You don't need to kill yourself to see improvement in your health and level of fitness!

As mentioned by others, strength training is one of the best things you can do for how your body looks and feels. There are lots of programs at that post @RoxieDawn linked. Body weight workouts are a great way to start. If you're a reader, a lot of the programs have books on Amazon with free samples so you can check out the first chapter or three (in the US at least). Again, you don't have to do anything big at first. I started off with a goal of doing three sets of ten wall pushups three times a week and built from there. Lunges and squats are great beginner exercises as well.

I went from an absolute couch potato to running three days a week for a half hour, weight lifting three days a week for an hour, and almost daily stretching and yoga. If I'd tried to start with this I'm confident I would have given up, but I'm totally hooked now! Good luck - you can totally do this!

AnnPT77

Sharon_C wrote: »

I would not look to Pinterest for workout advice. There is a lot of woo on Pinterest. Unless, of course, you are following a known and respected trainer.

I started out with bodybuilding.com. There is a short quiz you can take and it will recommend programs for you.

And don't rely on motivation to keep you going. Motivation never sticks around for long.

Just for the record: The realistic alternative to motivation is fun. Figure out what things that involve moving your body more are so fun for you personally that you'd do them even if they weren't good for you.

Strength training is good for a body, but there are lots of options (the strength training link RoxieDawn posted is excellent).

I hate that term "cardio" myself, but there are all kinds of fun things you can do that burn more calories and help your heart be healthy. Try some (which can be fun in itself) and find the fun ones. There are so many: Swimming, roller skating, Zumba, pole dancing, tap dancing, soccer, hiking, biking, running, martial arts, boot camps, crossfit, walking (with bird watching or some other adjunct if you like), hula hooping, . . . I could go on and on. What have you always wanted to be able to do? Try it: Find the fun!

One caution: It's natural when trying something new, to feel awkward and incompetent at first. Everyone feels that way: It's a normal part of the process. Things that are easy right away can get boring pretty fast. Things that feel pretty complicated and awkward and difficult at first . . . pretty soon, those start to seem achievable, and stay challenging and fun much longer. Being actually objectively good at it is completely optional.

Fun is the magic.

P.S. After a pretty inactive adult life, I started rowing at age 46 - the skinny boats like in the Olympics, only mine is slooooow. But it's so. much. fun.

Laura_buthlay

Thank you @MegaMooseEsq and @AnnPT77 for your very motivational and inspirational responses! I have been referred back to that strength training link a few times but all the links seem to lead to websites where you have to pay to sign up or purchase books?? I couldn't find just a straight forward training plan? I am now following some fitness industry experts on Instagram which post regular workouts and am enjoying trying those out, they are quite challenging!

MegaMooseEsq

Laura_buthlay wrote: »

Thank you @MegaMooseEsq and @AnnPT77 for your very motivational and inspirational responses! I have been referred back to that strength training link a few times but all the links seem to lead to websites where you have to pay to sign up or purchase books?? I couldn't find just a straight forward training plan? I am now following some fitness industry experts on Instagram which post regular workouts and am enjoying trying those out, they are quite challenging!

There's a free bodyweight workout on NerdFitness (they have a paid service but you don't have to use it to access their workout), and AWorkoutRoutine is free as well - I've used both and like them a lot. They're both pretty straightforward too, I think. Instagram can be a good resource but it can also be difficult to tell who's legit and who isn't, especially as a newbie. Beginner strength routines should be very simple (NR is one circuit of maybe 6 exercises, AWR is two workouts of three exercises each), so if something seems overly complicated or asks you do to a billion different exercises or split your workouts by body part, those are not good sources to follow. Good luck!