Do you follow a workout plan at the gym?

Yes, I have a "plan"

When I sit down with a plate of eggs, bacon and a bowl of oatmeal, I formulate a plan on how I'm going to eat it. I have a plan for everything in life. Plans make everything better.

I do adjust my plan based on my goals but that's after 4-8 weeks of evaluation, not weekly

I have a very strict schedule and I stick to it.

I do 4 day splits. I never miss a day. Somehow, some way, I get it done. Not only do I have a plan, but I write down how much I lift and how many reps and keep track. In my whole life, this is the first time I've done this, and the results are amazing.

I add stuff on my rest days for active rest days, like biking, hiking, surfing, swimming, or running. It just depends how I feel.

Depending on your goals, I don't even think it's enough to have a basic routine (e.g. Monday is "leg day," Wednesday is "chest & back day," etc.). I think you need to be following a program, tailored to get you to a specific goal via constant progression, that has a beginning, an end, and several checkpoints along the way. It doesn't have to be a program that you paid money for or downloaded off the Internet. You can design your own, assuming you have the knowledge and objectivity to do so (and I suppose most people don't). I just think it is an enormous waste of time to go to the gym without a clearly defined purpose.

yes you should have a plan.


full body workouts work really well for beginners, as they respond best to frequency as opposed to volume.

I do about 75% of my workouts at the gym. I am trying to stick to a plan from week to week. Currently, it is:

Monday - Shoulders, Triceps, and abs
Tuesday - Legs, and glutes, cardio
Wednesday - Biceps and Chest
Thursday - Shoulders , Triceps, and abs
Friday - Legs, and glutes, cardio
Saturday - Biceps and Chest
Sunday - Rest

Does anyone else stick to a weekly plan or do you change from week to week or based on your needs?

I have 30 - 60 - 90 day plans. Weekly plans are not ideal.

BTW, do you not have a back or is that muscle group unimportant to you?

That's an awesome schedule. You're hitting the major muscle groups twice, particularly legs and abs. (You need to add back though.) My boyfriend is a personal trainer (nice to have one at home WINK) but when we are at the gym I'm usually working out on my own and I definitely keep to a routine. He'll comment about things and often encourage me to go up more in weight or reps as appropriate (he says I don't push myself hard enough), but I'm generally just following my (WRITTEN) plan. Unfortunately I travel a lot for work so sometimes I can't get to the gym at all (hate that).

Anyway, as you workout and drop weight it's essential that you build muscle tone. What happens to a lot of people is they drop a lot of weight fast and then their skin is all flabby and things (like our butts for us ladies in particular) start to sag. Not so pretty. Gotta do toning too!! Also, many people have no clue what they're doing in the gym (we see this allllll the time). They come in and workout, going through the motions, but they're not doing the exercises right so it's not helping that much...and they don't seen any real difference. If your routine is right for you, you will be able to SEE the toning within 2 weeks!!! Seriously! :happy: Get a trainer to help you if you're not. Well worth the money!

I do at least 15 mins of cardio before each workout as a warm up, followed by about 15 minutes of abs (I'm on a mission to get a flat stomach so that's each time!). Then I rotate muscle groups like you do. The only group that I hit twice a week are legs, and that's because I'm trying not to lose my butt. LOL Seriously though, it's the one muscle group that keeps up our cardio at the same time. I do a minimum of 4 exercises in that day's muscle group (3 sets each, trying to build up to 25 reps each before I increase weight - except for legs..those are totally different.) Depending on my week and whether I'm traveling or not, I'll dedicate a day to pure cardio (usually in spin class where I go HARD for an hour). I try to burn about 10 cals per min most days (except spin days when I do more). If you don't have a cardio watch/monitor, get one!

I agree with everyone else..make a plan that works for you and stick to it! If it stops working (this is a natural occurence, by the way) then adjust it. Seek help if you're not noticing real results. :-)

I hear 5-year plans were all the rage in the early 1950s......

Yup. Mr. Jim Stoppani's 12 week program.

Before that it was a bodybuilding.com bulking routine.

I'm not an expert, they are. I'll let them do the leg work of finding out what works and what doesn't.