People who are just beginning their adventure with regular training often do not know what kind of exercises they should do, with what number of repetitions and intensity. A properly designed training plan can be extremely helpful here. It is a guarantee of proper effects of exercises and helps to prevent overtraining and injuries. What should I consider when creating it?
No training plan can be complete without elements such as the type of exercise, its intensity, duration and frequency. However, before we move on to training it is necessary to do a warm-up. Why is it so important? Not only does the warm-up reduce the risk of injury, but it also contributes to increased muscle flexibility. Ideally, it should last about 10-15 minutes. What kind of exercises should the warm-up include? It can be, for example, jumping jacks, hip bends or hip rotations.
Warm-up planned. Now it’s time to choose the form of exercise. At the beginning you should think about which group of muscles you want to work. Persons who care about losing excessive kilograms should take care when creating a training plan to include exercises evenly engaging all body muscles. Combined training, which consists of aerobic exercises, such as cycling or jogging, and strength training, which contributes to muscle strengthening, works very well here. Each exercise should be performed for several minutes. This is the best way to prevent the so-called muscle exhaustion. When our priority is to build mass, a good solution is to perform exercises on free weights. This term is used for training devices that limit muscle movement. This category includes, among others, weights and barbell. Training should begin with exercises that are most difficult for us and involve the greatest number of muscle groups.
An extremely important element of creating a training plan is adjusting the intensity of the exercises to individual capabilities. It consists of several elements. One of them is the number of series of each exercise, which should depend on the goal set by the person exercising. For example, if our priority is to increase strength, each exercise should be performed in 5-6 series. If we want to build muscle mass, the series should be 3-4. If we want to improve physical condition, we can perform 2 series. Another element is the number of repetitions in series. It is strictly connected with both the goal and the number of series. Strength training includes 3-4 repetitions in 5-6 series, for mass – 8 repetitions in 3-4 series, and for general fitness – 10-12 repetitions in 3 series. People who want to sculpt their figure should do 15 repetitions in 2 series. As trainers emphasize, the most effective workout is the one during which we perform 20 series.
The intensity of exercise also depends on how quickly you perform it. A good workout is one performed at 60-70% of the maximum heart rate range. Only then are we able to effectively burn fat tissue without contributing to muscle reduction. By exercising too little, we may not be able to achieve our training goals. On the other hand, exercising too intensively may lead to overtraining, injuries or decline in physical condition. Training should be adjusted to the individual level of physical activity. The last very important element is the time of rest between series. How to determine it? There is a rule here, according to which, if we feel that breathing and heartbeat normalized in less than 3 minutes, it is a sign that we can move on to perform the next exercise.
Featured Image: Freepik
