Last night I gave myself a bit of a Valentine’s Day treat.

I created and started up my first rotation of my own strength training. I love lifting weights. It makes me feel strong and provides such a fun personal challenge. I’ll share what I did last night later on, but first – how I set up my workout plans.  I have received some requests for sharing, so I figured I would do that first.

Please remember that I am not certified in any way. I have simply figured out a system that works well for me after years of my own experience. If new to weight training, I always suggest a walk through with a trainer if possible; taking a class like Bodypump to get guidance from an instructor; or finding some way to properly acquaint yourself with the moves completed in workouts (aka research and practice).

Now for my step-by-step to making my workout plans…

Step 1: Choose a Workout Split. This simply means I decide how I am going to break up my body parts for workout days each week. For example:

• 1 Upper Body day, 1 Lower Body day, 1 Full Body day
• 1 Push day (chest, quads, triceps – muscles that push), 1 Pull day (back, hams, biceps – muscles that pull), 1 Full Body day
• 2-3 Full Body Workout days
• 2 Upper Body days, 1-2 Lower Body days
• 2 Push days, 2 Pull days
• Bodypart (1 Chest, 1 Back, 1 Legs, 1 Arms/Shoulders) <—my least fave

Step 2: Lay Out a General Plan. Here I simply put my chosen workout split into a table or spreadsheet and list out which body parts I will work in each workout. If I chose the Push/Pull/Full Body split, I will have something that looks like this:

I always make certain to get 1-2 exercises for each major muscle group I plan to work (the legs/glutes, back, and chest). Then, I add in smaller moves such as shoulders, biceps, and triceps as time allows. The smaller muscles get worked during larger moves so I don’t focus on having a move for them every workout.

Step Three: Fill In the Moves. I have a handy spreadsheet document where I keep a list of all my favorite exercises broken down by body part. I have a column for leg exercises, a column for back, a column for chest, etc. Then, I just pick and choose exercises from that list to fill out my basic plan. So, the above may turn into something like this:

Step Four: Plan out the sets and reps. 3 sets of 10 repetitions is the standard, which I start with. I will many times do some exercises in the workout with higher reps (15-20) and some with lower reps (6-8). Or I might do a different number of reps with each set (IE gradually increasing from 8 to 10 to 12 reps with each set). I just make sure to switch it up sometimes. My final plan using the same Push/Pull/Full example will then have a layout like this:

Step 5: Add Variety. This is where I have fun. I can switch up the moves in the basic outline every week, every two weeks, or follow the same routine all month. I can sub out exercises easily if I feel like doing something different or a piece of equipment is occupied my entire workout. I can add in variety with different equipment, like stability balls. I plan on doing some of my favorites in the future with kettlebells or on TRX equipment. I can use supersets (two moves done back to back) or circuits (everything done back to back). I can do some plyometrics or abs in between sets. The options are endless!

Question of the Day – Do you enjoy planning workouts? Which kinds?

**Let me know if you have any additional questions and/or requests for expounding on any of these topics.

Here’s how my Sundays typically look - Wake up. Rush around getting ready for church. Eat a quick breakfast.

Go to church. Rush home to get the kids fed and down for a nap. Eat my own lunch. Type my blog’s weekend recap post. Rush to the grocery store. Rush home to feed B again. Hang out with the family. Cook dinner. Get kids to bed. Crash on the couch with Peter and wonder where the day/weekend went.

EV.ERY.SUN.DAY! Notice the word “rush” popping up a lot in there?

During the week I really have no choice in the matter. Things must get done and to do that I pretty much need to hit the ground running from the time I wake up until whatever time I can crawl back into bed. However, not every day needs to be go go go go go go. Yesterday’s message at church hit me right between the eyes with that fact. And the fact I need to apply it to my life.

Consider the following scenarios:

• Imagine your boss coming to you at work while you are so overwhelmed and exhausted. He tells you to pack it up and take the day off. Go home; rest; play; enjoy a free day. Would you turn that down?
• Imagine a young child offered a day to hang out with his or her mom or dad. Just enjoying each other’s company. No pressure. No distractions. Just love. That child would feel pretty excited, no?

Well, that’s exactly the scenario offered to us once a week for our health and sanity. Yet I have profusely ignored it too often. I can’t tell you how many times I have told myself I want to keep one day a week free from obligation, only to find myself in the same patterns.

I woke up feeling empty Sunday morning. I felt down about a lot of things for no reason in particular. I believe it came from lack of rest and recuperation in my busy, hectic life. I need to commit myself to keeping Sunday open for personal time and healing. I will do my absolute best to get grocery shopping done on Saturdays. I will wait to do my regular Sunday evening weekend wrap-up post until Monday morning. I will keep my schedule as clear as possible to truly focus on church, time spent with loved ones, and maybe some naps.

There will certainly come some weekends where schedules won’t allow that, but I need to remember the importance and value of making a concentrated effort to keep one day a week as open and carefree as possible. Just as rest is important for physical training, it also matters greatly to emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Why do I have such a hard time remembering that? Hopefully this time it will click for good.

Question of the Evening – Do you schedule a day each week to not have any pressing obligations? Is it hard for you to relax more?