What to Workout on What Day: The Ultimate Guide

If you’re looking for a workout schedule that will help you get in shape and improve your overall fitness, look no further than this ultimate guide. In it, we’ll cover what to workout on what day, how to mix up your routine to keep things interesting, and more.

Introduction

Welcome to the ultimate guide to partnering up your workouts and your days of the week! Knowing what to do on what day can help you to manage your time and enhance gains. By optimizing our workout structure, we can get more out of our time spent in the gym while simultaneously allowing us to improve other areas in our lives such as maximizing efficiency at work or devoting more time to spend with family.

Creating an organized weekly plan allows us to break down larger goals into smaller parts which bolsters our likelihood of sticking with it. In this comprehensive guide, we are going to look into a variety of topics revolving around pairing up workouts with specific days of the week, enabling you to easily organize a schedule that works best for both your body and life outside of hitting the gym.

In this guide, we will cover:

• Why it’s important to plan out what you’ll do each day
• The advantages and disadvantages of different types of plans
• Different approaches for creating a schedule
• Examples of well-crafted workout plans for each day
• Tips for setting yourself up for success with a long-term approach

Monday: Chest and Back

Monday is the perfect day to start your week off with a bang and hit chest and back. Working out your chest and back muscles helps develop your overall upper body strength and power. Additionally, it will help with your posture and make you look more proportioned and symmetrical. Let’s discuss some of the best exercises for chest and back, and how to combine them into an effective workout routine.

Chest Exercises

Monday is the perfect day to start your week off with a challenging chest workout. Strengthening your chest is essential not only for a sculpted, muscular physique, but it also helps support your upper body. Working out your chest helps to improve your posture and promote better balance.

Here are some exercises that target the chest:

-Bench Press: This does a great job of exercising both the chest and triceps, as you press a weighted bar up from the flat position on a bench. Set an adjustable bench to slightly more than forty-five degrees to focus on hitting the pecs properly. Start with lighter weights at first and increase as you get stronger. Make sure you don’t forget to use proper form!

-Incline Bench Press: This works almost all of the areas of the chest by using an incline bench rather than a flat one while still using similar movement patterns as above but with added stress put onto certain parts of the pectorals compared to if you did this exercise in the flat position.

-Pushups: The classic pushup is great for building up strength on those days when opting not to workout in a gym or lifting heavy weights isn’t an option. With multiple variations one can do, regular pushups will give you basic strength whereas decline or incline pushups bring more challenge into training by targeting specific muscles more depending on what degree of angle they are done at.

-Barbell Bent Over Row: This exercise really hits every muscle in your mid back and targets those pecs which makes it great for sculpting out that well rounded physique everyone covets! All one needs is access to some sort of metal barbell or heavy dumbbells (preferably). Hold the bars fairly close together above your knees when crouched down – then before pulling up focus on tightening those core muscles like how one remains still during plank exercises! After exhaling, reach back & pull forward while keeping elbows facing outward; this will place tension evenly across all muscles targeted and build that impressive physique much quicker over time!

Back Exercises

When working out your back another important factor to consider is grip width when doing the exercises. Depending on whether you have wide or narrow hands, along with which is more comfortable, will determine your grip width. This will also transfer over to exercises like pull ups and rows depending on if you want to really target your lats (Wide Grip), mid-back (Reverse Grip) or arms/low back (Close Grip).

Back Exercises
-Deadlifts: for strengthening the muscles in your posterior chain; Hammer Grip Deadlifts if you want more work for your lats, Sumo Deadlifts for targeting quads more than hamstrings
-Bent Over Barbell Rows: using a wide grip puts more stress on the lats, delivering extra growth stimulation
-Lat Pulldowns: these are great variation of pull ups when looking to adjust tension or increase magnitude of weight – use rope attachment to activate inner muscles of back
-Barbell Shrugs: this exercise strengthens both forearms/arms and upper back – make sure not to roll shoulders forward as this can cause injury
-Facepulls / Cable Pull Throughs / Ys T’s Ws: great for activation and stabilisation exercises for neck & overall posture – be aware that some machines apply more weight than intended when using thumb assist features
-Back Extensions: these are a fantastic way tone strengthen lower back and gluts– start with bodyweight before going onto barbell rolls or weighted ball slams

Tuesday: Legs

Working out your legs on a Tuesday can be a great way to start the week off right! It’s important to put some focus on leg day because it will help strengthen your lower body, as well as help support your overall posture. Plus, it can also help improve your balance, power, and coordination. In this section, we will discuss some of the best exercises for Tuesdays leg day.

Leg Exercises

Tuesday is the ideal day for a leg workout, as it is the after the second rest day of the week. Working out your legs immediately after a rest day when your body is well rested will help ensure effective workouts for maximum results. A complete leg workout should include a combination of exercises to work both strength and endurance.

An effective leg workout should include both compound and isolation exercises that target various muscle groups. Compound exercises such as squats, lunges, deadlifts and hip thrusts are multi-joint movements that work multiple muscle groups in the lower body simultaneously. These types of movements are particularly effective in building strength and size in the legs due to their large range of motion and involvement of multiple muscles segments.

Isolation exercises such as calf raises, hamstring curls, adductor/ abductor machine lunge variations, glute bridges with either one or two legs can be used to target specific muscle groups. This can be useful if you have any muscular imbalances or you have certain areas that need more attention than others.

Your leg routine should also include stretching at the beginning and end to ensure your muscles remain flexible and to reduce soreness post-workout. Gentle stretching will ease any tightness in muscles before you begin lifting heavier weights for larger compound movements ensuring maximum mobility throughout all movements performed during your workout session.

Core Exercises

Core exercises are an important part of total body fitness and when done properly, can help build strength, improve posture, and reduce back pain. Core muscles are vital in helping to support and stabilize the spine, as well as giving us power for everyday movements such as reaching for something on a high shelf or playing sports. On Tuesdays, we will focus our attention on core exercises that strengthen the abdominals, lower back muscles and hip flexors. Some great core exercises to perform on Tuesdays include:

-Plank – This is an isometric exercise that targets the abdominal muscles. Begin lying face down on the floor with your elbows bent beneath your shoulders. Lift your body off the ground so that you form a straight line from head to toes. Be sure not to let your hips drop or raise too high – strive for a neutral position with abs pulled in tight. Hold this position for 10-30 seconds then rest briefly before repeating two more times.

-Superman – Start by lying face down on the floor with arms extended in front of you and legs straight out behind you at hip width apart. Keeping your core muscles tight, slowly lift opposite arm/leg off of the floor (right arm/left leg then left arm/right leg) like you’re flying through the air like superman! Keep your movements slow and controlled so that you are targeting those smaller stabilizing muscles around the spine. Perform two sets of 10 repetitions each side resting in between sets if necessary.

-Stability ball abdominal crunch – Begin by sitting with knees bent at 90 degrees upon a stability ball with feet firmly planted on ground below shoulder width apart for support and balance if needed grab hold of something for stabilization if needed (bench/chair). Cross arms up over chest or behind head wherever you’re comfortable then slowly roll forward into crunch positioning maintaining control so that tension remains focused in abdominal region throughout entire set without arching back too much or extending neck forward by curling chest towards hips then return to starting position repeating every 10-15 seconds two more sets afterwards resting in between as needed.

Wednesday: Shoulders and Arms

Focusing on shoulders and arms on Wednesday is a great way to start off the second half of the week. A good shoulder and arm workout will help strengthen your major upper body muscles, giving you a healthier and more toned appearance. It can also improve your posture and help you perform better in sports or in everyday activities. We’ll discuss some of the best shoulder and arm exercises that you can do on Wednesdays.

Shoulder Exercises

When it comes to shoulder exercises, there are a range of movements that you can use. Incorporating the various exercises into your routine is an important part of creating a balanced shoulder workout and forming strong, healthy muscles.

Below are some examples of shoulder exercises that should be included in your workout plan:
-Dumbbell Shoulder Press: This exercise focuses on the front, middle and rear deltoid muscles as well as your triceps. To perform the shoulder press correctly, stand with your feet hip width apart and hold a weight in each hand at shoulder height. Push up with both arms until arms are fully extended above your head then slowly come back down to starting position.

-Lateral Raises: The lateral raises target the medial/side deltoid muscle as well as stabilizers such as the rotator cuff muscles. Begin by standing with feet about hip width apart, weights in hand at sides of body. Then grip handles firmly and raise weights up to shoulder level out to side while maintaining control and feeling tension in your shoulders throughout the movement. Continue up until arms are parallel with ground then lower weights back down in controlled motion.

-Bent Over Rows: The bent over row works many different muscles in addition to shoulders including biceps, traps and lats for overall upper back strengthening. To do this exercise properly, start by hinging forward from hips while maintaining a straight back (no rounding) throughout the exercise so that chest is near knee level when seated or standing tall depending on chosen version of exercise; then pull elbows backward while squeezing scapula together contracting each rep in order to feel quality tension between muscle being worked – focus more on feeling contraction than weight lifted; complete entire movement by extending arms straight out into plank/push up position maintaining an even tempo through repetitions for best results from this exercise..

Arm Exercises

Arm exercises are some of the most effective ways to build and strengthen your arms. The use of free weights, bodyweight exercises, and exercise machines can all help you achieve your arm fitness goals. When planning a workout routine for arms, it is important to consider each muscle group involved in the shoulder and arm area.

The muscles that make up the shoulder joint include the deltoid, rotator cuff, teres minor and major, supraspinatus and infraspinatus. Shoulder exercises typically involve pushing or pulling motions or weight resistance. This could include front or lateral raises with dumbbells; side lateral raises using cables; external rotation using a dumbbell or exercise band; bent-over rows using a barbell or dumbbell; internal rotation using an exercise band or cable pulley machine; overhead presses with a barbell or dumbbell; upright rows using either a cable machine or dumbbells; shrugs with a barbell or dumbbells; plus planks and pushups which can target all three areas of the trapezius muscle.

The muscles in the arms are divided into two categories: anterior (front) muscles including the biceps, brachioradialis, coracobrachialis and brachialis – plus posterior (back) muscles including triceps brachii and anconeus. Arm exercises such as bicep curls with either free weights—bar bells—or resistance bands can target the biceps muscle group in order to increase strength, power, endurance and flexibility. Other arm exercises such as tricep dips utilizing equipment like parallel bars allow you to target and strengthen your triceps muscle group. Lastly when looking into strengthening your forearms various wrist curl activities utilizing either free weights — like kettle-balls — or fitted machines can help increase muscular strength throughout this region as well.

Thursday: Rest

Thursday is a rest day, which is essential for any exercise program. Rest days provide the body with time to recover, rebuild, and re-energize. They allow for an increase in strength and muscle growth and are important for preventing injury and burnout. During rest days, it’s still important to be active; low intensity activities like stretching, yoga, walking or light cycling will help keep the body limber. This is also a great time to focus on nutrition by eating a balanced diet that supports your fitness goals and staying hydrated throughout the day. Taking regular breaks when exercising is also an important part of this rest day routine. Taking breaks allows your body to relax, reset and regenerate so you can come back stronger on the next training session.

Friday: Full Body

On Fridays, it’s time to put it all together and work out your entire body. A full-body workout is great for toning and strengthening all your muscles, as well as for boosting your metabolism and increasing muscular endurance. This type of workout doesn’t require any specific equipment and can be adjusted to your fitness level. Let’s take a look at how to optimally execute a full-body workout on a Friday.

Full Body Exercises

Full-body workouts involve performing exercises that target every large muscle group in the body. Examples of full-body exercises include squats, burpees, pushups and pull-ups. Additionally to build strength and power, you can add a few focus exercises such as heavy compound lifts like deadlifts or power cleans. On Fridays (the end of the workweek) it can be beneficial to do full body workouts with heavier weights and challenging multi-joint movements. Full body workouts will help your muscles absorb more nutrients than just doing one or two muscle groups per day – plus they’ll help raise testosterone levels (which would probably be lower at the end of a long week).

Full body exercises are great for beginning athletes since they require less time to complete while still providing plenty of physical challenge. A basic full-body routine should include multiple exercises that target several large muscle groups such as the chest, upper and lower back, abdominals, hips/glutes, quads, hamstrings and shoulders. Every major joint should move through a range of motion with good control throughout each exercise rep. Additionally a few isolated exercises can also be included to bring development to specific muscles such as biceps/triceps and calves. Doing isolation movements near the end will ensure fatigue won’t take away from prime movers engaging in multi joint movements earlier on in the workout which are more important for overall growth potential. By adding in heavy compound lifts or plyometrics you’ll really increase intensity level which is great if you’re looking for explosive strength gains!

Cardio

Cardio, or aerobic exercises, are typically performed in a continuous, repetitive motion that involves large muscle groups working together. These exercises increase heart rate and breathing rate while targeting the cardiovascular system and improving overall fitness. Different types of cardio can be recommended based on individual goals, but generally these incorporate running, walking, cycling, skiing, swimming and using an elliptical or stationary bike. On Fridays, it’s usually best to focus on full body cardio—this means combining several different elements of cardio such as running with intervals of calisthenics (i.e., jumping jacks). This is an effective way to get your body moving and provide a full range of motion for the entire body. An example could look like the following:

• 5 minutes walking/jogging
• 2 minutes jumping jacks
• 3 minutes running (moderate pace)
• 2 minutes burpees
• 1 minute mountain climbers
• 1 minute squat thrusts
• 4 minutes jogging/running
• Repeat for 3-4 cycles

Saturday: Rest

Saturday is all about rest and recovery. After the previous week of hard workouts, take some time away from the gym and put your body in “rest mode.” Whether this involves a power nap, stretching, foam rolling or yoga will depend on personal preference, but it’s important to have at least one day of complete rest to give your muscles a chance to recover and revitalize. Depending on overall weekly goals, selecting one day of full-fledged rest can aid in long-term health and promote healing. Remember that resting doesn’t necessarily mean skipping exercise entirely — soft tissue work (such as foam rolling), dynamic stretching or light aerobic activity can still be part of a healthy rest day. Just remember not to go all out!

Sunday: Rest

Sunday is a great day to rest. Taking a break gives your body the opportunity to reset and recover from the previous activities you have done during the week. While rest is important, it does not have to involve sitting on the couch all day. You can still stay active by doing low-intensity activities such as going for a leisurely walk or yoga. It’s also a good time to reflect on how your training has been going, what has been working well, and what needs improvement. Adjusting your training plan based on these reflections will help you stay consistent with reaching your goals. During this rest day, be sure to get plenty of sleep and stay hydrated as both will help with muscle recovery and regeneration.

Conclusion

When planning your training schedule, be sure to take into account the needs and goals of your individual body. No two bodies are the same and no two exercises will lead to the same results. It’s important to remember that consistency is key: look for long-term gains rather than overnight results!

Finally, rest days are crucial for allowing your body to recover from hard workouts. Rest days help build strength, prevent over-training and injury, manage stress levels and improve overall performance. So even if you don’t think you need it, always give yourself a break! By following these guidelines, you’ll be well on your way towards achieving all of your fitness goals.

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