Going to the gym is the first action. But if you don't know what to do, it will be a waste of time. Knowing how to make a workout plan will optimize your results!
In this post, we'll see the different aspects of making a workout plan, and the reasons why you should consider doing it!
The Principles of Muscle Building
Resistance training is the best exercise to build muscle and improve your body composition (study). This discipline is specific to the goal of building muscle.
If the exercise is intense enough, it will serve as a signal for our body to build more muscle mass and adapt to the new stimulus.
If you want to build muscle, the best and fastest way is to get into resistance training.
Lifting weights and working on your strength and resistance with weights; that will be key to build muscle.
Muscle Hypertrophy
Muscle hypertrophy is an increase on the volume of our muscle fibres (source).
Rather than increasing the number of muscle fibres, we are interested on making the muscle fibres bigger.
The mechanisms behind muscle hypertrophy are; mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage.Â
The workout plan should aim to optimize these three mechanisms and increase muscle hypertrophy
Training Variables
The goal of a workout plan is to maximize muscle hypertrophy. To do so, you can play with different variables.
This will make sure you are in the 'sweet spot', and you are giving to your body everything it needs to build muscle optimally.
There are three main training variables you should consider: intensity, volume, and frequency
- Intensity: How hard should I train?
- Volume:Â How much should I train each muscle per session and week?
- Frequency:Â How many times should I train each muscle?
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Progressive Overload
Progressive overload is the gradual increase on the intensity of your training
By increasing the training variables, you can put more stress in yur muscles to keep building muscle (study)
There are many ways to induce progressive overload, but the main principle is to gradually increase one or more training variables from week to week.
The main goal of making a workout plan will be to make sure we are inducing that progressive overload.
By doing a workout plan, you'll know to perfection which training variables to change in order to put that progressive overload in practice.
Periodized trainings to be better than non-periodized trainings (study)(study)(study)
Why Do You Need to Make a Workout Plan?
Making a workout plan is a 'must' when it comes to building muscle fast and efficiently.
In the next few minutes, all the benefits of making a workout plan!
Induce Progressive Overload
The main and ultimate goal of making a workout plan is make sure progressive overload is present.
Planning ahead the upcoming weeks of training will enable you to take action and perform to perfection.
You'll have a clear idea of how your progression will be, and how you'll do to get from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to get).
Serves as a Template to Evaluate
The workout plan will serve as a guide to evaluate and make changes to fit your trainings depending on your needs and goals.
Take your workout plan as a template. Put time and effort on making is as accurate and realistic as possible, and stick to it as long as you can.
Be open for changes, and make them when you feel it will benefit your progression and overall gains.
Increases the Probability of Success
Making a workout plan boosts your motivation for exercise. It gives you the solution to get from point A to point B.
It creates self commitment to keep up with the workouts, and increases the probability of success while lowering the probability of failure.
Making a workout plan will motivate you to go to the gym and keep up with the initial plan.
Sets the Road to Achieve your Goals
Making a plan is about going from Point A to Point B.
However, that might be difficult if we don't know which road to take and how to get there.
With no workout plan, the road will be confusing, uncertain, and slow.
Making a workout plan, we can take the fastest and shortest road to achieve our goals.Â
Helps you Organize Your Week
We are driven by busy and packed lifestyles. Our days are subjected to a lot of obligations and 'to-do's , and it's often difficult to find some free time to go the gym.
Organization and time management are key here. With a workout plan, you'll know to perfection when and how to workout.
Plan carefully how many days will you train, and fit them as you like in your schedule.
Before work, before dinner, first time in the morning... it doesn't matter. But get it done
Makes the Process more Enjoyable
We hate uncertainty. One wants to walk on safe streets, and your workout plan can be the safest of all.
Making a workout plan will give you a better overview of the overall process from your start point to your end goal.
Understand better what you are doing, and why you are doing it; that will help you enjoy more the process.
It will put sense to your actions, and help you engage and enjoy your trainings. The goal isn't just to get where you want, it's also to learn how to enjoy the process.
You Need a Workout Plan to Optimize the Results
If you want to go 100% ( I hope you do), making a workout plan is essential.
If you want to optimize, you need to evaluate.
The workout plan will tell you everything you need to know to make a proper evaluation and get the best results.
If you don't have a workout plan, you completely rely on your capacity to improvise "on the stage". So, unless you are a pro bodybuilder or something alike... make a workout plan
Making a Workout Plan Saves you Time and Energy
Time wasted is time we can't recover. Going to the gym without a workout plan can get tiring in terms of energy and time.
If you don't know exactly what to do, you might end up walking around more than doing the actual workout.
That is valuable time you could have saved if you had planned your workout plan ahead.
If you care about your time, you need a workout plan. Your training sessions will be much more efficient, and you'll be saving a lot of time every day.
Get it planned and you are ready to go for the upcoming weeks.
Conclusion
If you want to build muscle, it's not enough to just go to the gym. It also requires of some planning from our side to get going.
In this post we explained why you need to make a workout plan. It will help you know what you have to do at each moment, enjoy the process, and get better results.
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