Simple Fitness Plan to Help You Shape Up

Before you start any fitness plan for a workout routine, ask yourself this – “Will you be able to put in some time for exercise?”
Whether you are a busy mum, busy dad or a busy individual, you will need set aside a time and place to exercise. And whether it working out at the gym or at home, it does not matter. If you can workout for an hour everyday, fantastic! Even if it is for 30 minutes it is still better than none at all.
So let’s get to the type of workout – The Total Body Workout that can be performed twice to three times per week. In other words you want exercise or multi movements type workouts to train front of the leg, back of the leg, chest shoulders, triceps, back, biceps, forearms and your core.
And let’s not forget, make sure you eat sensibly and get in good nutrition to build a healthier body. Let’s face it, no matter how hard you train, you cannot out train a bad diet. So get this right and you are well on your way! Check out this article on 7 Fatty Foods The can Help you Get a Flat Stomach, you will be surprised at the kind of fatty foods you can consume!
But lets move onto a couple of exercises that you can incorporate now

Type of Exercises

Front of the leg – lunges, one legged squats, box jumps and squats can build the quads
Back of the leg – deadlifts, straight leg deadlifts, good mornings, hip raises and step ups to build the butt and hamstring
Chest, Shoulder, Tricep – bench press, overhead press, incline dumbbell press, dips and push ups
Back, bicep, Forearms – dumbbell rows, pull ups, chin ups, inverse body weight rows
Core (lower back and abs) – side planks, mountain climbers, planks, jumping knee tucks, planks, hanging leg raises

From here, perform one exercise from each group.
In regards to the number of sets, warm up first with 1 or 2 sets and when you get into the routine, three to five sets for each exercise is a nice start.
In total, keep it under 25 sets in your total workout.
If you find the workout not challenging enough you will need either increase the weight, reduce the rest time or alter the exercise to make it tougher.
For the purpose of this article, if you want to lower your body fat, keep the reps per set in the range between 8 – 15.
So in short, warm up, then 3 to 5 sets of 8 to 15 repetitions and between sets, a rest time of 1 to 2 minutes.

How Heavy Should You lift?

This is really about quality and not quantity. Sticking to proper form will get you more results. So instead, you should lift enough to finish your sets but not too heavy.
For the no gym exercisers, you will need to ways to challenge your performance and that means making each exercise challenging. When you can do more than 20 reps for an exercise, it’s time to switch it up.
So if you a beginner, don’t feel shy to start off lightly. Please start conservatively to avoid serious injuries and harm.
For example, 20 pushups too easy, then try 20 push ups with a straight leg up.

The length of Each Session?

Whether it is 1 hour or 30 minutes, it is about quality and intensity of the workout.

Alternate Your Sets

Instead of doing 4 sets of lunges and 4 sets of bench press with 2 minute rest, why not try this to reduce your workout time.
Do 1 set of lunges, then 1 set of bench press, rest 1 minutes and rinse and repeat 3 more sets.
As you are working on 2 muscle groups, you can workout on one muscle whilst the other muscle group is resting. Since you are resting rest, the body will be working harder, which in turn boosts your heart rate. And best of all, you are performing the same workout in less time. It’s fun to mix it up a bit, and keep the body working!
Here’s an exercise workout sample

Perform lunges and incline dumb bell presses back to back, 4 sets each with a rest period of 60 seconds between sets
After the 4 sets, rest 2 minutes before moving onto another 2 alternating exercises
Perform straight leg deadlifts and wide grip pull ups presses back to back, 4 sets each with a rest period of 60 seconds between sets
Warm down with planks (3 sets), stretch and rest for the day

Circuits Are Effective

A circuit is one of the best way to boost your metabolism and burn body fat. This routine requires you to carry out 1 set of every exercise and without rest. Once the first set of exercises are complete, it’s rinse and repeat 3 or 4 more times!

An example of a fitness circuit
30 Jumping Jacks
5 Pushups
25 High Knees
7 Burpees
10 Crunches
7 Squats
5 Pushups
10 Crunches
5 Pushups
7 Squats
30 Jumping Jacks
1 Minute Wall Sit
5 Pushups
25 High Knees
Repeat 3 to 5 times!

Recap of a fitness plan :

Hopefully you are not too dizzy, but firstly, eat well and eat healthy. So go get your fats, carbs, protein and fiber. The lets workout smart and burn the fat off. Here’s a breakdown of exercises you can try

Warm up with a gentle bike ride, jog, jumping jacks and so on
Choose 1 exercise for each muscle group:Front of the leg, Back of the leg, Chest, Shoulder, Tricep, Back, Bicep, Forearms, Lower Back and Abs
Carry out 3 to 5 sets (8-15 reps) each exercise
Time to mix it up by chaning up the sets, reps, rest time and exercise
Increase the intensity by switching it up with back to back exercises or starting a circuit
Don’t go over exert yourself but keep it challenging and under 1 hour
Warm down and stretch
Log your activities and progress

Hopefully this helps you with a fitness plan. As always get into a good lifestyle, that is, eat healthy with good nutrition, exercise but train to your limit and if you are a beginner or someone who has medical issues, please seek professional advise from your doctor and trainer.
If you are not too sure on how to perform the above mentioned exercises, google it or go to youtube. Plenty of examples available!