When it comes to workout programs, how do you know which one is right for you to select? Or maybe you’re a coach learning how to effectively program for your training clients? Either way, Make sure to avoid these 7 common mistakes when it comes to your fitness program

What is a workout program?

A workout (or fitness) program is your written plan of action which you will follow and carry out for your workouts.

Whether you’re putting together your own workout program, a coach looking to further develop your skills, or perhaps you’re interested in knowing more of what to look for before purchasing a workout program online, understanding the basics of an effective workout program will help towards achieving your fitness goals.

What are the Benefits of being on a program?

• Higher accountability to stay more consistent with your workouts for a set period of time
• Not having the feeling of not knowing what to do each day for your workouts
• You can see tangible written progress (i.e. if you were lifting 10lb lighter for the same amount of reps 2 weeks ago, you are getting stronger!)

When designed properly and followed with consistency, workout programs are a great tool for learning, tracking progress, and staying accountable towards achieving maximal results. An effective program will mix in proper progression, with variety, and be catered to the client’s body-type, starting point, and fitness goals. It is the best, most effective way to see progress.

Coach

Are there any downside to fitness programs?

• You could be following a plan that is not catered towards your goals and body-type
• Reading an exercise and searching “how to back squat” is different than having a Coach demonstrate, cue, and correct an exercise
• If you are injured or have areas of higher injury risk following the wrong program could be more detrimental to these areas

7 Workout Program Mistakes to Avoid:

1. Doing exercises out of order

Does it really matter what order I do my exercises in? Yes. Yes it does. You could be spending the least amount of time on the most effective exercises in your workout or going into them with the least amount of energy (and higher risk of injury) based on where you place them.

The order of exercises in your workout should be as follows:

1. Warm up according to your workout ahead and bodily needs (i.e. more stretching if you sit all day for work…)
2. Highly technical exercises that require more focus
3. Exercises that require more energy, strength, or explosive movement
4. Smaller weight training exercises that require less energy
5. Exercises that will ware out your abs and/or smaller muscle groups like your calves
6. Cardio (or do on a separate day altogether)

2. Using a friend’s workout program

Using a friend’s fitness program can work at times (if you are consistent with it), although before you go this route, just make sure to ask yourself a few of the following questions:

• Do we have similar fitness goals?
• How similar is our body-type? (age, sex, ability to gain/lose weight, level of strength and flexibility…)
• Are we at the same level of experience and starting point when it comes to our fitness levels?
• Was this program put together by a professional?
• Do I understand what the exercises are and how to do them or have someone experienced to show me?

3. Not enough compound movements in your workout program

What are compound movements again?

Compound movements, are simply exercises that work bigger muscle groups and multiple muscles at a time. Some of the most common compound exercises are: back squats, lunges, bench press, overhead press, and deadlifts.

Compound exercises help to:

• Build strength and increase lean mass
• Lower body-fat
• Increase BMR (resting metabolism)

If you’re looking to lose weight, inches, tone, and build strength while reducing your total body fat percentage and you’re not utilizing compound exercises within your fitness program– you’re missing out when it comes to physical results and better overall movement patterns.

The reason I often start my lower body days with back squats followed by lunges (for example) is because they are big exercises. Big builders of strength and lean mass, and big burners of body-fat. Finally, if I have to run off early, due to a call or something unexpected– I’ve still gotten the majority of my work in...

Coach

4. Not enough isolation exercises in your workout program

What are isolation exercises again?

Isolation exercises are exercises that target smaller muscle groups. A few common examples would be exercises like: bicep curls, tricep extensions, delt flys, calf raises, leg extensions, or hamstring curls.

Isolation exercises help to:

• Focus on specific areas of the body that need more attention
• Balance out the body
• Prevent injury
• Develop better muscle tone and strengthen specific areas of the body

Whether you are looking to lose weight and lower body-fat, or if you are looking to build strength and increase athleticism, a mix of compound and isolation exercises within a workout program is essential for maximal progress, both in the sense of aesthetics (looks) as well as athleticism and overall functionality.

Coach

5. Focusing on only one muscle group per day

I’ll put this simple. If you are in the gym lifting weights 5 times per week on average with the main goal of building muscle and less focus on weight loss– then doing one muscle group per day can work great, however, if that is not you, move on— there are better programs that are much more aligned with your goals that will lead to better results.

Advantages to working one muscle group per day:

• High focus and more time to focus on developing a specific area of the body
• Have more time per workout to focus on one area of the body
• May see more development when it comes to muscle mass

Disadvantages to workout one muscle group per day:

• Long gaps between working a muscle group if you miss a workout or two that week
• Some muscle groups should be worked more frequently than others based on daily habits
• This does not result in a lot of calories burned per workout or as much cardiovascular improvements (not conducive if your main goal is eight loss)

6. Staying on Full body Workouts too long

If you read my previous post on Full-Body Workouts, you know that they have there place when it comes to workout routines– for beginners and less frequent exercisers. Although full body workouts can be effective, they do have their limitations and staying on a full body routine too long may have you missing out on motivating physical results and further progress…

Full body workouts are a great place to start, but not generally to stay. Starting off with full body workouts to get your body used to exercise and creating better movement patterns then progressing towards a split routines (i.e. upper body/lower body/cardio & core days) is the more effective way to go when it comes to achieving your fitness goals…

Coach

To learn more about FUll body workouts and whether or not you should utilize, make sure to check out: Full Body workouts– The What, When, Why, and How

7. Changing up your workouts too often

Changing up your workouts every workout may seem exciting to some and motivational at the start, but to me, progress and seeing more physical results is much more exciting and motivating when it comes to keeping the workouts going…

Advantages to changing up your workouts

• Experience with doing different exercises and more variety
• Hit different area of the muscles
• Get your heart rate up

Disadvantages to changing up your workouts often:

• You may feel as if you are progressing more than you are
• You may not give yourself time to see progress with strength
• Proper form and getting the most benefits from an exercise takes time and repetition– which you may not be giving yourself enough of either…
• You are more likely to injure from doing exercises improperly
• You’re more likely to be including exercises that are not as effective towards your goals then others

So how often should I change up my workout program?

As a coach, I generally program 3 or 4 slightly altered workouts per week, all catered to the overall goal for my clients to work through for a period of 3-6 weeks. During which time, I’m able to record progress, and by weeks 3-6 is generally where they’ve mastered the exercises enough to progress to tougher variations and/or introduce new movements altogether…

One of the most important aspects of any endeavor lies not only in effort, consistency, or strategy– but in giving yourself enough time to succeed before giving up or moving forward.

Coach

Closing

For beginners, programming is not as complicated. As long as you get to the gym minimum 3x per week, lift some weights, do some cardio, stretch and maintain frequency– you will see progress. I’ve seen many who succeed in seeing results on the wrong program, through sheer will and consistency– but I’ve also seen many give up, fail, or injure due to this.

As you get more advanced with your workouts–or if you have more factors to consider then an uninjured 21 year old with a rampant metabolism– to continue to progress and see results, or simply start with more confidence in your start– proper workout programming does require a more methodical approach…

If you’re still unsure or overwhelmed, remember this:

Ongoing effort, consistency, and the sheer will to keep going and give yourself enough time to succeed are by far the most important keys to success in becoming the healthiest, strongest, best version of yourself. When in doubt, start small and ask questions along the way…

Coach

If you enjoyed this article make sure to check out other like: Top 10 Fitness Q&A for Beginners, I think you’re gonna like what I got for ya.