Want to create yourself a training schedule but not sure where to begin? We've got your back! Here are some tips to help you get it sorted so you have an action plan each week. This will help you develop a basic structure to help achieve your goals.

The key ingredients

As we're all about finding a greater sense of balance in life, we recommend that whatever you're trying to achieve, including a combination of:

• RESISTANCE TRAINING - To help improve strength and build muscle
• CARDIO TRAINING - To strengthen the heart and lungs, and improve general fitness
• STRETCHING/YOGA - For flexibility and to reduce risk of injury
• REST DAYS - To allow your body to recover, heal and prevent burnout. If you still want to do something on these days to keep up the habit, we recommend focusing on fun activities with your friends and/or family (such as heading to the beach for a walk along the sand, finding a new forest track to walk the dog, or kicking a soccer ball around the back yard) or doing a gentle stretching session
• MINDFULNESS - Especially with focus on what your body can/has achieved to promote body positivity, and to encourage listening to your body's signals. Can be meditations or general mindfulness practices, and can be done on the same day as training sessions).

Why do something most days?

The high target for these schedules may seem full-on, but they are still made with busy people in mind. The aim is to do some kind of movement most days to create a consistent habit.

Even if your planned exercise doesn't work out, spending just 5 minutes on your yoga mat and doing downward dog is better than doing nothing and maintains this habit.

REMEMBER: 10-20 minutes of purposeful exercise out of a 24-hour day is not much; what are you willing to do to make your health and fitness goals a reality?

Bear in mind as well that whatever your goal, nutrition and general wellbeing (such as quality/quantity of sleep, rest and recovery time, overtraining etc.) will also be important.

I want to improve my fitness

High target: Fill out one session a day for six days with one day of rest.

• 2-3 full body training sessions combining resistance and cardio such as bodyweight HIIT/intervals (20+ mins)
• 3-4 sessions of ANY kind of movement you like (10+ mins)

Low target: Aim for three sessions a week.

• 2 full body training sessions combining resistance and cardio (20 mins+)
• 1 session of any kind of movement you like

Then add:

• 3 mindfulness sessions (5 mins+)

I'm just starting out or returning to exercise

High target: Fill out one session a day for six days with one day of rest.

• 6 sessions of ANY kind of movement you like (10+ mins) and build on this over time depending on your goal

Low target: Aim for three sessions a week.

• 3 sessions of any kind of movement (10+ mins)

Then add:

• 3 mindfulness sessions (5 mins+)

The biggest reason people starting our or returning to exercise don't keep it up is when the routine is too difficult. Heading into your new workout plan with enthusiasm is great, but keep it super simple and pace yourself to prevent early burnout!

I want to build muscle

High target: Fill out one session a day for six days with one day of rest.

• 2-3 resistance training sessions (20+ mins, can be bodyweight or cardio/resistance combination such as HIIT/intervals with bodyweight exercises if you are aiming for lean muscle growth, otherwise for bigger muscle growth, pin weights, free weights or weighted equipment may be required)
• 3-4 resistance recovery days/general movement in between your training sessions days (10+ mins, can include gentle yoga, cardio or stretching, this is just about taking a break from the resistance work)

PRO TIP: When building muscle, it's a good idea to give your body at least a day between resistance sessions to allow small micro-tears in your muscles to heal which in turn allows them to grow stronger. If you don't allow for this recovery, progress may take longer.

Low target: Aim for three sessions a week.

• 3 full body resistance training sessions OR
• 1 upper body resistance session, 1 lower, 1 full body or core

PRO TIP: If you're doing the second option - a split programme - you can do upper and lower body on two consecutive days.

Then add:

• 3 mindfulness sessions (5 mins+)

If one of your main goals is fat loss or to get leaner, any of these training strategies will most likely help you get there in the beginning.

Try giving your plan a go consistently for four weeks, keep track of your progress, and if you've seen absolutely no changes in the right direction or you're feeling overwhelmed with it, you may need to make some adjustments - either to the duration of exercise sessions you're doing, the type of training you're doing, or the intensity that you're training at.

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