Workout Plans: Which Program Is Right For You?

Workout plans are a dime-a-dozen on the internet, and you need one that is not only effective but one that you can stick to for the long term. And this is true regardless of whether you want to build muscle, lose fat, do a little bit of both or just get stronger.

There’s a lot that goes into deciding what type of workout plan is best for you, and when you understand how a training program is put together, it’s easier to make a decision on which program will be best for you.

In this article, we’re going to cover training frequency, schedule preferences, fat loss and muscle gain goals, and I’ll give program options as we go.

NOTE: please keep in mind it’s impossible to detail every single type of training program or protocol on one article. There are thousands of books written on the subject. I’m merely giving you what I think are some of the best workout plans for building muscle, losing fat and building an aesthetic physique.

Determining Training Frequency For Your Workout Plans

Training frequency typically means how often you’re training during the week. However, this can have a few meanings depending on how you look at it, so let’s do that.

Training Frequency:

  • how often you go to the gym
  • how often you train each body part / muscle group

For instance, the classic body-part split programs will have you training each body part once per week, so if you want to hit your entire body equally over a seven day period, you might be required to have five to six sessions in seven days.

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Are You Unbreakable? The Importance Of Mobility For Training And Daily Life

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Today’s article is a guest post by Kate Galliett, Author of The Unbreakable Body, a web-based strength & conditioning program. Kate holds a BS in Exercise Science and has worked as a fitness professional for 12 years.

Now more than ever, we are finding ourselves juxtaposed between two worlds.

In one world, we want to be able to do more, lift more, fit more into our days; while in the other world, we find ourselves desperately desiring to chill out, to get real about a meditation practice, to not have stress kicking us in the pants at every turn.

Not to mention, the message is out there and the volume is turned to full blast –

Stress zaps fat loss efforts.

Stress zaps strength gains.

Chronic stress is absolutely affecting the gains you’re after in physique, performance, and health.

JC is well aware of this, having coached me through stressful periods of life and with his guidance on stress-reduction and nutrition, I saw my body comp get to a level I am incredibly pleased with.

And, we did this while paralleling the most stressful period of time I’d seen in the last 10 years – when my body comp, in the past, would have been falling apart, it actually improved tremendously.

JC is an amazing coach, one whom I respect immensely, that is for sure. So it was an honor when he turned to me for assistance on one of his goals.

“Can you help me get into lotus position?,” his text said.

We’d been talking about our meditation practice, and what tools we’d been using for handling stress in our lives.

He had a goal of incorporating more stillness into his day. In working on that goal, he felt compelled to work towards lotus position, the seated position used in many eastern meditation practices where you cross your legs and rest each foot on the opposing thigh — like this:

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JC Deen is a nationally published fitness coach and writer from Nashville, TN. Currently living in the blistering Northeast. Follow me on X/Twitter