There are a lot of opinions and personal accounts out there of the best exercises and workout plans to do at the gym. From TV, YouTube, fitness websites, and real life personal trainers, there is information about the best workout plan coming from so many sources that it can be overwhelming, and unfortunately, contradictory.
To battle the influx of info and figure out what works best for us, my partner and I figured out our workout plan the old-fashioned way: through trial and error. We both wanted a full body workout to tone and loose fat, and we found that targeting specific muscle groups on different days and mixing in some cardio afterward was the most effective way to tone and lose fat everywhere. It also allows ample time for our muscles to recover because, spoiler alert: since starting our workout routine, I’ve been sore every single day!
How to Find Your Perfect Exercise Program
We did a lot of research to find how to separate our muscle groups and which exercises were the most effective to target specific muscles. After a few successes and failures, we found that it works best for us to separate our exercises like this: Upper Back & Biceps, Lower Back & Shoulders, Chest & Triceps, and Legs & Abs. Before every gym session, we planned out the exercises we are going to try and then recorded the weight and reps of each exercise to keep track of our gains. If you are going to do a similar workout routine where every fourth or fifth gym day you are targeting the same muscle group, I highly recommend recording the weight and reps you do so you can progressively increase the weight you are lifting to prevent plateauing.
I should mention that this workout routine works best for both of us and we have very different bodies. When we started, I was 130 pounds at 5’5” tall and Gerald was 195 pounds at 6’4” tall. The amount of weight we lift is different, but the exercises are the same. We normally do 10 reps, 3 times and increase the weight every week.
Our Workout Plan
Here is the weekly workout I do with my partner at the gym:
Upper Back & Biceps
Chinups
Cable Row
Lat Pulldown 1-Arm Dumbbell Row
Barbell Curl
Standing Dumbbell Curls
Lower Back & Shoulders
Deadlift
Barbell Shrugs
Dumbbell Overhead Press
Back Extensions
Military Press
Lateral Shoulder Raises
Rear Deltoid Fly
Front Shoulder Raises
Scapula Pull Down
Chest & Triceps
Benchpress
Cable Peck Fly
Incline Dumbbell Press
Barbell Tricep Extensions
Tricep Pull Downs
Legs & Abs
Squats
Calf Raises
Lunges
Plank
Leg Raises
Mountain Climber
Russian Twists
Bicycle
Single Leg Drops
Toe Touches
Resources for At-Home Workouts
While I highly recommend joining a gym, (click here to find out why) you can have effective workouts from home with the proper equipment. Here are two of my favourite YouTube channels that offer at home workouts if you can’t get to the gym:
