{"id":173,"date":"2023-05-31T09:31:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T13:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ironmaster.com\/iron-blog\/?p=173"},"modified":"2026-01-23T10:49:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T15:49:29","slug":"how-to-make-your-own-workout-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ironmaster.com\/blog\/2023\/05\/31\/how-to-make-your-own-workout-program\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Make Your Own Workout Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

Most people start on a very similar path in their fitness career. Some start in a strength and conditioning class due to playing a sport, others have a friend who finally talks them into going to the gym and helps them out, and some people find a random program to follow from the internet. The main thing they have in common is that, at some point, you will have to figure out what you need to do without anyone else\u2019s help. It gets tricky if this is your first time doing that. Don\u2019t worry. I am here to help you today.<\/p>\n

Unless you are someone who will have a trainer forever, and if so, that\u2019s perfectly fine if you can afford it, you will need to learn how to work out for your goals. To understand what that means, you must know the difference between working out and training.<\/p>\n

Working out is showing up to the gym and doing what you like, what you see on Instagram, and whatever you feel like doing that day. There is undoubtedly more benefit than harm from doing it this way, and it\u2019s always better than not working out, but if you want to reach a specific goal, this is essentially plowing the field but not planting the right stuff in it to make it grow.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, training is showing up to the gym and following a program that makes sure you do what needs to be done, tells you how it needs to be done, and, when executed, gets you the results you are looking for. Let\u2019s get this out of the way first. There is no perfect system. It simply doesn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n

Once you understand the process of designing a workout, progressing it, and adjusting over time you\u2019ll be like a super fitness computer constantly evolving, learning, and improving; and,\u00a0that is training<\/b>.<\/p>\n

How do you make sure you are training and not just aimlessly working out doing random stuff? Principles!<\/p>\n

These principles can apply to everyone, whether you are a pro athlete or a regular Joe who just got off the couch to lose a few pounds to play with his kids. So what are the principles?<\/p>\n

Pick and stick to your goal<\/h3>\n

This is what it\u2019s all about. What is your why? What are you chasing? No matter when you start your fitness journey, realizing this is a lifelong pursuit won’t take long. So you need to make sure you have short-term and long-term goals.<\/p>\n

Long-term goals can be looked at as a fitness bucket list. You could have a goal of running a marathon, doing 20 pull-ups, competing in a bodybuilding show, and the list goes on and on. Some common starting goals are benching your bodyweight, squatting 1.5 times your bodyweight, or deadlifting twice your bodyweight. This helps put things in perspective and lets you figure out your short-term goals.<\/p>\n

Usually, people start their short-term goals by building muscle, getting stronger, losing fat, becoming more explosive for a sport, or just getting back in shape. These are relatively broad things, so narrowing them down is essential. We can agree that any goal will include an element of getting stronger since that\u2019s the entire point of strength training.<\/p>\n

The first thing you need to do is make this more specific and realistic. Let’s say you want to lose some fat. For a quick example, you could change this to wanting to lose 10 pounds in the next 12 weeks. That\u2019s more realistic and attainable than saying I want to drop 50 pounds in a month. It also has a timeline on it to hold you accountable.<\/p>\n

The most important thing here is that you must stick to your goal. This means not getting frustrated after a few weeks and quitting or switching to a different goal. Doing this leads to hopping from program to program and never giving them an honest chance to work. With the tools you\u2019ll learn today, you\u2019ll know how to adjust if you aren\u2019t progressing to get back on track and achieve that goal.<\/p>\n

Now that you have picked your goal, you are ready for the following principle.<\/p>\n

Picking your split<\/h3>\n

There are many split options, so figuring out what works best for you can be confusing. Your split will determine how many days a week you will work out and what you will do each day. Let\u2019s go over a few common split options quickly so you can get the gist of it.<\/p>\n

Bodybuilders are famous for their body part splits and focusing on hypertrophy. What this means is that they may train as many as 5 or 6 days a week focusing on 1-2 muscle groups each day. This might mean something like chest and triceps on Monday, back and hamstrings Tuesday, shoulders and biceps Wednesday, quads and abs Thursday, and glutes and back Friday. Bodybuilders use every tool and chisel they have to sculpt as much muscle as possible for that specific muscle group\u2019s day.<\/p>\n

Crossfitters on the other hand love Olympic lifts and conditioning workouts. Their programming is often split into full-body training 4-5 days a week. They usually begin with an Olympic lift or squat variation then finish with assistance exercises for that lift and conditioning to finish. Crossfit can be overwhelming for your body if you are inexperienced, but like anything, good programming and slow progression is the key to longevity.<\/p>\n

Another common style for a 4-day training split is the upper-lower option. This means that you do all your upper body exercises on an upper day twice a week and do the same with your lower body. This can be a great option to simplify your programming and to let one half of your body rest while you are working the other half.<\/p>\n

One other option that really simplifies things is the push\/pull\/legs split. This split is three consecutive days of training where you do all your upper body push exercises, all of your upper body pull exercises, and then everything for legs. This split is usually followed by 1-2 days rest and then simply repeat the program for 3 consecutive days again.<\/p>\n

Powerlifters build their programs around maximizing their strength in the big three lifts (bench, squat, deadlift). Their training is going to center almost entirely around their lift of the day. For example, on bench press day they may do something like 8 sets of 3 reps working off of percentages of their max that they increase from week to week with a long term plan. Everything else in that workout would be assistance exercises to help strengthen the muscles associated with bench press.<\/p>\n

Those are some very common split options to get you thinking about what you want to do but there are tons of other options out there.<\/p>\n

To figure out what you will do, you first need to take an honest look at your lifestyle. Be honest about how much time and how many days you have during the week to train. For most people with some training experience, a three-day-a-week full-body strength routine is a fantastic starting point. Remember, these principles can be applied to any split, so this isn\u2019t the only way. I know life gets in the way, but to build a consistent habit, pick the days and times you will lift and stick to them religiously the best you can.<\/p>\n

Ok, you\u2019ve decided on your split and know how many days you will work out. Remember that short-term goal you picked? It\u2019s going to come into play for the following principle.<\/p>\n

Exercise selection<\/h3>\n

This is probably the most challenging part of creating your program. There are so many exercises to choose from, and social media is excellent at showing you the coolest-looking ones that are popular now.<\/p>\n

So how do you sift through the swamp to find what works? When it doubt, keep it simple. Every exercise in your program should have a purpose that relates to the goal you started with. If you want to build muscle, you shouldn\u2019t only be doing high-rep circuits. You shouldn\u2019t mainly focus on quad extensions to get stronger at squats. And as every college guy has to figure out, you don\u2019t want to bench press and curl every day of the week.<\/p>\n

The exercises are like the foundation of your house. It\u2019s what you build on, so it needs to be sturdy. The pillars of this house are movement patterns.<\/p>\n

The pillars include:<\/b><\/p>\n