It might seem like some people are naturally better at making time for exercise. They’re the lucky ones who always seem full of energy and actually like running and squatting. Right? Wrong.

For the vast majority of us who are regular exercisers, it’s taken years to develop a workout regime to suit our goals and time constraints. And even if you do love the thrill of running outdoors or lifting heavy, things can still get in the way like busy jobs, rain and low energy. The key to pushing past those barriers is in having a plan that’s motivating, flexible and easy to stick to.

“Four key pillars that a good exercise plan has are strength, mobility, flexibility and endurance,” says personal trainer Gemma Mushington. “However, the importance of each of these will vary depending on who the person is and what their goals are.”

While the government recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise a week, what you do in those sessions is totally dependent on you. Those minutes could be made up by running, hypertrophy style training, bodyweight circuits, or whatever it is that you like.

Emma Obayuvana, fitness trainer and member of the Strong Women Collective, agrees that a plan has to be personal. “Everyone is so different with fitness levels and health conditions, so exercise should never be prescriptive,” she says.

1. Decide on your goal

You can’t narrow down how many strength sessions versus how many yoga sessions you should aim for a week unless you know what you actually want the outcome of your training to be. “That’s why I would always recommend starting with the goal. What do you want to achieve from your workouts?” says Obayuvana.

But as well as what we want, we need to think about what our bodies need. “Someone who’s recovering from an injury will need to work a little more on flexibility and mobility. They can’t be diving straight into a strength training programme before they’ve worked to recover,” Mushington says.

While the average person who wants to exercise to support their physical and mental health could do with a good balance of each pillar, “there will be cases where one element of training is more important than the others,” Mushington adds. 

2. Decide how often you can exercise

Work out how many days you can dedicate to exercise without compromising on other things that are important to you or over-exerting your body. Four? Great. Three? Awesome. One? Cool. “Some people have more time now,  others have less. It’s important to be realistic with what you want to do,” Obayuvana says.

As well as considering what hours you work and what family responsibilities you have, you need to consider what your favourite time to train is. “There’s no point deciding to train at 5am for an hour if you hate mornings,” reminds Obayuvana. Similarly, some people love to exercise on the weekends when they don’t have to rush, others prefer to use their days off as a time to totally relax. There’s no right or wrong.  

3. Work out the ratio of cardio to strength and mobility

Your workout split might see you spend one session working on strength (such as a full-body weights session), another on flexibility and mobility (in the form of a good yoga flow) and another on endurance (perhaps by running or cycling). But it’s important to not look at the pillars of fitness in isolation, says Mushington. “Strength training sessions will usually require a warm-up stretch and, by its own nature, also works on our flexibility and mobility too,” she says.

That means every one of your workouts could entail every pillar of fitness. For example, if you decide to exercise three times a week and you want stronger legs, you could do two lower-body days and one upper body day. 

“Within those splits, you might start with a warm-up which entails a little bit of cardio but also mobility and dynamic stretching. And then in your main workout, you might end up doing four strengthening exercises and end on a superset which gets your heart rate up further. Then you could end with a cool down that includes long stretches to relax the body and improve flexibility,” suggests Mushington. Hey presto, you’ve hit every one of your pillars multiple times a week.

And if you are training to get better at running, you need to make sure you don’t just train endurance every day. “You need to put in the time to make sure you’re recovering well with flexibility and mobility training to protect the hips, spine and ankles,” says Mushington.  

It’s OK to deviate from the plan. If you wake up with an upper body day scheduled in the diary but have tight shoulders from a long week sat at your computer, then adapt. “You won’t always be in the mood because it is a difficult, claustrophobic, stressful time,” says Mushington. 

“But also, maybe the routine you had in mind just isn’t working for you or your body. Maybe training two days in a row is too much, or you decide you really don’t like running. Be open to reassessing the goals so your body gets what it needs, and you feel happy with the plan,” she says.

For Obayuvana, it’s important to remember to schedule in regular movement throughout the day as well as the 20, 30 or 60 minutes you plan for weight lifting, running or yoga. “People underestimate the power of steps,” she says. “It’s not just about how sweaty you get, it’s about being active for your body and brain,” she says.  

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Images: Getty