Everything You Need To Make Your Own Workouts

Working out is TOUGH. It not only takes effort to execute, but also takes effort to plan.

There can be a lot of guesswork when It comes to your own workouts. Could they be more efficient? Are there better program options? Are you wasting your time?

I do want to lay it out there that even if there are more efficient options out there, it is never a waste of time working on yourself. Even if there is a particular area that might be able to be improved, you are there, doing the work, and getting It done. That matters MUCH MORE. A great plan done inconsistently will not be effective.

What I want to do in this article is lay out 6 Main Exercises that you can base all of your workout plans around. With those exercises, I want to give you templates for any workout schedule from 2 days per week to 4 days per week. Not only will you have access to the templates I will also lay out a list of exercises that you can plug into those templates to create your own workout programs.

These are the six exercises I base just about every workout on. Whether that be for myself or my clients.

1. Squats
2. Hinges
3. Single leg squats
4. Upper body pushes
5. Upper body pulls
6. Ab exercises

This list will cover every area of your body that you need to work on; frontside, backside, legs, arms, shoulders, chest, back, core…everything. It will also cover all the main movements you should be doing week over week to keep your body moving and feeling its absolute best. There is balance with these exercises, making sure one area of the body is not going to be more more/less developed than another. This can be a definite way to avoid injury over time, making sure every area of your body is up to pace with one another.

Another reason I like this list is because It gives you open interpretation as to what you can do on a particular day. Not every exercise is going to feel the same for each person. For me, I love front squats. Now someone may hate front squats and see more benefit from goblet squats. That is a-okay, they both fall under the “squat” category so as long as you are working hard, you will find similar benefits.

This doesn’t mean you should just skip any exercise that is hard. Challenge yourself, but if something truly doesn’t feel or move well for you, add in a new variation.

From here I want to make some templates, whether you work out 2 days per week, 3 days, or even 4 days. These plans are something you can take and use in your own workouts to get yourself looking, feeling, and moving your absolute best.

2 Days Per Week

If you are doing 2 workouts per week, the focus is going to be full body for both of those sessions. Making sure you are targeting every body part, every session.

What would that look like?

Day 1

1a. Squat

1b. Upper Body Pull

2a. Hinge

2b. Upper Body Push

3a. Arms/Upper Back

3b. Core

4a. (optional) Finisher

Day 2

1a. Hinge

1b. Upper Body Push

2a. Single Leg Squat

2b. Upper Body Pull

3a. Carry/Upper back

3b. Core

3 Days Per Week

I still REALLY like full body workouts when it comes to 3 days per week. That does not mean some people I work with on 3 day plans don’t follow a different style. But I like full body, 3-day per week plans, better than most.

Day 1

1a. Squat

1b. Upper Body Pull

2a. Hinge

2b. Upper Body Push

3a. Carry/Core

3b. Core (floor based)

Day 2

1a. Upper Body Push

1b. Squat or Single Leg Squat

2a. Upper Body Pull

2b. Hinge

3a. Arms

3b. Upper back

3c. Core

Day 3

1a. Hinge

1b. Upper Body Push

2a. Single Leg Squat

2b. Upper Body Pull

3a. Upper back

3b. Core

4 Days Per Week

When we get into 4 days per week this is where things can move around a bit. You can still do full body style workouts but this is where I begin to move away from that style of training. The main two breakdowns I use when it comes to this schedule would be an Upper/Lower routine or Upper/Lower/Full Body/Conditioning routine.

Upper-Lower Routine

Day 1 & 3: Upper Body

1a. Upper Body Push

1b. Upper Body Pull

2a. Upper Body Push

2b. Upper Body Pull

3a. Upper Body Push (isolation)

3b. Upper Body Pull (isolation)

3c. Core/Carry

Day 2 & 4: Lower Body

1a. Squat

2a. Hinge

2b. Single Leg Squat

3a. Squat or Single Leg Squat

4a. Hinge (leg curl)

4b. Core

Upper-Lower-Full-Conditioning

Day 1: Upper Body

1a. Upper Body Push

1b. Upper Body Pull

2a. Upper Body Push

2b. Upper Body Pull

3a. Upper Body Push (isolation)

3b. Upper Body Pull (isolation)

3c. Core

Day 2: Lower Body

1a. Squat

2a. Hinge

2b. Single Leg Squat

3a. Squat or Single Leg Squat

4a. Hinge (leg curl)

4b. Core

Day 3: Full Body

1a. Upper Body Push

1b. Squat or Single Leg Squat

2a. Upper Body Pull

2b. Hinge

3a. Arms

3b. Upper back

3c. Core

Day 4: Conditioning

• 30-45 Minutes of steady work

I plan conditioning days in two different ways. One would be using pieces of cardio equipment like a bike or rower and doing a set amount of time and effort for a minimum of 30 minutes.

The other way they are planned is by adding 3-5 exercises in a circuit style and doing them continuously for 30-45 minutes. An example would be:

• Row 250 meters
• Sled Push 100’
• Push-up x15-25
• Inverted Row x10-15
• Plank Tap x10ea

Now everything that is listed above will be the templates for those schedules. So what I want to do next is add some exercise options to each category. This will allow you to plug in exercise to their sections and create your own workout plans moving forward.

Squat Exercises:

• Back squat
• Front squat
• Goblet squat
• KB rack squat
• DB rack squat
• Single arm rack squat (KB or DB)
• Landmine low squat
• Landmine goblet squat
• Heels elevated goblet squat
• Heels elevated rack squat (KB or DB)
• Hack squat
• Leg press
• Foam roller wall squat
• Barbell box squat
• Goblet box squat
• Zercher squat

Hinge Exercises:

• Deadlift 
• Sumo deadlift
• Romanian deadlift
• Trap bar deadlift
• Hip thrust
• DB or KB Romanian deadlift
• Stiff legged deadlift 
• B stance Romanian deadlift
• B stance trap bar deadlift
• Single arm sumo deadlift 
• Goodmorning
• Goblet goodmorning
• Single leg Romanian deadlift
• Single leg hip thrust
• Death march
• Zercher goodmorning
• 45 degree back extension

You can also link in leg curl exercises to the Hinge category to add some different variety:

• Machine leg curl
• Stability ball leg curl
• Single leg stability ball leg curl
• Slide disc leg curl
• Single leg slide disc leg curl
• Rower leg curl
• Band leg curl
• Glute ham raise
• Nordic hamstring curl

Single Leg Squat Exercises:

• Split squat
• Reverse lunge
• Forward lunge
• Walking lunge
• Rear foot elevated split squat
• Front foot elevated split squat
• Front foot elevated reverse lunge
• Skater squat
• Cossack squat
• Step-up
• Sled push
• Sled drag
• Pendulum lunge
• Side lunge

Upper Body Push Exercises:

• DB bench press (flat, incline, decline)
• Barbell bench press (flat, incline, decline)
• KB bench press (flat, incline, decline)
• Floor press (DB, Barbell)
• Single arm floor press
• Hip bridge floor press (DB, barbell)
• DB hollow body floor press 
• Alternating bench press (flat, incline, decline)
• Push-up
• Z-Press (DB, barbell)
• Seated press (DB, barbell)
• Standing overhead press (DB, barbell)
• ½ kneel landmine press
• Push press (DB, barbell)
• Arnold press
• Isolation pushing exercises (arms):
  • Skullcrusher (DB, barbell)
  • Tricep pressdown
  • Overhead tricep extension
  • Dips
  • Kickback
  • Ring body skullcrusher
  • Rolling tricep extension

Upper Body Pull Exercises:

• Single arm row (DB, KB)
• Chest supported row
• Top down chest supported row
• Alternating chest supported row
• T-Bar row
• Seated row
• Gorilla row
• Cable row
• Chainsaw row
• Inverted row
• Ring row
• Renegade row
• Elevated plank row
• Barbell row
• Pendlay row
• Bent over row (DB, KB)
• Lat pulldown 
• Single arm lat pulldown
• Chin-up
• Pull-up
• Neutral pull-up
• Feet supported pull-up
• Ring pull-up
• Isolation pulling exercises (arms):
  • DB curl
  • Barbell curl
  • Reverse curl (DB, barbell)
  • Hammer curl
  • Horn grip KB curl
  • Cable curl
  • Spider curl
  • Incline curl
  • Preacher curl

Ab/Core Exercises:

• Plank
• Side plank
• Single arm plank
• Single leg plank
• Ring plank
• Single leg ring plank
• Hollow hold
• Hollow body rock
• Plank rollouts
• Stability ball plank rollout
• Stability ball plank
• Pot stir
• Cable rotation
• Pallof press
• Plank drag through
• Bear plank drag through
• Extended plank
• Hanging knee raise
• Hanging leg raise
• GHD sit-up
• Bosu ball sit-up
• DB/KB leg lowering
• V-up
• Straight leg crunch
• Farmer carry
• KB rack carry
• Single arm farmer carry
• Overhead carry
• Single arm overhead carry
• Mixed rack carry
• Zercher carry
• Goblet carry

Step 1: Pick your schedule

Step 2: Pick your exercises

Step 3: Practice and get better at that program for 4 weeks

Step 4: Pick new exercises and repeat step 3

Find the schedule and template that works for you and your current situation. Once you figure that out you will take that template and fill in exercises that fit each template.

Once you make that first draft of workouts, stick with that program for 4 weeks and do what you can to get REALLY good at every single exercise. Get better at the form, the movement, and get stronger. Every week you will find yourself improving in some aspect of the plan, and that is the goal!

After those 4 weeks are up, go back through these exercises and create a new plan following the same template. Do the same thing for the next 4 weeks and keep the ball rolling! You can use this style of training you as long as you possibly want.

In good health,

Jeff

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