Sticking to your fitness routine is often hard enough, but it gets even harder if you don’t have a program to follow. It’s not enough to just hop on the cardio machines for a few minutes and then throw in some ab exercises before hitting the showers.
Sure, you might be doing more than the average joe who stays at home, but failing to have a structured plan can make it hard to reach your goals, and more importantly to stay motivated to do so.
Here are our 4 reasons why following a structured exercise plan is essential.
1. It provides structure
There is nothing worse than feeling like you’re wasting time. Having a workout plan provides you with structure so that you aren’t wasting time figuring out what to do next and stops you from always reverting back to the same old exercises you usually do.
A structured and systematic approach to exercise not only helps you be more effective during your workouts, but also helps keep you motivated over time and insures that you actively move towards your fitness goals.
2. You have consistency in your workouts
Another reason to follow a workout program is so that you can continuously challenge your body in the right ways. Your body naturally adapts and changes if you keep challenging it over time, which ultimately improves your strength and fitness.
If you’re trying to make noticeable improvements to your body, it’s important to gradually increase the difficulty and intensity of your workouts. A properly designed exercise program will systematically challenge your body over time.
This concept is known as progressive overload and is one of the most fundamental principles of fitness .
3. You have well rounded fitness
A well designed exercise program will include a variety of exercise types that challenge your body in different ways. This insures that your body remains balanced and that your fitness is well-rounded.
A combination of strength, cardiovascular, flexibility and balance exercise helps promote equal and proportional development, and is crucial to becoming a well-rounded, functional athlete.
4. Keeps you motivated
Not having a plan to follow will most definitely lead to burnout. Sure, you might be tired of working out or might not be in the mood for the gym for a few days; but if you keep moving forward you WILL see results.
A well-structured workout plan will help prevent boredom and burnout by not only increasing in difficulty and intensity, but by including variety, which keeps things fun and interesting.
Guess which workout plan works the best?!
The one you complete!
There is no magic pill!
