One of the most common questions I get asked is,
“HOW DO YOU STAY SO MOTIVATED?”
Here’s the deal, my “motivation” for working out regularly
is honestly a big bowl of queso… and knowing that as long as I stay in shape
and maintain a caloric deficit more often than not- I can indulge in queso and
margs pretty often and still maintain my weight.
But one thing that does kill my drive to hit the gym is when
I start getting bored of my workout routine. So how do I keep that from
happening? How can YOU mix up your workout routine whenever you want? It’s
simple! Just play around with different workout structures.
In this post, I am going to take one basic workout and demonstrate
how you can take the same exercises in that workout and transform them to fit
several different workout structures.
I challenge you to try out each of these workout structures in
the next few weeks (subbing in your own exercises of course!) and see for
yourself which ones you love, which ones you hate, and how each structure
challenges you in different ways.
Basic Workout Structure
Completing all the sets of one exercise before moving on
to the next one.
- Squats / 3 sets of 10 reps
- Walking lunges / 3 sets of 10 reps per leg
- Sumo Squats / 3 sets of 10 reps
- Hip Bridges / 3 sets of 10 reps
- Romanian Deadlifts / 3 sets of 10 reps
- Dumbbell Snatches / 3 sets of 10 reps per leg
This workout structure is easy, but it can be very boring.
I recommend this workout structure for days when you are lifting your maximum
amount of weights because it allows for more rest time between exercises than
most of the other workout structures.
Superset Structure
Pairing two exercises together and moving to the 2nd
exercise in that pair with little to no rest.
Superset 1: 3 Sets
·
10 Squats + 10 Walking Lunges
Superset 2: 3 Sets
·
10 Sumo Squats + 10 Hip Bridges
Superset 3: 3 Sets
·
10 Romanian Deadlifts + 10 Dumbbell Snatches
This workout structure is more
challenging because it limits your rest time to only resting while switching to
the next superset, which as a result, increases your overall calorie burn
because your heart rate will stay higher for longer throughout the workout. I love this workout structure and use it the
most often.
Circuit Workout Structure
Pairing 3 or more exercises
together with little to no rest while moving to the next exercise within each
circuit
Circuit 1: 4 Rounds
- 10 Squats
- 10 Walking Lunges
- 10 Dumbbell Snatches
Circuit 2: 4 Rounds
- 10 Sumo Squats
- 10 Romanian Deadlifts
- 10 Hip Bridges
This workout structure is most beneficial when you are
wanting to do a fullbody workout. When I structure a circuit workout for
myself, I like to structure each circuit like this: 10 reps of an explosive leg
exercise + 10 reps of an arm exercise + 10 reps of an abs exercise. Circuit
training is a good way to hit several muscle groups in one workout while
maintaining a challenging heart rate (because your goal should be to only rest
when you are moving from one circuit to the next). This structure is also great
for partner/group workouts.
HIIT Workout Structure
Combining short bursts of explosive exercise with longer
periods of lower-intensity exercises
Superset 1: 3 Sets
- 10 Jump Squats + 15 Romanian Deadlifts
Superset 2: 3 Sets
- 10 Jumping Lunges + 20 Hip Bridges
Superset 3: 3 Sets
- 10 Dumbbell Snatches + 15 Sumo Squats
You’re working twice as hard,
finishing in half the time. HIIT is my all-time favorite workout structure
because it cuts your workout time in half and doubles your calorie burn because
of the way those explosive exercises spike your heart rate. Less time spent in
the gym, same great results! HIIT is one of the most challenging forms of
workouts- it requires a LOT of stamina because your goal is to not rest at all—the
lower impact exercises are your “rests.” **You don’t have to use the superset
method for HIIT workouts, that is just how I personally structure my own HIIT
workouts most often.
TABATA Structure
A form of HIIT that alternates
between 20 second intervals of exercise, followed by 10 seconds of rest, and
repeated eight times for a total of four minutes.
TABATA LEGS Workout
·
0:00-4:00 Dumbbell Snatches
0:00-0:20 Work / 0:20-0:30 REST / 0:30-0:50 Work / 0:50-1:00 rest REPEAT 4X
·
Rest 1 minute
·
4:00-8:00 Walking Lunges
·
Rest 1 minute
·
8:00-12:00 Air Squats
·
Rest 1 minute
·
12:00-16:00 Hip Bridges
·
Rest 1 minute
·
16:00-20:00 Romanian Deadlifts
The TABATA method is one of the most confusing workout
structures to explain but it will give you a huge calorie burn and is great for
sculpting lean muscle because of the high amount of reps you will get from 4
minutes of each exercise. This workout structure usually leads to longer workouts
than other structures.
TABATA is one of my favorite structures to use for
fullbody workouts. I like to structure mine to start with a cardio exercise for
minutes 0-4, a arm or leg exercise for minutes 4-8, and a core exercise for
minutes 8-12. From there- I list out 7 exercises for a total of 28 minutes,
which usually makes my full workout last about 40 minutes after I include all
my rest time.
ONE to ONE Structure
A form of HIIT where the time splits of work and rest are equal.
EX.) 30 seconds work + 30 seconds rest
One to One Lower Body Workout:
- Jump Squats: 3 Rounds--30 seconds on / 30 seconds rest
- Hip Bridges: 3 Rounds—1 minute on / 1 minute rest
- Dumbbell Snatches: 3 Rounds—30 seconds on / 30 seconds rest
- Walking Lunges: 3 Rounds—1 minute on / 1 minute rest
This workout can be a less intense version of the TABATA
structure because it always you to rest more, or it can be a very intense workout
depending on which exercises you use. For example: for an exercise as challenging
as jump squats- you would probably rather use the one to one method so that you
can have more time to recover and let your heart rate come down before going
again. In contrast, for an exercise as simple as hip bridges- you could
probably use the TABATA method because you won’t need as much rest because this
exercise doesn’t spike your heart rate as much.
AMRAP Structure
Stands for “as many rounds as possible.” A form of HIIT
where you move quickly from one exercise to the next and repeat the entire
workout as many times as you can before your time limit runs out.
15 Minute AMRAP
- 10 Dumbbell Snatches
- 10 Hip Bridges
- 5 Jumping Lunges
- 20 Squats
This workout structure is really helpful for days when
you are on a time crunch and want to get in and out of the gym as fast as
possible while still getting an intense workout. AMRAPs are very popular in the
Crossfit world because they require a ton of stamina—no rest for the entire
workout, you are just pushing yourself as hard as you can for the entire time
limit. You can use this structure to target any and all muscle groups. You can
do a fullbody 25 Minute AMRAP, a 5 Minute Ab AMRAP, the combinations are
limitless. When in doubt, just make a list of 5-7 exercises you know you want
to do today and do a 25 minute AMRAP
workout using them.
EMOM Workout Structure
Stands for “Every Minute on the Minute”. You must
complete the set number of reps for an exercise within 60 seconds, using the
remaining time left in that minute as your rest/recovery time before the next
minute begins.
12 Minute EMOM:
- Minute 1: 20 Squats
- Minute 2: 15 Dumbbell Snatches
- Minute 3: 5 Jumping Lunges + 10 Sumo Squats
(Repeat for 12 minutes)
EMOM workouts are a bit confusing at first, but once you complete your first full EMOM workout you will have it down. The only “rule” in structuring a EMOM workout is to make sure that you leave yourself enough time in each minute to rest before the next one.
For example: you can easily rep out
20 air squats in one minute and still have at least 10 seconds to breathe.
However, 40 air squats might take up that entire minute, leaving you zero time
to breathe before starting the next exercise. I personally think this workout
structure is most beneficial for lifting HEAVY weight- Do 5 reps of squatting 150
pounds, rest until the next minute begins, then do 6 deadlifts with the same
weight.
Let's Wrap It Up!
There are many more workout structures out there, these are
just the ones that I use the most. It’s wild how you can take the same group of
exercises and simply tweek the order and timing of how you do them, and get all
sorts of different results!
Mixing up your workout structures each week will not only
help you not get bored in your routine, but it will help you not hit a plateau
in your fitness goals! This is because our body is constantly adjusting and
adapting to new forms of stress in order to maintain homeostasis. Exercise puts
stress on our body; Exercise is a form of stress. So it would make since that our
bodies might start to slow results after we’ve been doing the same workouts
over and over and over. Food for thought, just incase I haven’t already sold you
on mixing up your workout routine 😉.
As always, feel free to reach out to me via email or dm if
you have any questions about anything in this post! I am always happy to help
you guys structure your workouts and answer any and all questions you might
still have.
xo Karrah
