Do You Have an Effective Workout Routine?

Have you ever asked yourself if you have an effective workout routine when looking at your fitness habits? Fitness for moms needs to be efficient. The last thing moms need is extra fluff. However, on the flip side, it’s also common for critical components of exercise to be excluded from a fitness program. 

So what makes up an effective workout routine? How can you make sure the time you are putting into your workouts is well spent?

An effective workout routine has several critical components 

It’s true that cardio burns more calories (during the actual workout), however, strength training has a much larger impact on your metabolic rate and fat-burning potential. In other words, when you strength train, you gain muscle mass, and muscle mass burns more fat. So you may not burn as much during a strength training workout as a cardio session, (though if you’re lifting heavy enough, it's not uncommon for your heart rate to reach an aerobic level) however, your calorie burning throughout the day will be higher.  

So when planning an effective workout routine, build it around your strength training. Some individuals will have other goals that change this; however, this should be true for the majority of women. At a minimum, you should strength train twice per week, and likely more depending on your goals. 

In terms of strength training, it’s important to take a whole-body approach. Don’t just hyper-focus on the areas of your body that you are trying to elicit change. You cannot spot reduce fat, and you may unintentionally create a muscle imbalance if you are only focusing on certain muscle groups. Effective workout routines include strength training for the whole body. 

The body can be broken up into different chains. This includes the posterior chain, or back of the body, the anterior chain, or front of the body, and the lateral chain, or side of the body. 

Of course, many exercises work the various chains of the body at the same time. The main point is to be sure you aren’t excluding anything. 

Posterior Chain: Below are some examples of exercises that are using mainly the muscles of the posterior chain.

Anterior Chain:  Below are some examples of exercises that are using mainly the muscles of the anterior chain.

Lateral Chain:  Below are some examples of exercises that are using mainly the muscles of the anterior chain.

HIIT cardio, or high-intensity interval training, is a combination of short intense bursts of work that get your heart rate up to  80-95% of your maximum heart rate.  These bursts are then followed by recovery periods of work where you should target a recovery heart rate of 55-65% maximum heart rate. 

Check out some of our recent cardio workouts featured on our Insta!

Stretching and mobility should be a focus in every effective fitness routine. Stretching and mobility work helps correct muscle imbalances, can improve joint function, and reduce the risk of injury. Mobility can also increase muscle response during exercise allowing your workouts to be more effective. Try and perform stretching and mobility exercises before and after the main part of your workout each day. 

Check out some of our recent mobility workouts featured on our Insta!

An effective workout routine can come in many different forms

Remember that even though your fitness routine should include all these components, it might look a little different for everyone depending on their goals. If your goals are to run faster, you may have a heavier emphasis on cardio versus someone whose goal is to simply burn fat and “tone up”. Regardless of your goals and how you break your workouts up, the biggest factor is ensuring all the components are there. You may choose to incorporate cardio throughout your strength workouts, or you may choose to keep them separate, again the strategy is all dependent on what your goals are and the amount of time you have to dedicate to exercise. 

If you feel lost in your fitness routine, try our 8-week coaching program and allow us to plan it out for you!