The Workout Plan

The workout plan is pretty simple and straightforward. Like I mentioned in the “Work Smarter not Harder” article, you will be working out for just 35 minutes per day and even better than that, you will only be working out 4 days per week. It is important to have a plan and know which days you will work out to eliminate procrastination and develop a strong habit, but they can be any days you choose as long as you do them in order.

You may choose to do the workouts for 4 consecutive days, say Monday through Thursday because you will do the exact same exercise one day per week (that’s right, just one day per week! That is the beauty of the Work Smarter not Harder plan!) Or maybe you will choose to break it up and workout on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It doesn’t matter, the choice is completely yours.

You will automatically get enough recovery time you will never do the exact same exercise more than once per week. No matter which days you do the workouts, as long as you are consistent, work each muscle to exhaustion and feed yourself properly your muscles will grow bigger and faster than you ever thought possible.

Each week will have 2 upper body and 2 lower body workout days, but you will never work the same muscle more than once per week (with the exception of the abs which are worked on both lower body days). Workout 1 and workout 3 will focus on the muscles of your upper body and workout 2 and 4 will focus on the muscles of the lower body. It is a good idea to plan your week or month out in advance.

You might want to simply put a 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the calendar for the days that you will do each workout and then stick to it! You might also want to print out the workouts and stick them on the wall if you are working out at home or put them in a folder that you take to the gym.

Make sure to do each move slowly and with purpose. The “negative” part of the lift (usually the downward motion) should be done more slowly as the resistance to the weight at this point is the strongest and most of the results come from this part. Think of lifting for one second and returning to the start position in 3 seconds. Be sure to fully focus on the muscle you are working and feel it getting larger with each repetition.

A mirror is a great tool, if available to help you concentrate on the muscle and check your form. Never lift more weight than you can safely and effectively handle. Doing a move incorrectly to compensate for too much weight will not only short-circuit your results, it could cause serious injury as well.