As the New Year arrives, many of us resolve to get in shape and improve our overall health. Creating a fitness plan is a great way to set specific, achievable goals and stay on track with your wellness journey. The New Year fitness plan listed below is designed to help you gradually increase the intensity and duration of your workouts over the first three months of the year and includes a mix of cardiovascular exercise and strength training to help you achieve your health and fitness goals.
What Does a Fitness Plan Include?
Before beginning a weekly workout, let’s first discuss five components of a multi-component fitness program and discover what form of exercise motivates you to get moving. To avoid injuries and lead the healthiest possible life, these five training elements ought to be included in every fitness regimen, including your New Year fitness plan:
1. Muscular Training
To live a long, healthy life, it is essential to improve lean mass (muscles, bones, and connective tissue) and total muscular fitness. Everything is doable with strong muscles, even lifting heavy groceries, moving a couch, and jumping off a curb. The body’s resting metabolic rate rises as a result of muscle growth and maintenance; as a result, your muscles burn more calories while you’re at rest as muscles are metabolically active.
2. Cardiorespiratory Training
Regular cardiorespiratory exercise, such as brisk walking, cycling, or even dancing, pushes your heart and lungs to work harder to regulate blood pressure, boost circulation, and fortify your immune system.
3. Core Training
The strength and endurance of the muscles in the shoulders, hips, front, back, and sides of the trunk are all improved by having a functional and strong core, which also helps with balance, postural stability, and limb mobility.
4. Mobility Training
To prevent injuries in both sports and daily life, one must maintain proper mobility. Mobility exercises can keep your muscles and connective tissue flexible so that you can move your joints through their entire range of motion while maintaining strength and integrity.
5. Awareness and Rest
At the beginning of the year, it may be tempting to set lofty objectives, but it’s crucial to provide plenty of time for relaxation and recuperation. To prevent overtraining and burnout, pay attention to your body and take breaks when required.
Importance of a New Year Fitness Plan
If you don’t have a plan, your fitness goal for 2023 is nothing more than a desire. It’s time to create a weekly training schedule now that you are aware of the elements of a comprehensive fitness program and have had time to consider what motivates you. Don’t feel pressured to match a certain day of the week to the activity recommendation offered below; it’s okay if a specific workout needs to wait until the following seven days of the week.
Here is a very simple schedule to get you started with your 2023 schedule. You are welcome to substitute dancing or a cardio group exercise class for the specified workouts on days that call for cardio. For better understanding, we have divided this fitness plan into 3 phases.
Exercise Program for Stability and Mobility with Aerobic Base Conditioning (Phase I)
Weeks 1- 4
The first four weeks of the program aim to create a stable core and increase hip strength and mobility. You will do this by performing the aerobic exercises suggested. The program starts with walking cardio workouts, but the objective is to gradually raise the intensity and work rate to finish a 30-minute jog within three months. To make jogging comfortable and doable for the specified timed durations, the progression of the core training activities parallels the progression of the cardiovascular activity.
To boost blood flow and body temperature before beginning the workout routines, warm up for three to five minutes by walking or marching in place.
Your workouts for weeks 1-4 will consist of:
- Bird Dog
- Side Plank
- Front Plank
- Glute Bridge
- Crunches
Cardio Workout
At least three times a week, you should go for a 15-minute walk without stopping. If you can easily and comfortably carry on a conversation while walking, do so.
Aerobic Base Conditioning Program Combined with Stability and Mobility Exercises (Phase II)
Weeks 5-8
The objective of Phase II of the program’s cardiovascular conditioning. Developing efficient motor control and coordination for the five fundamental exercise movements is the aim of resistance and functional training.
- single-leg movements (like step-ups or lunges)
- squatting (or bending)
- pushing
- pulling
- rotation
A straight bar (such as a PVC dowel or broom handle), a set of dumbbells (heavy cans of food can be replaced for the dumbbells), and a medicine ball is recommended as simple equipment or at-home things to add more to your workout (a heavy book or gallon of liquid could be used instead). Try to perform the exercises three days a week—three times during the week, once on the weekend—for the best results.
Your workouts for Weeks 5-8 will consist of:
- Hip Hinge
- Front Squat
- Push-up
- Forward Lunge
- Bent-over Row
- Side Lunge
- Seated Shoulder Press
- Seated Trunk Rotations
- Triceps Kickbacks
- Standing Hammer Curls
Core Workouts
Only complete one set of each exercise throughout week 5 of the program, resting for at least 45 seconds between sets.
Resistance exercise combined with aerobic conditioning (Phase III)
Weeks 9-12
We’ll wrap off this program with Phase III, and we hope you’ve been enjoying the workout and seeing progress. This month, the training program’s rigor will be increased to incorporate additional outside resistance. Resistance training has several advantages, including the ability to grow lean muscle mass, improve muscle definition, and burn fat efficiently when done in a circuit fashion with no pause between exercises. When choosing resistance, pick a weight that will make the exercise’s final two repetitions difficult to very difficult.
Your workouts for weeks 9- 12 will consist of:
- Stability Ball Glute Bridge
- Stability Ball Knee Tucks
- Crunches using Stability Ball
- Dumbbell Deadlift
- Dumbbell Step-ups
- Standing Push Press
- Stability Ball Dumbbell Press
- Barbell Row
- Dumbbell Lateral Raise
- Stability Ball Dumbbell Fly
Always make sure to warm up for at least three minutes by walking or marching in place before beginning the movements in the program to improve blood flow and body temperature.
Cardio Workout
Walk for five minutes at a rate that makes it easy to carry on a conversation, then quicken your pace until it becomes challenging to talk for three minutes. After that, continue running steadily for 10 minutes (or until your breathing becomes rapid and uncontrollable).
Conclusion
You can reach your target goals for the new year by sticking to the workout regimen mentioned above as part of the new year fitness plan. Also, keep in mind to speak with a medical professional if you experience any pain while exercising.
