There are approximately a million and one ways to work out, and any one of them might be the right one for you, depending on your goals. I’m still a relative newbie when it comes to fitness - I only started going to the gym about 3 years ago - but I’ve learned a lot over the past few years, and I’ve found (created? I mean, I decide each day what I do, so maybe “designed” is the proper term) a program that works well for my body and my goals.

“What’s Your workout split?”

You’ll often see fitness folks reference their “workout split,” which is basically the structure of what they work out and when. Your split depends on a few factors, including how often you work out, how much time you’re able to spend in the gym, and what your goals are for development. A typical split might be P/P/L (push, or chest, triceps, and shoulders; pull, or back and biceps; and legs), the Arnold Split (chest and back, arms and shoulders, and legs, each twice a week), upper body/lower body, or any other number of combinations.

I recently changed up my split a little bit; I did something like P/P/L (with an extra leg day) for a long time, but since I decided to compete I’ve been putting extra emphasis on my glutes and shoulders. My current split is legs/ back and shoulders/arms/legs/abs and shoulders, which is working pretty well for me so far. While I do still train chest, it’s not a priority for me right now, and dropping it from my routine leaves me with more time for other areas.

Sample workouts

Here are some examples of actual workouts that I’ve done over the past few weeks. A superset, for those who don’t know, are exercises that are done one after the other without a break between; I usually do them to save time, but some people believe they help you gain muscle faster. I also try to practice progressive overload, which basically means making the exercise harder over time. You can do that by increasing the weight, the number of reps you do, or slowing down the tempo, amongst other things.

Monday: Glutes and Hamstrings
Hip thrusts/KAS glute bridges (superset) - 3x10/10
V-Squats - 3x10, 8, 6 (increasing weight each set)
Hip abductions - 3x10, 8, 6 (increasing weight each set)
Bulgarian split squats - 3x8

Tuesday: Back and Shoulders
Low row - 3x10, 8, 6 (increasing weight each set)
Lat raises - 3x10
Lat pulldowns - 3x8
Shoulder Press - 3x10

Thursday: Arms
Ez bar curls - 3x10
Skull crushers - 3x8
Hammer curls
Triceps extensions - 3x12, 10, 8 (increasing weight)

Friday: Glutes and Quads
Hack squat - 3x10
Single leg press - 3x10, 8, 6 (increasing weight)
Leg extensions - 3x10, 8, 6 (increasing weight)
Glute medius kickbacks - 3x10, 8, 6 (increasing weight)

Saturday: Abs and Shoulders
AbCore - 3x10/10/10 (Front, left obliques, right obliques)
Shoulder press - 3x10
Hanging leg raises - 3xAMRAP (as many reps as possible)
Rear delt flys - 3x10, 8, 6 (increasing weight)

“Cardi-oh no”

While a lot of competitors spend hours on the treadmill or stairmaster, I’ve always hated traditional cardio. Even as a kid I disliked running for any kind of distance, though I was fast over shorter stretches, and nothing much has changed in the intervening years.

Cardio is just as important to creating your physique (and keeping your heart healthy) as weights are, though, and it’s actually a big part of my life! My secret - I walk everywhere. One of the things that I love most about Chicago is how walkable it is, so it makes it easy for me to get my steps in throughout the day. I typically end up doing 10K steps per day just getting around: walking to and from the train to work, getting to the gym, taking a stroll on my lunch, running errands. For the past couple of weeks I’ve set my step goal to 15K, and it’s motivated me to get out and walk even more.

My other favorite form of cardio is dance. I’m not the most coordinated person, but I really enjoy going to Zumba classes (my boyfriend used to be an instructor!) and just doing little dancy dances in my daily life. I used to be kind of hung up on being a “good” dancer, but really, who cares? These days, it just feels good to move.