What Should My Weekly Workout Schedule Look Like?
The Ideal Weekly Workout Schedule, Based on Your Goals
How Often You Should Work Out, Based on Your Goals
With all the exciting and intriguing workout options available these days—whether in-studio or streaming at home, from barbell lifts to bodyweight HIIT—it’s easy to feel a little decision fatigue on what your week of workouts should look like. Factor in figuring out exactly how many days you should dedicate to strength, cardio, and those necessary rest days and forget it. Too many choices; too little time.
That’s why we’re doing the weekly planning for you—so you can jump in and enjoy the sweat. You do have to tackle one crucial task, though: Decide what you want to accomplish in the next few weeks. Looking to build muscle all over? Working to run a little faster? Just want to stay healthy and feel good? No matter your goal, nailing down a weekly plan is the best way to achieve it.
Of course, everyone’s workout schedule will look a little different. Exercise isn’t one-size-fits all, because it depends on your fitness level, how fast your body recovers, and how quickly your body responds to movement. But a general outline—one designed based on your goals—should get you where you want to go.
Your Goal: Stay Fit and Feel Good
Your Weekly Workout Rx:
Strength train: 2-5 days at moderate intensity
Strength training is a super important part of staying healthy. Resistance training does everything from protect your bones to improve your sleep. Try doing combination exercises to work multiple muscle groups at one time, with moves like squat to press or lunge to bicep curl. You can also superset exercises of opposing muscle groups, such as chest presses (for your chest) followed by rows (working your back).
If you prefer doing strength three days a week, 30 minutes each day will do. Research backs this up, showing that it’s the volume (think total reps and sets) of resistance exercises that matters more than how often you do it. Participants in the study who did just three days of lifting a week gained the same strength and muscle gains as those who focused on strength training six days a week—but the volume remained the same for both.
The amount of weight you lift and for how many reps depends on your fitness level, but that’s where that “moderate” intensity comes into play, says Davis. You want to shoot for somewhere in the 5-7 range on a scale of 1-10 in terms of rate of perceived exertion, meaning you’re not at max effort, but you’re not as comfy as sitting on the couch either. You strike right in the middle or teetering a little higher.
Cardio: every day
While doing cardio every day might sound intimidating, it’s really not. Just shoot for 20 minutes a day and that can be as simple as a walk around town. It can also be some time on the rower, though, or a quick jog. Your goal is sustained cardio, no matter the activity you want to get done.
Rest: when you’re sore or when you’re tired
If you’re feeling super sore or you’re just wiped out, don’t be afraid to take the day off completely.
Your Goal: Get Strong
Your Weekly Workout Rx:
Strength: 4-5 days
When planning your strength sessions, consider switching up your movement patterns because you're going to be lifting heavy. For instance, Monday try doing upper body push and pull exercises (moves like overhead presses and lat pull downs) and on Tuesday focus on lower body (like glute bridges and squats). Do the same thing for Thursday and Friday. One day a week, add in power movements like kettlebell swings, wall balls, or box jumps. Those power exercises will help you generate force with more speed.
For strength building, focus on lifting heavier weights too. You should feel tired by rep six or eight of each set, says McCall. Increase the volume by doing four or five sets, taking breaks between each to recover.
Cardio: 1 day
Choose whether you want to do a quick bout of interval training or a moderate-intensity steady-state workout. Lots of cardio training can offset strength gains, you still want to work on improving your aerobic efficiency. So take one day to focus on getting that heart rate up. On the other days, just aim to get some steps in while you’re out of your seat.
Rest: 1 day, plus one day for mobility
If you follow the strength plan mentioned, Wednesday is a good day to take a yoga class. It’s easy to lose some range of motion when you’re lifting heavy, so yoga can help avoid that. (You can also try these dynamic mobility moves.) While you can work mobility any day, take at least 24 hours off during the week too.
Your Goal: Build Muscle
Your Weekly Workout Rx:
Strength: 5 days, adding more volume
The very best way to build muscle: lift weights. That means you want to up your strength days, focusing on hitting that five-day-a-week mark, and adding more reps and sets each week. Starting with 30 minutes a day, then going up to 45 in a week or two, and then up to an hour. This will continue to challenge your body and add muscle as you go.
When trying to figure out the reps for each exercise you do, go until you can’t go anymore.
Also, because you’ll be training two days in a row, switch up the plane of motion you work in—say, reverse lunges one day and side lunges the next or deadlifts one day and glute bridges the next.
Cardio: 1 day, but focus more on step count
Instead of trying to schedule in a spin class or log miles on the road, just try to get those 10,000 steps. .
That said, if you love cardio, get after a HIIT workout. Make it Tabata style with just four minutes of total work, moving through 20-second all-out pushes and 10 seconds of rest. You’ll add to your cardio capacity while training fast-twitch muscle fibers that help improve your power.
Rest: 2 days
Do two days back to back of your strength training, then taking a full day to rest. Repeat that sequence all month long.
Your Goal: Improve Endurance
Your Weekly Workout Rx:
Strength: 2-5 days, focusing on higher reps
You still need strong muscles to go the distance and work out for longer—aka to build that endurance. So, don’t skip out on strength training. The only switch is focusing on adding more reps, so you build muscular endurance. Aim for the 20 to 30 rep range, doing total-body exercises.
Working through circuits, in which you perform several exercises back to back. Try to reduce the time you rest between each one to train those type I muscle fibers (the ones you need prepped for long endurance work).
Cardio: 3 days, with 1 interval day
Interval training works great for building endurance, and it’s smart to add longer intervals so you continue to build up your cardio.
Then, on the other days, focus on steady state cardio and working for longer as you keep pushing the distance. You should be able to hold a brief convo during those more moderate paced runs, walks, or rides.
Rest: at least 1 day
Whether you’re binging on Netflix, going to yoga, or heading out for a walk around the block, make sure you get at least one day for recovery.
Your Goal: Increase Your Speed
Your Weekly Workout Rx:
Strength: at least 2 days
Even if you’re working to get faster at a lower body-dominated sport, you still want to train your entire body to get strong.
Working power movements into your strength workouts, in addition to regular lifts. Power—marrying strength and speed to produce force as quickly as possible—involves movements like kettlebell swings and med ball tosses and can train your muscles to dominate those faster times you’re after.
Cardio: 3 days, with 2 interval days
High-intensity interval training is the way to go to train for speed. Just eight to 10 minutes of alternating all-out work periods with quick rest breaks will train the type II muscle fibers (those responsible for taking on sprints), which you need to pick up your pace and score a new personal best.
While you should schedule two days for HIIT, with at least one rest day between, take another day for steady state cardio, working at your aerobic threshold. That means you should only be able to hold a brief convo while you’re moving. For comparison, you shouldn’t be able to talk during your HIIT workouts.
Rest: 2 days
You want to wind down after those HIIT workouts, so use the next day to take a yoga class or a nice, slow stroll.
Your Goal: Lose Weight
Your Weekly Workout Rx:
Strength: 3-5 times a week at moderate intensity
Just like those looking to maintain or improve their health, those looking to shed pounds should focus on total-body strength training at least three days a week.
You still want to aim for moderate intensity too, lifting weights that feel challenging, elevate your heart rate and make you a bit breathless. Doing combo exercises (like squat to curl or deadlift with a row) will increase the intensity, too.
Cardio: focus on step count and 1-2 days of intervals
If you want to turn up the calorie burn, intervals work best. You want to make sure you’re working at a high level through the intervals, going at an all-out effort. You don’t need more than 30 minutes for a HIIT workout and you can even start with just four or eight minutes, Tabata style. That involves working for 20 seconds and resting for 10 seconds and repeating for eight rounds.
Rest: after each interval day
You can make these active recovery days the day after you did your HIIT workout by taking a walk or heading to yoga. You need those 24 hours to let your body recoup, help your muscles repair and rebuild, and avoid overtraining (and injury).
The Best Way to Simply Move Better
Mobility is definitely a buzzword in fitness these days. So if your main objective comes down to simply moving better (that’s what mobility is after all), strength training will get you there—as long as you're moving through a full range of motion during each move. For any goal, you want to warm up with mobility exercises that prime the body for heavier lifts (or if you’re interval training, those more intense sprints), but that’s especially important if you’re looking to move with more ease. In other words: If mobility is your goal, don't ditch the warm-up or cool down. Try dynamic or active stretches before you sweat, more static stretches after, and foam rolling whenever you can. You can even find recovery classes at gyms and studios now, dedicate at least one day to moving better—whether it’s on your list of goals or not.
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