The bulk of summer may be behind us, but there’s still plenty of warm weather left to keep you motivated for outdoor workouts! And even if you exercise indoors, it’s wise to get a great workout routine in place that you can utilize throughout the rest of the summer, but also into the fall and winter.
If you only work out sporadically, and don’t have an actual schedule in place… we recommend you buckle down! Putting in the extra work now will mean that when the weather starts to get colder and your motivation to stay fit begins to wane, you’ll be ahead of the game with a tried-and-true plan for success.
In this article, we’ll give you an awesome month-long full-body workout plan with new elements every week, so you can meet your goals and find success every step of the way. When the month is over, you can easily use the exact same guide, (simply switching up the individual workouts), as a framework to keep exercising into the fall and winter.
And with a few simple workout tools – like a comfortable yoga mat, high-performing towel, and even toning bands to help increase intensity – you’ll have everything you need to exercise from home or anywhere you want, in any weather.
Remember that fitting in regular fitness isn’t just a way to help you maintain a healthy weight, it’s also extremely important to living your healthiest life. So no matter the season, motivate yourself to make exercise a part of your normal schedule – using it to help you climb towards your goals – starting today!
Month-Long Full Body ACTION PLAN
This is a month-long exercise program, and you will gradually increase the difficulty every week. Track your progress for each workout so that you can analyze yourself week-by-week, and also at the end of the month.
Write down the weights, reps, sets, miles, etc. that you use. Rest days may include gentle movement such as walking, light yoga, stretching, etc. but other than that, a rest day should be for resting as it’s important for recovery.
In the week-by-week workouts below, you’ll see a daily schedule for all 7 days of the week, which includes rest days. Next to each day is the recommended workouts, and if you scroll down further in this article, you’ll find the actual workout routines to follow (for cardio, upper body, lower body, core and HIIT).
There is also a “goal” for each week that you should be striving towards as you complete the routines… Let’s go!
Week 1: Establish a starting point
Welcome to week 1! We hope you’re excited to crush your goals by committing to a regular exercise schedule. During this first week, we really want you to gauge where you are in relation to where you hope to be in your workouts.
Maybe you have a strong core, but you get winded easily in your cardio exercise routine. Or, you’re accustomed to heavy cardio but need to build up more body strength. Or maybe exercise in general is new to you, and you need to really get comfortable and ease yourself into it.
Everyone has a “starting point”, or the place they are on day 1 with their goals. Make sure you use this week to establish yours and where you would like to go from here!
- Day 1: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 2: Strength training (legs)
- Day 3: HIIT and core strength training
- Day 4: REST
- Day 5: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 6: Strength training (legs)
- Day 7: REST
Week 2: Increase weight or speed
Welcome to week 2! Let’s kick up the intensity a bit! Whereas in week 1, your goal was to find your personal starting point, in week 2, you want to take it up a notch. Whatever your starting point or baseline was last week, this week you want to increase either the weight you are using, or the speed of your cardio, or both, depending on your goals.
The idea is to go a bit further than you did last week, while still ensuring you’re not going too hard or fast that it might injure your body. Remember to always stretch before and after your workouts, as well!
- Day 1: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 2: Strength training (legs)
- Day 3: HIIT and core strength training
- Day 4: REST
- Day 5: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 6: Strength training (legs)
- Day 7: REST
Week 3: Get in more reps or increase distance
Welcome to week 3! At this point, you should be incredibly proud of yourself and all you’ve accomplished so far! Going for two weeks with a solid workout routine is no small task, so pat yourself on the back.
Last week, we trained your body to take on more intensity (in the form of more weight or speed). Heading into this third week, we want to focus on duration. We want you to keep the progress you’ve made, and challenge you to keep doing it, but for longer.
Remember to check in with yourself to make sure you’re not over-exerting yourself (or selling yourself short). You should feel challenged without being in any pain.
- Day 1: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 2: Strength training (legs)
- Day 3: HIIT and core strength training
- Day 4: REST
- Day 5: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 6: Strength training (legs)
- Day 7: REST
Week 4: Strive for a new personal best
Welcome to week 4! You’re almost through an entire month! Congratulations! This week, we want to take a close look at the progress you’ve made so far so that you can then ask yourself, “Where can I still improve?”
Your “personal best” will depend very much on your own individual goals. You may choose to increase your weights again, or maybe the amount of reps you’re doing. You may wish to add a few minutes onto your cardio routine. Or, you may really “up” the intensity on your core routine. The choice is yours!
At the end of this week, you should feel accomplished and equipped to keep taking your own personal exercise to greater heights.
- Day 1: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 2: Strength training (legs)
- Day 3: HIIT and core strength training
- Day 4: REST
- Day 5: 30 minutes low-impact cardio and upper-body strength training
- Day 6: Strength training (legs)
- Day 7: REST
Exercise Ideas For All Workouts
Low-impact cardio ideas:
Low-impact exercises are those that are easy on your joints, especially your knees, because they don’t include a lot of heavy pounding. Here are some awesome ideas for low-impact cardio, below, that can help reduce the risk of injury…
- Walking
- Cycling/biking
- Swimming
- Elliptical
- Rowing
- Stair climber
Upper-body workout:
Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds. Repeat for 15 minutes. Equipment needed: Dumbbell (pick a weight that allows you to lift for 40 seconds at a time for 15 minutes total).
Exercises:
- Bicep curls to overhead press
- Lateral shoulder raises to upright row
- Bent over row to tricep kickback
Lower-body workout:
Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, then rest for 20 seconds. Repeat for 15 minutes. Equipment needed: body weight or dumbbell (pick a weight that allows you to lift for 40 seconds at a time for 15 minutes total).
Exercises:
- Squat jumps
- Alternating lunges (with or without toning bands)
- Deadlifts
- Side lunges (use sliders for an advanced version)
- Hip thrusts
Core Workout:
Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, then rest with no active movement for 20 seconds. Repeat for 10 minutes. Equipment needed: body weight or dumbbell (pick a weight that allows you to lift for 40 seconds at a time for 15 minutes total), comfortable and supportive yoga mat to cushion your joints as you move.
Exercises:
- Plank
- Bicycle crunches
- Reverse crunches
- Leg lifts
- Toe touches
HIIT Workout:
Cycle/run/walk/jog/swim/row/etc: Maintain faster speed for 40 seconds, rest at slower speed for 20 seconds. Repeat for 10-15 minutes.
Body weight routine: Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, walk in place for 20 seconds. Repeat for 10-15 minutes.
Exercises:
- Burpees
- Jumping jacks (can add barbells), or jump rope
- Alternating cross body punch (can add barbells)
- High knees
- Plie squats
- Low side shuffle
Ready to keep crushing your goals by adding exercise into your healthy lifestyle?! We challenge you to complete the month-long workout routine outlined above, while also focusing on eating a clean and healthy diet. For amazing healthy recipe ideas and more, check out the 310 Nutrition Blog!
