Weight Loss Workout Plan: Your Weekly Fitness Plan To Lose Weight | SELF Skip to main content Open Navigation Menu Menu Weekly Weight Loss Workout Plan Your Weekly Fitness Plan If You Want To Lose Weight MoreChevron Fitness Weekly Weight Loss Workout Plan Your Weekly Fitness Plan If You Want To Lose Weight This ultimate fitness plan will be your new BFF if you're trying to drop pounds. By Alexa TuckerDecember 3, 2016 Facebook Twitter Pinterest Liam Norris / Getty Images Facebook Twitter Pinterest If you're trying to When it comes to the exercise part, we’re here to take some of the guess work out of the equation. Trainer Adam Rosante, C9 Champion brand ambassador and author of The 30-Second Body, developed a weight loss workout plan just for SELF readers to get you going. It incorporates the “Nutrition is priority numero uno—you can’t out-train a bad diet,” he adds. “Eighty percent nutrition plus 20 percent training equals 100 percent beast!” But there’s no need to completely overhaul your life at once if it feels too overwhelming at first, he says. “If you’re in the habit of working out, that may naturally lead you to start exploring healthier eating options. If you’re not there yet, that’s cool—just start working out and make some tweaks. Start small.” And when it comes to working out, Rosante says, “Variety is the spice of life.” But that doesn’t mean changing it up willy-nilly. “I am not a fan of randomly programmed workouts where you’re just doing different things every day,” he says. “You want a program that you can progress with, and you have key indicators that you’re making progress.” That’s exactly what the plan below does. You can use it as a starting point, and tailor it to your needs once you’re comfortable. And if you miss a workout once in a while? No big deal—get back on board with your next one and keep going. It’s a marathon, not a sprint (unless it’s HIIT day—but we’ll get to that). Here s the basic breakdown of what you ll be doing Strength training three days a week, one hour per sessionHigh-intensity interval training one day a week, 20 minutes per sessionSteady-state cardio one day a week, 35 to 45 minutes per sessionTwo days of active recovery John Fedele/ Getty ImagesEvery workout should begin with at least five to 10 minutes of After your workout, make sure you take time to cool down to relax your nervous system, says Rosante. “My favorite thing to do with a client is to lay them down, put their feet up a wall so that their legs are elevated, and just have them breathe into the belly, five seconds to inhale and five seconds to exhale, just to mellow everything out.” After a couple minutes, stretch out your major muscle groups (flexibility is increased when muscles are warm), and hold each stretch for at least three breaths. Here are Most Popular 105 Gifts Your Boyfriend Will Actually Want to Receive By Tiffany Dodson Check Your Fridge, Friends: 25 Brands of Cheese Were Just Recalled By Maggie O'Neill, M.F.A. Doctors Aren’t Happy About the CDC’s New Mask Guidelines for Health Care Settings By Korin Miller Now, get ready to lift heavier, move faster, and lose more. Strength Training — 1 Hour — 3 Days Per Week PeopleImages.com/ Getty ImagesYou may think you have to do cardio, cardio, cardio if you're trying to lose weight, but Most Popular 105 Gifts Your Boyfriend Will Actually Want to Receive By Tiffany Dodson Check Your Fridge, Friends: 25 Brands of Cheese Were Just Recalled By Maggie O'Neill, M.F.A. Doctors Aren’t Happy About the CDC’s New Mask Guidelines for Health Care Settings By Korin Miller 2) Upper-body superset: Upper-body pushing exercise (e.g. dumbbell bench press, You’ll be supersetting these moves, which means doing one set of the first exercise followed immediately by a set of the other. Rosante recommends doing three sets of 12 reps of each move. Don’t rest in between the two movements (raising your heart rate incorporates some cardio work), but you can take up to a 60-second break before starting a new set. Alternating between pushing and pulling movements allows you to work opposing muscle groups, says Rosante. 3) Lower-body/core superset: Unilateral lower-body move (e.g. reverse lunge, step-up) & core move (e.g. plank, Russian twists)A unilateral High-Intensity Interval Training — 20 Minutes — 1 Day Per Week Kevin Kozicki / Getty Images Most Popular 105 Gifts Your Boyfriend Will Actually Want to Receive By Tiffany Dodson Check Your Fridge, Friends: 25 Brands of Cheese Were Just Recalled By Maggie O'Neill, M.F.A. Doctors Aren’t Happy About the CDC’s New Mask Guidelines for Health Care Settings By Korin Miller The first of your two days of cardio should be a Choose an activity you like as a template—maybe it's running, cycling, or bodyweight moves (burpees, anyone?). Whatever it is, push as hard as you possibly can for 30 seconds, then back off for a rest period. How long you rest will depend on your fitness level. If you’re just starting, you may want to try a 2-to-1 rest-to-work ratio, says Rosante (so, 30 seconds of work followed by 60 seconds of rest). Then you can reduce your rest time every week. You could also try Steady-State Cardio — 35 to 45 Minutes — 1 Day Per Week Gary Burchell / Getty ImagesAnd here’s your second day of cardio. This time it’s all about that long, slow burn. “Steady-state cardio raises the heart rate, speeds recovery, and improves your Active Recovery — 2 Days Per Week Idea Images / Getty ImagesTwo days out of your week will be Instagram Twitter SELF does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Any information published on this website or by this brand is not intended as a substitute for medical advice, and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional. Topics cardio HIIT intervals strength training weight loss workout plan Total Body Workouts More from Self Obé Fitness Launches Stackable, 10-Minute Workouts Short on time? No problem. 8 Things to Know Before Taking a Lagree Method Class If you like Pilates, this may be a new favorite. 8 Ways to Stop Shoulder Pain From Ruining Your Workout Tip number one: Focus on the little muscles. 7 Smart Ways to Rehydrate After an Intense Workout Besides chugging water. 5 Ways to Actually Take Care of Your Mental Health in College Focus on making friends, and skip the all-nighters. How A Mom Trains For Parkour 6 Days A Week Yu Hannah Kim is a former personal trainer and D-I college swimmer who began training in parkour after having 3 children and hitting age 30. See how her 6-day-a-week training and wellness regimen keeps her at her best. The Peloton Row Has Arrived—Here’s Everything You Need to Know Peloton’s family of equipment just keeps on growing. The 13 Best Punching Bags, According to Fitness Experts For the perfect full-body workout.