14-Day Workout

Your workout goals affect the types of routine you wish to accomplish, but in the end, you have to work hard, eat right and change things up when they become too easy. For a 14-day workout, you can work all your major muscle groups, splitting them between two days a week to allow for recovery. Including 30 minutes of cardio, your workout should take approximately 90 minutes to complete. If your workout goal is cardiovascular endurance, work out on the treadmill, cross trainer or bicycle first. If your focus is in muscular gains, lift weights first. Start with your focus area so that it’s fresh and you can get the most out of it.

  1. The Split

    • Work your triceps, chest, shoulders and calves on day one. Work your biceps, back, abs, hamstrings and quads on day two. Alternate between the days for the entire 14-day routine. Perform two to three sets of six to 10 reps if you are trying to build strength or size. For muscular endurance, do three to four sets of 12 to 20 reps. For both, the weight should be heavy enough to fatigue your muscles by the last two reps. Do cardio every day.

    Day 1: Triceps, Chest, Shoulders

    • Do barbell bench presses, dips and pushups on the first day. To do the barbell bench press, lie with your back on a bench and hold the bar a little wider than shoulder width. Lift the weight off the rack and bring the bar to your chest, keeping your back straight before raising it again. For dips, find a dip bar and hold it wider than shoulder width. Support your body weight in mid-air with your upper body before lowering until your arms form 90-degree angles. Push back up and repeat. To begin your pushups, support your body weight on your hands and toes. With your hands shoulder-width apart, lower your body toward the ground, ensuring that your elbows diagonally point back and your back remains straight. Push up and repeat.

    Day 1: Calves

    • Instead of passively resting between the bench press, dips and pushup sets, perform three sets of one of these calf raises for 30 to 90 seconds. Between bench press sets, start with your feet facing forward and standing with half of your feet on the edge of a step. Hold a dumbbell in each hand. Raise onto the balls of your feet, hold for a few seconds and lower so that your heels drop below the step. Raise back up and repeat. Between dip sets, find a step and point your feet outward. Between pushup sets, again you will be on the step, but this time let your toes angle inward.

    Day 2: Biceps and Back

    • For the second day, do barbell bent-over rows, pullups and standing lat pull-downs. For the barbell bent-over row, stand with your feet hip-width apart, holding a barbell so that your knuckles face away from your body. Bend forward until the weight extends your arms below your chest. Bracing your core and looking forward, pull the barbell toward your waist, lower and repeat. For pullups, hold onto a pullup bar with a shoulder-width grip and your knuckles facing away from your body. Support your body weight with your arms and pull yourself up. Lower and repeat. For standing lat pull-downs, stand in front of a high pulley and grab the bar with a wider than shoulder-width grip. Squat down with your arms fully extended -- the weight will probably move up slightly before you begin. Pull the bar toward your chest. Reverse direction and repeat.

    Day 2: Quads, Hamstrings and Abs

    • Again, instead of passive rest, take 30 to 90 seconds to do three sets of one of these exercises between bent-over row, pullup and lat pull-down sets. For dumbbell front squats between bent-over row sets, start with your feet shoulder-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Bend your elbows and bring the dumbbells up so that they rest comfortably on your shoulders. Lower your glutes until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Keeping your weight in your heels, drive upward and repeat. For lunges between pullup sets, start by standing with both feet together and holding a dumbbell in each hand. Step forward and lower your body, keeping your back and core straight. Push off with your heel to return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite leg. For planks between standing pull down sets, get down so that only your forearms and toes are touching the floor. Your elbows should be below your shoulders, your back straight and your core tight. Hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

    Cardio Considerations

    • If your goals are muscle building, cardio should be done at a low to moderate intensity each day. If your focus is on cardiovascular endurance, do cardio at a moderate intensity for two consecutive days and partake in vigorous intensity cardio once every three days. Throw inclines or intervals into the routine to keep things challenging and interesting. For intervals, jog or run for 30 seconds, then walk or jog for 60 to 90 seconds, but only do intervals twice a week.

    Diet Considerations

    • Limit your fat, sugar and simple carbohydrate intake, but increase your fruit, vegetable, lean protein and amino acid intake. If you eat 60 to 120 minutes before working out, choose whole-grain pasta or oatmeal, and if you have 30 minutes or less, choose an apple with peanut butter. Immediately after you workout, eat some lean beef, low-fat Greek yogurt or eggs.

    Tips and Safety

    • Warm up before any other activity and stretch after the warm up.

      Before starting this routine, figure out your max for the weighted exercises, which is the weight you can lift one time without help. Once you know your max, work with 60 to 80 percent of that weight for your workouts. Always maintain proper form from start to finish and drink around 8 ounces of fluid every 10 minutes. If you do cardio first, warm up with a brisk walk or light jog and stretch after. If you’re lifting weights first, warm up with some high knees and jumping jacks and stretch after.