Exercise Plans For Teens
Teenagers have a lot of things to juggle these days. Between school, parents, friends, work, and relationships, it’s not an easy task being a teen. I know from personal experience that it’s not uncommon to live off fast food for days at a time. Teens struggle with enough issues, so I’ll try and help you make sure health is not one of them. Whether you’re looking to lose a little weight, gain some muscle, or just develop a healthier lifestyle, the advice and exercise plans for teens below will help you begin to accomplish those goals. Developing healthy eating and exercise habits right now will set you up with a great foundation for a healthy, prosperous life. Eating healthy is just as important as exercise. Eating the right foods is a crucial part of accomplishing your exercise goals. Here is a list of healthy eating topics you should start learning about: 1. Understanding carbs, proteins, and fats 2. How to read food labels 3. How manycalories you should be eating each day 4. How to cook healthy food It’s very important to think about what your health goals are. Are you trying to lose weight? Maybe you’d like to gain some muscle? Tone specific areas? Train for a specific sport or activity? I have created a few different exercise plans for teens below based on some different types of health goals. Check them out and give us a shout if you have anything to add. Now without further ado, we'll show you some great exercise plans for teens. The first thing you need to do if you’re a teen trying to lose weight or tone specific areas of your body is learn how to eat healthy. Review the list of healthy eating topics above and remember the following healthy eating tips that are key to healthy, sustainable weight loss: 1. Eat 5-6 smaller meals per day 2. Only eat carbs that are “whole grain” or “whole wheat”. Stay away from any products with white flour – white bread, pasta, rice, etc. 3. Get rid of the liquid calories – this means phasing out all soda, sugary juices, etc. The average teen consumes about 350 calories from beverages every day…drink water instead and you’ll lose an extra pound every 10 days…that’s 35 pounds in a year that you could be losing just by dropping soda and sugary juices! 4. Focus on eating lots of vegetables and lean sources of protein Now, to state the obvious: the key to losing weight is to burn more calories than you’re consuming. One thing to keep in mind is that you need to burn 3500 calories to lose one pound. This means that “healthy” weight loss amounts to around 1-2 pounds per week. Going on one of those fad diets or starving yourself to lose weight is terrible for your health and is a short-term solution. Most of the weight lost on these diets is from water weight, not fat. You should start using an online calorie tracker to start keeping track of the stuff you’re eating. Keep in mind consuming anything less than 1200 calories is dangerous and you can do serious damage to your body. If your goal is to lose weight, here are the calorie ranges I recommend for girls and guys: Girls: 1500-2000 Now, the average person burns around 1400-1800 calories/day “at rest”. This includes things like sitting on the couch, sleeping, etc. This number varies slightly by how active you are in an average day. Once you get the healthy eating part down, you should focus on getting more exercise to burn more calories and fat. First, think about the things you really enjoy doing. Doing things like playing sports, riding a bike, swimming, dancing, yoga, etc. are great ways to have fun and burn calories at the same time. Check out the following calorie burning chart to see a list of different activities and how many calories are burned (keep in mind that these are estimates and will vary based on how hard you work). If you’re actively involved in any type of activity like this, it is a great start. If you’re not involved in much physical activity, that’s perfectly okay, you’ll just have to find something you like doing. For maximizing fat loss, I recommend a mix of cardiovascular exercise (i.e., running) and strength training. Studies have shown that combining cardio and strength straining results in more fat loss than just cardio alone. If you’re a beginner, start with 3 days of moderate exercise per week and work your way up. If you have been actively involved in sports or other activities you’re probably ready for some more advanced techniques. I’ve laid out a few different exercise plans for Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced teens: Monday: 45 minutes – pick-up basketball game Tuesday: rest Wednesday: 45 minutes – bike ride Thursday: rest Friday: 45 minutes – elliptical machine Saturday: 30 minutes – go for a walk Sunday: rest Monday: 10 squats, 15 pushups, 20 jumping jacks, 15 situps, 10 lunges (do each exercise one after the other with no rest in between sets…if you don’t know how to do these exercises take a look at our home exercises section). Rest 2 minutes and repeat the circuit 1-2 more times). Once you’re done, perform 30 minutes of cardio (i.e., riding your bike, running, swimming, or any other intense sport) Tuesday: rest Wednesday: 1 hour – pick-up basketball game Thursday: rest Friday: 10 squats, 15 pushups, 20 jumping jacks, 15 situps, 10 lunges (do each exercise one after the other with no rest in between sets. Once you have completed the circuit, rest 2 minutes and repeat the circuit 1 more time). Once you’re done, perform 30 minutes of cardio (i.e., riding your bike, running, swimming, or any other intense sport) Saturday: rest Sunday: 30-45 minutes of intense cardio exercise Monday: Perform 3 complete circuits of the following upper body weight lifting routine with no rest in between each exercise: bench presses: 10 repetitions, bent over barbell row: 10 repetitions, standing dumbbell shoulder press: 10 repetitions, standing barbell curl: 15 repetitions, lying triceps extension: 15 repetitions, pushups: 15 repetitions. Once you have completed the weight training circuits, do 30-45 minutes of intense cardio (i.e., treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, etc.) Tuesday: 5-10 mile bike ride Wednesday: Perform 3 complete circuits of the following lower body weight lifting routine with no rest in between each exercise: squats: 15 repetitions, lying leg lifts: 20 repetitions, deadlift: 15 repetitions, lunges: 15 repetitions. Once you have completed the weight training circuits, do 30-45 minutes of intense cardio (i.e., treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, etc.) Thursday: rest Friday: 1 hour of an activity you enjoy (i.e., basketball, swimming, biking, etc.) Saturday: Perform 3 complete circuits of the following upper body weight lifting routine with no rest in between each exercise: bench presses: 10 repetitions, bent over barbell row: 10 repetitions, standing dumbbell shoulder press: 10 repetitions, standing barbell curl: 15 repetitions, lying triceps extension: 15 repetitions. Once you have completed the weight training circuits, do 30-45 minutes of intense cardio (i.e., treadmill, exercise bike, elliptical, etc.) Sunday: rest Strength training involves using free weights, machines, or your own body weight to increase muscle strength and endurance. It is the absolute best way to gain lean muscle and strength for both teens and adults. Proper form is key to avoid injuries. If you’re trying to pack on lean muscle, use the following calorie calculator to figure out how many calories you should be eating each day and multiple that number by 1.25. Also, you should try and eat around .75-1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. If you’re trying to lose weight and gain muscle, do a combination of cardio and the exercises below. I’ve outlined two strength training programs, one for intermediates that requires no weights and one for more advanced people that uses weights: Prisoner Squat Wall Push-Up Side Bridges Lunges Bench Dips Supermans Donkey Kick Burpees For more advanced athletes, strength training becomes extremely important to accomplishing your fitness goals. Your workouts will depend upon what your goals are – if you want to gain serious mass, stay in the 5-7 rep range with the heaviest amount of weight you can handle. If you’re looking to gain lean muscle and become a little more cut then you should be doing reps in the 8-12 range with a moderate amount of weight. If you want to do some serious toning, stick to the 12-15 rep range with a lighter amount of weight. I have laid out a workout plan that is in the middle but you should adjust your workouts accordingly depending on your goals. I like to end each workout with some exercises that work the core and abs. I am assuming that you know how to do all the exercises below, but if there’s something you don’t understand, then contact us and we’ll let you know (or Google it). Monday: Chest/Back Tuesday: Legs Wednesday: Shoulders/Arms Standing Barbell Press Rest for 2 minutes, repeat the circuit one more time and then move on to the next circuit…perform 8-12 reps of each of the following, one after the other: Sitting Dumbbell Press Repeat the circuit one more time and you’re done! Thursday: Rest Friday: Do 1 hour of your favorite cardio activity Saturday: Start over with Monday’s Chest/Back routine Sunday: Continue with Tuesday’s Legs routine Do this routine for 4-6 weeks and you will start to see results! Best of luck, and again, let us know if you have any questions. |
