How to Choose an Exercise Program That Suits You
Every January, every Monday and every time a new fitness trend appears in your feed, it can be tempting to sign up—again—for another exercise program.
A 30-day challenge. A new app. A subscription promising strength, transformation or a “new you.”
Before you click purchase, pause and ask a few questions. The best exercise program is not necessarily the trendiest or most intense. It is one that suits your goals, your body, your lifestyle and your personality—and that you can realistically continue.
If pain, injury or a health condition makes these decisions more complicated, a physiotherapist can help you identify an appropriate place to begin.
1. What Do You Want to Achieve?
Before choosing an exercise program, be clear about your main goal. Different types of exercise produce different results, so knowing what matters most to you will help narrow down your options.
Building Strength
If your goal is to become stronger, your muscles need to work against enough resistance to be challenged.
Bodyweight and no-equipment programs can build strength, particularly for beginners, but they still need to become progressively more challenging. This might involve increasing the resistance, changing the exercise, adjusting the repetitions or improving the control and range of movement.
Rather than relying on a strict repetition rule, consider how the exercise feels. The final few repetitions of a set should generally feel challenging while you can still maintain appropriate technique.
If you are unsure how much resistance to use—or how to train safely with pain, an injury or a health condition—a physiotherapist can help you find an appropriate starting point.
Changing Body Composition or Weight
Exercise offers significant benefits for cardiovascular health, strength, mobility, mood, sleep and long-term wellbeing, regardless of whether the number on the scale changes.
Body weight and body composition are influenced by many factors, including nutrition, physical activity, sleep, medications, health conditions and genetics. If changing your weight is your primary goal, an accredited practising dietitian can provide individualised nutrition advice. Exercise remains an important part of supporting health, maintaining muscle and managing weight over time.
Improving General Health
If your goal is to feel better, move more and support your general health, you have considerable freedom.
Walking, swimming, cycling, strength training, group classes, dancing and recreational sport can all be valuable. The particular activity matters less than finding something suitable that you can perform consistently.
Your exercise choices can be adapted to your lifestyle, current capacity, medical history and any symptoms you are managing.
2. What Are You Good At—and What Do You Enjoy?
These questions are more important than many people realise.
Consider:
Do you naturally enjoy strength, speed or endurance activities?
Do you prefer exercising alone or with other people?
Would you rather be outdoors or inside?
Do you enjoy learning new skills or repeating a familiar routine?
Do you want structured instruction or more freedom?
What activities leave you feeling energised rather than relieved that they are over?
You do not need to love every minute of exercise, but a program that suits your interests and preferences is more likely to become part of your life.
If you are unsure, try some exercise “speed dating.” Choose a few accessible options—a trial class, a gym visit, a different walking route or that Zumba class your friend keeps inviting you to. Trying something does not mean committing to it forever, and you may be surprised by what you enjoy.
3. What Helps You Stay Motivated?
Motivation is not constant, so it helps to choose a structure that supports you when enthusiasm naturally drops.
Consider which of these sounds most like you:
Self-directed and comfortable exercising alone?
An individual program or exercise app may suit you.More consistent with accountability and social contact?
A class, exercise partner or regular appointment may help.Prefer independence and control?
Learn the principles from a physiotherapist or trainer, then manage your own program with confidence.Like clear instructions and feedback about technique?
One-to-one guidance or a small group may be a good fit.Need to understand the purpose before committing?
Ask how each exercise relates to your goals.Really don’t enjoy exercise?
You are not alone. Focus on a small number of useful movements and find realistic ways to incorporate them into activities you already do.
The goal is not to find the program you should enjoy. It is to find an approach that works with your personality rather than constantly fighting against it.
4. What Has Worked for You Before?
Often, the clues to what might work now can be found in your past experiences.
Ask yourself:
Have you previously played a sport or participated in an activity you enjoyed?
Did you prefer exercising with friends, in a class or independently?
Do schedules and deadlines help you stay consistent?
Do rigid programs motivate you or cause you to give up?
What made previous routines easier to maintain?
What caused you to stop?
You may not be able—or want—to return to exactly the same activity. However, you can often retain the elements you enjoyed and adapt them to your current circumstances.
This is particularly helpful when returning to exercise after an injury, illness, a major life change or a long break.
5. Does the Program Allow Enough Recovery?
Recovery is part of training, not a failure to train.
Programs involving frequent high-intensity exercise may be unsuitable for someone who is new to exercise or returning after time away. Rapid increases in training can also contribute to excessive soreness, fatigue, symptom flare-ups or injury.
Recovery needs vary according to:
The intensity and type of exercise
Your current fitness and training experience
Sleep and nutrition
Work and other physical demands
Pain, injury or health conditions
How your body responds between sessions
You may be able to remain active between harder sessions by walking, performing gentle mobility exercises or training a different area. The right balance will be individual rather than based on one fixed number of rest days.
Be particularly careful about trying to “get your money’s worth” from a new membership by attending every available class. More exercise is not automatically better if your body cannot recover from it.
6. Does the Program Progress Appropriately?
Your body adapts when it is given a suitable challenge followed by enough opportunity to recover.
A program that never changes may eventually stop challenging you. Conversely, increasing the difficulty too quickly may create more soreness or fatigue than your body can tolerate.
A sensible program should:
Begin at a level appropriate for your current capacity
Allow you to learn the movements
Progress gradually
Be adjusted according to your response
Include easier periods when needed
Account for pain, illness, stress and other changes in your life
Progress does not have to mean adding more weight every week. It could involve improving your technique, performing another repetition, increasing your range of movement, exercising more consistently or feeling more confident with an activity.
Choosing an Exercise Program: Key Takeaways
The best exercise program is not necessarily the toughest, most expensive or most popular. It is one that is:
Aligned with your goals
Realistic for your lifestyle
Appropriate for your current capacity
Matched to your preferences and motivations
Progressive without increasing too quickly
Balanced with adequate recovery
Enjoyable—or at least manageable—enough to maintain
Adapted to any pain, injuries or health conditions
You do not need a perfect plan before you begin. You need an appropriate starting point and a plan that can change as you do.
If pain, injury or uncertainty is making it difficult to choose an exercise program, our physiotherapists can help you understand your options, start at a suitable level and build confidence over time.