By Will Duru, BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Science Award-winning Personal Trainer with over 10 years of experience in strength training and optimising recovery.
You get to the gym and wander around, doing a bit of this, a bit of that. You hop on the leg press for a few sets because you know how to use it. You grab some dumbbells and do a few bicep curls because, well, why not? You do the exercises you like and carefully avoid the ones you don’t. It feels like you’re working out, but months pass and you wonder why you’re not seeing results. This is the difference between “exercising” and “training.”
I tell my clients in the City of London to think of it like building a house. You wouldn’t just start throwing bricks together and hope for the best, would you? You need a blueprint, a clear design that shows you exactly what goes where and in what order. A workout plan is your body’s blueprint for success. Without it, you might be busy, you might be sweating, but you’re not efficiently building toward a goal. My passion is helping you draw up that blueprint so your effort actually translates into results.
This article will show you why “winging it” is holding you back and how a structured plan is your secret weapon for building strength and achieving your goals faster than you ever thought possible. The difference between random workouts and structured training is the difference between spinning your wheels and making real, measurable progress.
The Problem with 'Winging It'
Let’s be honest about what happens when you don’t have a plan. The consequences are more significant than you might realise.
No Progressive Overload
Progressive overload, systematically increasing the demands on your muscles over time, is the fundamental principle that drives all strength gains. Without it, you won’t get stronger. It’s that simple. And here’s the problem: without a plan, it’s virtually impossible to apply progressive overload consistently.
If you don’t know what you lifted last week, how can you know to lift more this week? If you can’t remember whether you did three sets or four, how do you know if you should add volume? If you’re randomly choosing exercises each session, you can’t track improvement on any of them. Guesswork is not a strategy for progress. It’s a strategy for staying exactly where you are while wondering why your effort isn’t paying off.
I’ve had countless clients come to me frustrated after months of regular gym attendance with nothing to show for it. The first question I ask is always: “What program are you following?” The answer is usually a sheepish admission that they’ve just been doing whatever feels right that day. That’s not their fault; nobody taught them otherwise, but it’s why they’re stuck.
You Cherry-Pick Your Exercises
Human nature dictates that we gravitate toward what we’re good at and avoid what’s challenging or uncomfortable. When you’re winging it, you naturally do more of the exercises you enjoy and fewer (or none) of the exercises that are hard or unfamiliar.
This creates several problems. First, you develop muscle imbalances because you’re constantly working the same muscles while neglecting others. Maybe you love upper body work but avoid leg exercises. Maybe you’re comfortable with machines but never touch free weights. These imbalances don’t just limit your progress; they increase injury risk.
Second, you hit plateaus quickly. Your body adapts to the exercises you repeatedly do, and without variation or progression, it has no reason to continue getting stronger. A well-designed plan ensures you’re working your whole body with appropriate variety and progression.
It Kills Your Confidence
The “what should I do now?” feeling is a major source of gym anxiety. You finish one exercise and then stand there, looking around, trying to decide what to do next. You feel uncertain, you feel like you look lost, and you might even leave early because the discomfort of not knowing what to do becomes overwhelming.
A plan eliminates that uncertainty completely. You walk in with a mission. You know exactly which exercises you’re doing, in which order, for how many sets and reps. This clarity is a huge confidence booster. Instead of looking like someone who’s wandering aimlessly, you move with purpose and intention. You look like someone who knows what they’re doing, and more importantly, you feel like it.
The Power of a Plan
Now let’s talk about what changes when you have a structured workout plan.
It Guarantees Progress
A plan is specifically designed to get you from Point A to Point B. It’s not random, it’s strategic. A well-designed program systematically increases the demands on your muscles week by week, forcing them to adapt and grow stronger.
For example, a basic linear progression plan might have you doing goblet squats with an 8kg dumbbell for three sets of ten reps in week one. Week two, you do the same but aim for three sets of twelve reps. Week three, you move up to a 10kg dumbbell and go back to three sets of ten reps. This systematic progression is what drives results.
Without a plan, you might do goblet squats one week, skip them the next because you felt like doing leg press instead, and then come back to them two weeks later with no idea what weight you used before. You’re not progressing, you’re just repeating.
It Saves You Time and Mental Energy
When you have a plan, there’s no more wandering around the gym trying to decide what to do next. You know exactly what exercises you’re doing and in what order. This makes your workouts dramatically more efficient.
Instead of spending mental energy on constant decision-making, “What should I do now? Should I do shoulders or back? How many sets should I do?” you can focus all your energy on execution. How’s my form? Am I engaging the right muscles? Can I add one more rep than last week?
This efficiency means you can get an incredibly effective workout done in forty-five minutes to an hour, rather than spending ninety minutes at the gym and still feeling like you didn’t accomplish much. Time is precious, and a plan ensures you’re using it wisely.
It Builds Unstoppable Momentum
Here’s something powerful that happens when you follow a structured plan: you build psychological momentum. Every time you complete a planned workout, you get the satisfaction of checking it off. Every time you hit the prescribed reps or lift the programmed weight, you prove to yourself that you’re capable.
This is where tracking becomes absolutely critical. The single most powerful tool for sticking to a plan is a workout tracker. The 12reps app is the best strength training app because it’s not just a workout log, it’s your plan in your pocket. You can build your program in advance, see exactly what you need to do each session, and every time you check off an exercise, you’re building momentum.
There’s something deeply satisfying about seeing your completed workouts stack up week after week. It becomes a record of your consistency and progress. On days when motivation is low, you can look back at all the workouts you’ve completed and find the push to do one more. Download it for a free trial and experience how much more accountable and motivated you feel when your plan is organised and your progress is visible.
What Makes a Good Beginner Plan?
Not all plans are created equal. If you’re new to strength training, here’s what your plan should include.
Focus on Compound Movements
A good beginner plan is built around compound movements, exercises that work multiple muscle groups at once. These are exercises like squats, deadlifts, presses, and rows. They give you the most bang for your buck, teaching your body to move as a coordinated unit rather than in isolation.
Compound movements also build functional strength that transfers to real life. The strength you build from squats helps you pick up your kids, carry groceries, and move furniture. The strength from rows improves your posture and makes daily activities easier. These exercises create a foundation that everything else builds on.
Full-Body Frequency
For beginners, two to three full-body workouts per week is the ideal structure. This means you’re working all major muscle groups in each session rather than splitting them across different days.
This frequency allows you to practice the fundamental movement patterns multiple times per week, which accelerates learning. It also provides optimal stimulus for each muscle group (hitting them two to three times per week) while giving adequate recovery time between sessions.
Keep It Simple
Your first plan doesn’t need to be complicated. In fact, it shouldn’t be. A program with four to six exercises per workout is plenty to get started. You don’t need fifteen different exercises or complex supersets or advanced techniques.
A simple beginner plan might include:
- A squat variation (goblet squat or bodyweight squat)
- A hip hinge (dumbbell deadlift or glute bridge)
- A push (dumbbell press or push-up)
- A pull (dumbbell row or lat pulldown)
- A core exercise (plank or dead bug)
That’s it. Five exercises, three sets each, two to three times per week. Simple, effective, and sustainable. As you progress, you can add complexity, but starting simple ensures you master the basics before advancing.
Conclusion
Random workouts lead to random results. A structured plan leads to structured progress. It’s really that straightforward. When you wing it, you’re hoping for results. When you follow a plan, you’re engineering them.
Let’s recap the critical points: without a plan, you can’t apply progressive overload consistently, you’ll gravitate toward the same comfortable exercises and develop imbalances, and you’ll waste time and mental energy on constant decision-making. With a plan, you guarantee progress, move efficiently through your workouts, build confidence, and create powerful momentum that keeps you consistent.
Stop exercising and start training. The difference might sound semantic, but it’s profound. Exercising is moving your body with no particular goal. Training is systematically working toward a specific objective with a clear strategy. One feels good in the moment but leads nowhere. The other builds something real and lasting.
Take ten minutes right now to create a simple plan for your next workout in the 12reps app. Identify four to six compound exercises, decide on your sets and reps, and schedule when you’ll do it. It’s the first step to taking control of your fitness journey and transforming your effort into actual results.
The results will speak for themselves. Give it one month of following a structured plan, and you’ll wonder why you ever tried to wing it.
