Frustrated that your left bicep is still sub-18 inches? Six-pack missing a couple of packs? Whether 2026 marks yet another year of your fitness journey or just the beginning, you’ve likely already encountered the same brick wall everyone hits when trying to obtain that perfect lifestyle: a lack of motivation, insecurities, and even boredom.
Now that we’re three weeks into the new year, the firework-filled midnight motivation that fueled your initial fitness regimes might be running a little low. Before you call it quits, give this article a read — I’ve created a sample weekly split alongside relevant anecdotes and advice to help reboot that fire. The split will take you through day by day, targeting each major muscle group at least twice a week to keep your body active, happy, and healthy. If my almost two years of weightlifting experience doesn’t convince you of my credentials, surely being a former fat kid does!
Monday: Push (chest, shoulders, triceps)
My roommate recently shed light on a common preemptive fear about the gym. Going is a commitment, and sometimes commitments are scary. When you begin to put a lot of time and effort into working out, you can’t help but wonder: What if I don’t make any progress and it’s a waste of time? Or, on the other hand, what if I end up looking completely different from what I initially imagined? But looking back on my own fitness journey, I have to say, I have no regrets. If I had always abided by the self-inflicted limitation that my shoulders are naturally “too broad,” I would have never been able to experience the satisfaction of feeling myself get physically stronger — even opening up my options, like taking the shoulder press from dumbbells to the barbell. A quote by Earl Nightingale pushed me: “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.” We might as well give it our all!
Tuesday: Pull (back, biceps)
One day, my mom confided in me that the gym “is just not fun.” Maybe it’s the monotony of repetitive movements, calculating how much time you’ve got left in your head, or struggling to remember how many reps you’ve done halfway through a set. Whether you’re my mom or a mathematics major sick of numerical logistics, you’re lucky the world of fitness goes beyond weightlifting. While a pull day for some might look like pulldowns and rows, others might box at Main Gym or rock climb at the Outback Climbing Center — two ways you can work your back without all the rep counts within the usual four walls. To spice up some pull days, I’ll trade bent over rows for boxing, fantasizing that the heavy bag is my cruel elementary school P.E. teacher — KA-POW! Let yourself roam through fitness territory and just keep that sexy body moving. Whatever form of movement both your mind and body feel terrific doing is the best exercise for you. Mom, I won’t nag you to lift weights anymore, so long as you get back to those Zumba dance videos; I’ve seen how good you feel strutting your stuff!
Wednesday: Legs (quads or hamstrings, glutes)
For those just starting, the most crippling setback at the gym is being overcome by a fear of judgment. I remember those terrible squats I showcased to the entirety of RIMAC on my first day, but hey, we all have to start somewhere. Instead, I worked on the leg press for a while, eventually securing a thumbs up and likewise wholesome encouragements along the way. But as a particularly private person, I still craved a space where I could try new things and feel comfortable doing so. It all clicked for me when I swapped my time in RIMAC for the Canyonview weight room. There, I had ample space and tranquility to elevate my leg days by practicing the bigger, compound movements like squats and deadlifts. And did people judge me? Actually, yes! However, the tight-knit community there kindly fixed my deadlift form. Now, I deadlift not only free of lower-back pain, but free from judgment as well!
Thursday: Rest
There are probably no arguments against this one, unless you’re itching for some weekday movement. In that case, abs and cardio!
Friday: Upper (mix of push and pull)
I once overheard a girl say that she’s scared of girls with big arms. Are you ready to unpack that with me? The notion that upper-body days are for boys and lower-body days are for girls, in my opinion, is a self-limiting prospect. It’s often true that male genes have a stronger baseline, but that doesn’t mean girls shouldn’t get in the gym. Trust me, there’s nothing as chic as doing hammer curls in front of the gym mirror. And to all the pseudo-gym bros that praise lifting for its benefits — from health and longevity to mental clarity — but don’t want the same for their girl? Get bigger!
Saturday: Lower (mix of legs)
A number of my friends, especially those majoring in STEM, tell me that they’re too busy to work out. As a humanities major, I can’t really argue against them, or they would knock me on the head. Assuming that your weekend is just a tad more free, crawl out of bed and give it a shot. Get zen with a solo gym sesh or get together with a couple of buddies to make your workouts more enjoyable. After all, motivation for leg day might only come from your gym partner. With all the heavy weights you’ll be able to load on for your body’s biggest muscle groups, you’ll be pooped by the end of the workout. But don’t worry — that means you’ll be back in bed in no time.
Sunday: Rest
I don’t have any twists and tricks for you this time, except that Sundays are the king of meal-prepping days. I’ve recently made the switch from grabbing quick protein snacks to prioritizing whole foods, which means more cooking. After all, nobody would commit to this lifestyle if it meant buying $8 protein shakes every single day. To make your life that much easier during the week, spread out all of your Tupperware, crank up the music, and get cozy in the kitchen for a few hours this Sunday. By preparing meat and veggies ahead of time, during the week, I can throw together my favorite meal in less than five minutes.
The second Friday of January is the unofficial Quitter’s Day — a laughable assumption that, once you miss the gym, you can’t go back, or that all newbies are destined to fail. Though I’m outspokenly obsessed with tacky, unofficial holidays, I’m not getting behind this one. This kind of pretentiousness misconstrues fitness as a privileged bucket-list item and not an achievable lifestyle.
So, honestly, forget the New Year’s resolution! To everyone getting serious about their fitness journey — special shoutout to my mom, my friends, and my roommates — I believe in you! Somewhere out there, I’m doing the same.
