If you are serious about building muscles and getting stronger while maintaining a healthy weight, you need to dedicate a lot of time to strength training. One of the most effective ways to get ripped is to consistently challenge your muscles to failure and then giving them ample rest time to recover. If you are experienced at strength training and want to take it to the next level, a 5-day full body workout schedule is ideal for you.

Your five-day workout regimen should include a variety of exercises involving every single muscle of your body. These exercises should also help keep your heart and lungs working optimally and control the body fat percentage. Do strength training in the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and cardiovascular training on Tuesdays and Saturdays, with two rest days on Thursdays and Sundays.

Here are few strength training and cardiovascular workouts that you can include in your five-day workout plan.

Strength Training

On the days set for strength training (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays), do whole-body workouts, paying special attention to the main muscle groups of shoulders, quadriceps, chest, back and hips. However, do not neglect smaller muscles of your body, such as biceps, triceps, calves and hamstrings, since these provide support to the main muscles. Besides building muscles, vigorous strength training will also help grow lean muscles tissue  and speed up your metabolism (the rate at which your body burns calories), thus helping you burn fat fast. During a workout session of 45 to 60 minutes, use a combination of resistance machines and free weights for 10 to 15 repetitions.

Abdominal Workout

Abdominal workouts are a must, and you need to do these exercises thrice a week. Ab exercises will not only strengthen your abdominal muscles but will also help you burn belly fat fast. The most common abdominal exercises include ab crunches and reverse crunches. Do as many repetitions of crunches as possible.

Indoor Cardiovascular Workout

There are a number of equipments that you can use to do indoor cardiovascular exercises. These include treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine, rowing machine and stair climber. To benefit the most from cardio workouts, it is recommended to use an interval training approach, which involves doing a short, intense cardio workout, followed by relaxing phase. Continue switching between the fast and slow activities during the entire session

Outdoor Cardio workouts

Outdoor cardio workouts help you break the monotonous routine of exercising in the gym. Outdoor cardio exercises include running or jogging, cycling, hiking. It is better to set Tuesdays for outdoor cardio workouts and do indoor cardio exercises on Saturdays.

Note: Support your five-day workout plan with a healthy balanced diet and proper rest on Thursdays and Sundays.