First, recognize the fact that you must always have a good workout plan in your overall weight loss plan. Many people prefer to stick to pills and diets that don't really work because they want to avoid having to go through a workout. To them, workouts are painful and they would do anything to avoid having to go through that pain.

Unfortunately, they will soon discover for themselves that they can only go so far with diets. In other words, no long term results is achievable. As soon as the diet reverts back to normal, which is inevitable, they start to put on weight again. This time, it gets worse because all that time they have been on diet, they are actually lowering their metabolism. Now their body starts to store up as much fat as possible for the sake of survival.

To plan a workout properly, the first thing you must do is to have very clear goals. Be very clear about what you want to achieve. Do you want muscle gain? Or do you want ripping muscles? Perhaps you would like more stamina and endurance. Or perhaps you would like to have better jumping ability or more speed so that you can improve your basketball game.

For whatever the reason, it's very important to be clear. Otherwise, it's very difficult to put together a workout plan. Also, take into account your own current fitness level. If you haven't been exercising for a long period of time, hit the gym and do a test run. Focus on the major muscle groups such as the chest, the biceps and triceps, the thighs, and the glutes. These parts of the body have got the biggest muscles, and it's safer to work on them first.

Do a few repetitions with some dumb bells and try out different weights. Start with lighter weights first. If you don't feel a fair amount of resistance, try on heavier weights. You should be able to do about 10 or so repetitions if you have the right amount of weights on. That's the amount of weight that you'll be working with when you start your workouts.

In general, if you wish to put on mass, you need to work with heavier weights. Less repetitions, but heavier weights. But if you wish to train for endurance or cutting, then you don't really need heavier weights. You can use the same weights, but as you progress, you increase the speed and number of repetitions.

With your goals in hand, you then start to work backwards. For example, if you are trying to improve your jumping ability, you need to improve your leg muscles - namely, your thigh and calf muscles. You also don't want to bulk up too much, as the extra weight will weight you down. So you focus mainly on explosive exercises such as squats or dead lifting to improve your leg muscle power. That will help to improve your jumping ability.

If you are doing it right, it will take 6 to 10 weeks before you see dramatic improvements.