How to read your week
Each day is one of three things. Strength is a full-body workout: five moves that work your legs, hips, back, chest, shoulders, arms and core. Walk is a brisk walk. Rather swim, bike or dance? Those count too. Rest is a day you didn't pick. Enjoy it.
Under your week, two lines keep score: strength days against the guideline's 2 or more, and walking minutes against 150. Having some minutes still to go is normal. You can close the gap in small pieces. The US guidelines dropped the old rule that activity had to come in 10-minute chunks, so a quick lap around the block counts.
Do you need to work out 7 days a week?
No, and please don't feel like you have to. Five weekdays at an hour each give you 3 strength days and 165 minutes of walking. That clears both lines, and your weekend stays yours.
How the planner builds your week
Every rule below is built on US health sources as they stood on October 21, 2026, except two that are our own calls.
- A day between strength days. The National Institute on Aging says not to work the same muscle group two days in a row. The American Heart Association says planned rest days between sessions can help your body adapt. And because your week repeats, Sunday and Monday count as back to back.
- Up to three strength days. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asks for 2 or more days a week that work all your major muscle groups. We stop at three. That's our call, not the guideline's.
- Full body every time. With only two or three strength days, full body workouts let every muscle group work on 2 or more days, which is what the guideline asks for. Split them into upper and lower days and at least one half gets just one.
- Sets follow your time. HHS says one set (one round of 8 to 12 reps) works, and 2 or 3 sets may work better. So the more time you have, the more sets you get: 1 set under 20 minutes, 2 sets from 20 to 44 minutes, and 3 sets at 45 minutes or more.
- Lifting stops at 45 minutes. Past that, the rest of your time becomes a walk, and that walk counts toward your 150 minutes. Lifting time doesn't. The 45 is our call too. HHS sets no time for strength work, so we used the lower number from Lift to Lean, the latest challenge from our creator Cheryl Coulombe: "Workouts run 45-60 minutes depending on your rest between sets."
- Walks count at a brisk pace. HHS lists walking at 2.5 miles an hour or faster as moderate activity. No speedometer? If you can talk but not sing, you're there.
Healthy and building up slowly? HHS says you don't need a doctor's OK first.
A worked example: 30 minutes on weekdays
Say you've got 30 minutes, Monday to Friday, and a set of dumbbells at home. You get full-body workouts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with 2 sets of each move, and 30-minute walks on Tuesday and Thursday. That's 3 strength days and 60 minutes of walking, 90 short of 150. It's also the week the planner opens with.
Add Saturday and Sunday and you get two more 30-minute walks: 120 minutes, 30 to go. Bump all seven days to 45 minutes and you're at 180.
What Solin's creators actually schedule
Our creators don't all use the same week, so pick the one that fits yours.
- Cheryl Coulombe's dumbbell challenges: three full-body workouts a week, at home or the gym. Three free evenings? This is your week.
- Maya Fowler's Shortcake Summer Shred: 4 days on and 3 off, with lower and upper body days, and a gym or at-home route. With 4 days, a split still gives each half of your body 2 days.
Cheryl's members like her 3-day week. "Lifting 3 days a week is realistic," Barbra wrote in August 2026. Shell put it this way: "3x a week lifting schedule means you can focus on lift days. Plus 4 days thru the week for you to move your body in whatever way you love to do."
Pregnant, postpartum or over 65?
If you're pregnant, check with your doctor before you start or change your workouts, this plan included. The planner doesn't change for pregnancy, and neither does the 150 minutes. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says pregnant women should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week. After the first trimester, HHS says to avoid exercises lying on your back. In this planner, those include the dead bug, the glute bridge and the dumbbell bench press.
After a baby, check with your doctor before you start again, however you gave birth. If you had a healthy pregnancy and a vaginal birth, ACOG says it's usually safe to begin a few days after birth, or when you feel ready.
If you're 65 or older, the CDC adds activities that improve your balance to the same weekly guideline.
Do your week with a group
A Solin challenge gives you a plan, a start date and a group doing it with you. Of 93 winners we interviewed, 90% credited that community for motivation and support.
Browse challenges