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Once you have established your goals and taken into account your own personal factors, you need to delve into what you will actually physically be doing during your workouts. This can range from a variety of different types of exercises that support different needs. They all have an effect, to some degree, of working towards a goal or purpose, and the task here is to find a routine that you can perform to your ability level that also supports maximum efficiency of your goals.
Here is a basic example of different categories of goals and exercises:
Strength/Power lifters and Bodybuilders will focus more on weight training than everything else. You live and breathe iron, and your program should be composed of compound heavy lifting that maximizes size and strength within your muscles. Reps should be low and weight should be high, near maximum. The cardio you should perform should be of a low level, and and is absolutely not necessary. The output of calories you will burn during your lifts should be enough to effectively work your muscles and help shed fat.
Athletes will focus on a variety of different training techniques, mainly weight lifting. Lifts will involve a variety of set/rep combinations in order to induce sport-specific muscle growth (i.e. explosive power, endurance, strength, etc.) Athletes will also need some form of sport specific plyometric or endurance training in order to keep their bodies tuned to their sport's specifications. A volleyball player might look into a series of explosive jumping plyometrics while a sprinter might crank out a series of short sprints or explosive starts.
The Average Fitness Enthusiast will focus on a variety of different training techniques, weights, calisthenics, plyos, cardio, etc., however they will perform them at a level of significantly lowered intensity. Because the average person does not have such high demand for their body's output, they do not need to cater to all of the specific needs within the above programs. Their own routines, however, should include VARIETY. Running on a treadmill for 30 days will only help you lose a few pounds after a few weeks, and then you'll wonder why its not working. Remember that our bodies operate in cycles, and can easily adapt to changes in lifestyle. This is why variety is important, to keep your body on it's toes and maximizing its effort towards your goals.
As you can see, this is a VERY basic alignment of exercises and categories. Athletes and Bodybuilders/Powerlifters create their own requirements based on highly specific needs. This type of planning goes FAR beyond what the average fitness enthusiast will do, simply because these people's bodies are their lives. Unfortunately not every get's paid to work out and be a prime working example of physical condition, so here's a list of common mistakes to avoid:
Cardio for x amount of time each day. This seems like it would help, right? The first step to a healthy life is getting active, so if I run/swim/bike for 30 minutes every day I should start to lose weight right? Wrong. There is no point in slaving away on a treadmill like a hamster on a wheel when you could be taking MUCH more effective steps to lose weight. The reason this is so undesirable is that after a few weeks, your body will become accustomed to the fact that you are burning the same amount of calories every day. Even if you increase the time or speed little by little, you body is still being used to the fact that you are burning these calories and you will cease to see progress. A well structured routine that involves a variety of exercises is the way to go.
I don't want to lift weights because I don't want to get all big and bulky. This is the most ridiculously ignorant statement I hear on almost a daily basis. LIFTING WEIGHTS IS THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT! I repeat, lifting weights is the most effective way to lose weight. Whether you want to gain size or strip away fat, you can do it with weight training. For those who want to lose weight/tone up, your lifts should be mostly compound exercises with a high rep/low weight scheme. By engaging the muscle groups you are encouraging muscle tone while also burning fat, but because you are not tearing your muscles open by stretching them to their maximum limit (or close to it) you will not see a "bulk" in your frame.
If I cheat on my diet, I can just do some extra work in the gym to burn it off. This is false. Just because you eat a 150 calorie candy bar doesn't mean you can just do 15 minutes of extra cardio and work it off. It just doesn't work that way. Your diet is the most important supplement to your exercise routine, which in itself is precisely planned and specified to your body and needs. By adding "make up" work in the gym, you are only working yourself harder and further beyond the point of repair. You will actually be counterproductive because you will most likely over-work your body and will be unable to break down and distribute that single, simple, candy bar.
If I slave away for hours in the gym, I should get ripped in no time. Once again, hugely false. Your time in the gym should NEVER exceed 75 minutes. Your body reaches a certain threshold around 45 minutes to an hour of intense, physical activity at which point your endurance and fatigue levels are seriously affected. When you continue your physical activity beyond this point, your muscles become weaker and your body's output ability is lowered, making whatever exercise you are performing less effective with each passing minute. You also start to feel tired, and as you ability lowers you may compromise form in order to complete your workout or "go the extra minute". By keeping your workouts short and simple, you not only make your time in the gym effective and efficient, but you allow your body to recover easier between workouts.
These are the most common mistakes I hear people say/make on a daily basis. Be sure to take these into account when planning your routine. Well there it is! This should provide a good, yet rough framework to help create an exercise program around. There are many different resources out there to help you find a variety of exercises and exercise types with which to create your workout. Just remember to cater them to your needs and goals!
