I’ve always been one to try a
new workout. I’ve embraced step, Zumba, spinning, interval workouts,
kickboxing, yoga and old school aerobics.
In the past year, I’ve tried
everything from Burn to Boxing to Crossfit and gym classes like Strike and TCX.
They all give me a great
workout, but lately, I’ve been really sore, really tired and ridiculously
hungry.
I’m working out harder and my
weight is climbing.
Is it my age? (Maybe) Lack of
recovery time? (Probably) Over confusing my muscles? (IDK), but I had all the
symptoms of overtraining, even after taking some time off.
Sooooooo… I looked through my
old workout files and found a really simple strength and fat burning schedule
and decided to give it a try.
Before I started my addiction to every “New” workout around, this was my go-to workout plan when I needed to give myself a kick-start. I do this same workout for 4 weeks and then switch to something new.
This full body workout hits
all the large muscles first (Legs, Back, Chest), then the smaller muscles
(Biceps, Shoulders, Triceps), then Abs. You only do the weight workout three
days a week, giving your muscles time to repair from lifting in between.
On the days between, aim for
a 45-60 minute cardio workout that challenges you but doesn’t exhaust or
overtax the muscles.
You can run, walk, spin,
climb, row, box, do the elliptical or mix up a few. If I’m on a machine, I usually
alternate speed, incline, and/or intensity: 40 seconds high, 40 seconds low to
start. (If that’s too difficult, go 20
seconds high, one minute slow, Too easy, slow it down for only 20 seconds
between)
For the weight workout, do 4
sets of each exercise. 2 sets heavy (meaning heavy enough that you can only do
8-10 reps ); and 2 sets light (meaning you can do 12-15 reps easily)
Pick on exercise from each
group 3 x a week. Cross off the ones you have already done so you don’t repeat
it until the next week. That way you’ll focus on all parts of each muscle by
the end of the week.
1)
LEGS-Leg Press, Walking Lunges, Squats
2)
BACK-Low Rows, Mid Back Row, Lat Pulldowns
3)
CHEST-Incline Flyes, Push Ups, Decline Press
4)
BICEPS-21s, Hammer Curls, Concentration Curls
5)
SHOULDERS-Side Raise/Front Raise, Overhead Press, Rear Delts
6)
TRICEPS-Tricep pressdowns with bar, Rope pressdowns, Dips
7)
ABS-Hanging Leg Raise (Or Leg raise on bench), Obliques (side to side with
weighted ball), Crunch on Bosu or mat
After the first week, I’m
down a pound and my jeans are a little looser, so I have high hopes. You can
modify if you need to by doing only one set heavy and two sets light to begin
with.
Hey, it’s about a month until
the pools open; just enough time to start seeing results from this workout.
