So I’m ready to hit my workouts hard after slacking for a month and a half. It’s not that I haven’t been working out but I’ve sort of been putzing around the gym trying new things and daydreaming about having sculpted shoulders instead of actually working to create them.

Last night I spend a good amount of time working on new workout for myself and one for my friend. So today I thought I’d post them both. The first one is for a friend who hasn’t worked out in a while. The second one is the one I’m going to be doing for the next four weeks. I tend to like doing the same workout for a few weeks in a row because I can easily track my progress from week to week. I enjoy the challenge on trying to get higher numbers (reps and/or weight), it’s fun!  Obviously I have a really exciting life.  I’ve tried to link descriptions of the exercises.  Someday when I get the time I’m going to take my own photos for the exercises but for now most of them are linked to Ex.Rx which is a fantastic resource.  

And btw if you subscribed with an email with “red” and “79″ in it you may want to re-enter b/c they are getting returned.  I LOVE my subscribers!!!!  So much that I will NEVER EVER spam you or give your email away.  

Happy New Year!!!!!!!

xoxo
j 

BEGINNER WORKOUT or 5 DAY PLAN

Monday
1. Pull Ups - max reps  If you can’t do a pull-up you can use bands or use a pull up machine.  If you don’t have access to either.  Substitute bent-over rows.
2. Lunges with Dumbbells - 15 reps each leg
3. Bicep Curls - 15 reps

Repeat exercises 1-3 resting only as necessary.  Then rest 2-3 minutes and repeat exercises 1-3 again. Depending on your fitness level you may want to repeat one more times for a total of 3 tri-sets .  Listen to your body.  PUSH yourself but don’t hurt yourself.

1. Push Ups - 15 reps - Either on knees or toes. Add reps as needed.
2. Squats - 15 reps
3. Military Press - 15 reps 

Repeat 1-3 resting only as necessary.  Then rest 2-3 minutes and repeat exercises 1-3 again.  Depending on your fitness level you may want to repeat one for a total of 3 tri-sets .  Listen to your body.  PUSH yourself but don’t hurt yourself.  Ya know check yo self before yo wreck yo self.

1. Crunches on Stability Ball - 20-25  reps
2. Plank - Hold for 60 seconds - Here is a good video on how to do it properly if you are unsure.  Advanced people may want to add the stability ball.

Repeat each exercise 2-3 times.

If you want to burn a few extra calories add a 10 minute walk/run on the treadmill.  Walk a minute.  Run a minute.  Then stretch and your done!  Don’t forget to bring your notebook so you can record your weights/reps and try to increase them the next time you do the same exercises.  If you are advanced add weight or reps or an extra set to increase intensity.  If you are a brand new beginner use lighter weights and two sets.

Tuesday
Cardio only.  I prefer to do a 20 minute of interval training on a machine or running.  I find it to be the most effective and enjoyable.  But do what you like, just get out and MOVE!

Wednesday 
Rest!!!!

Thursday 
Same as Tuesday.  Cardio of your choice.  Give interval training a try if you haven’t already! I’m pushy, I know. 

Friday
1. Pull Ups - max reps  If you can’t do a pull-up you can use bands or use a pull up machine.  If you don’t have access to either.  Substitute bent-over rows.
2. Reverse Lunges with Dumbbells - 15 reps each leg
3. Triceps Extension - 15 reps - I like to do my standing.

Repeat exercises 1-3 resting only as necessary.  Then rest 2-3 minutes and repeat exercises 1-3 again. Depending on your fitness level you may want to repeat one more time for a total of 3 tri-sets .  Listen to your body.  PUSH yourself but don’t hurt yourself.

1. Push Ups - 15 reps - Either on knees or toes. Add reps as needed.
2. Stiff leg Deadlifts - 15 reps
3. Dumbbel Lateral Raises - 15 reps 

Repeat 1-3 resting only as necessary.  Then rest 2-3 minutes and repeat exercises 1-3 again.  Depending on your fitness level you may want to repeat one more times for a total of 3 tri-sets .  Listen to your body.  PUSH yourself but don’t hurt yourself.  

1. Reverse Crunches - 20-25  reps
2. Prone Cobra 60 seconds 
3. Bicycle Crunches - 15-20 reps.  1 reps is tapping both knees with elbows. 

Repeat each exercise 2-3 times.

Like on Monday, if you want to burn a few extra calories add a 10 minute walk/run on the treadmill.  Walk a minute.  Run a minute.  Then stretch and your done!  Don’t forget to bring your notebook so you can record your weights/reps and try to increase them the next time you do the same exercises.  If you are advanced add weight or reps to increase intensity.  If you are a brand new beginner use lighter weights.

Was it easy? The first three months were horrible. I’m not gonna lie. I’d find myself watering at the mouth like a dog at the sight of gummy worms.  Or I’d hear myself cursing people in my head who dared to eat dessert in front of me.  But after a while it became much easier.  Much easier. I could get through the check out line at the grocery without having a nervous breakdown.  My family could order dessert and I wouldn’t question out of resentment why I stuck with a bunch of gluttons.  Now when everyone else eats dessert I’m happy with my tea.  Most of the time.

This year I learned to treat sugar like what it is for me, an addiction.  Not everyone has this addiction but I did. Some people can eat a piece of cake and be done.  I have one lovely friend who even keeps a basket of candy in her kitchen.  She tells me she has to throw it away because it goes bad.   I’d eat of of it in a day because the next day “I’d start a diet”. I tried the moderation thing but it just didn’t work with sugar.  I couldn’t have just one cookie or even 6, I’d have to have every one of the cookies.  I’d steal my kids Halloween candy.  I’d eat a 1/2 gallon of ice cream in one sitting.  I’d say “just one more” 30 times and stop only when whatever it was I was eating was gone or I felt like I had just swallowed 5 pounds of Play-doh.  I’m sure you get the point.  

But this past year, I accepted my addiction and did something about it.  I can’t tell you how great it feels.

The best part is not having that out of control feeling I’d get when I’d open a bag of Chips Ahoy cookies or went to a party with a table covered in sweets.  I hated that feeling.  I felt helpless, like a slave to sweets.  And as I said earlier, I made my decision to live a refined sugar free life for a year when I was in the middle of one of my worst bouts of depression.  I know sugar was contributing to my mood swings because after a few weeks the mood swings were far less severe.  And once I committed to a clean diet and exercise I started to experience hope and joy again.  Something that I had lived too many months without. 

I’ve been contemplating for months about how I’m going to celebrate tonight.  Part of me wants to bring in the New Year with Ben and Jerry.  But after a lot of thought and reflection on the changes I’ve experienced I decided I’m going to go for another year without it.  Honestly, I’m too afraid of having that out of control feeling again.  It’s like if I was an alcoholic I wouldn’t want to celebrate a year of being sober with a drink.

Some people have asked me why don’t I do moderation.  The reason is simple.  I can’t.  At least not with sugar. I’ve learned and accepted this about myself.  I do not yet have the tools to eat sugar in moderation. Maybe someday I will be able to bake cookies and actually have dough left to bake but until then sugar is my Song of the Siren.  

Have a wonderful New Year’s Eve and be safe!

xoxo
j

At home*, we eat healthy or at least what I believe is healthy, basically an organic whole-food kosher diet. Actually, if you know me well, you know I can get a bit obsessive and annoying about food. I’m sure there is a label for my food obsession. Let me elaborate. Almost all the produce I buy is fresh, organic and nutritious, things like corn and iceberg don’t count. I try to eat at least one raw fruit or vegetable at every meal. I don’t buy white grains only brown. I try to limit the amount of wheat we eat. The majority of our dairy is organic. I buy high omega eggs with “golden” yolks. I’m even considering switching to raw milk. I don’t buy pork, shellfish, or dirty fish (they must have scales). My meat is free range and grassfed or at the least kosher. I buy chicken that has been fed a vegetarian diet without antibiotics or hormones. I don’t buy farm raised fish, only wild, and won’t eat too much b/c of mercury. I think processed sugar substitutes, of all kinds, are dangerous at best. The closest I come to buying processed food are frozen tamales at Trader Joes or spaghetti sauce. I enjoy detoxes and cleanses. I’m skeptical about soy products. I own a $300 wheatgrass juicer. Huge grocery stores, frighten me, I do my best to avoid them. If I am buying something in a jar or box, I practically memorize the labels. And I’m not just looking for hydrogenated oils, I’m looking for any artificial ingredient, color number something, or preservative that I can’t pronounce, don’t know what it means or sounds like it was made in a lab. You get the point. I’m anal about my food AT HOME*. I should probably get a WWJE bracelet.

But there’s a catch.

Don’t be fooled by my AT HOME* eating habits. I’m a hypocrite. The problem is sugar or rather my addiction to it. I sabotage all my hard work with sugar. And everyone knows sugar is one of the worst things a person can eat. I need to find a support group because I have all the symptoms of an addict. I lie about eating it. I eat it when I say I don’t want it. I go out of my way to get it. I hide evidence. I try not to keep it in my house except in the forms of maple syrup, honey, and agave nectar. When I have been desperate, I have drank over of cup of maple syrup, making myself sick and once half a bottle of agave nectar. There’s something not right about that. I have even found myself shaking at the checkout line at Ralph’s trying not to buy a Reese’s cup or York Peppermint Patty. Once I came home shouting to Brent, “I did it”, overjoyed, at my triumph of not buying any candy at Ralph’s. Brent said, “Good job Baby!”. I said, “I rewarded myself with a People Magazine, it has anorexic stars who don’t eat sugar on the cover!!” The last 7 years for Lent, I have given up sugar and I don’t think I have ever been 100% successful. One year I ate an entire jar of kid’s gummy vitamins to get my fix, citing that it didn’t count b/c it wasn’t technically candy or a dessert. Sugar is like heroin to me, albeit, killing me slower and the damage to my life is not as evident. The worst part is, I have passed on my addiction to my son, Nathanael. Noah, my other son, somehow, seems to have been bypassed. He can eat a cookie and stop or save some for later. But Nathanael, well, he is just as bad as me, except that he is honest and shows no shame. He references candy about 5000 times a day. And I totally empathize with him. When I was a kid there used to be this Dairy Queen commercial where it took the audience’s point of view down a chocolate river lined with mountains of ice cream and chocolate covered in candy. That was my ultimate fantasy. Willy Wonka was my hero. The same is true for Nathanael. And I don’t know what to do about it. About a year ago, I discovered these books, The Sugar Addicts Total Recovery Guide and Little Sugar Addicts. It was enlightening and Nathanael and I began our journey to recovery. The journey lasted less than a week. I feel like giving up but I don’t want to, at least not yet. This week has been bad, as is any time, I eat outside my house. When I go on vacation or go to a party, many of my dietary habits go out the window, especially sugar. I can justify every bite. This week, I have ate part of a 1/2 gallon of Blue Bell ice cream, two pizza cookies with ice cream, Joe-Joes, a gas station cinnamon roll, Ben and Jerry’s, a cheesecake brownie, and an enormous bag of marshmallows. And this is just what I can remember off the top of my head. I think my insides are exploding with yeast. Every night I have woke up with a stomach ache, I know because of the food I’m eating, especially sugar. This is why I am typing a blog at 3 a.m. And if it wasn’t gone, I’d probably be having a bowl of Blue Bell Turtle Fudge right now. Pathetic.

*This our “at home” diet only. It’s not a religious thing. So, if you invite us over for dinner, we will HAPPILY eat whatever you make without gagging and judgement. And if we go out to dinner I may order french fries and a coke!

To be continued!

xoxo
j

I made a list (grocery list) and checked it twice then ended up being more naughty than nice.  In other words, I ate enough butter yesterday to cover a pizza the size of a flying saucer.  That is, if you butter pizza and if there are really flying saucers.  Sigh.  I wasn’t nice to my body. I’m all for free/sane meals especially on holidays but yesterday was insanity.  Mayhem.  Seriously.  I ate the amount of food yesterday that I normally eat in 3 days.  I was actually in pain.  Pain, I tell you! 

This is what happened. It was a holiday.  Justification #1.  Then I spent 5 hours cooking an amazing meal (If I may say so myself).  Justification #2. I can (or could) still wear my thin jeans.  Justification #3.  I’ll give away all the left overs. (Didn’t happen.) Justification #4.  New Year’s is coming and I need a weight loss resolution.  Justification #5.  A glass of wine…. who needs to justify anymore.  It’s time to EAT!  And eat.  And eat. 

It was good.  Really good.  But I’m not sure it was that good.

So you’d think I’d probably be at the gym first thing this morning?  Wrong.  The only exercise I got today was playing our new Rock Band game.  Which by the way, I’m pretty HORRIBLE.  But I did score 100% singing vocals on the Eye of the Tiger song.  I sort of wish I hadn’t found out the actual words. They are cheesier than the amount of Brie I ate on Christmas Eve.  Yikes!

Well now I have a choice. Spend the next week regretting the 4 pounds of butter I ate or forgive myself, move on, and try not to eat sweet potato casserole for breakfast.  Mmmm?  I think I’ll forgive myself but I’ll probably have a little bit of my pesto on an egg sandwich for breakfast.  Just a little.  

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are excited about the possibilities for your life in the year to come!

xoxo
j

1 Head of Chopped Romain
1 Grilled Chicken Breast
1/4 Cup Black Beans
1 Small Tomatoe
1/4 Cup Corn
1/8 Cup Chopped Jicama
1/4 Sliced Avocado 

Dressing
1/8 Cup Greek Yogurt
1/8 Cup (of your favorite) Salsa

xoxo
j

Every time I walk into a new exercise class at the gym I feel a little anxious.  I imagine  myself falling down and everyone swarming around me.  In my head, I look up and see their laughing faces swirling around me but the room is silent.  And when I finally do stand up I fall back down because someone tied my shoes strings together.  This is why I only wear Velcro sneakers.  Not really.

The worst part about the classes are waiting around for it to begin.  If I don’t know anyone I sort of stand around and look busy fiddling with my sweatshirt or my water bottle while everyone else chats as if they are sorority sisters.  If I have nothing to fiddle with I sort of make eye contact and smile sheepishly as if I’m apologizing for being there.  Today I actually decided I would say hi to the pretty lady on my left, that way if I accidently stepped on her foot she’d be quick to forgive me.

The instructor began class by telling us to have fun and that she wouldn’t use a microphone.  That we should just watch her, listen to the music for changes, and have fun.   At first I panicked, “How will I know what to do if I can’t hear her!” but as it turned out it was really nice not to have to listen to a voice blaring “Left foot! You can do it! Work it!” and other cheerleadery type of instruction.  Back in high school and college I used to dance and I LOVED it.  I always wished I could have been a dancer (and a rockstar) but I was never that good. I started too late and could never catch up with the girls who started in “Wee Wigglers”.  To tell you the truth, I’m just now getting over the fact I quit ballet when I was 5 because had I kept it up I’m just “sure” I could have danced with Baryshnikov in Swan Lake.  Never mind the fact I’m 5′4″ and there was a misprint on my genetic lottery card saying “LOGS” instead of “LEGS”.  Back to my point.  Zumba was really fun.  It’s a combination of dance mostly latin inspired (but I did sense a little hip-hop and middle eastern influence) and well…. controlled jumping around with a few squats thrown in for good measure. The dance combinations were easy to follow yet challenging enough so you don’t feel like you are doing the hokey pokey.  Like most exercise, I found I could make it as challenging or easy as I wanted.  By the end of class, I felt like I had gotten a really great interval cardio workout but best of all the time flew by.  Fifty minutes felt more like 20. If you have a Zumba class in your area, check it out.  I bet you’ll have a lot fun and get a good workout to boot.  Here the Zumba website again if you are interested.

xoxo
j

Laying in bed all week afforded me the luxury of being able to think without interruption for long periods of time.  I thought a lot about time, specifically how I spend it.  We each are given 24 hours a day or 1440 minutes or 86,400 seconds.  Now I have to confess, I’ve been lazy with my time. I spend more time thinking than actually doing.  It makes me sad to think about how many hours of my life I’ve wasted.  Wasted on worry.  Wasted online.  Wasted on being angry.  Wasted on trying to decide what shirt to buy.  Wasted reading stuff that will not add to my life in any way.  Wasted on regretting the past but doing nothing to change the future.  There isn’t a lot in life that we can control but we can control our time.  I can choose to go workout instead of sleep in.  I can choose to write instead mindlessly surf Facebook.  I can choose to spend time with a friend instead of reading pointless emails (not yours!).  I can choose to not worry about tomorrow and take action today.  That’s what I want 2009 to be a year of action.

Last Friday, I finally finished the rough draft of a screenplay I’ve been thinking about for two years.  It felt good to type those last words, even better than reaching 120 pounds.  But soon after finishing it I thought, “Wow when I put my mind to it, it wasn’t the doing was difficult.  It was the starting“.  I think fitness is very similar.  Once you get going it’s not that difficult and more times than not enjoyable.  But it’s the getting started that is HARD.  Before I chose to get healthy I wasted a lot of time thinking about wearing a size 4 but very little time actually doing anything about it.  And I wasted even more time by eating food that didn’t fuel my body like mexican pizzas from Taco Bell.  Then I wasted time feeling guilty about it instead of moving on.  Which perhaps is the most destructive of all.

It’s time to move on friends.  All of us are wasting time with something.  Let go of the things that are keeping you from your goals.  If you ever been to my house you know I’m not the best housekeeper.  In fact, I’m pretty lousy. But I made the choice that my house didn’t have to be 100% all the time. When I was looking at my life I decided that when I look back on my life I won’t give a damn wether my shirts had wrinkles or not.  And I won’t regret vacuuming only  twice a month. And so what if I had a permanent clothes sculpture on my bedroom floor.  I realized if I spent the amount of time it would require to keep my house looking 100% then I wouldn’t have the time I wanted to invest in the things I really wanted to invest in, things like family, friends, and personal goals.  We only have 1440 minutes each day.  How do you want to spend those minutes?  Have you been dreaming about losing X number pounds?  Then get up and move. It’s not easy but YOU CAN do it.   Have you always wanted to learn photography?  Then grab a camera and start shooting.  YOU CAN and you will probably surprise yourself.  Have you always wanted to learn how to cook?  Then pull out a cookbook and start chopping. So what if you’re not Martha Stuart, have fun anyway. Don’t waste another moment regretting the “yesterdays” or worrying about the “tomorrows”.  Make today count.  How are you going to use your 1440 minutes today?

Friends let’s not wait until tomorrow to encourage and inspire each other.  Let’s find the time today to say, “You can do it.” to each other AND ourselves.   Can-we-do-it???  YES-WE-CAN!!!!

xoxo
j

In response to a reader’s question I like to share with you what supplements I am taking or took during my competition prep.  Choosing a supplement or supplements can be confusing.  Just walk into any supplement store or health food store and you’ll have hundreds of choices each claiming to be the secret to a sculpted butt, 6-pack abs, smooth face, or a cancer-free life.  It’s easy to walk out of those stores overwhelmed and broke.  I’m not an expert on this subject all I can do is share what worked for me.

Personally I like to keep it simple.  Right now I’m only taking a whole food multi-vitamin and a whole food B-complex (so I don’t end up in jail during a very specific week of the month). Not sure if I’d call these supplements but I also like to drink a shot glass of apple cider vinegar and 1-4 cups of green tea a day.  I do this for the anti-oxidants, caffeine, and I happen to enjoy it (the tea).

When I was preparing for my show I was taking glutamine (when I could remember) post workouts. This assists in muscle recovery. But more often than not I would forget to take it just like I forget to pluck my eyebrows.  I also drank whey protein for convenience to get my protein in when I was on the go.  I like EAS 100% Whey.  Lastly, 5 weeks before my competition, I tried creatine for 3 weeks. Creatine increases the production of ATP.  ATP is the energy your muscles use for short bursts of energy, such as weightlifting. In other words, when you are taking creatine you can lift heavier weights or more reps before your muscles hurt because they have greater energy stores available to them.  As a result you get more muscle growth.  At least that’s my understanding.  It did work for me as far as my strength.  I could lift heavier but it wasn’t like I doubled my weights.  It was a matter of a few pounds or a rep or two depending on what body part.  Naturally I can lift more with my legs than my shoulders so I saw the biggest increases in the larger muscle groups.  I don’t think I used it long enough to see a visible difference.

Honestly, although I’v tried a few supplements, I’m personally not a big fan. For one, they are really expensive and I’m really frugal. And two, I agonize over taking a Tylenol or aspirin. I believe plenty of water (I drink a gallon a day), the right nutrition, an effective workout plan, and a good nights rest are all you really need.  I don’t think there is a weight loss supplement out there that will get you results you want if you are not feeding your body the proper nutrition or pushing yourself at the gym.  I know the magazines are full of advertisements for fat burners and the like with these beautiful buff fitness models but remember  these girls work their butts off at the gym and eat squeaky clean for weeks leading up to their photo shoots. “Fat burners” are misleading they don’t actually burn fat but stimulate your nervous system therefore increasing your metabolism a little or give you more energy for more cardio.  No thanks.  I’m not a fan of endless hours of cardio.  If energy if what you’re after, you can get that from caffeine without the risks. I was going to research the risks but instead I came this post from an clearly well informed and not to mention funny blogger.  She shares her story of taking an ephedra product (weight loss supplement) and ending up in the cardiology unit.  Enough said.

I’d also like to add if you need to take supplements for energy all the time then there is a good chance your training is out of whack. If you are not getting the results you want I think the first step is to be painfully honest about your nutrition and workouts.  I always find being honest with myself is really tough but necessary.  Often times I look at my diet and see that I need major improvement if I want to see the changes I’m aiming for.  Then I have to re-evaluate my reasons and motivations for setting these goals and make sure they are goals I really want.  Here are the basic questions I ask myself.

Are you eating too much?  Little bites here and there may not seems like much but when you are down to the last few pounds they can hold you back.

Are you eating too little?  This is can slow down your metabolism and slow down fat loss.

Are you timing your meals and not skipping meals?  I rarely go more than 3 hours without at meal.  If I do disaster strikes and I will turn my kitchen into the Hometown Buffet of carbs.

Are you REALLY pushing yourself in the gym?  Can you lift heavier?  Can you run faster on your HIIT cardios? Are you tracking your progress? Have your weights been going up?  Is your speed increasing?

Are you getting enough sleep?  If not you can seriously hinder your progress.

Are you overtraining?  Muscles need time to recover after they have been worked really hard.  I usually rest a muscle group I have worked out at least two days before working the muscles again.  Too much cardio can eat away at hard earned muscle.

Are you getting in your post workout nutrition at least 30 minutes after exercising?  This helps with muscle recovery.

This are the questions I start with when I hit plateaus.  And what worked for me for the majority of my 5 month figure preparation.   That said if someone really wants to add supplements to their plan I would recommend glutamine, creatine, and a whole food multi-vitamin.  Some people don’t like creatine because it can cause water retention.  I didn’t have a problem but then again I only took it for 3 weeks.

Hope you find this helpful!  Since I’m clearly lacking in supplement experience I’d love to hear any of your experiences or recommendations.

xoxo
j

Sunday I planned my workouts for the week ready to hit them hard the next morning when instead I woke up Monday hit by something else.  I think it may be the flu.  Ick.  I had no idea this was coming.  I guess nobody does.  My nose was a little itchy Sunday but I thought it could be something in the air.  Monday I thought it was just a cold.  Today I’ve been mostly in bed achey and whiny.  

When I’m sick it’s not only physical but mental as well. I turn into a “health schizophrenic”.  This morning I ate a raw clove of garlic the size of my thumb then washed it down with egg nog.   Later I’m in the tub drinking some N-A-S-T-Y chinese herbal tea that my friend who is a SERIOUS HEALT NUT, compared to him I’m Ronald McDonald, gave me.  After I get out I take some Tylenol PM.  I feel sort of lost not sure if I should go East or West with medicine.  I blame it on my headache which happens to feel like someone is blowing a ballon inside of my brain and it’s about to pop. 

Enough whining.  For those of you with chronic pain I feel for you.  I really do. 

xoxo
j

This week I’m sticking to the same split (breaking up body parts by days) but with a few changes.  I’ve had a cold so I don’t expect to see much improvement in strength.  But I’ll definitely be bringing my journal just in case my inner She-ra comes out.

Mon – Biceps, Triceps, Legs
Tue – HIIT cardio
Wed – Core
Thur  - HIIT cardio
Fri – Chest, Back, Shoulders, Legs
Sat – Optional but highly recommended cardio.  40 min HIIT cardio or 4 mi run.

MONDAY

Split Squats using stability ball or bench
25 each leg

Tricep Dips on Stability Ball (I just think this is a FANTASTIC exercise b/c not only does it work my triceps but it works my core. And it’s fun b/c it’s so challenging to balance.)
20 reps

Dumbell Hammer Curls – weight will increase with each set.
8 reps 1st  set
6 reps 2nd set4 reps 3rd set

I’ll do one set
of each exercise then move immediately to the next.  Repeat for a total 3 sets for each exercise.

Rest 1-2 minutes

Stiff Legged Deadlifts on One Leg.
20 reps each leg

Bicep Curls 21’s standing on one leg
7 reps for bottom half, 7 reps for top half, 7 full range of motion curls

Tricep Kickback – weight will increase with each set.
8 reps 1st  set
6 reps 2nd set
4 reps 3rd set

I’ll do one set of each exercise then move immediately to the next.  Repeat for a total 3 sets for each exercise.

Finish off with a 10 minute HIIT (walk/run) on the treadmill.

TUESDAY

20 minute HIIT cardio on any cardio machine.

WEDNESDAY

Plank
Hold for 60 seconds

Bridge
30 reps

Frog Sit-ups
30 reps

Reverse Crunches
30 reps

Bicycle Crunches
15 reps

Ab Tucks on Ball
15 reps

Stability Ball Hyperextensions
15 reps

Repeat as many times as possible in 15 minutes.

10 minute HIIT Cardio on the elliptical. Stretch

THURSDAY
Killer Treadmill Workout  or 20 minute HIIT cardio on any machine
Stretch

FRIDAY

Pull-Ups
As many as I can do which is about 3.

Burpees (with push ups)
10 (20 was waaay too many last week)

Lateral Raises – If possible I’ll increase weight with each set.
8 reps 1st  set
6 reps 2nd set
4 reps 3rd set

I’ll do one set of each exercise then move immediately to the next.  Repeat for a total 3 sets for each exercise. 

Rest for 1-2 minutes.

Bent Over Dumbell Rows - I’ll increase weight with each set.
8 reps 1st  set
6 reps 2nd set
4 reps 3rd set

Squats with Shoulder Presses
25 reps 

Jumping Lunges
15 reps

Front Dumbell Raises - If possible I’ll increase weight with each set.
8 reps 1st  set
6 reps 2nd set
4 reps 3rd set

I’ll do one set of each exercise then move immediately to the next.  Repeat for a total 3 sets for each exercise.

10 minutes of HIIT Cardio on the rowing machine or elliptical.  Stretch

SATURDAY

40 minutes HIIT cardio on stepmill OR 4 mile run.

SUNDAY
Rest and Relax!!!!