My Exercise Routine

Aug 21, 2013

Too much of the wrong type of cardio! This is a very typical problem, especially with women for exactly the reason you just said. Jamie Eason says exactly the same thing in her intro to her program on bodybuilding.com. Funny how I have heard that twice in the last two days. So I am going to switch your cardio to one of two things. As for calorie burn, I have been wearing my heart monitor to the gym religiously and I can tell you that you burn a lot of calories in 1 hour of weight training. Yesterday in 1 hour and 5 minutes I burned 580 calories. More muscle burns more calories at work and at rest, keep that in mind. You will not necessarily get bigger muscles because you don't have the testosterone to make that happen, what you will get is harder, leaner muscles that burn burn burn. So here is what I think you should try. First make yourself an exercise in your MFP called Weight Training and for every hour you spend lifting weights, dial in 300 calories. If you have a heart monitor, wear it then you can put in actual numbers, but 300 is a good realistic amount for a woman within 10 lbs of goal for 1 hour of weight training. This way you can satisfy your numbers issues. You will see the burn in MFP.

For weight training, switch to 4 days per week. On day 1 and day 4 you will do Legs/Back/Biceps. On day 2 and 5 you will do Chest and Shoulders. On Day 3 and Day 7 you will rest and on Day 6 you will only do cardio and you can do as much as one of the two cardios I put at the end of this post. Each work out takes somewhere between 45 mins to an hour and half, if you use the HIIIT approach I will describe you can get them both done in less than an hour.

All work outs start with a 5 minute warm up on the tread mill. Set the treadmill to a 6% incline at 3 miles per hour. Every minute increase the incline by 2% and in the last minute max out the incline at 15%. Do not hold on, swing your arms to keep your balance. This should warm up all of your muscles. If you are on a treadmill that  has a fan that turns on automatcally turn it off. This is about warming up not being comfortable.

Workout #1 Legs/Back/Biceps - Days 1 and 4

- Squats (4 sets, 8 to 10 reps each) - Use a smith machine when you start squating and this is a good exercise to get some assistance with if you haven't done them before. Basically a barbell on your back, start out a bit lighter until you get your technique down. This is the single best weight lifting exercise you can do. You will want to use free weights for this to get the maximum benefits. Not a fan of machines for this. Once you get good at them stop using the Smith machine and do them from a regular squat rack. I promise you will have a great ass from this alone.

- Leg extensions (4 sets, 8 to 10 reps, controlled in both directions) use a machine for this

- Lat Pulldowns (4 sets, 8 to 10 reps) - use a machine or a cable machine for these

- Calf Raises (4 sets, 8 to 10 reps) - if your gym does not have a machine for this, grab a couple of mediumg to heavy dumbells and do them from the floor, if you are doing them from the floor, stand on a couple of 35 or 45 weight plates or a step so you get full extension of the calf.

- Seated Row (4 sets, 8 to 10 reps) - Cable machine for this

- Barbell curl (4 sets 8 to 10 reps) - Control in both directions, on the up do not come all the way up come up until just before your bicep release. So if you do a curl and come all the way up to say your chest you will feel your bicep relax as the weight shifts to your arms. You will want to stop just before this happens and then use control to let it back down. Do not swing when you do this.

- Dumbbell curl (2 sets, 8 to 10 reps) - grab two dumbbells, less weight than you curled with the barbell. hold them do your side in a neutral position so they are parallel with one another at your sides, bring each dumbbell up in a curl, again stopping just before your bicep relaxes and as you bring the dumbbell up, you will want to rotate it so that it is purpendicular to its former position or now parallel with your chest, so you are going through a slow turn as you raise it. When you get it ot the top position, hold it for 1-2 seconds before bringing it back down. Slow control both directions. This holds the blood in your bicep a little longer.

That's it. Sounds like a lot. Now you can typically rest for 1 to 2 minutes between each set. but for the HIIT approach instead of resting alternate exercise. Do the squats on their own and rest between each set, but then go from the leg extension to the lat pulldown and knockout all 4 sets of each with no rest between. Your muscles from the previous exercise will rest while you are doing the next exercise. Then do the calf raises and seated row in a group, and then do the curls on their own. I have not tried mixing squats and curls yet, but that is a thought I may give it a shot.

Workout #2 - Chest and Shoulders

- Bench Press - (4 sets, 8 - 10 reps) - use a regular bench and a straight bar. You may want to start out with just the bar as it weighs 45lbs. then work your way up. If you go heavy, make sure to get someone to spot you. Anyone in the gym will be happy to do this for you, you just may have to return the favor.

- Military Press or Seated Overhead Press - (4 sets, 8-10 reps) - Sit in a bench at a rack, you are going to raise the barbell over your head and bring it down to your chest (in front of you) and then press it back up. The press up should sort of snap like you are trying to get it off of your chest. That is 1 rep down and back up, not up and back down. Most people do this the wrong way and its an important distinction because the time at your chest is what is different.

- Standing Row (4 sets, 8-10 reps) You can do this on a smith machine or a rack or just standing. Using a barbell hold the barbell at your waste gripping the bar near the center with your hands held about a hand width or so apart. You are going to raise the barbell brining it up your body to just under your chin keeping your elbow out to the sides so they end up parallel to the ground. Control in both directions.

- Tricep Pull Down (4 sets, 8-10 reps) Using a cable machine with the pully overhead, use a close grip handle or the rope handle. Stand in front of the cable, bend forward a bit at the waist and pull the cable down to your waist using just your triceps. Keep your head up and your chest out. You will feel this in your triceps. Alternatively you can do tricep tips using a bench. Basicall put your feet out in front of you, put your hands on a bench behind you and dip your butt down toward the ground and then back up.

- Burpees (2 sets, as many as you can do) If you don't know what a burpee is, these alone can shred that last 20lbs. Search it on YouTube you will find many variations, just a basic Burpee is fine here)

- Quick Sprints (4 sets of 4 reps of 10-15 yards) Just pick a space of about 10 to 20 yards, sprint down turn around, sprint back, do that twice then stop and rest for 30 seconds. 

For the HIIT version, Do the bench press by itself, you can combine the overhead press with the standing row. Basically do your overhead press set then transition to the row position and do that set, rest for 30 seconds between groupings. You can sprint between burpee sets.

CARDIO

Two choices here

#1 Walk (30-60 mins) steady pace, nothing fast. This will burn fat better than anything, especially if you are lifting. Low intensity and steady.

#2 - if you want something a bit more aggressive, I really like this:

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