Improve your attitude from "I HAVE to workout!" to "I GET to workout!" Just that subtle change in thought will help you gain a whole new outlook on working out. Working out is not a chore that is to be dreaded! Rather celebrate the fact that you are getting fresh blood and oxygen to all the cells in your body! And you are giving yourself the best gift ever, the gift of exercise!
The #1 Reason Why People Start and Then Stop An Exercise Program Revealed!
I have heard this scenario too many times in my online coaching programs and in my telephone and in-person live consultations. A client starts a new exercise program only to quit 2-to-3 weeks later. Why I ask? It's because they suffer from a true scientific term of "Get-there-itis" and "I-Want-My-Results-Now-itis".
They want to "get there" and they "want results now"! With this self-sabotaging mindset, they are setting themselves up for failure.
Perfect vs. Persistence:
Understanding that it's not about "being perfect" but rather being persistent, you will be successful and see the results are you longing for!
Remember to never stop, never give up and never quit! Only losers quit and winners carry on, always taking their program one day at a time.
JNLTM Personal Motivational Story Never Give Up!
When I had given birth to my second son, and some many months later, took my famous before photo, I went on a mission to become my healthiest! I started this Fitness Model Program, and I did not see results! I was 2.5 months into it, and still no real results!
I almost gave up, gave in and threw in my towel! But a little positive self-loving voice inside my head told me not to quit, and to carry on! And even if I don't see results I want, that I would still benefit from a super-healthy lifestyle.
Then IT happened!
A week later, it's as if my body started responding drastically to my new healthy lifestyle! The fat flood gates finally opened, allowing my body to release the fat it was storing for years and my muscle mass started to show!
So just as I kept at it, I urge you also to never give up when you feel at times like you want to!
Weekly Workout Exercise Plan
The program is as simple as this:
You workout with weights 4 days a week, and if you have some fat you need to blast, you add 2 days of cardio, no less than 25 minutes and no more than 45 minutes.
Below you will see a sample week. This is an outline I highly suggest you follow and stick to, as with a solid plan, you won't be lost, you'll know what you are doing and what to do next, taking out all the guess work!
- Monday is always going to be Shoulders and Triceps
- Tuesday is always going to be Legs
- Wednesday is Cardio
- Thursday is Chest and Biceps
- Friday is Back
- Saturday is Cardio
- Sunday is your Off/Active Rest Day, and also Food Prep Day (grocery shopping and meal planning)
Sunday
OFF FM Food Plan Prep
Monday
Shoulders and Triceps
Tuesday
Legs
Wednesday
Cardio: 25 Minutes
Thursday
Chest and Biceps
Friday
Back
Saturday
Cardio: 25 Minutes
Start every workout with a warm up. Warm up simply by walking in place, then moving side to side, and then picking up the intensity to say maybe jumping jacks, and then running in place. Aim for a warm up for at least for 5 minutes.
Pick Three Exercises from the detailed list below PER Body Part.
Perform 8-12 reps for 3 sets, at a challenging weight where the last 8-12 are hard to finish.
The 5 Essential Pieces Of Workout Equipment
Contrary to popular belief, you only need 5 pieces of exercise tools and equipment to achieve the fitness model look. You also don't need an expensive gym membership, a "glorified counter" who calls himself a trainer, tons of useless gadgets and equipment to achieve Fitness Model, magazine cover worthy results!
All you need are the following:
- A Workout Mat
- A Pair of Dumbbells (choose your weight, depending upon your goals and fitness level)
- A Inclining/Declining Bench
- A Stability Ball
- A Piece of Cardio Equipment (Ex: Jump Rope, Elliptical Machine, Stair Master, or an Air Stepper)
25 Minute Cardio Workout:
Fitness models focus on keeping their heart rates down, not allowing them to start burning off their hard earned muscle mass.
Exercise Do's and Don'ts!
- Don't run or try to embrace another form of low impact cardio. Believe me, your muscle mass and your joints will thank me! Fitness models and other professionals lean towards the "no running" principle because it's known to "eat away" at the muscle you work so hard to gain.
- Don't work against yourself and defeat your progress by running. It takes a lot of energy with no real gains, except for cardiovascular. You can receive cardiovascular benefits from other low impact versions such as using the Elliptical, Nordic Track, Air Stepper, and the Stair Master.
- Don't do less than 25 minutes, or more than 45 minutes. This "magic zone" between 25-to-45 burns fat. If you do more than that your body "hits a plateau" and your body "hits a wall" and you slows/stops your progress.
- Don't focus on cardio! In order to have that strong sleek and sexy muscle tone, you need to focus more on weight training to build it up. Don't do excessive cardio which will "eat away" at your muscle mass.
- Don't overtrain! If you overtrain, your appetite will increase and you will start eating like a 250-pound football player and not a fitness model. Rather do just enough to blast fat, and not to hit a plateau. Again if you overtrain, your body will "lock up" and not allow you to burn the fat off that you need too, because it will reach a state of "shock," thus holding onto the fat.
Do understand that fitness is a journey to be enjoyed, not a one time event. Like the old adage goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." Your body too is a masterpiece in progress.Take it one day at a time, and enjoy the process.
Explanations Of Exercises
Congrats on making it this far in my program - a round of applause for you! Now comes the real fun part—proving to yourself that you can do it!
I urge you to fully understand that you do not need an expensive gym membership or fancy equipment or costly trainer to achieve a great body!
As you will see from my photos I am simply working out in my living room with my essential pieces of equipment therefore from my example do not confuse a huge gym with tons of equipment with achieving results.
The key here is to use this program—it's as simple as that! The piece of equipment that I prefer to perform my cardio is the Stairmaster but you can use a Nordic track, elliptical machine or a steady walk on an incline on a treadmill or jumping rope for your cardio.
Exercise Program Formula:
Refer to the 7-day calendar that was forementioned in this chapter. Take the body part that is assigned each day and choose 3 exercises from the exercises listed below.
Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise.
Make sure you choose a weight that is challenging enough that you have to really focus to finish the last 8-12 reps!
Don't cheat yourself! Make sure you follow through and complete your entire weight training session.
Upper Body
Shoulders:
- Seated Dumbbell Press
- Standing Dumbbell Press
- Side Raises
- Bent Over Raises
- Front Raises
- Arnold Press
1. Seated Dumbbell Press
Start out by inclining your bench. Sit on the edge of it with your feet flat on the floor and hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height, elbows out and palms facing forward. Press the dumbbells up and in so that they almost touch above your head. Press them up until your arms are almost straight and slowly lower them back to starting position.
Fit Tip: Don't lean your head too far back; always look straight forward with your chin up and chest high.
2. Standing Dumbbell Press
Stand with your feel shoulder width apart; knees slightly bent. Hold your dumbbells with your palms facing you and press the weight up until your arms are fully extended over your head. Pause for a count of one before slowly lowering your weight to the starting position. Fit Tip: Do not arch your back as you press the dumbbells upward as it may cause back injury
3. Side Raises
Stand upright with your feet shoulder width apart and your arms at your sides. Holding a dumbbell in each hand (palms facing your body) lift the weights out and up to the sides until they are right about level with your chin and hold them for a count of one. Lower them slowly back down to your sides. Fit Tip: Do not lean and swing the weights up or lean your torso forward and bring the dumbbells down in front of your body- let the weights down to your sides instead
4. Bent-Over Raises
Holding a dumbbell in each hand, keeping your feet shoulder width apart, bend forward at the waist so that your upper body is parallel with the floor. Let your arms hang straight down, palms facing each other. Raise the dumbbells, pulling your arms apart and moving your elbows up. Fit Tip: Don't hunch your back by leaning over too much. Your back should be straight and your torso should be almost parallel to the ground.
5. Front Raises
This is an essential move to create sexy and shapely upper body muscles! Hold your dumbbells in your hands to your sides, palms facing inward. Raise the dumbbell up, hold at the top and gently lower down.
6. Arnold Press
This is a weight lifting classic that really works the entire upper body, especially for the shoulders. Grasp dumbbells; palms facing body, elbows flexed. Raise dumbbells by extending elbows; abduct and internally rotate shoulders to straight arm position. Lower to original position and repeat.
Biceps:
- Seated Dumbbell Curls
- Hammer Curls
1. Seated Dumbbell Curls
Sit on the edge of your flat bench with your arms at your sides and a dumbbell in each hand. With your palms facing forward, curl both arms lifting the dumbbells towards your shoulders. Fit Tip: Avoid swinging the weight up and do not lean back or forward as you lower the weights.
2. Hammer Curls
Stand with your feet shoulder width apart with a dumbbell in each hand. Your arms should be extended down at your sides and palms facing each other. Curl both arms up and lift the dumbbells toward your shoulders. Remember to keep your upper arms and torso still as you curl.
Fit Tip: Don't lift with your palms facing down; the proper way is for your palms to face each other.
Chest:
- Dumbbell Bench Press
- Inclined Dumbbell Bench Press
- Dumbbell Flyes
1. Dumbbell Bench Press
Lie on your back on your bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Bring your weights to a point just above your shoulders. Your palms should face towards your feet and elbows out. Press your weights straight up until they are locked out right over your collarbone and slowly lower them to starting position. Fit Tip: don't let the dumbbells sway back toward your head and over your face and do not lift your head off the bench as you do this exercise.
Back:
- Bent Over Row
- "Superwoman"
- Standing Dumbbell Row
- Dumbbell Pullover
1. Bent-Over Row:
Fit Tip: Don't hunch your back as you do this exercise—keep it flat.
2. "Superwoman"
3. Standing Dumbbell Row:
4. Dumbbell Pullover:
Fit Tip: Keep your hips in the same spot and don't let your hips rise.
Triceps:
- Seated Dumbbell Extension
- Lying Dumbbell Extension
- Close Hand Pushups
- Dumbbell Kickbacks
- Dip
1. Seated Dumbbell Extension
Fit Tip: Keep your elbows pointed up and hold them in and don't let them flare out to the sides.
2. Close-Hand Push-ups
3. Dumbbell Kickbacks
4. Lying Dumbbell Extension
Fit Tip: Don't let your elbows flare out and keep them in and pointed straight up.
5. Dip
Lower Body
Quads:
- Dumbbell Squats
- Dumbbell Lunges
- Dumbbell Step-Ups
1. Dumbbell Squats
2. Dumbbell Lunges
Fit Tip: Don't lift your foot up or point your toes in/out- keep your feet firmly planted on the floor straight forward.
3. Dumbbell Step-Ups:
Hamstring:
- Dumbbell Lunges
- Straight Leg Deadlifts
1. Dumbbell Lunges
2. Straight-Leg Deadlifts
Fit Tip: Don't hunch over and keep your back fairly rigid throughout this exercise.
Calves:
- Seated Calf Raises
- Standing Calf Raises
- One Leg Calf Raises
1. Seated Calf Raises
2. Standing Calf Raises
3. One-Leg Calf Raises
Abdominals:
- Floor Crunches
- Twist Crunches
- Ball Crunches
- Decline Sit-Ups
- Bent-knee leg raises
1. Floor Crunches
The range of motion of this exercise is limited and your shoulders should only come off the ground a few inches. Hold this position and flex your abs as hard as you can for a count of one and then slowly lower your shoulders to the ground; never stop pushing down with your lower back.
Fit Tip: Don't lock your hands behind your head; they should be cupped at the sides of your head and not used for leverage.
2. Twist Crunches
Concentrate on your obliques and contract and hold the crunch for a count of one. Hold the contraction and slowly lower to the starting position, count one and perform the next rep. Switch to the other side after you completed your planned number of reps.
Fit Tip: Don't lock your hands behind your head.
3. Ball Crunches
4. Bent-Knee Leg Raises
With your knees approaching your chest, contract your abs and slightly lift your pelvis off the floor. Slowly straighten your legs and bring them back down toward the floor but don't let them rest on the floor. Hold them in that extended position for a count of one and then bring them back up.
Fit Tip: Don't lift your head up too far or let your lower back arch.
Fitness ModelTM "R&R" Formula
Rest and Recuperation is essential for your muscles to heal- metaphorically you must allow it time to form a "callous" from the sandpaper.
If you overtrain you are cheating yourself and not letting the "wounds" heal therefore I can not stress enough: please don't overtrain and rush the process but rather give yourself the gift of time and follow this program!
The Fire Hydrant Principal:
My program is the one wrench that can unlock your body's full potential. It took 2 1/2 months of me working with this program to begin seeing results! My body laid dormant for 2 1/2 months and it happened! The floodgates opened and my body started releasing the fat. I urge you not to give up and know that it's not about being perfect, but being persistent!
The Dynamite Principal:
You can have a stick of dynamite and tap it with a pencil and nothing happens, you can tap it with a pencil 10 times and nothing happens or you can take sledgehammer and hit it once and the stick of dynamite will explode, therefore it is imperative to use a weight that is heavy enough to hit your muscles, not with a pencil tap but with the power of a sledgehammer!
Cardio Core Principals:
When you overtrain cardio, you start eating your muscle and your appetite goes out of control you start having cravings like 300-pound football players! I have been there. I would get out of the gym with such a big appetite that I would eat spaghetti and anything in sight! You need to train like a fitness model - and fitness models don't overtrain so that we don't overeat!
Jump Rope:
The following is a suggested routine that will help you get the most from your jump rope workout, and have fun doing it:
Perform one jump rope exercise for 30 seconds to a minute.
Rest for a few seconds, or until your body feels re-energized.
Perform the next jump rope exercise for 30 seconds to a minute.
Rest for a few seconds, or until your body feels re-energized.
Perform the next jump rope exercise, and so on.
For beginners, follow the above pattern for 10 minutes. As you progress, work your way up to 20 to 30 minutes for an intense workout.
For the first couple of exercises, turn the rope slowly to warm up. Then gradually speed up the pace until you are performing faster moves about halfway through your workout. Then gradually slow your pace down until you are turning the rope slowly on the last two to three exercises to cool down.