Where am i now? Lesson 2

Workout theory

I still believe to grow muscles you must be in a calorie surplus and lift heavy. I still believe if you have a layer of fat you must lose this first before you will be able to see your muscle tone. And I still believe nutrition is imperative to any goal. But for Blog sake – we are only talking training.

For majority of the population – they want to lose a bit of fat and tone. In this regard I believe a split like this would work great – and I’m actually basing my next classes on this style.

Cardio 2 days 20 min hiit 3 days 30 min circuits

Weights 3 days alternating upper n lower

Abs 2 days at 15 min

Stretch Daily from 10-15 min incorporating different styles

Cardio is key for this goal – but on the 20 min days - it is HIIT style vs walking in the park. I also put together a total body, circuit type cardio so you can work different muscle groups and get the cardiovascular component. I am leaning toward the belief that steady jogging, stairs, bike, etc - any repetitive movement over and over and over again is not good for the body. Therefore; in changing the movements during cardio, you are not continuously fatiguing/overusing the same muscles.

Stretching is the second most important part of this plan. Tight muscles do not allow fluid movement – it will cause restriction, compensation, body misalignment, etc. Trust me….no time, I understand. But when you can’t move comfortably in your own body, you’ll make time. Stretching also helps with recovery and overall aesthetics.

For those that just want to build muscle and not worried about fat loss – then lifting heavy would be ideal. Split body part program and a few short cardiovascular sessions for heart health.

Stretching, again needs to be implemented into your program.

In regards to competitions – I still have a desire to compete. I like the challenge and the push – just everything about it….except….extreme dieting (which I’ll address next blog) and crazy amount of cardio. I do know that the level of cardio I was doing was intense (of course you have to do what you need to in order to get to a certain body fat percentage) but I do not believe killing your body is the way to go. So…..my next goal is to go into my next competition with a totally different mindset. I will not abuse my body into shape nor severe calorie restrict or deprivation. So ideally – I don’t want to spend more than 30 minutes doing cardio, I want 2 rest days from the gym, stretching will be just as important as a training day, and continually work on my mind set – I do believe this was fundamental during my last prep, so I will continue with this as well. Posing is abnormal body positions so I’m still trying to decide on how to address that. I know some of my hip pain started from posing. I’m hoping that including long stretching sessions will alleviate this.

Stay tuned for Lesson 3 – Nutrition theory