Healthy Holiday Countdown!

Diet is on point for the next few weeks, now all we need is a good exercise program to follow! Like we discussed yesterday, in order to see fast results we need to crank up the intensity! To do this we don’t necessarily need to increase the frequency of our training. If you are currently training 3-4 days per week and we crank up the heat on the cardio it will be just enough to shock your body into melting the weight away. If you are not currently doing anything at all then it will be even easier! Just start doing cardio and the diet we talked about and you will see results in no time. You have all heard me talk about HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) many of times in past blogs but now is the time to implement it. All cardio done over the next 3 weeks will be HIIT. This will keep sessions short to accommodate the hectic holiday season and also keep the intensity up to fit into our fast transformation. By doing HIIT we also boost the metabolism and keep the body burning fuel longer! Let’s look at an example program to follow.

              

            Cardio

Day 1- 30 min Jump Rope Intervals- Start by jumping 60 second and resting 30 seconds, do this until you absolutely have to have more rest then switch to 60 seconds on, 60 seconds off. Do this for the entire 30 minutes

Day 2- 20 min Sprint Intervals- For this we will do 30 second sprints with 30 second rest. During the working portion make sure to run as fast as you can and during the rest period make sure you are at complete rest; no jogging. We need ample recovery time to assure we can complete the next interval.

Day 3- 15 min Jump Rope, 15 min Sprint Interval- Perform the same interval times as the previous two day but just do it for 15 minutes then switch methods for the last 15 minutes.

Day 4- 30 min Alternate Jump Rope and Sprint Intervals- This will definitely be the hardest day but it will go by the fastest due to the fact that we will be alternating exercises on every interval. Start by Jumping Rope for 60 seconds then rest for 60 seconds, next sprint for 30 seconds and rest for 30 seconds. Repeat until you have reached 30 minutes total time.

Strength Training

Day 1-     Body Weight Squats-                                             100 reps for time

                  Pushups-                                                                  50 reps for time

                 Sit Ups-                                                                    100 reps for time

              Day 2-     Lunges-                                3 sets of 12 reps; 30 sec rest in between

                 Plank-                     3 sets of 30-60 sec holds; 30 sec rest in between

                Body Squat-                           3 sets of 15 reps; 30 sec rest in between

                Glute Bridge-                       2 sets of 20 reps; 20 sec rest in between

                               Pushups-                               2 sets of 12 reps; 20 sec rest in between

                                Bench Dips-                          3 sets of 12 reps; 30 sec rest in between

                                Swimmers-                             2 sets of 30 sec; 30 sec rest in between 

When performing Day 1 of Strength Training do the reps listed as fast as possible, take as many breaks as needed just make sure to finish. Each week try better your time. Follow the workouts and cardio to the “T” and see how easy it is to drop the weight and stay in shape over the holidays! Remember 4 days of cardio and 2 days of strength training is the minimum per week so feel free to add more days or repeat the workouts as needed throughout the weeks. All exercises can be performed without any equipment or a gym so no excuses! Jump Ropes are only like $10 and are easily taken on any vacation. Now get out here and bust your soon to be skinnier butts! With the diet restrictions and the added intensity you will more than BRING IT this holiday season!!!

Healthy New Year's Countdown

With a little under 3 weeks left in the year it’s very easy to hit a coasting phase with your diet and fitness. We discussed ways of not adding on the pounds through the holiday season in our last blog, but let’s look at ways to make this time a 3 week jump start to the new year! How much better would you feel if you started it off 5 lbs lighter or 30 seconds faster? Undoubtedly, all of us will make some sort of New Year’s resolution and most of those will include a health and fitness goal. Now that goal may be a new one or it may be the same resolution you’ve used for the past ten years, regardless, the time is now to get it done.  So instead of tanking the remaining 3 weeks and waiting to start let’s kick it into high gear and be ahead of the crowd January 1^st!

When looking at designing short term exercise programs or meal plans we have to go all out. High intensity and dedication is a must! We will have to give maximum effort in order to see results but it will be worth it when you are a size smaller come 2012. First, let’s look at the nutrition side of things. With the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas day meals your diet should be pretty regular over the next few weeks allowing you to follow the strict restrictions we are going to set.

1.     Eliminate carbs completely after mid afternoon. Doing this will allow your body to use all the carbs you take in during the day as energy and not store those unforgiving night time carbs in your hips or stomach.

2.     Go all natural. If it comes in a package, don’t eat it. We want to increase the amounts of veggies and other natural sources of vitamins and minerals. Cutting out all sugars and toxins will help detox the body and the added fiber will flush the system causing immediately weight loss and “deflation” of the stomach.

3.     Limit calories. We don’t ever want to take our caloric intake under 1200 per day but this is a perfect time to hold strong right at that number. We don’t want to “crash diet” so make sure that all calories taken in are quality calories. Give up your vices and addictions to take in lean meats, veggies and nothing but water (1 gallon a day). Remember we are going all natural as well so this should be easy.

4.     Add in protein shakes. The easiest way to curb cravings and assure you get in the right amount of protein is by adding shakes. Make sure you are going with a low calorie shake; usually 100% whey will work the best. Use them for snacks and for post workout nutrition.

These are all simple, easy to follow restrictions you just have to be conscious effort and stay focused. Track calories for the first day or two to assure you are on track. Keep in mind that these are all ways to lose weight so if your goal is different then you will want to adjust your meal plan accordingly. Follow this plan for the rest of the year allowing yourself a couple of cheat meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Track your progress and see what a difference you can make in just 3 weeks! I will cover the exercise portion of our 3 week plan tomorrow so until then follow these restrictions and get into the holiday spirit while you are BRINGING IT with your fitness!!!