The Plan - Part 2

Now for the next part of this series.  I would say it's the hardest, but honestly the diet can be a lot harder, so I'd say they are equally as difficult (or easy if you are an optimist) just for different reasons.

Exercise

Now exercise can be anything that basically causes your heart rate to increase and makes you sweat. My definition, not technical.  It's physical activity that burns calories.  That's not all it can do though, it can build muscle (technically speaking it breaks the muscles and they are rebuilt, bigger and more defined after the fact).  There are two main types of exercise, strength training and cardio training.  You need both.  I'm not saying you have to try to get all jacked up so you can complete for the title of Mr.\Mrs.\Miss Universe, I'm saying that you can only exercise so many muscles with cardio, and you can't (often) keep your heart rate high enough for long enough to burn fat while strength training.  Hand in hand.

As I stated in Part 1, this is what I'm doing, so your mileage may vary and you should tweak it accordingly.

Firstly, I believe in strength training days off. NOT THE DIET. NOT CARDIO. I believe that in order to make progress you have to allow muscle groups to repair themselves before exerting them again.  I've designed my routine around that.

Let's begin with the cardio. Every day. Every. Day.  First thing in the morning, before eating or anything, do cardio. Fasted cardio works. It's not fun, but it works.  For cardio to be effective, you need to keep your heart rate in the "fat burning zone," for which a formula exists to help with that.  Here is an easy way to calculate your maximum heart rate and what the zone is for you (65-70% of max).What I do is a ride on a recumbent bike.  When starting, ease into it, don't do so much that you get soured at the idea.  Start with like a 10 minute ride (or constant cardio exercise), or maybe 3 miles.  Keep doing that same distance\time until you are comfortable with increasing it, but once again, don't jump up to high that you get mad and quit altogether. Every. Day. Did I mention that?

Preface: Your body lets you know when you are doing too much or you are hurt.  A light pain is normal, but sharp and intense pains are not normal. Stop the exercise, wait (even days if need be) before working that muscle again, and when you do, use less weight to get back in the swing.

Mondays
Arm\Chest Day

Lying Tricep Press (Skullcrushers)
EZ-Bar Curl
Dumbbell Flyes
Bent Over Barbell Row

Tuesdays
Off

Wednesdays
Leg Day

Leg Extensions
Standing Calf Raises
Lying Leg Curls
Barbell Full Squat

Thursdays
Off

Friday
Whole Body Day (Intense)

Alternate Hammer Curl
Leg Extensions
Arnold Press
Barbell Rear Delt Row
Around the Worlds
Deadlift
Bent-Arm Dumbbell Pullover
Dumbbell Shrug
Decline EZ-Bar Tricep Extension
Seated Barbell Twist

Weekend
1 Day Off\1 Day Whole Body Day (Light)

EZ-Bar Curl
Incline Dumbbell Press
Lying Leg Curls
Lying Rear Delt Raise


I purposely didn't put sets\reps\weight because that is something you need to find out for yourself.  Traditionally it's 3 sets of 8 repetitions at 80% of you max weight.  Some people say less weight, more reps while others say less reps, more weight.  Honestly, I'm still figuring out what works best for me, but rest assured whatever you do, as long as you do it, it will work. This may sound silly, but get your phone\iPod or whatever, make a workout playlist with songs that pump up your adrenaline and play that while working out.  It can help you for several reasons, but a main one is it helps block out the sounds around you, letting you focus on what you're doing. Now for a thorn...

CARDIO AGAIN
After your strength training do cardio again.  I know that means some days you'll be doing cardio twice, but hey - gotta stick with what works.

Well, that's about all I do, part 3 will be on supplementation.

Until Next Time Dear Readers...