WARMING UP WITH CONDITIONING MACHINES

Warming up with cardiovascular machines such as treadmills, ellipticals, stairmasters, and bikes are great ways to loosen up your muscles and prepare your body for fat loss for your upcoming workout. I recommend your warm-up to be at least 15-20 minutes. Warm-ups should start at a low intensity for about 3-5 minutes at an easy pace. After about 5 minutes into your Warm-Up/Start-Up, beginners should gradually increase the pace, raising the intensity every one to two minutes until slightly out of breath for the entire workout (About 10 min).

WARM-UP FOR INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED CLIENTS

Now that you’ve gotten the gist of how to start and increase the intensity of your warm-up, let’s move on to maximizing your warm-up to enhance your benefits even further. One of the most effective ways to do so is by implementing Interval Training. 

Interval Training improves fat loss during your workout. Interval Training involves a combination of brief, moderate intensity exercises followed by equal or longer low intensity exercises for a certain amount of cycles or rounds. 

For example:

30 seconds to 1 minute of running followed by 1 or 2 minutes of slow jogging or walking.

Repeat this cycle for about 10 minutes to complete your  Interval Training warm-up session.

RESISTANCE TRAINING

Now that your muscles are warm and less susceptible to injury, it’s time to move on to the main exercises in your workout.

FOCUS ON YOUR FORM

 The first one to two weeks of your workout Program should be about learning and maintaining proper form for each exercise. To maintain proper form, pay attention to your posture (stand tall with your chest lifted and abs held tight), move slowly to ensure you are relying on your muscles and not momentum to do the exercises. Also, please remember to breathe while performing each exercise.  Many people hold their breath while exerting but exhaling during this part of the exercise helps power through the movement. 

WEIGHT REPS AND SETS

As you progress through your exercises, adjustments to your weights and or reps and sets will be made by you.  As your online Trainer, we will be in contact with you periodically as you go through your Program.  However, being that we won’t be with you during your training 100% of the time, it’s important for you to gain a better understanding of where and how to make adjustments as you progress, according to your goals:

FAT LOSS AND MUSCLE BUILDING

Choose enough weight that’s challenging to complete 8 to 12 repetitions:

To determine how much weight to use, start your first set with a lighter weight and continue adding weight until you feel enough resistance to do the desired number of repetitions with good form. Your last rep should be difficult but not impossible. The same applies if you’re using resistance bands. 

If you’re able to complete 12 repetitions or more easily, increase the weight until 12 repetitions are challenging to complete.

If the weight is so heavy that you’re unable to complete 8 repetitions, lower the weight until you’re able to complete 8 repetitions successfully.

• Beginners: 2 to 3 sets
• Intermediate and Advanced: 3 to 4 sets
• Rest: 30 secs to 1 minute between sets.

Do not rush your reps, take your time with your reps. Slow and controlled reps while focusing on proper form increases your results and helps prevent muscle injury.

MUSCLE GAIN

Choose enough weight that you can only complete 4 to 8 repetitions:

To determine how much weight to use, start your first set with a lighter weight and continue adding weight until you feel enough resistance to do the desired number of repetitions with good form. Your last rep should be difficult but not impossible. The same applies if you’re using resistance bands. 

If you’re able to complete 8 repetitions or more easily, increase the weight until 8 repetitions are challenging to complete.

If the weight is so heavy that you’re unable to complete 4 repetitions, lower the weight until you’re able to complete 4 repetitions successfully.

• Beginners: 2 to 3 sets
• Intermediate and Advanced: 3 or more sets
• Rest: 1 to 2 minutes between sets.

Do not rush your reps, take your time with your reps. Slow and controlled reps while focusing on proper form increases your results and helps prevent muscle injury.

MUSCULAR ENDURANCE AND MUSCLE HEALTH

Choose enough weight that you can only complete 12 to 16 repetitions:

To determine how much weight to use, start your first set with a lighter weight and continue adding weight until you feel enough resistance to do the desired number of repetitions with good form. Your last rep should be difficult but not impossible. The same applies if you’re using resistance bands. 

If you’re able to complete 16 repetitions or more easily, increase the weight until 16 repetitions are challenging to complete.

If the weight is so heavy that you’re unable to complete 12 repetitions, lower the weight until you’re able to complete 12 repetitions successfully.

• Beginners: 2 to 3 sets
• Intermediate and Advanced: 3 to 4 sets
• Rest: 20 to 30 seconds between sets.

Do not rush your reps, take your time with your reps. Slow and controlled reps while focusing on proper form increases your results and helps prevent muscle injury.

CARDIO FOR FAT LOSS

Our favorite type of cardio is steady-state cardio. Steady-state cardio is a type of cardiovascular exercise that is performed at an endurance pace or level with a continuous, steady, moderate effort that is sustained for an extended period of time. This type of low intensity training is a great option for on or off-days because it promotes muscle recovery, improves endurance and conditioning. One of the main things we like about this type of cardio is that it allows you to burn a substantial amount of fat while keeping most of your hard earned muscle.

Examples Of Steady-state Cardio Workouts:

• Walk fast and try some hills; your pace may slow on the incline, but your effort should remain steady. (Outdoors or Indoors on a Treadmill)
• Run at a moderate pace; a mostly flat course is best. (Outdoors or Indoors on a Treadmill)
• Hiking at a moderate pace.
• Stair Steppers; focus on maintaining a steady state of effort.
• Dance: take a zumba class, try some cardio hip-hop, reggae, soca or experiment with belly dancing.
• Bike: either on mostly flat terrain or a stationary bike at a manageable pace.
• Test out the elliptical, and work your upper and lower body at the same time. Go both forward and backward.
• Rowers: Sit down and work out with a rowing machine.

Beginner

Start with 20-25 minutes of steady-state cardio. Start with the first five minutes to warm up, increasing to a pace where you’re working but can still speak a full sentence. Aim to maintain that pace for 15-20 minutes.

Intermediate – Advance

Plan for 40-90 minutes of steady-state cardio. Take five minutes to warm up, increasing to a pace where you’re working but can still speak a full sentence to a friend. Aim to maintain that pace for 35-85 minutes.

TAKE THE TALK TEST

Many people push too hard performing their steady-state cardio; To get the full benefits, you should be able to say a full sentence during your workout without gasping for breath. But, if you’re able to talk without coming up for air, you should increase your effort.

STRETCHING AFTER YOUR WORKOUT

When you stretch your muscles after your workout, you’re helping to give your body a jumpstart on recovery while also releasing stress, tension and boosting the flexibility of your joints.  If you don’t stretch after your workout, your body can become more vulnerable to muscle pain and tightness leading to injury.

• Stretches performed after a workout should be held between 10-20 seconds.