We’ve all been there. Sweating, exhausted and panting
over our beloved *enter cardio machine of choice here*. Mine was the
elliptical. I loved that thing. It was gonna glide me into that perfect
physique that I believed I was always meant to have but was denied to me by the
‘Hot Body’ gods. But this week we will be different, this week we will take an
active part in changing our own (and as a result, possibly others) perspective
on a cardio based workout plan. This week I challenge you to drop the cardio
complex and begin a life of weight
training in the gym. I can already feel the reluctance so let me ask you
this: Has the cardio you’ve been doing gotten you the body that you want? If
the answer is yes, then keep on goin' girl and do what you love! If the answer
is no then I urge you to jump in to this challenge with both feet and never
look back because trust me, you won’t want to.
Before we get to the technical stuff I wanted to address
some common issues that tend to push people away from the gym. The first being
that many of us feel that we need to be ‘fit’ in order to go to the gym when in
fact, everyone was and is a beginner
at some point. We need to love
ourselves enough to allow ourselves to be a beginner and stop beating ourselves up
over the fact that we weren’t born an expert in this field. No one was but the
sooner you start, the sooner you’ll be in a position where the gym feels very
comfortable to you and that’s when the fun really
starts!
The other, possibly more crippling fear is what I like to
call, gym-timidation. I myself have walked out of a workout because I was
intimidated by the girl next to me who was beasting out 20lb bicep curls as I
was attempting to perfect my zero weight
squat. How silly. I allowed her (very apparent) hard work in the gym make me
feel insecure and inadequate when it should have made me feel inspired and
determined. DO NOT worry about where
you fall in the spectrum of fitness. DO
NOT feel inferior when using lower weights and certainly DO NOT compete with anyone but yourself in the gym. DO focus on where you want to be. DO focus on how far you’ve come (even
if it’s just walking through the doors). And lastly, DO push yourself to your
maximum potential because at the end of the day you are the one wearing the evidence of your labor.
Ariiiiiiight y’all get the idea, now on to the technical
stuff...
Well I don’t know about you but personally I’m a HUGE fan
of lists. I mean, HUGE. I literally make a list for everything that I can
rationalize needing one. I developed this habit when I was in the 4th
grade and realized that I was possibly one of the most scatter brained humans
to have ever walked the planet. No seriously, ask any of my friends, if they
could surgically implant my cell phone, wallet and keys in my body it would’ve
been done about 4 years ago and we probably wouldn’t have been late to every event that I accompanied them to.
Sorry guys. I’m workin’ on it. So yeah…back to the list thing.
Too many times I would walk into the gym with no plan in
mind and walk out 30 minutes later feeling disappointed because I hadn’t really
done anything. I knew I had to somehow make sense of this whole “weight
lifting” thing and kind of take my own approach rather than just follow what
someone else did. I noticed that when I followed a routine that I found in a
magazine or anywhere that half of the time I wasn’t getting a well rounded work
out and the other half of the time I was frustrated because I didn’t have the
equipment or machines needed to actually do
the workout. I hope my explanation allows you to really create something
for yourself because you’ll be more
inclined to keep up with it that way. We will start with a simple approach of
formulating our routine off of our lists.
So for our 1st
list we are going to focus on the parts of the body. I’ve found that, for me,
training by isolating my muscle groups really allows me to work towards the
body that I want versus compound
movements that are meant to train multiple parts of your body at once, these
are usually full body workouts. This is not to say that those workouts aren’t
beneficial or necessary, it’s just personal preference. I like being able to really
focus my mind and body on specific areas, giving them my undivided attention.
The first time I did this my body part list looked
something like this:
Biceps (front of the arm)
Triceps (back of the arm)
Shoulders (aka: delts)
Chest
Back (both upper and lower)
Hamstrings (back of the
thigh)
Quads (front of the thigh)
Calf
Abs
After you have this in front of you (either this screen
or on your own paper) you must make a decision on how many days you will actually be able to go into the gym. It
doesn’t help you to be overly ambitious in this area, IE: choosing 6 days to
start, so really think about what is feasible for you and your family. Weekends
were always GREAT days for me to workout because I didn’t have work taking up
most of my day so for me when I started weight lifting I knew that I could go
on Saturday and Sunday and that I could push myself to go to the gym at least twice
after work so 4 was the magic number
I started with. If you can give 5 days that’s even better, and 6..well you get
the idea. However, 7 days of the week is never advised for weight training
(there are, of course, exceptions to this rule) because your body needs some
time to rest and recover.
For your 2nd list you will break up your body
parts into groups based off of the number of days you will be training in the
gym. Below is an example of both a 4 and 5 day workout plan.
4
days per week 5
days per week
Day
#1 Day
#1
Bicep, Tricep & Shoulder Bicep & Tricep
Day
#2 Day
#2
Quads,
Glutes Quads
& Glutes
Day
#3 Day
#3
Chest, Upper & Lower Back Chest
& Shoulders
Day
#4 Day
#4
Hamstrings, Calfs, Abs Hamstring
& Calf
Day
#5
Upper/Lower
Back & Abs
**This is only an example, you can have your own
variation ** BUT if you notice, upper and lower body are never worked out in
the same day. This ensures that you will not over work that muscle group the
next day. I personally tend to choose muscle groups by geographic relevance.
IE….muscles that are near each other/muscles that tend to work “together”.
So now that you know what body part will be worked on what day, you need to decide which
exercises you want to do for each respective part. When I first set out on my
journey in the gym I decided that I would complete 3 exercises per body part.
For example, I started with the 4 day
plan so on Day #1 I would complete 3 bicep exercises, 3 tricep exercises
and 3 shoulder exercises and I was DONE!
That’s probably my favorite
part of lifting weights in the gym, that it’s not based off of the time you’re
there, it’s based off of the work you
put in. I was no longer a slave to the gym-clock; I wasn’t checking it
every ten minutes to see when I had made an hour. Instead, I was rockin’ and rollin’ in the
gym, crossing workouts off like hot cakes (the most satisfying part of writing
a list is crossing it off, right?!) I was zoning the world out and focusing on
my breath, my music, my reps, my muscles working, focusing on everything else
BUT the real world. Before I knew it I had crossed off my last workout and I
had been in the gym for OVER an hour. What??? Did that really happen? Did I just
ENJOY my time in the gym? Yep, I sure did brotha mayne, and ya know why? Because
I was doing what I wanted to do, I
was walking out of the gym feeling accomplished rather than disappointed. I
wasn’t beating myself up over not being able to “keep up” in the boot camp
class anymore; I was completing similar workouts on my own time schedule and
was enjoying both the time I devoted to my workouts and my results much more. I was focusing on MY problem areas rather
than following a plan that targeted the general female problem areas.
Formulating your own workout plan is not only empowering
but it’s exciting! You get to hand craft the muscle groups you want to focus on
thus building the body of your
dreams.
“So what exercises do I do?” Well, that’s up to YOU! Do
you already have a favorite? Is there one you’ve always wanted to try? Is there
one that causes you difficulty and you want to improve on it? Only you have
that answer.
But would I leave y’all hangin’ like that? C’monnnn….of course
not! Below is a sample of a FULL WEEK work out plan. I chose my top 3 favorite (of the moment,
because they are always changing) for each body part. I will do my best to
create some videos for all you visual learners out there like myself! In the
mean time, YouTube is a great resource for watching what “proper form” looks like;
I’ve attached some videos for reference.
Sample
Workout Plan
Day
#1: Bicep, Tricep & Shoulder
B1: Dumbbell Curls | 3(sets) x(of) 12(reps) for each arm; can be done one at a time or simultaneously
Short
Video of DB Curls Detailed
Video
T1: Overhead Cable Tricep
Extensions | 3x12 Overhead
Tricep Ext. these really help you
isolate your triceps
S1: Lateral DB Raises | 3x12
Lateral Raise Video
< I was diggin’ his beer reference, of course
B2: Hammer Curls | 3x12 Video of Hammer Curl Form
T2: Overhead Tricep
Extension | 3x12 Tricep
Extension Video
S2:
DB Overhead Press | 3x12 Overhead
Press for Shoulders
B3: Cable Curls | 3x12 Video of Cable Bicep Curls
T3: DB Tricep Kick Back |
3x12 (each arm) Tricep
Kick Back
S3:
Arnold Press (w/ DBs) | 3x12 Best Arnold Press Video I
Could Find
Day
#2: Quads & Glutes
Q1: Quad Extension Machine | 3x12 Example of Quad Extension
G1: Cable Glute Kick Back |
3x12 (each leg) Glute
KickBacks slow and controlled
Q2: Lunges (with or without DBs/Barbell) | 3x15 (each
leg) Basic Lunge
G2: Hip Abductor Machine |
3x25 How To Use the Hip
Abductor Machine
Q3: SQUATS (AKA: your best friend) this is a compound movement that will do WONDERS for you, I promise Proper Squat Form
With a
BB/zero weight to start
3 x 8-10
reps
Really
focus on form, push through your heels and squuueeeezzzeeeee those glutes
ladies!!!!
Day
#3: Chest, Upper & Lower Back
C1: DB Chest Press | 3x10 DB Chest Press Form
U1: Cable High Row | 3x10 High Row Video- Many
Variations
L1:
Banded HyperExtension | 3x10 Banded HyperExtension Video
C2: Chest Press Machine | 3x10 Chest Press Machine Form
U2: Bent Over DB Row | 3x10 Bent Over DB Row you can also do these one arm at a time, resting
your weight with other arm against a bench/something fixed
L2: Lower
Back Extension Machine | 3x10 HyperExtension Machine
C3: Cable Chest Fly | 3x10 can be done with cable high or low
U3: Lat Pull Downs | 3x10 Lat Pull Down Video
L3: SuperMan | 3x10 each
side Example of the
SuperMan Workout
Day
#4: Hamstring, Calf & Abs
H1: Hamstring Curl (sitting or lying) | 3x10 Example of the "lay
down" curl
C1: Calf Press | 3x15 toes pointed straight ahead Calf Press/Raise
A1: Leg Lifts | 3x15 Laying Example Hanging Example very slowwww and CONTROLLED
H2: Stiff Leg Dead Lift | 3x12 Proper Form for Stiff Dead
Lift
C2: Calf Press | 3x15 toes pointed inwards, like a duck QUACK QUACK!
A2:
Plank | 3 x :30 – 1:00 (30 second – 1 minute)
The Plank
H3: Traditional Dead Lift | 3x12 this is
another GREAT compound movement that should be a staple in your routine Standard Deadlift Technique
C3: Calf Press | 3x15 toes pointed outwards, like a penguin...errrr
what sound do they make?!
A3:
Side Raises in Side Plank stance | 3x15 per
side Side Plank Raises
**NOTE: Form is the
most important aspect as a beginner.
THINK about the muscle you’re
targeting, feel it as it’s working! Begin
with a light weight/no weight until you’ve mastered your form. There is no
exercise in the world worth injuring yourself over!!!**
Once you feel you’ve mastered your form, try adding in
higher weights. You can experiment with lower reps as you raise your weight. For
example: Week #1 you were able to complete your Lateral Raises using 3lb
weights with ease, Week #2 you can drop your reps from 12 to 10 and try using
5lb DBs!
Now that you have all the basics figured out, get your
butt in the gym and start perfecting that form! And while you’re there, scout
out new equipment you want to incorporate into your future routines!
PLEASE, if you have any questions at all do not hesitate
to leave a comment or contact me directly at BinikiFitNola@gmail.com
I would love to connect with you and help in any way that
I can!
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