I hope you got off to a great start with Week One of my four-week 'more muscle, less fat' summer fitness program. Remember, if a lean, toned body is what you’re after, watching the scale like a hawk is not the answer. Maintaining or building lean muscle tissue and releasing and burning fat is most often the real goal. Keep this firmly in mind as we move forward
In week two, you'll continue to eat in a supportive
manner or email me at
[email protected] for my "Empower Fitness Supportive Eating
Guide." While we're on the topic of nutrition, this is a good time to
make sure that you are getting enough water each day (drink one ounce for every two
pounds of body weight). And it's a good idea to take a good
multi-vitamin and a fish oil supplement daily. I recommend these organic
supplements here.
WEEK 2: Do the same workout as in Week One three times this week, but do 3 sets of 12 repetitions (instead of 2 sets of 15 reps). Since you’re doing fewer reps in each set, increase the weight accordingly for the first workout this week, and continue to use progressive resistance to build lean muscle by increasing the weight in each workout as long as you are able to complete the 12 repetitions.
Follow each workout with 20 minutes of cardio done as interval training. Do an additional 30-minutes of interval training on another day, preferably first thing in the morning, before you eat. Make sure to drink at least twelve ounces of water before you do the cardio.
You should be adding muscle to your body and this week it will start to be noticeable not only in the mirror, but in the additional weight you lift as well. Your metabolism is speeding up; you might notice that you are hungrier. Eat those small, frequent meals and fat loss is inevitable.
Get ready for week three: We're really going to change things up and get your metabolism working FAST. -- Greg Rothman, MS PT ([email protected] or Empower Fitness on Facebook)