An Entire Month of Fitness Fun – Hello January!

It’s been a while now since I shared a workout post with you guys, and with January here and New Year’s resolutions fresh on the forefront of people’s minds, it seemed like a fitting time to start sharing again! Additionally for those of you that are newer to the blog and don’t know about my fitness background it’s perfect timing to fill you in!
Living a healthy lifestyle is something I am incredibly passionate about; exercising, eating clean, all of the components that fall under healthy living are near and dear to my heart. I was a trainer for several years and love sharing with and educating others about health. There is so much misinformation out there when it comes to exercise and food, therefore my goal is always to help inform my readers so that you guys can make educated decisions that best fit your lifestyles. I also have a fair amount of knowledge when it comes to nutrition so my posts range from workout programs to recipes to informational pieces about the effects of sugar on the body or why protein is so important for muscle building.
Today’s workout program is one of my favorites that I shared over a year ago, and I’m bringing it back for January because it’s not only a great intro for those newer to weight training and the gym but is also easily adapted to be more difficult for those who are super comfortable working out. Each exercise links to a video of how to do the exercise and also tells you how many sets and reps to do (i.e.: 4×12 means four sets with twelve reps each time).  This program is designed to be used for an entire month and incorporates 5 days of training with two rest days. The five days are comprised of three days of weights and cardio, and two of strictly cardio. HOWEVER, if losing weight is not part of your goal and you are more interested solely in building muscle and toning, drop your cardio down to 10 minutes and do intervals instead of sustained heart rate cardio. As your body becomes more used to training then I would suggest always doing intervals for cardio but that’s another discussion for another day. For those comfortable with weight training I would also suggest doing weights four to five days rather than just the three. PLEASE please please do not believe the myth that lifting weights will make you bulky!! It won’t, I promise. I’ll go more into why later but just trust me that to get that fit toned bod that you want, weight training is an absolute must. Use this program for an entire month and then I will post the new workout to ensure that your body keeps being challenged. If you guys have any questions don’t hesitate to ask!!
PS: To make these workouts easier or harder, play around with the weights you use and the number of reps or sets you do. Try going heavier with weight and lowering reps, or doing lighter weights with higher reps. Challenge yourself! And since diet is at least half of the battle, check out my “Food” category for lots of info on nutrition complete with paleo, gluten-free, dairy-free recipes and more. Enjoy!
DAY ONE 
WEIGHTS

  • Front Loaded Barbell Bulgarian Split Squats (4 x 12-15) ::hint-remember the core is super important in an exercise like this, stay strong in your core to give yourself more stability::
  • Kettlebell/Dumbbell Deadlift (3 x 12-15) ::hint-squeeze glutes and push hips forward at the top of the lift::
  • Inchworms in between deadlift sets (5 inchworms per set) ::hint-try doing these with your feet slightly turned in to make them more difficult and give you a better stretch::

CARDIO

  • Varied Incline Sprints (run at a medium pace for one minute on a 0% incline, then increase incline and up speed to a sprint. Sprint for 20 seconds and then return to medium pace run on low incline for one minute. Repeat for 20 minutes).

DAY TWO
WEIGHTS

CARDIO (choose one)

  • 20 mins jumprope
  • 20 mins running
  • 20 mins elliptical


DAY THREE

WEIGHTS

  • Goblet Squat to Box (4×6) ::hint-go slow on the way down and then pop up quickly::
  • Walking Lunges (4×6) ::hint-knee should always be at a right angle in the lunge, never past your foot::
  • Ball Hamstring Curls (2×20/side) ::hint-keep glutes engaged the entire time, pull belly button towards spine::

CARDIO (choose one)

  • 100 KB swings
  • 20 mins intervals (1 minute fast paced walk on incline, 30 seconds run)
  • 20 mins spinning (intervals are always suggested)

DAY FOUR
Cardio day-change it up with any of the following (20-40 mins):

  • Boxing
  • Kickboxing
  • Jumprope
  • Stair climber
  • Elliptical

DAY FIVE
Cardio day-SWEAT TIME!

  • 100 KB swings
  • 30 min run (add intervals for higher intensity)

And just in case you need some positive, motivational quotes or sayings to get you through the workouts, I’ve got a couple of my favs below 😉 Thanks for reading! Muah! <3