FITNESS

Training Tips and Recommendations

Cardiovascular exercise is extremely important during dieting. Running is a great exercise if your knees can handle it. You should aim for a target heart rate of 138-148 when you’re performing cardiovascular exercise. If your goal is to lose body fat, I suggest doing cardio first thing in the morning on an empty for at least a minimum of 30 minutes. Honestly, you can not do anything in 5-10 minutes except warm up your muscles. I always do a 20 minute warm up cardio session prior to working on a particular muscle part. Whatever your goal may be, incorporating a good and consistent cardio program will not only keep your heart healthy but your bum nice and tight and your stomach flat!

Training Tips
The first thing I want to say is that I highly recommend weight training for all women and adolescent teens! Be sure to lift weights at least 3-4 times per week, and try to get your entire body done in 1 week.

SPECIAL NOTE TO WOMEN: PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID TO LIFT WEIGHTS THINKING THAT YOU WILL GET HUGE!

Let me tell you a little secret: The more muscle you build, the better your body will burn fat. Muscle consumes calories just to maintain itself. Fat does not consume calories. It is the depot for all the calories your muscles did not require. How many times have you seen a cardio queen doing hours and hours on the stair climber, but she is still not fit? That is because she is not lifting weights!!

You can use any type of split, just be sure to place rest days in between workouts. Sample splits are as follows but again any combinations are good just as long as the muscles are getting adequate rest in between training:

3-Day Split

Day 1: Chest, Tri’s, Abs
Day 2: Back, Bi’s
Day 3: Legs, Shoulders, Calves

4-Day Split

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders
Day 2: Bi’s, Tri’s
Day 3: Back, Abs
Day 4: Legs, Calves

Chest

For chest training, my favorite exercises are the cable crossover, flys, decline & incline press. For my chest I use lighter weights and high reps between 15-20.

Back/Rear Delts

I tend to work this area about 2-3 times a week. I use heavier weights and keep the reps between 10-15. I like keeping these together because they all are working in the same area!

Shoulders

I love training shoulders and train them twice a week. A well defined shoulder is very sexy. Generally, my weights are low and I concentrate more on my form and high reps. Also, it is important to remember not to overload on your weight as your joints are delicate.

Arms

I usually train my biceps and triceps together/ alternating 3-4 exercises each. I train biceps heavier with reps around 8-12 and triceps I keep my reps around 15-20. I definitely do a variety of exercises, changing each session. It’s very important to always keep your muscles stimulated and guessing.

Legs

I train my legs once a week and do about 3-6 different exercises with very light weight, and high reps of about 20-30. I prefer to do as many one- legged exercises as possible, such as leg curls, lunges, leg press, squats, and leg extensions to build each leg equally.

Abs

I train my abs at least 4 times a week. The abs recover a lot quicker than other muscles in your body so it is okay to over train them and not take much of rests in between your sets. I personally love super-setting and work my abs to exhaustion.

REST

Sleep is extremely important! Your body needs a certain amount of rest in order to function and especially for your muscles to grow!

WATER

Make you continuously drink water and hydrate your body as well as muscles to keep them from cramping and skin looking clean, clear, youthful and beautiful!