Planning Part 2

Now that you have your goal set, you are ready to devise a plan of action. Take a couple of hours, sit down with pen and paper, and plan your week. You want to plan all your meals and your workouts. Also have a backup plan for a day that you may have to eat a restaurant meal.

If your goal is weight loss, make sure your workouts consist of 4 cardio days. If you only have 3 days to workout (i.e. Mon.Wed.Fri.), incorporate whole body routines and time for cardio. Cardio should be 30-45 minutes. Try 2 days of intervals and 2 days of steady state. If you are only working out 3 days, try to do some type of cardio on an off day. It can be as simple as dancing to the radio – use it as one of your steady state days. If you are working out at home, try using a jump rope for your interval days, or do sprints outside.

Your meal plan should consist of 5-6 meals a day. Each meal should contain protein and carbs. If your caloric intake is going to be 1500 for the day, and you have 5 meals, break the intake such as this: Meal 1 300-350 calories, Meal 2 200-250, Meal 3 300-350, Meal 4 200-250, Meal 5 300-350.

If your last meal is before 8pm and you don’t go to bed until 11:00, have a small bowl of cheerios so that you don’t go to bed hungry. Hunger will affect your sleep, and sleep is very important in a fitness program. Your body recovers (heals itself) while you sleep.

If your goal is muscle growth, increase your meals to 6 a day, 1600-1800 calories (this may have to be adjusted, depending on your starting weight). Make sure you have a small meal before you go to bed to provide need fuel for your muscles. Limit your cardio to 2-3 days a week, steady state. You do not want to take needed calories from your muscles so that they can grow.

Your workout program should be geared for muscle growth keeping weight moderate – heavy at 8-12 reps. It is best to work 1-2 body parts a day, for full development.