So in response to several questions from friends and work colleagues on the discovery that I was indeed overweight and extremely out of shape when I was younger (as I've been telling them!!), here's a post on my daily fitness and diet routine.
My current aim is to cut up without impacting my muscle mass so this isn't designed for all but gives you an idea of how I balance fitness with a toned, muscular physique. To put it into perspective I can easily cover 10-15 miles at a relatively fast pace (around 3 ½ - 4 mins per km) whilst out running and have considerable core and muscle strength for my size mainly due to the careful mix of both cardio and weights. I make this point only because most people either aim to enhance their muscular physique or cardio levels, with a smaller amount of people aiming for both.
My routine changes depending on what my focus is and I've on course to meet my current target within the next few weeks at which point I'll be changing it in an effort to bulk up in certain areas, which will mean dropping some of the cardio sessions and re-adapting my weight training.
Exercise
Worth noting I'm lucky enough to have a gym downstairs where I live, which means I can fit in cardio sessions with little effort.
20 mins cardio - 3 days a week
This can vary from steady state cardio to HIIT, I like to mix it up to keep the body guessing.
Upper body circuit - Repeated twice with 15-second break in between sets
25 Pull ups
15 x Diamond Press ups
15 x Square Press ups
15 x Rectangle Press ups
15 X Eagle Press ups
15 x Kong Press ups
10kg Dumbbells
10 x Shoulder Press
30 x Abdominal Crunches
30 x Side Crunches - Both sides
Resistance Band
25 x Press ups
25 x Shoulder Press
15 x Bicep curls
15 x Triceps kickbacks
Breakfast
3/4 egg whites
Muesli with mixed berries
Mid morning
Apple
Lunch
Lunch varies daily but will consist of a few of the below:
Chicken, Turkey or Fish
Salad - lettuce, sweetcorn, carrots, cucumber, peppers, jalapenos
Bean mix salad
Quinoa
Pasta
Sweet Potato
Apple or banana after the main meal
Post work/Pre Gym exercise and snack
5km run home - Mon - Thurs
Sliced Banana mixed with a spoonful of peanut butter and jam
Gym
My gym workout consists of 4 exercises of 4 sets on the primary muscle group with 3 exercises of 3 sets on the secondary aiming for 6-8 reps
- Monday
Back & Biceps
- Tuesday
Chest & Triceps
Rest day - both cardio and weights
Post gym
As mentioned in previous posts you should aim to replenish your body within 60 minutes of completing your workout, luckily I live close to my gym so am able to get home and cook in plenty of time. Personally, I set a timer on my phone when I leave the gym but you can easily just check the time of departure instead. Alternatively, you can take a protein shake post workout.
Dinner
Again my post gym meal will vary daily but includes a variation of the below as well as a glass of milk on my return home. I am a strong believer that to ensure you stick to your nutritional plan it has to be one you enjoy so I ensure that I add sauces, spices and seasoning to make sure that I don't sacrifice taste. I've found my training food now tastes so good I've completely lost the urge for the fast or bad food I used to find myself craving for!
Chicken, Turkey, Fish or another choice of lean meat
Brown rice
Brown pasta
Quinoa
Lentils
Peppers
Onions
Kidney beans
Mushrooms
Salad
Post main meal I usually have fruit salad, yogurt or both.
Weekends
On weekends both my gym and nutritional routine varies to that of during the week due to the flexibility of not being in the office for half the day.
Saturday
Cardio
30 mins cardio - cross trainer/bike or rowing machine
Gym
My Saturday routine can vary from full body workout sessions to shortened HIIT sessions hitting the upper body
My normal upper body routine consists of:
Chest, shoulders & back - 2 exercises with 4 sets each - 8-10 reps
Biceps & Triceps - 1 exercise each with 4 sets - 8-10 reps
Sunday is a rest day from all exercise to allow my body time to recover from the week's sessions and includes a less strict nutritional regime with a couple of treats mixed in there. I still make sure to keep my protein levels high though as during rest it is important to ensure your fuelling your muscle recovery
So there it is! Remember this is my routine based on my particular requirements. My focus is the definition but not at the sacrifice of my current muscular physique as personally I'm not aiming for a slim line body type but muscular and toned.
With regards to my gym routine, I like to mix up the exercises weekly on each muscle group and periodically change the days that I work each muscle group to keep my body guessing. It's always good to shock the body by keeping variety in your workout and preventing it from getting too used to a particular routine.
A point to note is that there are no protein supplements in my diet, I cut these out about a year ago now as I found I felt I was becoming dependent on them and on running out of protein powder started getting into a negative mindset that I wasn't going to be able to train or grow as much. This was a personal choice and not something that everyone will suffer from or choose to do but for me it's been great and I haven't experienced any negative impacts due to replacing supplements with a good diet. It really is down to what suits you personally and whether you're able to cut supplements out and still fit in eating at the correct times.
I hope you've found something useful in the above that you can mix into your own routine and feel free to fire over any questions in the comments section or via email, tweet or Facebook if you have a different aim and want to pick my brain!
To Get more Fitness tips
http://healthfitnessmagazine.net/
OR
http://healthfitnessmagazine.net/health-and-fitness/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Md._Arshad_Ali/2046167
Blogger Comment
Facebook Comment