New year is just around the corner and it’s time to come up with a fitness plan for new year if you want to get fit and improve you overall health.

Now for the fun stuff! While most of us find dieting to be a bit (or much more than a bit) of a chore, a fitness routine is something that can become the highlight of your day once you get into the swing of things.

Really, there’s few things as satisfying as seeing your strength rise as you stick with a good exercise plan. The weights don’t lie and as you progress it’s near impossible not to have your sense of well being and self worth rise along with the heavier dumbbells and barbells!

For our get fit for the New Year plan we’re going to keep it simple. There’s no complicated moves or exercises. If you do see something you are unfamiliar with a YouTube or Google search is sure to answer any questions of form.

 

For complete beginners ask a friend to hit the gym or the garage with you one day to help walk you through it. Or even schedule one or two sessions with a personal trainer to catch you up to speed though I doubt that’s necessary for 99.9% of our readers!

We’ll be training three non consecutive days a week, split into A workouts and B workouts. On week 1 we will do our A Workout on Monday and Friday and B workout on Wednesday. On week 2 we reverse the days and do our B Workout on Monday and Friday and B workout on Wednesday.

This somewhat abbreviated schedule compared to what you have likely read in fitness or bodybuilding magazines is perfect for cutting fat, getting toned and building strength. There’s no fear of over training, which is something that can cause your New Year’s weight loss to grind to a stand still.

All exercises should be done with a weight that causes you to fail with your last set. If you make your final rep goal increase the weight in your next session. Don’t forget to keep a long to make sure you keep moving forward!

Workout A

* Dumbbell Bench Presses. 4 sets of 8 reps.
* Lat Pull Down. 4 sets of 8 reps. If you are strong enough sub pull ups for lat pull downs.
* Barbell Curls. 4 sets of 10 reps.
* Dumbbell or Machine Shoulder Presses. 4 sets of 12 reps.
* Crunches. 4 sets to failure.

Workout B

* Barbell Squat or Machine Leg Press. 5 sets of 12 reps.
* Barbell Stiff Leg Dead Lifts or Machine Hamstring Curls. 5 sets of 12 reps.
* Seated Calf Raises. 4 sets of 12 reps.
* Dumbbell Shrugs. 4 Sets of 8 reps.
* Leg or Knee Lifts for Lower Abs. 3 sets to failure.

You can see on Week 1 we will be training our upper body twice and lower body plus some abs and our traps once. On Week 2 we will do our lower body twice and upper body once.

With our diet and cardio on point this is the perfect training program to carve out the body of our dreams. Just be sure you train like you mean it! Intensity is key to your success and sleep walking your way through your program can’t be expected to do much good at all can it?

IF you give 100% real miracles can and will happen.

 

Cardio

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The Truth About Cardio

 

Have you seen many fat marathon runners?

Overweight sprinters?

How about flabby guys or girls who bike ride obsessively?

No you probably haven’t. And neither have I. The reason being despite what some fitness “experts” may try to push in order to sell an “easier” program, is that cardio works wonders in getting one lean and healthy.

Very few people you see who are in AWESOME shape got that way without doing cardio. All the rest put in the work and paid in sweat to get their dream bodies. If you’d like to unveil the best you possible for the New Year you will have to to also!

So what’s the best approach towards Cardio for losing weight? Here are some of the secrets…

 

Both Long Distance Low Intensity and High Intensity Interval Cardio Can Work Well

 

Weight loss cardio advocates usually fall into one of two camps. The first suggest long distance cardio at a low or moderate intensity. This could be power walking, jogging or biking for an hour a day, five or six days a week. The other camp pushes very intense, but short cardio plans with things like hill sprints, rowing machine sessions and so on.

There’s no surprise, really, in that each method works well. Which you choose is more a matter of first your initial fitness level (the less fit you are the more appropriate low intensity cardio is) and your personal taste. Choose the one you enjoy more and is less of a strain sticking to.

 

Train Five or Six Days a Week

 

With cardio the more often you train the better, Do at least five days. Six is even better if your schedule allows.

 

Fasted Cardio Burns Fat Fast

 

The best time to do cardio to lose body fat most efficiently is in a fasted state. For most of us the most practical time to do this is first thing in the morning after not eating for our eight or more hours of sleep. This is a trick discovered by professional bodybuilders looking for every advantage in contest preparation. It can speed up your fat loss by 25% or more!

 

Don’t Be Afraid to Mix Up Your Cardio Choices

 

Personally, I can relate to the people who find cardio a bit boring. A nice way to fight this (after being sure to have a MP3 player with a kick ass play list) is to cycle through a few different cardio choices. On Monday and Wednesday I run on the treadmill at the gym, on Tuesday and Thursday I bike ride in my neighborhood and Saturday is dedicated to high intensity rowing machine work. This can keep things much more fresh and fun.

 

Stay Safe

 

Never launch a cardio session without a ten minute stretching session first. The last thing you want is a New Year’s pulled hamstring or worse to slow down your fat loss momentum. Think of stretching as your body’s insurance policy. Never neglect it. Believe me. I learned this lesson the hard way!

Diet, exercise and now cardio. You’ve earned your degree in the three courses of New Year’s fat loss! Congratulations.

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