As I scan through all the Pinterest boards...over and over I see a fitness tab...filled with 100's of AWESOME workout ideas...
But I can't help but feel like everyone clicks them, pins them, reads through them...and they collect dust in the back of their Pinterest closet like all their workout videos, dumbbells, and clothes drying treadmill...
Am I right?!
Well, let's pull some of those workout tips out and make a week's worth of workouts out of them. Because they are valuable and can serve a real purpose, its just hard to know what to do---when---and how often.
First, let's determine how often?
4 days a week, ok...CHECK.
How much time do you truly have to dedicate to these 4-days of workouts?
30 minutes?...ok. CHECK.
What are your goals?
Toning your arms for summer?...ok. CHECK.
Decreasing fat overall? ...ok. CHECK.
And improving endurance? ...ok. CHECK.
Here's how a trainer would typically approach a program.
1) Work all muscle groups over the span of a week. Add extra emphasis on areas of trouble. So if you are wanting upper body toning...make that 2 days of your 4 workouts.
2) Work antagonist muscles. So for every pulling type exercise (pull ups, banded rows, deadlift)...do a push movement. (push ups, chest press, squats)
3) Incorporate cardio into your strength sessions. So to get 30 solid minutes of exercise in...add 1 day of high intensity exercise, 1 day of longer slower cardio, and one day of heavy strength, and one day of all cardio.
4) Add warm-up and cool down to your 30 minute list. So make sure to stretch, foam roll, mash soreness...and warm-up muscles according to what areas you are working. As well as cool them down slowly when finished.
5) Make sure your nutrition matches your energy output. You can't out-exercise a bad diet. SO DON"T sabotage your 4-days of workout efforts. Figure out your macros beforehand and work to stick to them. Allowing 1 day of cheats a week.
There are key ways to improve upper body strength and develop that shoulder definition you are desiring for functional and physical reasons.
1) Consistently working at those muscle groups. For women, this includes working the upper body 2-3 days a week in some way, shape, or form. As a trainer, I typically like to change it up and work heavy weights, high volume, gymnastic and bodyweight strengthening, and power movements as part of the combination of series I will use to train my female clients. This also includes pushing the volume and the weight during these movements. Most women are weak in their upper body and it hurts to push the weights...but it is the only TRUE way to manipulate the shoulder muscles.
2) There are 4 joints in the shoulder, not to mention many ligaments, tendons, and muscles holding it all together. It is a sensitive area that needs to be approached with expertise and proper programming. In addition, full range of motion needs to be in place for maximum effectiveness, meaning all 4 heads need to be moving and acting efficiently. For most people, this isn't the case due to bad posture, desk jobs, etc. The 3 biggest cues I use for shoulder alignment is: sit up tall, scapula retracted (in other words, shoulder down and back), and chin tucked in (NOT jutted out)...and proper warm-up and cool down stretches for the shoulders as well.
Here are some of my favorite shoulder warm-up tips:
How to Relieve Shoulder Pain/Trap Soreness
My #1 Tip for Overhead movements involving the shoulder!
Follow along from morning to night as I take you through some highlights of my day. On the countdown to the Valentine's Massacre CrossFit event this Saturday @CrossFit Salina. Elite athlete Christina Spencer and I entered the competitive RX Women's division. So I am documenting my week before. Running my fitness business. Taking care of kids. Meal prep. Workouts. Sleep. Housework. Business calls. Playing with the new pup. All in a day's fun!
Step #5--> Complete the last reps of each set to complete fatigue, even if it is only half reps...AND then hold the weight overhead as long as you can on the last rep of each set before dropping the weights and starting the next set. Isometric holds will help develop that deep tissue which creates definition. Just DON"T hold your breath!
Kicked off the day early. Tapped on the forehead at 4:34 AM because my 5-year old's blankets were twisted. Tried to go back to sleep and Finally rolled out of bed at 7:40 AM. Big morning ahead. Weight check after deciding to increase carbs and proteins daily for the next week to up my energy and muscle gain. Being hydrated and carb-loaded is important as we prep for Saturday's comp. PLUS I'm wanting to lean down to about 148 because it makes gymnastics movements a lot easier to complete. Such as handstand push ups, pull ups, rope climbs, etc. But my work in adding cardio and reducing carbs in my diet hasn't proven effective yet. So changing it up.
Breakfast was some Greek yogurt and granola. Making Valentine's Day cards with the kids. Chatting about our day ahead. Then it was out to see the pup. And prep for Christina coming to workout and an impromptu #sheBEAST photo shoot. Kids and all.
We got 2 great WOD's in and some fun catching up with our kids. Then it was off to town for the weeks groceries. Time with Mimi and Papa. So mommy could work and steal their Wifi! Ha! Had to follow up with a few new clients getting started on PIYO this week!! Then...Super Bowl fun and BED.
