Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Summer Is Finally Here – Is Your Beach Body?


In my last post I said I was going to be competing in the upcoming OCB Yankee Classic Show in Newburyport, Mass. and while I’ve been training and maintaining a clean-eating diet for it, unfortunately, I will not be able to compete in the show.

My health is great and I WANT to compete (very badly), but I won’t be able to because, for me, at this time, it’s out of my budget to do so. I have other priorities I need to tend to so competing is being placed on the back burner…for now! I have some pretty exciting plans coming up that I am focusing on that will only benefit me and what it is I want to do so I’m going after that right now. 

I know I do not need to explain myself to anyone, but I figured I’d let my readers know since my last post said that I was doing the show. You can mark my words; I WILL be competing in future shows, after all, I have a first place finish I have to go after! Depending on finances and my schedule in November and December, I have a couple shows in mind I’d like to compete in. If not, then I will absolutely be hitting the stage come February 2013. This will definitely give me plenty of time to work on improving my body, too.


Speaking of which, I’ve already seen great improvements since my last show. I really wanted to work on building my shoulders and it’s been paying off! I stopped training my triceps and biceps for the past couple of months. The only time I hit those is as a secondary muscle when I’m training back and chest. Other than that, I’ve been training shoulders twice a week – heavy one day, light the other – hamstrings and glutes (typically together and sometimes twice a week), chest and back. I've even increased training my abs around 2-3 times a week. I have been using my other available day for plyometrics. My cardio has increased a significant amount and I think between that and doing plyos, it’s been making a world of difference. I switch up my cardio all the time – I’m either doing steady state anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour or HIIT for 20 to 30 minutes. This week, I am starting to incorporate plyometrics two or more times a week. I’ll be doing this for the next five weeks. Here’s what my schedule looks like as far as cardio goes for the next five weeks:

WEEK 1

Monday: Hill Interval Workout
Tuesday: Plyo Workout
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Jog for 30 minutes
Friday: Running/Plyo Workout
Saturday and Sunday: OFF

WEEK 2

Monday a.m.: Hill interval Workout
Monday p.m.: Plyo Workout
Tuesday: Running/Plyo Workout
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday a.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Thursday p.m.: Hill Interval Workout
Friday: Running/Plyo Workout
Saturday: Plyo Workout
Sunday: OFF

WEEK 3

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout
Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout
Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout
Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Thursday: Plyo Workout
Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout
Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Saturday: Plyo Workout
Sunday: OFF

WEEK 4

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout
Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout
Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout
Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Thursday: Plyo Workout
Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout
Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Saturday: Plyo Workout
Sunday: OFF

WEEK 5

Monday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout
Monday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Tuesday: Hill Interval Workout
Wednesday a.m.: Running Plyo Workout
Wednesday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Thursday: Plyo Workout
Friday a.m.: Running/Plyo Workout
Friday p.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Saturday a.m.: Jog for 30 minutes
Saturday p.m.: Plyo Workout
Sunday: Optional: Jog for 30 minutes or use as rest day

What do you think? Are you up for the challenge? If you’re already working out, this is a great supplement to your training program. If you’re a beginner, you can start out doing what YOUR body is capable of and work your way up! Write down your progress, too! That way you can look back and see how much you’ve improved. Let me know if you’d like to try this and I will share with you the plan for it. Let’s get your beach body underway!

Thanks for reading! Happy training!