Sharing some ideas how to to put your weekly plan together and break up your workout days to optimize performance and recovery!

Hi friends! How is the week going? I hope you’re having a lovely morning so far! I had a call with our amazing travel agent regarding spring 2023 travel (the best) and am putting the Fit Team workouts together for September. If you’d like to join us for Self Care September (focusing on workout nutrition and self care strategies), join us here! Anyone who signs up today will also receive a custom nutrition guide a thank you from me to you 🙂

For today’s post, I’m chatting about breaking up your workout days and how to do this strategically. I’m a big fan of split training throughout the week. It can help you strength different areas of the body, giving you enough time to recover, and also freedom to control the way you train.  Today, I’m sharing practical tips to help my reader friends break up their workout days and get the most out of their training routine.

(Please keep in mind that while I’m a certified personal trainer, I’m providing general information for educational purposes. This is not medical advice. Always seek out the help of your doctor before starting or changing your fitness routine.)

How to break up your workout days

Whole Body Split

This type of split involves a total body workout each time you train. The benefits of this type of training is that you’re able to use more fancy and *fun* compound-type movements, working multiple muscle groups at once, and due to peripheral action training, your heart rate may higher, which indicates a higher calorie burn during the workout. I like working total body for my beginner clients (focusing on bodyweight-only exercises first), and also my clients who have significant weight loss goals.

The downside of this type of training is that it may be harder to hit muscle fatigue, which encourages muscle growth, and that you shouldn’t ideally train your entire body two days in a row. I’d recommend alternating total body workouts with rest and cardio.

Upper / Lower Split

This is when you work your upper body one day (back, shoulders, chest, triceps, biceps), and your lower body on a different day (hamstrings, glutes, core, calves). The benefits of this type of training are that you’re able to strength train on consecutive days (upper body one day, lower body the following day), and  you’re more easily able to add volume and load to a specific muscle group. This can encourage muscle development, which is the *toned and lean* look so many of us are after.

My personal favorite way to set up a split is upper body one day, lower body the following day, and a total body circuit on a different day. This is how I set up most of our Fit Team workouts, too.

4-Day Split

For your four-day split, there are a few different ways you can do this:

upper body, lower body, and two total body days

and antagonist or synergistic muscle training.

Antagonist muscle groups

This type of training involves working opposing muscle groups, like chest and back one day, biceps and triceps the following, hamstrings and calves, and shoulders and calves (they’re kind of on their own lol). This is especially effective for superset-style workouts, because you can move directly from one set to the next, allowing the opposing muscle group to rest. (When one of the antagonist muscles is contracting, the opposing muscle is stretching.)

The main benefit of this type of training is serious muscle-building capability. If you’re looking for gains, possibly try out this style of training.

Synergistic muscle groups

This is when you use agonist muscles (the ones that work together to perform a movement). An example of this would be:

shoulders, chest and triceps,

legs and core

back and biceps.

This is another one of my favorite ways to train, and another great way to build muscle. I would recommend this type of training for friends who want to see serious muscle definition, improve their metabolism, and have three days to strength train each week.

Workout Split Samples

Your workout split will depend on different variables, including the equipment you have access to use, your current training level, what you enjoy (!), and your fitness goals. The key here is to figure out how many days per week you want to strength train. I like to hit each muscle group at least twice per week (on non-consultive days or within the same workout), and make sure I have at least 1-2 days of full rest each week.

If you need help planning out your workouts for the week, join us in Fit Team! I also have a free PDF here on how to create your workout schedule and set up your plan. If you’re looking for personalized training plans, my 1:1 coaching application is here.

Have a wonderful morning and I’ll see you soon!

xoxo

Gina

The post How to break up your workout days appeared first on The Fitnessista.

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Today’s guest post come courtesy of personal trainer, strength & conditioning coach, wellness coach, and owner of more certifications than anyone on Earth, Paul Levitin.

I’ve crossed paths with Paul several times throughout the years. He’s attended a workshop or two of mine and most recently we connected again at the Raise the Bar Conference down in Orlando, FL a few weekends ago.

We got to talking on a bevy of topics while down there and he expressed some interest in writing a guest post for my site on self-sabotage.

Not a light topic by any stretch, but I think you’ll enjoy his writing style. I know I learned a few things!

Enjoy.

Why You Self Sabotage, and How to Stop It

“…Hey you.

You, yeah I’m talking to you…

Why do you keep doing that?

That thing you do… where you say you’re gonna do something, but don’t? Where you talk yourself out of things, give up before you get a result, or commit to obligations you know you can’t fulfill? You keep getting in your own way! STOP IT!…”

That’s me, talking to myself in the mirror, after yet another in a long line of instances of not following through on my commitments, doing what I said I would to, or achieving my goals.

It doesn’t matter if we are talking about a diet, sticking to a workout program, building an online business, or literally anything else. 

When it comes to achieving goals, or rather NOT achieving them, it really boils down to one simple thing:

We get in our own way.

I say “we,” because this is an inherently human trait.

Since you are reading this, I can assume that you’re either a human, or an incredibly smart dog, monkey, or octopus, in which case, idk, maybe self-sabotage is a thing for you too. If my hunch is correct though, and you ARE a human, then the fact of the matter is, you have a tendency to self-sabotage (see, I’m doing it right now, talking about octopus in an article about self-sabotage!).

via GIPHY

We can make all of the excuses in the world, from lack of time, to not knowing where to start, to a million things in between.

If we are honest though, those are all the same. Different versions of self-sabotage.

• Who controls your time?
• Who controls what media you consume?
• Who controls everything about you? 

(That’s not a trick question)

It’s YOU.

Therefore, if you aren’t getting your shit handled, it’s your fault.

YES, there can be external factors. YES some people have kids and jobs and families and pandemics and global economic crises. BLAH BLAH, I get it.

Those things are real, but they still don’t negate the one truth, the truthiest truth, that the only things you have control over in this life are yourself, your actions, and how you spend your time (to an extent). 

It may seem abrasive when put so bluntly, but trust me, I am not being judgmental. That’s why I started all of this by telling you a little of my own personal internal dialogue. A wise person once said, “the best research is actually me-search,” and let’s just say I’ve done a shit load of ME-search on the topic of self-sabotage.

I am the one who most holds ME back, and chances are, you are the one holding yourself back.

People don’t like to hear it. However, when we do hear it, we inherently usually (if begrudgingly) tend to admit this to be true, because well, it’s true. You can’t really argue against it (RIP my inbox, I know the keyboard warriors are coming for me).

There’s a keyboard somewhere in the background. Look closely. See it?⁵

I’ve spent this much time hammering this point because it is imperative that we get past this right out of the gate if we are to move forward. 

Now that we are on the same page, let me lay out three key mindset shifts that you MUST adopt if you want to have a chance in the battle of self-sabotage.

The First Key Is Acceptance

Acceptance lies at the root of all positive change. Acceptance of what is.

If I want to lose weight, I have to first accept that I am at a weight that I am unhappy, or otherwise uncomfortable at. I must accept that my decisions around food and activity up until this point have gotten me here.

If I want to build a successful fitness blog, I have to accept certain realities as well. I have to accept that I need to practice writing. I have to accept that an established blog like the one you’re reading this on, has a huge readership and trust that I don’t have yet, and that my clicks will pale in comparison.

I need to accept what IS, and what IS NOT.

What is a FACT.

Because, on the flip side of acceptance, is blame. Blaming others, blaming algorithms, blaming genetics. 

John Maxwell has a great quote on leadership that goes “we don’t solve problems that we didn’t create.” If you can pass the blame, pass the buck, you will also find reasons not to find the solution. 

So if you want to stop self-sabotage, and get out of your own way, it starts with accepting the realities of your current situation.

The Second Key Is to Set Better Goals

A big reason I’ve found myself, and my clients self-sabotaging in the past, is because we tend to work towards goals that don’t really matter.

When I say “don’t matter,” what I mean is, they don’t have a deep internalized meaning.

Sure you want to lose weight. Who doesn’t? If I had a magic wand and said I’d wave off a couple kilos of fat for you, pretty much everyone on the planet would take that deal. 

via GIPHY

But when you set a goal to lose weight, are you thinking about what it really means?

• Why do you want to lose weight?
• Is it truly for you?
• Why 20lb, not 10, or 23?

Is it because you want it, or is it because society told you that you’re supposed to look a certain way?

When you have chest and arm day scheduled, but would rather sit and eat a bag of Cheetos, is that you being lazy, or do you have no real connection to the goal of having bigger pecs?

Who said that was the ideal physique?

(NOTE from TG: My wife would call this “should’ing on yourself.” I should look “x” way, I should follow this training split, I should watch Yellowjackets on Showtime. Stop should’ing on yourself.)

We understand that fitness is important, and movement and exercise are a conduit to that. But does that mean you have to bench press?

Maybe you’d be better served doing pilates twice a week, and dancing to Zumba with your kids during playtime?

Trying to force-feed yourself goals, because they are accepted as the “standard” seems smart on the surface. However, deep down, your subconscious mind is all “uh, fuck that noise. I don’t even want any of that result, so why would I put myself through the stress of doing the work?”

When there is no connection, you’ll find it very hard to stay motivated.

If instead you have goals that aren’t just arbitrary, and are actually built around you, and make you feel GOOD, and make you EXCITED to go out and do the work it will take to achieve them, then you’re setting yourself up for success.

Lastly…

The Third Key to Stop Self-Sabotage Dead in its Tracks, Is to Embrace Failure

The biggest, most pervasive form of self-sabotage, is undoubtedly perfectionism.

We want things to go well, we want everything to work out perfectly. We expect them to, and when they don’t, the little thought gremlins come in saying “well, no point now!” or “see, I knew we couldn’t do this!”

via GIPHY

This is the dieter who lets one meal off plan turn into a day, which turns into a weekend, into a “i’ll start next month.”

It’s the lifter who has five workouts scheduled, and when a life event causes him or her to miss three, decides the other two aren’t worth doing.

Logically, it’s easy to see why this fallacy holds us back. However once again, this stuff is human nature. This isn’t me or you, it’s just how our brains work.

To combat this, we must lean into failure. You have to understand that not only is failure probable, it is GUARANTEED. There is no world, no universe or time lines in all of Dr Strange’s multi-verse, where you are not going to fail.

It is as certain as the sun rising each morning, or as me clicking “I’m still watching” on netflix. There is no other way around it.

You cannot be perfect. You cannot be perfect.

YOU.

CANNOT.

BE.

PERFECT.

Once you accept that (hey, that’s key one, that’s a callback!), then you don’t have to be so afraid of failing anymore. You’ll be able to push yourself more, to try things that normally you might not (key 2), and most importantly, when you do fail, which you will, you won’t let it get you down, because you’ll remember that it’s all part of the process (key 3).

Get out of your own way, and there will be nothing else in the world that can stop you!

About the Author

Paul Levitin spent a decade as a personal trainer & strength and conditioning coach, becoming the number one trainer in his entire company, while collecting over 30 certificates (CES, CSCS, PRI, PN1, FRC, & many more).

Wanting to better serve his training clients, he began to study behavior change, and eventually became a Board Licensed Health & Wellness Coach (NBHWC). This led him to create his education and mindset coaching company “The Healthy Happy Human Academy,” where he now helps clients deal with things like self-sabotage and perfectionism, to allow them to build a healthy, happy life.

He seeks to bridge the gap between the worlds of fitness and nutrition, and the frustrated, overwhelmed masses who just want to move more, feel better, and live a little longer.

https://www.instagram.com/paullevitin/

The Healthy Happy Human Podcast

The Healthy Happy Human Academy FREE Facebook Group

The post Why You Self Sabotage, and How to Stop It appeared first on Tony Gentilcore.

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