Training Thursday: Ripped in 100 reps - Part Three

I thought I would end this series off with some personal advice on goal setting and motivation.

Whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned gym rat, starting a new program is always exciting! You have your hopes that within a week you will look like Demi Moore in “G.I. Jane” or Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Pumping Iron” (Okay, maybe not quite, but you get where I’m going). All too easily we get discouraged when after a solid week or two, our efforts don’t show to the degree we expect them to. The advice I can give anyone is: “Rome wasn’t build in a day!” Changing your body composition (gaining muscle, shedding fat) requires time, consistency, shifting your focus.

Time… Did you know that 1 pound of fat is equivalent to 3500 calories? Unless you are starving yourself, it is impossible to lose 1 pound of fat a day! So if your goal is weight loss, be aware that a 1-2 pound loss per WEEK is a healthy and achievable goal. Anything more than this and you are likely to gain the weight back. Just remember, you didn’t gain extra weight over night, you will not lose it over night. As soon as you come to terms with this fact, sticking to your goal will be a lot easier. Focus on making each day worth while by sticking to a clean diet and following your weekly program. Stressing about losing weight will not make you lose weight any faster. Patience is important in order to stay focused on your goal.

Consistency… We have all been guilty of this at one point or another: You’re doing great with your healthy eating, then a sugar craving hits and you devour a giant cookie from the coffee shop next door faster than you can even say “Ripped in 100 Reps”. Don’t freak out! It’s okay to let lose every once in a while! Just be aware that just because you had that cookie doesn’t mean the entire day is a write off and free-for-all binge fest. Hop right back on that healthy food band wagon and let your moment of weakness go. Dwelling on a minor diet-mishap like that one will only put you in a negative mind set. Acknowledge that it happened, remind yourself that it’s okay, and move on. Consistency isn’t a perfectly straight line. It’s got some ups and downs, but overall it carries on towards the same direction.

Shifting your focus... The best advice I can give anyone struggling to either gain or lose weight is to shift your focus. We live in a society that bombards us with what the “perfect” body should be. We are all either too fat, too skinny, too muscular, not muscular enough, or out of proportion. STOP comparing yourself to what you see in the media. I challenge you to focus on how healthy nutrition and regular exercise makes you FEEL versus how you’d like to look at the end of it. Next time you’re squatting in the gym think to yourself, “My legs are so strong. They carry me through my entire day!” Next time you’re eating a healthy meal think to yourself, “I’m respecting my body by feeding it the nutrients it deserves”. I promise that once you accept your body shape for what it is, and start focusing on optimizing health, your body composition will fall into place in it’s own time. Everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way and this whole series is designed to help you achieve YOUR best body!

Here is the final workout of the “Ripped in 100 Reps” program:

**Disclaimer: If you are a beginner please seek help from a qualified fitness professional before attempting this program as proper form is required to avoid injury.

Be sure to perform an appropriate warm up utilizing all the major muscle groups prior to starting your first working set. You may want to perform 2-3 very light sets of the first exercise per muscle group in order to get the movement pattern down and warm the muscles up. You will be performing 100 repetitions per muscle group. If this is too much, cut back on a set or two per exercise and gradually work up to the full workout.

DAY 3: ARMS, ABS, & CARDIO

Straight Set 1 Barbell Bicep Curls: 10 reps x 4 sets 60-90 sec rest

Super set 1 Hammer Curls: 8 reps x 3 sets + Tricep Dips w/ legs on the Swiss ball: 12 reps x 3 sets   60-90 sec rest

Straight Set 2 Swiss Ball/Bosu Crunches: 10 reps x 4 sets   60-90 sec rest
*When performing this exercise be sure to into a full abdominal extension, then lift up from your abs (not your neck) as you bring your chest up. Keep your lower back in constant contact with the ball, and do not round over. Keep your chest and chin up at the top.

Super set Double Leg Drop (or Hanging Leg Raise): 12 reps x 3 sets + Side Plank with a Hip Dip: 8 reps x 3 sets   60-90 sec rest
*In a side plank, using your oblique muscles, relax your hip so it almost touches the floor, then contract them and lift the hip back up into a straight alignment.

Cardio Training:

Using a cardio activity of your choice (example: jumping rope, sprinting, spinning, etc.) perform the following workout after an appropriate cardio warm-up:

2 min at an effort of 7-8/10 (…This means you should be able to maintain it for the full 2 minutes, but talking throughout it would be a challenge.)

1 min at an effort of 5-6/10 (… This is a fairly easy pace, enough for you to catch your breathing and to be able to maintain a back and forth conversation)

Repeat 6 times for a total of 18 minutes.

Finish off with a proper cool down and a full body stretch.