Want the body of an athlete? The Level Up Workout Will Get You There....

Doesn’t it seem like almost all fitness plans are designed the same way?  Week 1 you’re doing this, week 2 you’re doing this, etc.  It’s just a steady stream of exercises and workouts to complete.  There is no real concern for how you’re progressing or in some cases, not progressing.  Let me say, I don’t think workout plans created in this manner are inherently bad.  Personally, I’ve created general fitness plans, plyometric weight loss plans, and a variety of other plans that follow this format.  When attempting to create a workout plan for the masses, this is an effective way to go about doing it.

But after hearing countless stories and frustrations from clients and our online users about their own personal situation, it got my wheels turning.  What if there were a way to create a fitness plan, like the highly successful Total Body Blitz, that was more in tune with each individual and their abilities?  Could it be possible to give direction to tens of thousands of people at one time, but respect the different fitness abilities of each individual?  It took a little while, but I’ve put together what I think is the solution to this problem – The Level Up Workout.

The premise behind The Level Up Workout is simple…

• Scheduled challenge workouts keep things interesting and always give you something to work towards
• You only graduate or “level up” to the next phase of the fitness plan once you have passed the challenge workout.

I find introducing periodic challenges is a fantastic motivator for a couple of reasons.  People are generally motivated by a challenge and it helps define the progress you’ve been making.  By formatting a workout plan based on this idea, we’re able to allow people to move on to the next phase at their own pace.  No longer are you thrust into doing something too difficult simply because the plan dictates that you do so.  You only “level up” when you’re physically able to do so..simple as that.

The Level Up Workout

The Level Up Workout is designed as a general fitness plan to help you lose weight, i.e. burn fat, build muscle, and develop an overall athletic physique. This plan uses some of our best workout routines as daily workouts, ensuring each day is unique, effective, and challenging.  If you are able to pass the initial challenge workouts, feel free to start at later weeks.

Week 1/2/3 – Focus on establishing a base of endurance for the workouts ahead.

• Day 1: 20 minutes HIIT sprinting (30 second sprint/1:30 jog).  3 sets of 30: crunches, windshield wipers,  v-sits.
• Day 2: INTENSE Cross-Training Circuit
• Day 3: 3 sets of 10: Bench Press, Clean and Press, Bent Over Barbell Row, Close Grip Bench Press, Smith Machine Squats, Bulgarian Squat Jumps
• Day 4: 30 minutes HIIT jump rope (30 seconds jumping, 30 seconds rest). 30 minutes your choice of cardio (swimming, rowing, biking, running, etc.)

Week 1/2/3 CHALLENGE WORKOUT: Run 1.5 miles in 12 minutes or less.

Week 4/5/6 – Continues to focus on endurance while bumping strength training aspects by placing greater emphasis on strength/cardio combo workouts.

• Day 1: 30 minutes HIIT sprinting (30 second sprint/1:30 jog). 3 sets of 20: plank ups, spider planks, plank crunches.
• Day 2: The Max Effect Workout
• Day 3: 3 sets of 10: Dumbbell Twist Press, Lat Pulldowns, Dumbbell Bicep Curl, Skullcrushers, Swinging Plyo Push Ups, Weight Calve Raises, Dips.
• Day 4: 30 minutes HIIT sprinting (40 second sprint/1:20 jog). 3 sets of 20: plank ups, spider planks, plank crunches.

Week 4/5/6 CHALLENGE WORKOUT: The 1,200 Rep Challenge. Complete in 26 minutes or less.

Week 7/8/9 – We’re going to bump the strength aspect along with our cardio focus during this phase by introducing complex workouts.  Continue to push yourself by using weights that cause muscle fatigue on the last rep or two of the final set.

• Day 1: Barbell Complex Workout (scroll to bottom)
• Day 2: BRICK HIIT: 30 minutes HIIT cycling (:30/1:30 format), 30 minutes HIIT sprinting (:30/1:30 format)
• Day 3: Dumbbell Complex Workout (scroll to bottom)
• Day 4:  INTENSE At Home Fat Burning Plyo Circuit (Use Mon/Wed/Fri workout)
• Day 5: 45 minutes cardio of your choice

Week 7/8/9 CHALLENGE WORKOUT:  The 500 Challenge (may use pull up assistance if needed).  Complete in 25 minutes.

Week 10/11/12 – Keep doing what you’re doing.  If you’ve made it this far you’ve been totally changing your body and should be making serious progress.  We’re using a lot of HIIT cardio during this phase to increase your fat burn potential and bump your endurance for the challenges ahead.On weight training days, increase the weight as the reps are significantly decreased during this phase; continue to reach fatigue on your last rep of the final set or two.

• Day 1: HIIT Combo Workout: 10 minutes HIIT Jump Roping (:45 jump/:30 rest), 10 minutes HIIT sprinting (:30/1:30), 10 minutes HIIT cycling :40/1:20), 10 minutes HIIT Jump Roping (:45/:30)
• Day 2: 5 sets of 5: Deadlifts, Incline Bench Press, Skullcrushers, Smith Machine Squats, Seated Row, Spider Curls, Tricep Pushdown. 3 sets of 30: 180 planks, Cross body crunch, Med ball toss crunch.
• Day 3: HIIT Combo Workout: 10 minutes HIIT Jump Roping (:45 jump/:30 rest), 10 minutes HIIT sprinting (:30/1:30), 10 minutes HIIT cycling :40/1:20), 10 minutes HIIT Jump Roping (:45/:30)
• Day 4: INTENSE At Home Fat Burning Plyo Circuit (use Tue/Thur workout)
• Day 5: 5 sets of 5: Deadlifts, Incline Bench Press, Skullcrushers, Smith Machine Squats, Seated Row, Spider Curls, Tricep Pushdown. 3 sets of 30: 180 planks, Cross body crunch, Med ball toss crunch.

Week 10/11/12 CHALLENGE WORKOUT: The 300 Workout (For the deadlift and snatch, use the same weight you would use when doing 3 sets of 10.  Use 50% less weight than your deadlift when doing windshield wipers while holding the barbell).  Complete in 31 minutes or less.

Week 13/14/15 – We’re going to hit the almost 4-month mark at the end of this phase.  By now, you should already be seeing huge changes in your strength levels, endurance levels, and overall physique.  Things are intense at this point.  If you aren’t able to keep up, I would suggest going back to the previous phase and focusing on nailing the HIIT cardio workouts.

• Day 1: Black Diamond.  100 crunches and 100 hindu push ups in as few sets as possible.
• Day 2: 45 minutes HIIT sprinting (:40/1:20), 15 minutes HIIT jump roping (:45/:30).
• Day 3: Float Like a Butterfly Sting Like a Bee BOXING Workout
• Day 4:  Summer Shred Workout Plan Weeks 1/2 Day 3
• Day 5: Treadmill Interval Workout

Week 13/14/15 CHALLENGE WORKOUT: 6.2 mile run, 24.8 mile bike ride, 1 mile swim.  If you don’t have access to a pool, substitute the swim for a 3.1 mile run.  Complete this Olympic Tri workout in under 3 hours.

**If you are unsure how to perform specific exercises and don’t see a link to a demo on Youtube, simply head over to ShareItFitness.com and browse our Body Diagram containing hundreds of exercise demos on video (or click the previous link).

Photo courtesy of Instinct Magazine

This is the final challenge in The Level Up Workout.  If you are able to complete it in under 3 hours, give yourself a huge congratulations.  If you are simply able to complete it, give yourself a congratulations nonetheless.  You just completed an Olympic distance triathlon.  Bet you didn’t think you could do that when you started all of this, did you?  It’s a huge accomplishment and something to be proud of.

Hopefully by now, a new way of looking at working out and fitness has been instilled in you.  You are now a full-blown lean, mean, athletic machine.  You have what it takes to push yourself harder and further.  But don’t think you’ve made it to the finish line.  Keep working hard.  Sign up for a real triathlon, go for a half-iron man, push yourself to lift heavier weights….The goal is to never stop challenging yourself.  The benefit is going to be continuing to improve your health and creating a body to die for.  Take what you’ve learned from The Level Up Workout over the past 5 months and cement the principles, ideas, and teachings into your life.  You are now that bad-ass in the gym people look up to and wonder how they became what they’ve become.  Congratulations, you made it a long way and are so much better off as a result.

Like This Article?  Want More Awesome Content From Share It Fitness?

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Combining weight training exercises in a circuit style will bump your heart rate and lead to better overall gains.

Anyone into that two birds, one stone sort of thing?  Hey, I mean, why would you not be?  If there’s a way to save myself some time you better believe I’m going to take full advantage of that.  When it comes to working out, my feelings are really no different.  I find my clients/readers who are making the most progress are the one’s who are using cardio/strength workouts and fitness classes.  This format is opposed to the standard strategy of breaking up a routine into separate strength training and cardio training days.

Complex workouts as well as other types of routines using active rest and/or intense-interval plyometric style training are great for getting you to push your muscles to fatigue while also working your cardiovascular system.  The benefits are two-fold, you maximize your burnt calories, EPOC, and progress, while spending less time at the gym.

Meet “Pacer” Training

Unlike some of the fitness plans and work outs we feature on this blog, today’s is a bit different.  The workout we’re featuring today is a video workout which has been set to a very specific pace.  What does this mean?  It means, the entire workout has been designed to keep intensity high and ensure you are getting a proper workout in.  In order to accomplish this you need to keep pace with Casey, the trainer on your screen.  We talk a lot about “keeping pace” on Share It Fitness.  The reason for this is simple..our trainers have designed our workouts at a specific intensity level to ensure maximum progress.  Unlike a list of exercises to complete, when we utilize our pacer training methodologies, we are more able to have control over the workout AND your progress.  All you’ve got to do is keep up with your trainer…that’s it.

About The Workout

This workout is done in reverse pyramid fashion.  Reverse pyramid is a style of organizing your sets so each time through, you are cutting one repetition off each exercise.  This is an effective way to mix things up and keep your muscles guessing.  Casey will run through the entire circuit in about 8 minutes.  In order to get a full workout in, we recommend using this reverse pyramid circuit, complex style.  What this means is once the circuit is complete (after ~8 minutes) re-start the workout video and run through the circuit again.  You want to shoot for 4-5 total rounds, for a 32-40 minute workout.

All you’re going to need is a set of dumbbells and your own body weight for this workout.  This workout is great for hitting the major muscle groups as well as hitting your beach muscles (shoulders, biceps, etc.).  As I alluded to above, this style of workout is also going to bump your heart rate, increase your caloric burn, and boost your fat burn potential well after the workout has ended as a result of increased EPOC.  Remember, to ensure these benefits, it’s very important that you stay with the carefully designed pace that Casey has set.  If he’s moving too quickly for you, well, you now have a new goal to work towards.

The Workout

If you’re ready for a serious challenge and think you’re up for this total body transforming fitness class, simply click HERE.

Have any questions?  Want to know how to make this class even harder?  Leave a comment below and I’ll be happy to get back to you.

You want to look like a lean, mean, fit athlete? We'll you better start training like a lean, mean, and fit athlete.

It’s Friday…for a lot of you the week is pretty much over and you’ve already begun switching into weekend-mode…even as you read this from your desk at work.  That’s all well and good and I don’t blame you for wanting to check out early….but do yourself a favor and don’t forget about your fitness the way you did about the cover sheets on your damn TPS reports.

Being that it’s Friday, I think something short, sweet, and intense will do the trick today.  I actually created this two cross-training circuit a couple of months ago and ran through it at the gym last night.  This workout is intense and will do wonders for your endurance as well as helping you get a nice muscle burn going.  As I often preach, if you want to look like an athlete, you’ve got to train like an athlete.  This athletic conditioning circuit is perfect for those wanting to break from their standard routine and add a little variety to their workouts. 

Do your best to complete all 10 rounds of the circuit in under 20-30 minutes.

The Workout

Rounds 1-5

• Barbell Squat/Front Press x 10 reps - Holding a barbell at shoulder level squat down and as you rise, push the barbell up and over your head, extending arms fully. 
• Plated Box Jumps x 10 reps
• Plank Rows x 16 reps
• Barbell Curls x 10 reps
• Jump Rope 1 minute

Aim to perform all five exercises in a row without rest.  After the 5th exercise rest for 30 seconds.  Repeat the circuit a total of 5 times.  At the end of the 5th round give yourself a full two minutes of rest time.

Rounds 6-10

• Hindu Push Ups x 10 reps
• Barbell Box Jumps x 10 reps – With the barbell behind your neck perform box jumps. 
• Curl Press x 8 reps per arm  – Bicep curl into an overhead press.  Perform one arm at a time.
• Mountain Climbers x 30 reps

This routine is extremely effective in that it utilizes aspects of plyometrics, standard weight training, and traditional cardio to give you an all around total body burnout.  Cross-training in this fashion is a fantastic way to develop a lean physique and an athletic skill set.  Whether you complete in athletics or not is not the point.  By becoming more athletic you’ll be able to function better in real life and protect yourself from injuries that often afflict other, less agile and fit individuals. 

Bonus Work

If you’re feeling especially motivated (as I was yesterday) go for a little bonus work at the end of this workout.

• 200 crunches in as few sets as possible.  I was able to knock these out in 4 sets…see if you can top that.
• 200 push ups in as few sets as possible.  For these it took me 5 sets to complete…give it your best shot and try to do it in 4 sets!

Keep in mind this is just one type of cross-training conditioning workout.  There are countless other programs that can be designed using cross-training methodologies that will help you achieve the physique and health you’re after.  Always look to mix things up and head over to ShareItFitness.com if you’re ever looking for more routines, both video and text-based or assistance from our staff of health and fitness professionals.

ShareItFitness.com member Angelica T. showing off her flat tummy

Before we even get started, I’ve got to get a couple of things out of the way upfront…The Flat Tummy Formula is intense.  It’s strict, it’s tough, it’s demanding, it’s (fill in the blank).  I get it.  When I developed this 5 step formula to help you burn belly fat and slim down your midsection, I knew what I was asking of you.  I knew a lot of you would fizzle out and not be able to stick to the formula.

The bright side of this  is it really, absolutely, positively, WILL work for you if you can stick to this formula.  I’ve benefitted from being able to test this thing out on family, friends, clients, and even myself over the past 10 years and have found the keys to unlocking “six-pack abs” and making your belly fat a thing of the past.

At the end of the day, like almost all things fitness related, it comes down to how bad you want it.  How bad do you want to have a flat stomach?  How bad do you want to not feel self-conscious?  How bad do you really want that fried chicken?  Do you want it more than a tight and toned midsection?  Truthfully answer questions like that and you’ll have a good idea if this formula is going to be “too tough” for you to follow.

Burning Belly Fat

1. Cut Sugar and Simple Carbs NOW.  Sugar, high-fructose corn syrup…it’s all junk.  Sugar and other simple carbs) has been shown to have a negative impact on belly fat due to the havoc they wreak on your blood sugar levels.  Avoid the insulin spike, avoid the fat retention, and avoid all the other ugly side effects this white devil brings on.  You want to get serious about your diet?  Stop eating unnecessary sugar; sugar is bad for belly fat.  Now, I do realize fruit contains sugar.  I’m not anti-fruit, I’m just anti-over doing it with fruit.  Be cognizant to the fact that even though fruit is healthy, it still contains insulin-spiking sugars that will cause you trouble if you consume too much.  Shoot for no more than 25 grams per day; with less being even better.
2. HIIT Cardio 3x a Week.  HIIT cardio, i.e. short bursts of all out intensity followed by longer and more relaxed periods (:30 all out sprint/1:30 jog/repeat 15 times) is THE most effective way to burn fat.  Long and slow bouts of cardio aren’t going to get you where you want to be.  Go with HIIT sprinting and possibly a day of HIIT cycling (on a stationary or actual bike).  A Monday/Wednesday/Friday set up for your HIIT cardio would be fantastic.  Aim to keep sessions around 20-30 minutes to start with an eye on gradually increasing to a full 45 minutes.
3. Complex Workouts 2X a Week.  Complex workouts are quite possibly the most effective way to get additional cardio AND train your muscles.  This short but intense style of work is excellent at trimming fat, improving endurance, and helping you build lean muscle.  Remember, adding lean muscle mass to your body will help boost your metabolism, which in turn will help your body burn more calories than it otherwise would.  A heightened metabolism is the key to losing your belly fat for good.
4. Abdominal work 3x a Week.  Ab workouts should be in the 15-20 minute range.  Feel free to tack these on the end of your other workouts, or complete them on off days.  Just be sure to give yourself 48 hours between ab workouts.  If you have access to a gym, day 1 should be heavy.  Do decline crunches while holding a plate, use the weighted crunch machine, perform side bends with a heavy plate in your hand..you get the idea.  Day 2 should be high repetition.   Shoot for 30-40 reps of bicycle crunches, leg up crunches, in/outs, etc.  Day 3, get yourself a $7 ab wheel and just roll it out.  The movement an ab wheel requires hits the abs better than almost any other core exercise in my opinion.
5. Intermittent Fasting.  Intermittent fasting involves a 18-24 hour fast every so often.  Some do it every other day, some do it once a week.  I find once every 4-5 days is most effective.  And before people get all up in arms about this approach, there have been numerous studies that suggest a reduced calorie diet will lead to longer life spans.  Read about intermittent fasting and increase life spans here or check out this study on intermittent fasting and disease prevention to get a better idea of how some of the medical community views this approach.  Personally, this was one of the biggest factors for a lot of people I’ve worked with.  Take your time to do due diligence and see if IF is right for you.

I should add, there is actually a sixth, unofficial step in this formula.  That step is having PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE.  The changes you want aren’t going to come over night.  They aren’t even going to come in a month.  Getting the midsection I know you want is going to take several months of work.  But in the grand scheme…what is a few months?  It’s nothing.

There are going to be days you don’t want to do the workouts.  There are going to be days you want to eat a carton of ice cream.  There are going to be days you swear this formula isn’t doing anything for you and you curse my name.  All of those feelings and emotions will pass.  The people with the greatest success do NOT allow themselves to make knee-jerk decisions or react to emotional thoughts.  Persevere even when you feel you are wasting your time and you will soon find these negative thoughts easier to ignore.  Eliminating negative thoughts and overcoming burnout is the key to achieving success on any fitness plan, whatever your goals are.  Give this plan a solid 3 months.  Make the changes, do the workouts, and give it your all, and I guarantee, without a shadow of a doubt, you will have MUCH flatter, tighter, and a more defined midsection than you do today.

Looking for Additional Support?

Need some help with workout ideas or just want to connect with and hear from other people already using the Flat Tummy Formula?  Come on over to our full site, www.shareitfitness.com, and sign up for your FREE premium membership.  We’ve got hundreds of full-length (15-60 minutes) OnDemand workouts at your fingertips, a supportive community forum, and access to live health/fitness professionals ready to answer your questions or assist you. Membership will be free for a little while longer, so hurry up and sign up before it’s too late.

She’s “toned”…and she didn’t get that way doing 5 lb. dumbbell curls…

We hear the word all the time.  Pilates studios tell us we’ll get,  “Long, lean, and toned muscles!”.  The covers of fitness magazines tell us “Tight and toned in 4 weeks!”.  Yoga studios tell us, “A total body tone!”.  Have you ever wondered what “toned” really means?

“I Want to Tone Up!”

To most people, “toned” means ripped, shredded, defined, cut….whatever you want to call it, in your mind, it means you have well-defined musculature.  Women in particular think of “getting toned” as the alternative to “getting big and bulky”.  Fitness providers are wise to this, and thus, use the word toned, especially when targeting potential female consumers.  This doesn’t mean they’re doing something dishonest, they’re just using a buzz word they know their potential customers are paying attention to and looking for.

So what does “toned” really mean?  Well first off, when someone says they want to get “toned”, they are really saying, I want less body fat covering my muscles, thereby making my muscles look more defined, pronounced, or……toned.  That’s all being toned really is.  People with less body fat covering their body will look more toned.

How You DON’T Get Toned

Now that we know what “toned” really means, isn’t it obvious there aren’t specific exercises that lead to a “toned” appearance?  Lifting 5 lb dumbbells won’t lead to less body fat covering your biceps.  It’s ridiculous to think this even possible.  Just like there isn’t only one weight that will lead to toned muscles, there aren’t specific exercises that will make someone toned, while other exercises make them “big and bulky”.  Talk to any fitness professional who isn’t trying to sell you something….they’ll all tell you to forget what you’re reading on the fitness mag covers about how to get “toned”.

How You DO Get Toned

Knowing what we now know, the goal of getting toned has become much easier to reach.  A well-designed plan that incorporates ample amounts of cardio (to burn the fat covering your muscles) and compound exercises (to actually build the muscle) will eventually result in a toned appearance.  The line between too much cardio and not enough is fine.  Do too much cardio and you’ll start wasting away your muscle gains and start looking like a marathon runner (not toned).  Not enough and you’ll never burn the fat covering your muscles.

Additionally, change your diet and you’ll start noticing changes fast.  Getting toned is about being lean.  Eat foods that help you reach your goal while avoiding foods that hinder your progress.  Consume ample protein to build muscle tissue and make sure to avoid sugars and other simple carbs that your body will easily store as fat.

The Big and Bulky Myth

All of you reading this have the potential to develop a beautifully tight and toned body.  For many of the women out there, they never accomplish their goal because they allow themselves to become too scared of getting “big and bulky”.  This topic has been beaten to death, but allow me to very quickly explain to you why this won’t happen.

• Female bodies do not possess the same levels of the hormone testosterone  (15-20 times less than men).  Testosterone is an anabolic (muscle building) hormone.  On the other hand, women have far more of the hormone estrogen than men.  Estrogen is a catabolic hormone (muscle destroying).
• Men are genetically predisposed to building more muscle.  Under a perfect scenario a man could theoretically gain up to half a pound of muscle a week.  Women, if they’re lucky, could gain a third of this at best.
• You don’t get bulky overnight.  Instead of refusing to do certain exercises, or using heavy weights for fear of getting bulky, give it a shot and see how you look/feel before swearing them off.
• You aren’t eating like a man, are you?  Muscle doesn’t build itself out of thin air.  There is a reason bodybuilders, big men, and high-caliber strength athletes eat thousands upon thousands of calories a day.  In order to build serious muscle, you’ve got to feed your body insane amounts of food.  If you aren’t eating like an offensive lineman, you don’t need to worry about turning into one overnight.

The “Get Toned” Plan

A lot of you are now probably wondering, “Okay great, now how do I get toned…I mean, how do I burn fat, build muscle, and build a healthy and lean physique?”  So glad you asked.  As I mentioned before, you need a well-designed plan that walks the fine line between not enough cardio and too much.  Given the opportunity to test and re-test the ratio on myself and clients over the years, I believe I found something that will work will for MOST individuals.  As I always preach, fitness is NOT an exact science.  What works for one may not work for another.  Tweak things here and there as needed for your body type.  If you need a little more cardio, add 10-15 minutes a day…Have a hard time building muscle? Cut back until you’re able to keep muscle on.

A 5 day routine looking like something below would be ideal…Notice that each workout has been defined as either fat burning, muscle building, or a combo of both.  When subbing in your own workouts, if you so choose, opt to keep the ratio of fat burning/muscle building workouts.

1. Monday - Explosive plyometric cardio workout, 45 minutes (primary-fat burning/secondary-muscle building)
2. Tuesday - Lower body weight training using compound exercises (leg press, squats, Bulgarian squats, box jumps, deadlifts, etc) 60 minutes (muscle building)
3. Wednesday – Complex workout sessions, 30-40 minutes (primary-fat burning/secondary-muscle building)
4. Thursday - Upper body weight training using compound exercises (bench press, dips, military press, lat pulldowns, etc.) 60 minutes (muscle building)
5. Friday – Intense interval cardio, 45-60 minutes (fat burning)

Feel free to sub in some HIIT cardio on cardio days or add an extra day of yoga, pilates, kickboxing, etc. on the weekend.  If you’re looking for a huge database of full-length OnDemand fitness classes (like the ones mentioned above) you can take at home or anywhere else you have an internet connection, come check out our full premium site and sign up now for free access.

Change Yourself

The only thing stopping you from developing the body of your dreams is yourself.  You’re the one who allows your know-it-all inner voice to talk you out of doing the right things.  You allow yourself to be overcome with doubt and fear of getting too bulky.  Forget that.  For once, listen to a fitness professional who ISN’T trying to sell you something.  Once you make better decisions in the gym and in the kitchen that lean, athletic, and “toned” body won’t seem so far away after all.

What are some workouts that have been particularly great in helping you develop your body?  Comment below and share your workout tips, advice, and secrets!  Good karma will follow…!

Ever heard the saying big things come in small packages?  As over-used as that phrase may be, it quite aptly fits today’s workout routine.

Now, before I get into it, I want to give you a quite caveat.  I often tell you guys to put the 5-pound dumbbells down and lift some real weights.  I say that because far too often, I see (primarily) women lifting these little dumbbells hoping to make muscular progress.  They think heavy weights = getting big and bulky.  While that’s not really accurate, it’s another story for another day.  It’s totally fine to use light dumbbells and higher repetitions if that isn’t the ONLY thing you are doing.  Mixing and matching the types of weights you use is the best way to make constant progress.  Not only that, this workout routine utilizes an awesome concept for the “iTraining” crowd as you’ll see below….

Pacer Training..The Best Way to Achieve Your Goals

This 30-minute fitness class utilizes our concept of “Pacer Training”.  What is pacer training you may be wondering?  Unlike other fitness plans and videos which simply demo a few movements then send you off on your own to complete them, pacer training has a real-life personal trainer leading you through the entire class…just like a group fitness class you’d find in an actual gym.  By delivering our workouts in this manner, we are able to dictate the speed, intensity, and rest times effectively.  Additionally, we are able to push you harder to burn more calories, fatigue your muscles greater, and leave you in better overall shape than if you were doing the same routine on your own.  All you have to do is mirror the trainer on your screen and keep “pace”.  Want more fitness classes utilizing our Pacer Training concept?  We’ve got hundreds more to choose from on our full site, www.shareitfitness.com.

What do I Need?

This video workout routine uses extremely light weight.  I mean EXTREMELY.  You think it’s going to be easy though I bet, huh?  Guess again.  Opt for a set of dumbbells between 2-5 lbs if you want to make it all the way through.  You’ll be doing tons of iso repetitions, pulses, and a little cardio to bump your heart rate.  Believe me, you’ve never seen a class like this.  And the soreness you’ll feel after…don’t even get me started.

Why It Works

Since 99% of you have never trained in this manner, your body is going to be completely surprised by the hell you’re about to put it through.  You’re pushing your muscles to extreme fatigue over the course of this class so be prepared to feel some real soreness in the following days.  By breaking your muscles down in this unique way, you cause them to grow back even stronger.  Doing iso exercises really helps us focus in on specific muscles, i.e. biceps, triceps, shoulders, etc so you can expect to develop a nice firm, toned appearance from this type of training.  And again, by keeping pace with your trainer Casey, you’ll be ensured a sweat-inducing, heart-pounding workout that delivers results.

How Often Should I Do It?

Since this class is intense, I’d recommend no more than 2 (possibly 3) days a week.  If you’re already on another one of our workout routines simply substitute this class for a strength training day.  As I always say, mixing and matching workouts from various plans is a great way to make sustained progress; never let your body adapt.

Share It Fitness expert trainer, Casey Kirch.

The Iso Strength Workout

Click HERE to start this workout NOW

Like This Workout Routine?  Want More?

If you want hundreds of other group fitness classes and DVD-style workouts, available OnDemand 24/7, at the touch of a button, sign up for our premium site, ShareItFitness.com.  We’re giving away free premium memberships for a little while longer, so don’t wait!  In addition to our OnDemand library we feature tons of great recipes, workout plans, live health and fitness professionals ready to assist you, and an interactive social network of other like-minded people.  Simply put, Share It Fitness is the greatest internet training tool available.  Don’t do tomorrow what you can do today…let us help you reach all of your goals NOW!

  Photo courtesy of MarkVPhoto 

Burning fat and building muscle at the same time isn’t easy.  Usually, people will go through periods where they strive to add muscle (and inevitably fat), followed by periods heavy on the cardio with the idea of trimming away the accumulated fat (but unfortunately sacrifice a great deal of their muscle gains).  The problem with this cycle, if it isn’t already obvious, is the amount of work you put in does not return the expected gains, i.e. you retain some muscle and improve your physique slightly enough for you to notice it when you look from the right angle and in the right lighting.  Body builders call this bulk/cut, but it’s something most of us normal people do without even realizing it.  We’ll go heavy on weights for a while..then back off and do more cardio when we feel “bulky”.  In the end, we spin our wheels but don’t make it very far.  If we want to burn fat AND build muscle, something has to change.

The Power Combo Savior.

The way out of this cycle is to introduce high-intensity cardio in short bursts, combined with resistance exercises all in one workout.  A very simplified example would be something like push ups, followed immediately by 30 seconds of burpees, followed by bent over dumbbell rows, rest, repeat.  Working out in this manner does wonders for your EPOC (if you don’t know about EPOC, do yourself a favor and click the link), which allows you to burn massive amounts of calories at rest.  Rather than doing weights one day and cardio the next, you are able to get both your cardio and weight training in all at once, which allows you to do both more often.  The fat burn and lean mass gain potential from this format of workout is tremendous.  Amongst clients we’ve tested this workout on, the results have been very impressive.

A Power Combo Workout

That said, we’ve got a workout for you today that utilizes the basics of this power combo.  All you’re going to need is a BOSU, your body weight, and a 6′x6′ area (a living room works great).  Now, I must tell you, this workout is unlike anything you’re used to.  We’re not going to give you a list of exercises to complete.  While those type of workouts have their place, we’ve found a more effective way to deliver workouts to you.

Train Differently…Train More Effectively.

In order to train differently, we need something different.  Enter pacer training.  At Share It Fitness, we went a step further with our workouts.  We feel you’ll get the most effective workout possible if you have a real-life personal trainer leading you through the routine.  Along with the encouragement and advice they provide, they also keep the pace for you to follow, which guarantees HIGH INTENSITY throughout.  When you’re given a list of exercises to complete, you’re left to your own devices and the quality of your workout can suffer..especially if it’s a cardio session.  When you’re following the trainer keeping pace on your screen, it’s a whole new ballgame.  It’s as close as it gets to being in a 1-on-1 session or in a group fitness class.

Are You Ready for a New Challenge?

Our BOSU Cardio Core is led by one of our favorite personal trainers, Sharon Blair.  Sharon keeps a quick pace, high intensity, and seamlessly transitions from movement to movement.  All you have to do is keep pace with her and you’ll be guaranteed to torch hundreds of calories, boost your EPOC, and bring your muscles to exhaustion.  It really couldn’t be any easier to get a guaranteed effective workout.

Now What?

This workout is for Share It Fitness members, but don’t worry, becoming a member is still free for a little while longer.

• If you’re already a SIF member, simply log in, then click HERE to open the BOSU Cardio Core workout.  If you forgot to log in before clicking the workout link above, it will bring you to a log in screen.  Go ahead and log in then come back here and click the workout link again.
• If you’re not a SIF member, simply create a free account by clicking HERE, then come back to this post and click HERE for our BOSU Cardio Core workout.

To make the most of this workout, simply keep pace with Sharon (believe me, she makes this a tough one), and follow her movements.  Use her as your guide to keep proper form and maintain an appropriate intensity.  You do that, and there’s no way you aren’t getting all the heart-pounding and sweat dripping benefits of this workout…and burning serious calories (and fat) in the process!  If you’re feeling extra strong, trying going through this class a second time, circuit-style.  Good luck, and let us know what you thought of this workout!