That's How Winning Is Done

Hi Sarah, Congratulations on the beginning of your fitness journey! 

In the beginning you need to assess where you are and where you want to be. Do you have a good amount of muscle and still some fat you want to get rid of, or do you need to build your muscles so that you can see them now that the fat is gone? Here is a good place to start for either.

1.Maintain Muscle/Burn Fat

2.Gain Muscle

This will be a 6 day on 1 day off routine that you can tailor to fit your needs/abilities. 

M, W, F Weight Training

T, Th, S Cardio

1. Your weight training days should be body zone specific, M-Upper Body, W-Lower Body, F-Full body. You can follow the workouts I post, and print/edit them to fit your needs. You will want to do lower weights with higher reps to keep your muscles working, and build up endurance. This will turn your weight training days into semi-cardio days that will aid in the burning of fat and increased metabolism, while maintainting muscle density.

Cardio on T, Th and Saturday will be your biggest aid in fat burning/cutting down. You will want to do at least 30 minutes at your highest intensity. This would include, running, burpees, and any other plyometrics.

2. Muscle building will take on the same principles, but the weights should be higher and the reps should be lower. Besides diet and reps, there is not much difference between the two. 

Diet is the biggest things. All fitness is 70% diet 30% Exercise. If you are trying to build muscle, you want larger amounts of Carbohydrates and Protein in your diet, as well as a calorie excess. This will aid in muscle recovery and growth. In a cutting/leaning diet, you want more Protein and Fat with a calorie deficit.

I hope this is what you were looking for, if you have more questions please don’t hesitate to ask!

There are 2 fats that are essential to humans (EFA’s) or Essential Fatty Acids. You have probably heard of them, Omega 3 and Omega 6. 

Omega 3 (found in navy beans, black beans, soy beans, tofu, etc) helps with your brain, eyes, immune system and your mental state. They help block out harmful processed oils in your body and can block many harmful responses to stress. 

Omega 6 (found in most seed oils) is converted in the body to gamma-linoleic acid or GLA. GLA is ultimately responsible for the production of PG1 and PG2 for short. These are essential in the production of reproductive hormones, maintenance of skin and regulation of blood pressure.

When it comes to bodybuilding/cutting, fats help you in two ways. 

When bulking, because 1 gram of fat packs 9 calories, as opposed to protein and carbs that only pack 4, an excess of fat in your diet will give you an excess of calories and help you to bulk.

In a cutting diet, if you substitute more fat for carbohydrates, it can help you to get lean. 1 gram of carbohydrates holds 2.4 grams of water. If you cut out more carbohydrates and replace them with fats (while getting your protein and staying under your calories daily) it can help you to look more defined by taking some of the extra water out from between your muscles. 

So, EFA’s help with many body systems, and fats can be used in a macro nutrient-based diet to get the results you need, among the many other benefits. Fats are very important in your diet. EFA’s are very beneficial (omega 3, omega 6). The very least beneficial are saturated fats, monounsaturated, trans fats etc. Trans fats are the worst, do not consume them unless you have no other choice!!

I hope this helped. If you have ANY more questions please ask, and don’t hesitate to tell other to ask too!