Training Intensity: Your training intensity is just as important as any other part of your program and is something we cannot be there to oversee. To know whether or not you are training at the right intensity you must ensure at the end of all your workouts you have given your 100% commitment to it. You need to leave the gym/home feeling sore, drained and have trained the designated muscle to failure. The harder you make your weight training sessions the faster you will see results. When weight training, you are breaking your muscles down not building them up, for them to build back bigger and stronger you need to feed them with the right nutrients (follow your meal plan). Please remember every aspect of your program is just as important as the next and you need to do all of them together and consistently to maximize your results.
Cardio: All your cardio sessions during the program will be steady state cardio, which is a brisk power walk on the treadmill or chosen equipment. The reason you will be using steady state cardio as your preferred cardio method is because optimal fat burning occurs when your heart rate is slightly elevated but not to the point of exhaustion. If you are physically exhausted at the end of your cardio session it means you have accelerated your heart rate too high and your body does not have enough time to break down your body fat so it will turn to your muscles for energy. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is another form of cardio and can also help you lose body fat but for the purpose of this program we do not want you doing it yet. We want to ensure you keep all your muscle mass and steady state cardio will ensure this and is also much easier for me to monitor. Always make sure your cardio sessions are challenging, work up a sweat but never to exhaustion because you are doing it for fat loss not to increase your fitness levels. It does not matter what time of the day you do cardio, so please disregard any myths you have heard (e.g. fasted cardio works better) and just get it done.
The only time we suggest not to do cardio is before your weight training sessions because you will not have the same energy levels to complete your workout. Cardio can be done post workout, first thing in the morning, before or after work, or whenever it fits into your lifestyle, as long as it’s completed. We will add in more cardio or remove cardio from your program depending on your progress over the next 4-12 weeks.
On-going changes: On-going changes are made by us whenever we think they are necessary, everyone reacts differently to certain foods and exercises so it is impossible to premeditate any changes at the start of your program. Over the 8 weeks, it’s very important that we receive regular updates about how you’re progressing through your program so we can make the changes when they need to be made. Please email us weekly to keep us updated on your progress.