THE WORKOUTS

Let’s get started on your journey to a healthy year! Change Your World Fitness.

To get started, you will select how many days a week you can devote to your program, the parts of the body you will be working out, the exercises you will perform and general recommendations about getting started.

If you are a beginner, we suggest that you perform the same exercises for 2-4 weeks to perfect those before moving onto other exercises. You will then need to perform the new exercises for 2-4 more weeks before moving onto different ones. Once you are through the entire tab of exercises, then switch it up weekly for a countless number of variations.

If you currently participate in an exercise program and feel you can handle the challenge of new exercises often, go for it! It’s ever changing and you won’t be bored. Once you perfect these, you can then move onto “Change Your World Fitness’ “Hardbody” edition. This great mix of exercises builds muscle faster and keeps this program interesting.

Remember to read about each muscle on the muscle tab and warm up prior to working out. Become familiar with your muscles, by warming up before and stretching during and after every workout!

1. Pick a “Workout” card (A-E). Your cards are designed to fit your busy schedule, allowing you to choose the amount of time you can dedicate to your fitness goals.
    
2. Once your workout is selected, that day’s workout and body parts are listed. Simply select exercises from each body part listed.
    
3. Once you’ve selected the workout card, the muscle group card and exercises, clip them together and Change Your World Fitness.
    
4. Whether at home or the gym, each card will guide you through your workout. Remember to use the appropriate weight to maintain proper form.
    
5. Once completed, rotate the exercises by placing the completed card in the back of the muscle group.

CIRCUIT TRAINING

You may decide to do these exercises with little or no rest between sets and exercises. This is called interval training, because you do not in rest in between sets while receiving benefits of aerobic/cardio training.

Circuit Training is great for those of you who are short on time. We would still like you to get your cardio in at least 3 days a week, but circuit training can provide Anaerobic (without oxygen) and Aerobic (with oxygen) benefits.

Why is this good? With little rest in between sets and exercises, your heart rate stays elevated and you burn more calories during that routine. We suggest buying and wearing a heart rate monitor during Circuit Training and Cardio Training to provide you with statistics regarding your training. The Heart Rate Monitor provides statistics such as time trained, calories burned and heart rate. It’s a must have when you are committed to making a health change.

CARDIO

Working out with weights (or resistance training) is needed to Change Your World Fitness, but there’s much more. Cardio, Cardio, Cardio!!!!! We suggest that you do 30 minutes of cardio at LEAST 3 days a week.

We would prefer if you did low to moderate cardio, such as walking the dog, going for a bike ride the other days of the week.

If you look at the new Food Pyramid, you will see that the steps in the pyramid are to let you know that, as important as the food you eat, exercise is important to your well being.

TIP

Remember strength training will sculpt your body and give you muscle definition, but cardio is needed to keep your most important muscle healthy, your heart! No one ever died from weak Triceps!!!

Your Heart Rate

We suggest talking to your physician before starting any exercise program and determining your target heart rate. A formula to talk over with your doctor is 220- your age and then you need to know the intensity. The intensity is a percentage of that number. Our intensity is based on our goals and needs. 50-80% intensity is a good place to discuss with your doctor.

The Right Weight, Reps & Sets
 

Each exercise card really does not discuss the starting weight, repetitions or sets. Everyone beginning this program is at a different pace, so a little trial and error in the beginning is necessary. The Muscle Tabs has some general guidelines for each group of muscles that will include free weights and machines.

Some advice, if you are using dumbbells, we suggest starting with 5lb dumbbells. Get your form perfect before you advance to more weights. If you are performing exercises on machines, start low and see how difficult the low weight is for you. We will give you some weight guidelines on each tab of muscle groups.

Once your form is good, remember the big goal-your last few reps should be hard to complete without sacrificing form. You will either have to go up in weight or repetitions to advance to the next level with your body (or both).

Sometimes we go up in weight, sometimes we might go down in weight and up in repetitions. The key to success is switching things up often, so your body does not get used to any one routine. That’s the key with Get Your Skinny “Workout”, the combinations are endless.

REPETITIONS AND SETS

For beginners, we suggest two sets and 8-12 reps. Two sets will help you remember how to do the exercise. Remember, practice makes perfect. Eight to twelve repetitions will provide feedback the next day as to how those muscles feel. Generally, women should perform 3 sets of 12-15 reps and Men should perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps. Women generally do less weight and higher reps to achieve the body they desire. The key is diversity and change! Women, do not be afraid of increasing weights. We do not have the testosterone to look like a man. We need to challenge our bodies. Keep your body wondering what you are going to do tomorrow!

Benefits
 

For most of us, losing weight is our goal. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat does, even while your body is at rest. The more lean muscle you have, the better your metabolism works. If two women weigh the same amount, say 135 lbs and one has more muscle than the other, the one with more muscle will burn more calories even while sitting on a couch watching TV! We all lose muscle mass as we age and our metabolism slows down and weight gain begins. Turn back the clock and increase your metabolism.

The solution we have provided for you is weight training. When you do cardio, your metabolism increases, but only while you are doing your cardio. So, if you’re on an elliptical machine for 30 minutes, your metabolism will increase, but only while you are on that machine. When you work out with weights, your metabolism will continue to rise. You can expect this increased metabolism for up to 48 hours. If you weight train every other day, your metabolism will continue to burn more calories!

As personal trainers, we see people all thetime in the gym regularly that complete demanding workouts, but get minimal results. Their bodies don’t change. These people don’t even question their workouts; they typically blame themselves for not working out hard enough or long enough. The problem is that a person may do adequate cardio and stretching, but does not perform weight training effectively.

Part of the problem, with women especially, are the negative images associated with weight training. Women think that they will get big and bulky. That won’t happen!

Another problem is that people do not know how to effectively perform the exercise, stretch and switch it up often. That’s why some people train with personal trainers. The #1 complaint from our clients is that once they come to the gym by themselves, they forget how we did the exercise. As well as what stretch is for that muscle group and what exercises to do next!

NUTRITION IS A BIG PART OF THE SUCCESS THAT YOU WILL EXPERIENCE

Nutrition is essential to any new work-out routine. Your body needs fuel to power you through a good strength training routine. We recommend that you eat a small amount of protein and carbs, one to two hours before your work out. Never work-out on an empty stomach.

Here are a couple of guidelines to start.

1. Drink at least ½ your body weight in ounces of water!
2. Limit your sodium to fewer than 2,000 mg per day.
3. Memorize the Food Pyramid Chart!

Keep a food journal! (this is essential to success)

• Record everything you eat and drink.
• Record the amount of foods.
• Note the time of each meal and snack.
• Rate your hunger before and after each meal.
• Only eat until you are not hungry, never full.
• Eat often, 5-6 times a day with smaller meals.
• Prepare your meals ahead of time, and have them handy (in the fridge or freezer) for those crazy days!

Visit www.mypyramid.gov for all the facts on what you should be eating.

This website is an invaluable tool! www.mypyramid.gov explains how many fruits and vegetables, dairy, lean meats, complex carbohydrates and fats you should be eating per day.

It also explains why you should be eating good carbs, lean meats, and good fats. We are not nutritionists, but we can definitely vouch for www.mypyramid.gov.

Another good source of information is The American Diabetes Association. They have all kinds of healthy eating plans that fit the needs of anyone wanting to eat healthy.

We would like you to talk to a physician about your caloric needs. An active woman, who works out, should never eat less than 1,600 calories per day/ 2,000 for a man. We should never go below 1,200 calories, EVER! You need fuel for your body to work efficiently. It wasn’t food that made you fat; it was the wrong food and lack of exercise. Use food as fuel and exercise to expend energy and you will feel much better.