MuscleUp March! Workout plan included!

After my last check-in, I was pleased to see how well the increased cardio was helping me reach my fitness goals. I was dropping fat and inches BUT I wasn't increasing my lean mass. That's going to change in March! I decided to adjust P90X to better fit my schedule and also tweaked some exercises that I think do a better job of focusing on my goal areas. So, this is the calendar that I'll be following for March:

The most important thing IS STILL the Meal Planning Day! I can't stress enough how the changes that I've seen have shown up primarily due to the level of focus and attention that I've given my nutrition. That being said, I'm no nutritionist but I want you to try to adjust your eating habits slightly if you can. If you're used to getting Chick-Fil-A's fried sandwich, try out their grilled one. If you're like me and LOVE ranch dressing, try a balsamic vinaigrette every now and then. Or (this was a big one for me), if you drink A LOT of juice and soda, try giving yourself a water intake goal before you have your first glass of juice/soda. Trust me - it works! All those artificial sugars and sweeteners just aren't good for us.

I really hope that you try out some of these workouts and post on social media that you're #BuildingRome with me! It is definitely a motivator for me! Hopefully, I'm helping motivate you too! :-) 

For the women reading this workout and are thinking, "I just want to lose weight. Lifting all these weights will make me LOOK LIKE A MAN!" I want you to know that that assumption is COMPLETELY FALSE! Adding weight training to your fitness routine is the difference between being skinny and being tone! If you don't believe me, Google it (you can't lie on the internet, right?). 

For the men reading this workout and are thinking, "What's Leg Day?" or "Why does this idiot have Back Day on there twice?" I know that legs aren't considered a "beach muscle" so the warmer it gets, as guys, we tend to somehow have 8 bicep/chest workouts in a week! I get it - Suns out, Guns out, etc etc. However, friends don't let friends skip Leg Day. Having a strong base is imperative to see true peak performance in your Total Body and extracurricular activities (take that however you'd like to). As for focusing on Back twice a week - my back is an area that, though I don't intend to, gets neglected a lot in my routines. I know that the Back is an important part of my core so I want to make sure I reinforce it!

Well, that's it folks! If you're in for #MuscleUpMarch, take pictures or measure your areas of focus today (or tomorrow morning when you wake up). I know that most of you reading this probably have your own exercises that you like to do when you work the areas that I listed above. For those of you who don't have a set of exercises that you normally do or for anyone looking to mix it up, check out my "MuscleUpMarch Workouts" post for exercises AND links to YouTube for the ones that you may be unfamiliar with. I hope that helps. 

Thanks for reading, thanks for sharing, but most importantly...thanks for inspiring me! 

MuscleUp March Workouts

Here are the exercises that I'll be doing for March! Feel free to join in! I'm expecting each of these workouts to take no more than 55 minutes. Try to stay focused and not take too long of breaks. Work your muscles while their warm!

Number of Reps: 8-10 if you are trying to increase mass, 10-12 if you are trying to tone. Pick appropriate weights to make the last 2-3 reps challenging. Obviously, some of these can be done with just body weight but if you're feeling ambitious, add weights RESPONSIBLY! Be Safe!

Shoulders & Arms Day

1. Alternating Shoulder Press

2. Bicep Curls

3. Tricep Kickbacks

Repeat

4. Deep Swimmer’s Press

5. Full Supination Curls

6. Tricep Dips

Repeat

7. Upright Rows

8. Static Curls (alternating sets of 4 reps per arm, 12 reps total per arm)

9. Flip Grip TricepKickbacks

Repeat

10. ShoulderFly

11. Crouching CohenCurls

12. Lying Down Tricep Extensions

Repeat

13. T-Raises

14. Congdon Curls

15. Seated Tricep Extensions

Repeat

Legs & Back Day

1. Alternating Lunges

2. Calf-Raise Squats

3. Chin-ups

4. Standing Toe Touches

5. Wall Squat Hold (until failure)

6. Wide Front Pull-ups (or Lat Pull Downs)

7. Reverse Lunges

8. Alternating Side Lunges

9. Close Grip Pull-ups (or Close Grip Lat Pull Downs)

10. Single-Leg Wall Squat Hold (until failure) 

11. Dead Lift

12. Three-Way Lunge (Front, Side, Back)

13. Calf Raises

14. Squat Jumps

15. Invisible Chair Hold (until failure)

Repeat 1, 3, 5, 11, 13, 15

Core & Cardio Day

1. 20 minutes of cardio (your choice)

2. Crunches

3. V-Ups

4. Superman/Banana

5. Plank Hold

6. Left Side Plank Hold

7. Left Side Plank Hip Taps

8. Right Side Plank Hold 

9. Right Side Plank Hip Taps

10. Standing Oblique Crunch

11. Plank Walk Ups

12. 10 minutes of cardio (your choice)

*Do Exercises 2-11 for 1 minute each with 30 second rest in between

Chest & Back Day (reps: I try to do 25-30 of each push-up and 8-10 of the rest)

1. Standard Push-up

2. Wide Front Pull-up (or Lat Pull Downs)

3. Military Push-up (hands directly below your shoulders, elbows back)

4. Chin-ups

5. Wide Fly Push-up (hands out wide, elbows pointing out)

6. Close Grip Pull-ups (or Close Grip Lat Pull Downs)

7. Decline Push-ups

8. Heavy Pants

9. Diamond Push-ups (thumbs touching, hands forming a diamond, elbows out)

10. Lawnmowers 

11. Dive Bomber Push-ups

12. Back Fly

REPEAT workout doing even numbers first (i.e. 2,1,4,3,6,5 etc.)

Biceps & Triceps Day

1. Bicep Curls

2. Tricep Kickbacks

3. Static Curls

4. Tricep Dips

5. Congdon Curls

6. Lying Down Tricep Extensions

REPEAT 1-6 doing even numbers first (2, 1, 4, 3, 6, 5)

7. "Dumbbell Demolition" (Pick the heaviest weight that you can only do 5 standard bicep curls. Do 5 each arm. Go down 5lbs. and do 5 more each arm. Continue until you are using 5lb. dumbbells)

8. Tricep Burnout (pick the weight that you used for Tricep Kickbacks and do as many reps as you can until you burn out. Rest for 30 seconds and do it again. Rest for 30 seconds and do one more time).

DISCLAIMER: I provided video links to help you get the gist of the workout (instead of trying to explain every single one). Once you understand the workout, USE GOOD FORM, to perform movements. If you start to lose your form, stop, reset, and start back! #BuildingRome