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!