So, I said I was going to dish on the workout program I've been doing for the past 9 weeks. The Female Body Breakthrough is a 16-week strength training program, designed to help build muscle mass and lose fat in a reasonable amount of time. I know a lot of women think that lifting heavy weights will make them beefy, but the truth is that we don't nearly as much testosterone as men do. So, it's much harder for us to build significant muscle mass. As you build muscle, your metabolism increases, allowing you to burn fat at a faster rate and burn more calories even when you're not doing anything at all.
There are four 4-week phases, all with different workouts. You can also improve your nutrition in four phases for optimal fat loss. Basically there are 3 major components of fat loss, in order of priority:
1. Nutrition
2. Strength training
3. Cardio
The first phase (Base Phase) has you doing 2-3 strength workouts per week, and no cardio at all until the third week. You focus on cleaning up your eating by eliminating processed and fried foods from your diet.
Each phase has two strength workouts (A & B) which are alternated each week. There is one day of rest or stretching between workouts, in order to give your body ample time to recover. For example, if you do 3 strength workouts each week, your schedule looks like this:
Day 1
|
Day 2
|
Day 3
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Day 4
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Day 5
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Day 6
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Day 7
| |
WEEK 1
|
Workout A
|
stretch
|
Workout B
|
stretch
|
Workout A
|
REST
|
REST
|
WEEK 2
|
Workout B
|
stretch
|
Workout A
|
stretch
|
Workout B
|
REST
|
REST
|
In each following phase, the workouts change again. You lift heavier weights for fewer reps, and do more challenging exercises. You gradually add 1-2 highly intense cardio interval workouts (HIIT or metabolic circuits as they are called in the book), and by the third phase, you can add 1 more day of cardio-of-choice. By then, your workout schedule may look like this:
Day 1
|
Day 2
|
Day 3
|
Day 4
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Day 5
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Day 6
|
Day 7
| |
WEEK 1
|
Workout A
|
HIIT cardio
|
Workout B
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Stretch
|
Workout A
|
HIIT cardio
|
Opt. cardio
|
WEEK 2
|
Workout B
|
HIIT
|
Workout A
|
Stretch
|
Workout B
|
HIIT
|
cardio
|
This may look like a lot of exercise, but each strength workout is really only 30-45 minutes long, maybe as long as an hour, depending on your pace. The HIIT cardio takes only 20-30 minutes. In the book, author Rachel Cosgrove recommends that you only do 30 minutes on your day of optional cardio. At most, you may be working out up to 6 hours each week. Considering that there are 168 hours in a week, that's really not a lot of time at all.
I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to "tone up" or build strength. I'm sure you'll get excellent results with consistency and patience. To be honest, I've struggled with my nutrition. In the book, Rachel has you eating clean and not counting calories until the final four weeks. For me, counting calories is much easier. When I can see the numbers, it motivates me to up my protein intake. I know what to eat to manipulate the numbers, so I trick myself into eating more veggies, less starchy carbs, etc. I don't eat a lot of processed food, but I do have a tendency to eat too much food, period. Especially carbs. Carbs are not forbidden, but you must eat the right kind of carbs (complex, full of fiber--sweet potatoes, green veggies, fruits) at the right times (in the morning or before and after a workout). I still struggle with carb timing, but I am giving myself time to improve.
My results so far have not been dramatic, and I know it is because of my eating habits. But I am figuring out what works best for me, and sticking with that. Consistency is what will lead to success.
