“The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”
Lao Tzu
Once the holiday season enters the picture, many people are guilty of falling off the wagon on healthy habits and falling victim to the celebrations, food and other obligations that this time of year brings. With the New Year upon us, many of us are now looking for effective workouts to help get back on track and in shape as quickly as possible. Is it possible to get fit by spring? Absolutely, and now is the time to ramp up your efforts with this 12 week workout plan, especially if you want to feel confident in your favorite shorts and tank top. It may seem like summer is a long time away, but truth be told, it’s really not that far off, especially when you have some important fitness goals to accomplish. I have so many conversations with beginners who claim they don’t even know where to start, so I wanted to feature a novice level basic plan.
Three Keys to Get Fit by Spring
Once you have a fitness deadline in mind, like getting fit for spring, or maybe for a vacation or wedding, the pressure is on and it’s time to get serious. What should you do? You know you should “workout” but what, exactly, does that entail? A solid plan will include three areas:
- Nutrition – Stop Overcomplicating Food
- You will lose weight if you are in a calorie deficit – there are no shortcuts outside of that.
- You do NOT have to count calories to make progress.
- It does not matter if you eat one meal per day or five and there is no perfect macro split. Find what you know you can implement in your day and work on being consistent at doing this.
- Drink plenty of water – many hunger pains are really signs of dehydration.
- Get adequate protein AND adequate fat is essential, especially for women.
- No food is off limits…IF you consume it in moderation. I do advise to limit processed foods, especially trans fats and sugar.
- The majority of your food should consist of food sources that are grown naturally. If it takes a laboratory to create it, it will take a laboratory to digest it.
Text boxes with graphics: Protein choices, fruits, veggies, and healthy fats
TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) Calculator: Learn how many calories you should be eating:
- Cardio Endurance Training
Is cardio necessary to lose weight? Absolutely not. However, if your main goal is weight loss, you want to burn calories and build muscle mass. So, for optimal benefits, you should incorporate both cardio and strength training into your exercise routine.
Graphics w/cardio forms of exercise: Rowing, running, biking, etc.
- Resistance Training
Strength training helps you lose weight and keep it off by building muscle tissue. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your metabolic rate tends to be. More muscle also helps your body burn more fat than muscle, which is important if you want to lose weight and keep your strength. So, if you build muscle, you can speed up your metabolism and burn more fat when you exercise. The faster your body burns calories, the more calories it will burn each day.
Get Fit by Spring/Beginners Edition
- Weeks 1-3 Just Begin
- Weeks 4-6 HIIT it Hard
- Weeks 7-9 The Ramp Up
- Weeks 10-12 Big Finish
Weeks 1-3: Just Begin
“The beginning is the most important part of the work.” And this is the first step in your 12 week workout plan journey!
Week one, you’ll be doing two full body workouts coupled with one cardio session. In weeks two or three, if you’re up to it, you can add a second cardio session. Pick one exercise from each of the body part choices listed in the section below and do one to two sets of 15 – 20 repetitions.
Week 1: Allow two-minute rest between each exercise
Week 2: Allow 90 second rest between each exercise
Week 3: Allow 60 second between each exercise
If you do a full body workout on Monday and Friday, then you’ll do 30 minutes of steady state cardio on Tuesday and/or Thursday. Steady state cardio means using a gentle warmup for about five minutes followed by 20 – 30 minutes of a brisk cardiovascular activity. If it’s been a while since you’ve worked out, start with a 30 minute walk, rowing, or even a gentle bike ride for your first three weeks.
WEEKS 4 – 6: HIIT It Hard
Week 4, you’ll be doing three full body workouts and two cardio sessions per week. In Weeks 4, 5, and 6, try making your cardio sessions a 20-minute HIIT workout.
Graphic: What is HIIT? HIIT Stands for High Intensity Interval Training and is a short workout where you engage in quick bursts of all-out effort followed by a longer period of slower activity.
Always include a five-minute warmup and a five-minute cooldown.
- Workout 1: Full Body
- Workout 2: Cardio
- Workout 3: Full Body
- Workout 4: Cardio
- Workout 5: Full Body
Example 1: Run/Row/Bike with a fast pace for 40 seconds
Slow pace down to a minimum to recover for 60 seconds
Repeat for 10 Rounds or 20-minute time frame
WEEKS 7-9: Ramp it Up
In weeks 7 – 9 of this 12 week workout plan, you’ll be doing two upper body and two lower body training sessions and two cardio sessions. For upper body, pick two exercises for each of the following, and do 10 – 12 repetitions for two sets each:
UPPER BODY:
- Chest, shoulders, and triceps
- Back and biceps
LOWER BODY:
- Legs, calves, abs
The Schedule:
- Day 1: Upper Body
- Day 2: Cardio
- Day 3: Lower Body
- Day 4: Cardio
- Day 5: Upper Body
- Day 6: Cardio
- Day 7: REST
- Day 8: Lower Body
- Day 9: Cardio
- Day 10: Upper Body
- Day 11: Cardio
- Day 12: Lower Body
- Day 13: Cardio
- Day 14: REST
Repeat the cycle for the remaining weeks.
WEEKS 10 – 12: Big Finish
Weeks 10 – 12, you’ll be doing what’s known as “body part splits” interspersed with HIIT cardio workouts. You’ll choose 2 – 3 exercises per body part and perform 10 – 12 repetitions for each exercise for 3 – 4 sets. They will go like this:
- Day 1: Chest, shoulders, and triceps
- Day 2: HIIT cardio
- Day 3: Back and biceps
- Day 4: HIIT cardio
- Day 5: Legs, calves, and abdominals
- Days 6 & 7 are rest or active rest.
12 Week Exercise Selection Guide
Chest: DB bench press – DB fly – Pushups (assisted)
Shoulders: Overhead press – Lateral raises – Upright row
Triceps: Dips – Cable pushdowns – Tricep kickbacks
Back: Lat pulldown – Seated Row – Single Arm Rows
Biceps: Bicep curls – Cable curls – Concentration curls
Calves: Standing calf raises – Seated machine raises – Machine calf raises
Abs: Hollow hold – Farmers carry – Dead bugs
Legs: Squats – Lunges – DB deadlifts
