Tuesday

Yesterday I touched on the topic of planning. Today I realized that I have a lot more to say, so I want to expand on that thought.

Planning ahead is a concept that can and should be applied to any aspect of life. For my purposes here though, I'm going to talk about planning your fitness.

From your goals and measurements when you first start on your fit journey, to your nutrition and work-outs; it all takes planning. You need to know where you're starting, and then map out a way to get from there to your goals. You can take it a day at a time, or make weekly plans. You can even get a little more intricate and plans within plans like I do.

However you determine to plan your route, one thing's certain: if you don't have a plan, how will you get from point A to point B? Since when did aimlessly wandering get anybody anywhere?

Personally, I like to plan my nutrition and training monthly, and then in more detail weekly. For example: I go grocery shopping once a month. I write down all the clean recipes I want to use for breakfasts, lunches and dinners for that month (a lot are repeats, so it's not as complex as it sounds). Then I make a list and stick to it. Next, each Sunday I prepare meals for the week so that I can grab it out of the fridge and go in the mornings.

With my training, I make a one month calendar, specific to the phase I'm in. Lately I've been doing one-month phases of leaning/bulking alternating. On each day of that month, I write down which days ill do cardio (mode and time) and which muscle groups I'll train on which day. This helps me clearly see how many days I'm giving particular muscle groups rest before I train them again. It also shows me how I can rearrange the schedule do that I make sure I keep my body guessing by not training legs always on Mondays, for example. The monthly calendar provides a clear visual to help me mix things up and keep my muscles guessing so that I keep seeing progress. Next, each week I'll sit down and plan out all the specific workouts for each day in that week.

Planning this way keeps me from wasting time at the gym and from starvation-induced runs next door to Arby's for lunch. I'm never hungry when I plan ahead. I'm never lost at the gym. I walk in knowing exactly what to expect and therefore am able to use my time there in the most efficient way possible.

I keep journals of my nutrition and training to keep track of my progress and to keep me accountable. Not only am I recording everything on this blog, but I also use my phone's notepad app to plan my workouts and the "Loseit!" app to keep track of my food- calories consumed vs calories burned. These planning tools tell me exactly where I am and show me exactly how far I've come and where I can expect to go. And the convenience of the notepad app lets me take my workout plan with me onto the gym floor so I don't have to try and memorize it or carry around a bulky notebook and pen.

Tomorrow I'll teach you step by step how to plan a workout!

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Nutrition
Breakfast, 7:00 AM- protein shake, multi vit, cran supp, joint supp, vit e oil, allergy pill
AM snack, 10:00 AM- oatmeal with sugar-free almond milk and sugar-free apricot jam
Lunch, 12:30 PM- heaping plate of steamed broccoli/cauliflower with a spritz of Italian dressing, salt and pepper to taste
PM snack, 2:30 PM (pre workout)- medium Fuji apple, 15 raw almonds, fat-burner
Dinner, 7:00 PM- breakfast burrito (whole wheat tortilla, scrambled eggs, turkey bacon, potatoes, low fat cheddar)

Work-out: Traps/Delts/Tris/Abs (shoulders/back of upper arms/ abs)
Trapezius (traps- top of shoulder connecting the neck to the shoulders, also running halfway down the upper back)
1. Dumbbell (DB) shrug; 40 lbs; 3/15
2. DB upright row; 30 lbs; 3/10
3. Barbell (BB) shrug; 25 lbs; 3/10 superset with...
4. BB upright row; 25 lbs; 3/10
Deltoids (delts- round part of shoulder; three parts: front, middle, rear)
1. DB slight squat with front raise; 30 lbs; 3/10
2. DB standing Arnold press; 15 lbs; 3/10
3. DB rear delt row; 10 lbs; 3/10
Triceps (tris- back of upper arm)
1. BB skull crusher; 20 lbs; 3/15
2. Tri cable press-down; 60 lbs; 3/10
3. Tri machine; 50 lbs; 3/10
4. Dips; bw; 3/10
Abs (abdominals- three parts: rectus abdominis AKA: the "six-pack"; transverse abdominis: deep stabilizing muscle that pulls in your waist; obliques: sides of waist)
1. Decline Russian twist with medicine ball; 10 lbs; 3/20
2. Side crunch; 25 lbs; 3/15
3. Mountain climbers; bw; 3/50

How do you use planning to use your time more efficiently and reach goals?