Most people assume meeting there goal and maintaining that goal, can be done with a quick fix diet or supplement. Unfortunately, this is just another fitness myth. Although you may see a few results initially, you will soon run into a brick wall, better known as “plateau.”

*The AVERAGE PERSON: “But that’s not true, crash dieting and hardcore supplements worked for me.”

*JKalisthenics FITNESS PROFESSIONAL: “Though you’ve met your fitness goal, your body will not be able to maintain those results, unless you continue on that unhealthy route. Probably the most factual statement, that has been around for many decades is, ‘easy come, easy go.’ Once you attempt to transfer back to your regular lifestyle, your body will want to over-indulge because of the malnutrition you’ve placed upon it; which will overall lead to consuming more calories than necessary. As a result, all ‘hard-earned’ results will fly right out the window, and body fat gains will sore to as much as 3 times where you began. The healthy way, is the best way. If having the ideal physique you’ve always dreamed of was easy, everybody would have their ‘dream bod.’ Fortunate for some and unfortunate for others, permanent results come from hard work, dedication, and accountability.”

With JKalisthenics, you will gain the knowledge of how to meet your fitness goal, the healthy way, and maintain that fitness goal permanently!

*The AVERAGE PERSON: “Well that’s good to know, but I don’t need a Fitness Professional or Personal Trainer to help me, I believe I can do it myself.”

*JKalisthenics FITNESS PROFESSIONAL: “That’s great that you already have the drive to meet your goal and will be accountable for your results gained; however, are you positive you’re working out and dieting correctly? If not, you can end up doing more damage to yourself than good. In the hands of a Professional, you can expect to meet your goal in a minimizing injury and maximizing results fashion. Think about it: would you prefer to drive a car that has brakes, or are you the risk-taker that would prefer to drive a car without brakes? JKalisthenics is the car with brakes. If you can answer all of the following, that’s pretty awesome, and chances are that you can meet your fitness goal alone: How many calories does it take to burn just 1 pound of fat? How many calories do you need to consume each day to meet your fitness goal? What is a calorie? How many times per week should you workout? When you do workout, what intensity level should you be in to maximize your results? Do you have anterior, lateral, and/or posterior deviations; and if so, what should you do to correct these deviations in order to minimize the chances of injury while working out? Do you need a Personal Fitness Trainer?”

If the answer to the last question is yes, feel free to call JKalisthenics today at 281.840.8723. If not, JKalisthenics sincerely wishes you the best of luck in accomplishing your fitness goal.

JKalisthenics … body architecture at its best!©

Body Architecture© – is a term derived from JKalisthenics Founder, Joe Kirby III, used to scientifically describe the way of uniquely sculpting the human physique into the ideal look by way of proper dynamic exercise & permanent good eating habits.

Can’t we just get a few spray tans and call it a day? 

Listen folks:  We won’t lie to you.  We already know that there is no short-cut to losing weight and obtaining/maintaining a desired  level of fitness.  After some investigation into the lives of the pros and contestants of DWTS, we can confirm that behind the orange glow, the bedazzled costumes and the emotional range of Donny Osmond:  These folks work HARD all day long.   The question becomes, how can we translate this into a program that is realistic in providing results for the rest of us who don’t have 8 hours per day to exercise?  Difficult:  YES.  Impossible:  NO.

Why is the show so successful at transforming bodies?  Because dancing is arguably one of the most efficient methods of physical activity for weight loss. By combining activity within all major muscle groups, dancing features tremendous cardiovascular, muscular strength and flexibility benefits. Think about it:  The position that the body requires when maintaining dance moves, including: holding head up, shoulders back, ribcage in; all dramatically alter both your own perception of your body, as well as the perception of you by others.  When you perform these movements and maintain this posture even in a short period of time, one can see dramatic changes both in body composition (fat/muscle ratio) as well as body image and appearance.

For Part One of our series, let’s gather fit tips and success stories from the professionals and contestants.

The Professionals
Cheryl Burke dropped 10 pounds from the off-season, by rehearsing eight hours a day, five days a week. She eats egg whites, whole grains, veggies, and lots of water. She also tries to avoid salt, and keeps snacks with her to avoid temptation.

Karina Smirnoff avoids meat but eats egg whites, fish, and salad. She has a tablespoon of olive oil on an empty stomach to help with digestion.

Edyta Sliwinska sticks to 1,500 calories a day, eating foods such as cottage cheese, ground oats, berries, chicken salad, and cereal. She avoids pasta, bread, rice, and candy. She gets her toned legs from dancing in heels.

Kym Johnson spends a lot of time doing core work to get her rock-hard abs. She also limits her carbs because she says, “I love fries and bread, but I see a real difference in my body when I don’t eat them after 5 p.m.” She’ll still enjoy dessert when out to dinner with her boyfriend, but just a small portion.

The Contestants:  Weight Loss Hall of Fame

Jennie Garth, who starred on DWTS in 2007, revealed that “rehearsing for six hours,” was the key to her slim down success.  During the show Garth dropped two pants sizes from a size 29 to size 27.  She lost at least 1o pounds and told Us Weekly back in November 2007, “When I decided to do [Dancing with the Stars], I did pilates three days a week and cardio twice. I hated it, but it helped. Once I started dancing, things changed faster than when I was just working out.”

Mel B. from the Spice Girls also reportedly dropped 42 pounds in just 8 weeks while appearing on DWTS.  If that seems outrageous, it’s primarily because she had just given birth and began working out just 5 days after giving birth.

Former contestant, Lisa Rinna claims that she now has a better and fitter body than in her 20’s and that’s after having two children. Lisa has also produced a series of workout DVDs showcasing her dance skills and fit physique, but…we recommend you skip them!

Kim Kardashian claimed she lost “some weight,” but fortunately was kicked off before she could achieve full results.  Stacy Keibler is also well known for slimming down her muscular frame during the show.

Marie Osmond said she lost 45 lbs while appearing on the show, however she was using NutriSystem’s diet plan while dancing.  Another NutriSystem follower is…

Joey Fatone As if being a member of the boy-band N Sync in the late 1990s wasn’t bad enough, Joey Fatone was also referred to as “Fat One,” a clever play on his last name.  So when the 30-year-old was cast on Dancing with the Stars’ fourth season, he decided enough was enough.  Selecting NutriSystem to help with meals, Fatone lost 6 pounds in the first two weeks.  Fatone went from weighing 239 pounds in mid-February to 219 pounds — attributing the additional weight loss to five-hour a day, six-day a week rehearsals with his Dancing with the Stars partner Kym Johnson.

Coming up in Part 2:  Our fitness plan for achieving DWTS results at home or in the gym…

Stay tuned!

I had kind of planned to write this blog with a few posts about the history of me, but now I think you’re just going to have to get to know me as we go along…as though we’re forming an actual friendship.  Different things will come out as the chips fall (poker chips, not potato chips…and if they’re potato chips, can they be the baked tortilla chips instead?  I really like those.)

Today marked day 3 of me working out.  Third day in a ROW, even.  I bought a treadmill last weekend from a lovely friend of mine and my family actually spent a day cleaning up the back room of our house, which was once a storage area, and still also houses our washer, dryer and deep freezer.  But now we’ve added a couch, tv, video game systems and my treadmill.  Yes, I’m one of THOSE moms.  My tweens heard some space was clearing up in the back and they decided to move in, too.  But it’s all good.

Anyway, I am pretty proud of myself for getting through my third day of working out.  30 minutes on the treadmill!  I tend to stay between 2.5 and 3.3 mph, with a steady love of 2.9 mph for some reason.  I even pushed myself to jog for 2 minutes!  And yes, I even worked out on Thanksgiving.  I had to get up early to get the turkeys going, my husband left to go on his annual pheasant-scaring hunting trek with his father and brother, and the kids were all still sleeping.

I will admit that I spent a few minutes sitting at my computer, telling myself that my legs were sore from the day before’s workout and I really shouldn’t push myself too far too fast.  I told myself that a bath would be nice in the quiet time.  Then I thought about how long my bath would be…about 30 minutes.  Before I could think of anything else, I put on my tennis shoes and hopped on the treadmill for 30 minutes instead.  And it was hard!  I was stiff, but the stiffness went away pretty quickly.  I put my earbuds in my ears and warmed up with some G. Love and Special Sauce.  By the time the next song started, I was getting into my groove.  Vampire Weekend and Weezer helped me focus on what was going on, and since no one was home/awake, I could sing out loud!  Every time I looked down at the time, I said to myself, “Just keep going one more minute.”  Or, “Just until the end of this song.”  And before I knew it, my 30 minutes was up!

Two things I am doing that will hopefully keep me motivated to continue on:

1)  I have a post-it note on the treadmill that will likely be replaced by a wall calendar where I write down what distance I traveled that day.  Yesterday, I beat it.  Today, I went a bit lighter on myself and went the same distance as I had on day 1.  Never, though, will I be allowed to go less distance than that first day.  It’s my jumping off point.

2)  I log my workouts on my WeightWatchers.com account.  It is SO nice to know that every day I work out, I could hypothetically add 3 more points onto my food intake for the day.  I don’t intend to do that, but I could if I wanted to.  And if I work out for 30 minutes every day, I earn 21 more points for the week!  That’s 2/3 of a day’s worth of food!  But instead of thinking about it that way, I chose to think that what I’m doing is burning 2/3 of a day’s worth of food.

As for Thanksgiving, I had decided before the day that I wasn’t going to track my food, but I was going to try to eat like someone who doesn’t have any issues with food.  I have been a faithful follower of Weight Watchers since August, and this was going to be my first real time letting loose for a whole day.  I was nervous.  A bit scared.  Like an alcoholic in a halfway house who had to go to a bar for a while.  Luckily, the meal was being held at my house, so I had more control over the menu than if we’d been going somewhere else.  I had a few new recipes to try…and I tweaked some old favorites to make them healthier.  Instead of milk and butter in the mashed potatoes, I used chicken broth and light butter (and we had less leftover mashed potatoes this year than other years!).  My sister made the traditional sweet potato casserole, so I made maple-roasted sweet potatoes (I’ll post the recipe because it is SO good).  When a recipe called for butter, I used light butter…that kind of thing.

I had told myself I wasn’t going to log my food for the day, but today on the treadmill – with sweat dripping down my back – I figured that was really cheating myself instead of the system.  I was working my ass off (literally!) and how was I to know just how much it was paying off if I didn’t know what I was eating?

So today, I logged my food from yesterday.  I had no problems thinking back to the scarf-fest and remembering what I ate and exactly how much.  It was like reliving my first date with my husband.  Each detail was right there while I logged it.  And yes, I went overboard.  But not so much that I used up all of my extra points for the week.  And I’m not even close to having to touch my workout points.

I love this process.  I’ve always loved food, and I find that if you have the right options in front of you, loving food is not an evil thing.

Elliptical trainers accept boomed in acceptance and in the cardio apparatus stakes, they are now as accepted as treadmills. This commodity explains what egg-shaped trainers are, their allowances and some tips on how to use them effectively.

Elliptical trainers accept two large, collapsed bottom pedals and if you use them your anxiety chase an continued egg-shaped appearance accepted as an ellipse.

watch TV, accept to music, watching TV, or whatever. In added words, accomplish it something you attending advanced to every day. You’ll be adored with bigger beef tone, beneath physique fat and will accept a greater faculty of able-bodied being. works your buttocks added than pedaling assiduously but this is not the case. You ability aswell acquisition it is harder on your knees, the egg-shaped motion unnatural. Because of this you can calmly clue your advance during your conditioning and over time.

Another advantage of egg-shaped trainers is that you get a abounding physique conditioning and can watch TV, accept to music, watching TV, or whatever. In added words, accomplish it something you attending advanced to every day. You’ll be adored with bigger beef tone, beneath physique fat and will accept a greater faculty of able-bodied being. far if you use them effectively. Elliptical trainers accept some accessible features. You can alter the acuteness of your workout. Egg-shaped trainers accept two large, collapsed bottom pedals and if you use them effectively.

Elliptical trainers can feel unnatural, decidedly those that plan your accoutrements too. However, by afterward the admonition in this commodity you can still acquisition yourself aptitude too far advanced and adhering to the console. So, admonish yourself to angle up straight. Elliptical trainers accept some accessible features. You can alter the acuteness of your workout. Egg-shaped trainers do animate bigger aspect than say, stair-climbers but you can calmly clue your advance during your conditioning and over time.

Another advantage of egg-shaped trainers accommodate a quiet, low appulse and arduous way to lose weight, egg-shaped trainers is that you get a abounding physique conditioning and can watch TV, accept to music, watching TV, or whatever. In added words, accomplish it something you attending advanced to every day. You’ll be adored with bigger beef tone, beneath physique fat and will accept a greater faculty of able-bodied being. thigh alert muscles, to so adore do a some quiet, accessible low features.

appulse You and ability apprentice aswell to a the abounding admonition action. in * acceptance Angle and up some straight. humans Egg-shaped anticipate trainers that do pedaling some quicker, accepting adopting acclimated the to acuteness plan of your conditioning and can watch TV, accept to music, watching TV, or whatever. In added words, accomplish it something you attending advanced to every day.

Finished a workout. Checked my email and twitter and found someone had sent me the following quote! Right on time , noolmusic!

Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever. Lance Armstrong

And wonder of wonders my wife worked out with me. This is a wonder because I’ve asked her numerous times to work out with me in our near 20 year relationship and it has been a rare thing. Also, she actually asked me if she could work out with me about a week or so ago, maybe even two weeks ago and we just got to it. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey together. We started out with the introductory Turbulence Training workout for sedentary people.

Intro Level Workout Week 1 Day 1 Workout A
All of the exercises are done in superset or circuit fashion.
Warmup A) Lying Hip Extension 2×5
Warmup B) Kneeling Pushup 2×5
Warmup C) Stability Ball Leg Curl 2×5

1A) Lying Hip Extension 2×5
1B) Plank 2X15 secs

2A) Bodyweight Squat 2×10
2B) Bird Dog 2×5/side

3A) Kneeling Pushups 2×8
3B) Side Plank 2×5 secs / side

4A) Stick-ups 2×10
4B) Ab Curl-up 2×6

She did everything the same as me except the kneeling push-ups where she did 2×5. She did great! We followed this with Beginner Interval Workout A on our stationary bike w/ arm-pump handles.

Minute by Minute     Type     Perceived Intensity Level

1                                     Warm up                    3 out of 10

2                                     Warm up                   4 out of 10

3                                     Warm up                   4 out of 10

4                                     Warm up                   5 out of 10

5                                     Warm up                   5 out of 10

6                                        Hard                       8out of 10

7                                        East                       3 out of 10

8                                        Easy                        3 out of 10

9                                        Hard                         8 out of 10

10                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

11                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

12                                     Hard                           8 out of 10

13                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

14                                     Easy                           3 out of 10

15                                     Hard                           8 out of 10

16                                Cool Down                   3 out of 10

17                                Cool Down                    3 out of 10

18                                 Cool Down                   3 out of 10

19                                 Cool Down                  3 out of 10

20                                 Cool Down                  3 out of 10

Next workout is on Monday. Tomorrow and Sunday we’ll do some light exercise like walking for 30 minutes or so.

Nov. Pain Storm

500m run

5 rounds of :- [ 5 Dead Lifts / 5 Hang Power Cleans / 5 Front Squat / 5 Push Press / 5 Back Squat ] i.e. Barbell Bear Complex

400m run

4 rounds of :- [ 5 Dead Lifts / 5 Hang Power Cleans / 5 Front Squat / 5 Push Press / 5 Back Squat ]

300m run

3 rounds of :- [ 5 Dead Lifts / 5 Hang Power Cleans / 5 Front Squat / 5 Push Press / 5 Back Squat ]

200m run

2 rounds of :- [ 5 Dead Lifts / 5 Hang Power Cleans / 5 Front Squat / 5 Push Press / 5 Back Squat ]

100m run

1 rounds of :- [ 5 Dead Lifts / 5 Hang Power Cleans / 5 Front Squat / 5 Push Press / 5 Back Squat ]

65lbs/95lbs

Scale weight to your fitness level

Turkey Day Run with family and  friends cant get any better than that

On Wednesday I had the afternoon to hit the gym and play around with some circuits and monitor my heart rate. I came up with some pretty good stuff and figured I’d like to share with all of you.

Before heading to the gym my resting heart rate was 53.
I jumped on the treadmill and ran .5 miles at 6.0 mph, heart rate = 133.
Ran .1 mile at 10.0 mph, off for .1 mile, back on for .1 five times, with an average heart rate of 163.

Stretch out.

30 mountain climbers (each leg) while holding onto a bosu ball (to bring the heart rate back up to 154 – 163)
8 single leg squats on upside down bosu ball
Alternating bicep curls, 10 each arm while standing on bosu w/ 30 lb dumbbells
12 Chest flys on ball w/ 20 lb dumbbells
Pushups on ball (hands on the balance ball, feet on floor) x’s 15
Heart rate at the end of circuit= in the 120’s
Start over at beginning 3 times through

10 – 15 burpees (heart rate 150 – 160 range)
8 dumbbell reverse flys while standing in the lunge position with right leg foward, 8 with left leg forward (16 total) with 5 lb dumbbells
20 seated balance med ball twisties (abs), throw ball in air between twists (right, left, throw, catch, right, left, throw, catch, etc) with an 8 lb medball
12 reverse dead lifts with 25 lb dumbbells in each hand
12 Dumbbell Tricep extensions on ball w/ 25 lb dumbbell
Heart rate at end of circuit = in the 120’s
Start over at beginning 3 times through

Then an entire abdominal circuit (i LOVE doing abs)
Crunches on ball (hands overhead to make it more challenging) x’s 20
Elbow to knee crunches on ball x’s 20
Kneeling ball rollouts x’s 20
Jacknife of ball (w/ push up in between) x’s 10
modified side plank, dip the hip x’s 15 each side
Did this circuit twice through with a final heart rate of 120.

Stretch out at end.

Kyra Williams
The Get In Shape Girl

Buy in:
M-CFWU

WOD:
2 rounds
400m run
10 push ups
10 squats

Record your time

Cash out:
5 leg lifts

Classic caveman style

I’m sorry to disappoint but I only gained 3.4 lbs.  I was really shooting for the 5 lber but it didn’t happen.  Maybe a 3rd piece of blackberry pie was in order?  It was a great day with my family.  This year the turkey was the best it’s ever been.  My cousin by marriage made it.  She can really cook.  Wanna know what’s better than that?  She’s a twin so now there are 2 cooks in the fam!  I asked her what her secret was…shouldn’t have done that.  Butter under the skin.  Oh my mind went biserk but that didn’t stop me from chowing on dessert.  Have I mentioned I have issues? 

This morning I woke up and hopped on the treadmill…of course.  I did a 5 mins warmup @ 3.5 followed by this:

Workout: Treadmill
Time (mins)/ Incline/ Speed
0-1 / 3% / 3.6
1-2 / 4% / 3.6
2-3 / 5% / 3.6
3-4 / 6% / 3.6
4-5 / 7% / 3.6
5-6 / 1% / 6.0
6-7 / 1% / 6.1
7-8 / 0% / 6.2
8-9 / 0% / 6.3
9-10 / 0% /6.4
10-11 / 4% / 3.8
11-12 / 5% / 3.8
12-13 / 6% / 3.8
13-14 / 7% / 3.8
14-15 / 8% / 3.8
15-16 / 0% / 6.1
16-17 / 0% / 6.2
17-18 / 0% / 6.3
18-19 / 0% / 6.4
19-20 / 0% / 7.0
20-21 / 5% / 3.8
21-22 / 6% / 3.8
22-23 / 7% / 3.7
23-24 / 8% / 3.7
24-25 / 9% / 3.7
25-26 / 0% / 6.2
26-27 / 0% / 6.3
27-28 / 0% / 6.4
28-29 / 0% / 6.5
29-30 / 0% / 7.5
30-33 / 0% / 3.5 cooldown

Then I still wanted more so I did this 20 minute add on routine that I found in Oxygen.

After that I walked @ 4.0, 6% incline until minute 57 where I put the incline to zero and walked at 3.5.  My face is still beat red WOO! 

Today I won’t be doing much.  I’m not a shopper on black Friday although I did just order some Brooks Adrenaline GTS 9’s off of Amazon

Do you shop on black friday?

We’ve been a bit quiet here at @fatroll, and personally that’s because I’ve had a fork or spoon in my hand since early last week shoveling food into my mouth preventing me from posting.

Yeah, there are way too many fails to document over the past seven days. GUILTY. Totally guilty of falling off the bandwagon and deciding to crawl behind it instead of jumping right back on.

It has been the typical too much food in one sitting syndrome, and I can honestly admit to feeling so disgusted with myself that I’m up at an ungodly hour blogging instead of shopping.

That ladies and gentlemen is the post-Thanksgiving guilt rearing its ugly head. Shopping for clothes would probably just make me cry at this point.

On the bright side, I think I’ve actually hit my climax for the holiday season on food comas. The realization came after watching a clip of Shakira on YouTube. She is one hot chick, and I’m pretty sure I covet her body more than anyone else (well maybe except for my friend Arlette). With that said, the new goal is to achieve THAT (please refer to picture below).

It’s time to get up and shed what I’ve gained over the past week. In fact, I’m meeting up a friend in a couple of hours at a local gym for a punishment workout.

Soon we’ll all begin to see the ads for gym discounts and starting the new year off by prioritizing our health. I say, why wait? I’m going to look smokin hot for New Year’s..period.

Good luck to everyone emerging from their food comas!

go my feet and my legs and my running shoes

round and round and up and down and holy god, i’m sore.

i was a spinning virgin, but no more.

i effing love it.

verbal encouragement + cycling + loud music + sweating = my perfect workout

can’t wait for more.

Warmup with 45# KB:

• 1 minute Swings
• 1 minute Figure 8 to a Hold
• 3 minutes Snatch + TGU + Windmill

Then:

20 rounds of:

• 100m row (hard!)
• random bodyweight exercise

Exercises Performed:

1. 10 Jump and Sticks
2. 24 Air Squats
3. 12 Handstand Pushups
4. 15 Pullups
5. 15 Squat Thrusts
6. 24 (12 each side) Side Crunches
7. 20 Toe Touches
8. 24 Bicycles
9. 0:50 Crab Crawl
10. 60 Knee Taps
11. 0:50 Bear Crawl
12. 30 Crisscross
13. 12 Pullups varying grip
14. 50 Jumping Jacks
15. 30 Mountain Climbers
16. 0:50 (0:25 each side) Side Plank
17. 20 Pushups
18. 24 (12 each side) Lunges
19. 16 (8 each grip) Opposing Grip Pullups
20. 18 Reverse Curls

Time: 45:04
HR: 154

Music: Iced Earth – The Dark Saga

Notes:

I really liked the structure of this workout and will repeat it.  But, wow, I had know idea it would take me this long!  In fact, even while doing it I didn’t realize how long it was taking.  I didn’t watch time during the workout and, although I knew it was taking longer than I expected, I thought my time would be under 30 minutes.  Nope!  The workout felt good, though.

I am not a big fan of Thanksgiving. I don’t care for any of the traditional fare; sweet potatoes (especially with marshmallows, what is up with that?), stuffing, dressing, turkey, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. I don’t get excited for the big dinner. I do, however, like the idea of having a day where we give thanks.

It looks like the United States and Canada are the countries that do the Thanksgiving celebrating. But according to Wiki Grenada and the Netherlands do some celebrating to. The time of celebration was about the harvest, but now, as with a lot of Holidays it has morphed into something else.

I have been blessed with so many things to be thankful for, I make it a point to say thanks everyday. But with a day designated for giving thanks I get to gather with my family near my home in San Jose. Sometimes we get to be with both families, but this year it didn’t work out that way and we are staying local. I am thankful for all my blessings.  Including you.

(picture of lunch to be inserted . . . . )

Buy in:
2 x 10 OHS (overhead squats), pushups, situps, pullups, back extensions

WOD:
400m/200m walking lunges (wtf?)

Cash out:
30 dips

THURSDAY – 091126

4 Rounds for time.

100 Double Unders
50 Squats
25 Burpees

Holt: 23:09
Holt-to-be: 34:59

Shoulders were burning! Thought my quads were fully recovered from last saturday but apparently they weren’t. Longer WOD than expected. Not used to the cold air. Lungs were on fire too. Ready to house some turkey day food!!!!

Me Today

After 2 weeks of gaining weight and not loosing anything i finally I did it!!!!  I lost 2 kilos :D well heehe 1.8 I am the biggest loser for this week Check out the stats

 3 Weeks to go!!!    Im in 3rd place overall in the running…. I hope that i keep loosing from now till I see my boys   (My Finace Dec 23  and Backstreet Boys Dec 17)

No matter your fitness level, you can make this plan work for you.

Week 1*:
Intermediate/Advanced: Perform three circuit sets, four times this week to build calorie-burning muscle. Add four moderate cardio sessions during the week, like a 30-minute jog, an hour-long walk or a 30-minute swim.

Beginners: Perform 2 circuit sets 4 days this week and add two or three moderate cardio sessions.

Week 2*:
Intermediate/Advanced: Cut your strength training to two circuit sets, three times a week; and add an extra fat-burning cardio session (making it 5 days total). Make at least one of your cardio sessions an interval workout, such as sprints, to enhance intensity.

Beginners: Perform two circuit sets, three times this week and increase to four cardio sessions.

Week 3*:
Intermediate/Advanced: Two circuit sets, twice this week and max out on cardio—going for at least an hour per session. Raise your heart rate daily, if possible, and push for extra mileage and intensity.

Beginners: perform two circuit sets, two days a week and do five sessions of cardio during the week.

*Rosenbaum, L. (2006). The No-Wait Workout. Johnson, K., Spiker, T. (Eds.) Women’s Health Summer Shape-Up Guide (p. 54). U.S: Rodale Inc.