Weeks 9 & 10
Welcome to the second half of The Sculpted in 16 Weeks Workout series! When you started this workout plan you were simply looking for a plan to help you stick to your New Year’s resolution, but now you have truly made fitness a lifestyle — congratulations! Now, it’s time to move into your next progressive series of workouts.
For the next two weeks, you’re going to be making a few new progressive changes to your both your weight training and cardio programs!
With regard to your weight training, you are going to perform not one, but two circuit training workouts on each training day. You are also going to perform more calorie torching plyometric exercises than you did during your workouts for Weeks 7 & 8.
For your cardio days, you are going to substitute HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) for the steady-state cardio workouts that you have been performing up until now. By incorporating HIIT workouts, you are going to be able to reduce your abdominal fat and body weight while maintaining the lean muscle you have already built![i]
Perform one circuit training workout 3 to 4 times per week, and one cardio workout, 2 to 3 days per week.
Circuit Training
Perform each exercise immediately after one another while taking as little break time as possible between each exercise. Once you hit the end of each circuit, break for 90 seconds, and then repeat the same circuit until you have completed it 2 to 3 times, depending on your fitness level. Be sure to complete both workouts (Circuit 1 and Circuit 2)
TIP: Memorize the sequence of exercises for each circuit to minimize the amount of time between exercises.
TIP: If you miss a day or two, don’t skip a workout. Pick up exactly where you left off in the routine so that you train each of your muscle groups equally.
TIP: Listen to your body! If you are only able to do three days of circuit training workouts in one week, there is nothing wrong with that. As the series progresses and your body adapts and strengthens, you’ll be able to add to your workload.
TIP: If you can easily exceed the workload for an exercise, increase the weight/resistance/time.
TIP: Perform each plyometric exercise very slowly for the first set to get the motion down before you go all out!
Day 1 & 3 Workouts
Muscle Groups Targeted – Legs, Shoulders, Triceps & Abs
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Day 2 & 4 Circuits
Muscle Groups Targeted – Chest, Back & Biceps
Circuit 1
Circuit 2
Cardio
Perform the following HIIT cardio workout on the Treadmill 2 to 3 days per week. You can opt to do cardio before, after, or on an entirely different day from your circuit training workouts.
Also, be sure to perform an 8-minute warmup before beginning your HIIT workouts.
TIP: Perform your cardio workouts before your circuit training workouts on days that you train legs. Otherwise, it may be difficult to run.
TIP: Run at an appropriate pace for your fitness level by following either the “Novice” or “Advanced” chart section below.
After you complete two weeks of this workout plan, you’ll be ready to kick it up a notch, at which point we’ll have another workout posted for you!
Make sure to get Week 11 & 12 of The Sculpted in 16 Weeks workout series by clicking the image below and subscribing to The Official LA Fitness Blog.
Thank you. Very useful article.