How To Level Up Your Fitness Journey
Along your fitness journey, you’ve learned that a little progress each day adds up to big results. You’ve perfected your form, know your way around the gym, and are ready to take your routine to the next level. The team at Fitness Project is here to help you take things up a notch and reach your goals.
Start Where You’re At
Everyone is unique. A uses the latest technology to determine where you are and what you need to do to achieve your goals. You can track and analyze your circumference measurements, body composition, posture analytics, weight, balance, and more. When you make a 3D body scan a regular part of your gym routine, you’ll be able to see how you have improved over time.
The 80/20 Rule
While exercising has major health benefits, nutrition will always play a larger role in transforming your body composition and achieving weight loss. As you level up your workout plan, it’s important to take your diet into consideration. You can put in hours at the gym, but if you’re eating food that isn’t nutritious and constantly over your daily recommended calorie intake, you will likely never get the results you want. Consider working with a nutritionist to look at your eating habits today and what you should consider to achieve the results you’ve been working towards.
Toning vs. Building Muscle
Muscle toning is the process of defining your muscles and developing a lean physique, while muscle building focuses more on bulking up.
An easy formula to remember is light weight + high reps = toned muscles. Heavy weight + low reps = big muscles.
Set Your Tone
When we talk about toning your muscles, we generally mean working on muscular endurance and choosing exercises that don’t cause a big increase in your muscle size.
Bodypump™️ is the original barbell class and leverages The Rep Effect—a breakthrough in resistance training that helps create long, lean muscles and a toned, strong physique. Using The Rep Effect, BODYPUMP classes give you sculpted shoulders, defined biceps and triceps, strong lean legs, firm glutes and a tight core.
You’ll also want to ensure you get the right balance of cardio and strength training. By increasing your heart rate, you’ll burn calories and eliminate those extra layers of fat between the skin and your muscles.
You can try incorporating more isometric exercises too. This form of exercise involves no movement and instead focuses on holding your body in a position for a set period of time. It’s a stagnant way of demanding a desired muscle or group of muscles without muscle or joint movement. Exercises like planks, squats, glute bridges and wall sits are great isometric exercises that will help build strength and endurance.
Plank: Hold for 1 minute or longer
Try doing this next to a mirror so you can watch your form. Plant your hands or forearms directly under your shoulders. Ground your toes on the floor and squeeze your glutes to stabilize your body. You should have a straight line from your head to your heels.
Glute Bridge: 3 rounds of a 30-second hold
Start flat on your back with your legs bent at a 90-degree angle and feet placed flat on the ground. Make sure your toes are pointed straight forward and your thighs are parallel to each other. Drive down through your feet and push your hips up. You should feel this variation fatiguing the inside of your thighs. Make sure you keep your knees over your toes throughout the entire movement. In a controlled motion, let your hips sink back down toward the ground.
Hustle For That Muscle
Work with a Fitness Project Personal Coach to set your goals and build customized workouts. Together, you can see how far you’ve come and where you want to take your workout. You can target specific areas of your body, and they can help you determine the right weight and number of reps to get ripped.
To gain muscle, you must provide your body with appropriate calories and nutrients, particularly protein. Doing so will support the creation of new muscle proteins from the dietary protein you eat, which will be stimulated by your work in the weight room.
Research suggests that the type of muscle contraction matters when it comes to building muscle. If your goal is to build muscle, you’ll want to focus primarily on eccentric (muscle lengthening) and concentric (muscle shortening) training. Deadlifts, push-ups, and rows are all great eccentric exercises. Bicep curls, situps, triceps and hamstring curls are fantastic concentric exercises.
Deadlifts: 8-12 reps
Pick up a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells with an overhand grip and hold them in front of your sides. Stand with your knees slightly bent, and your feet placed shoulder-width apart. Bend at the hips and knees, lowering your torso until it’s almost parallel with the floor. Allow your arms to hang down in front of your knees and shins. Make sure you don’t arch your back in either direction. Stand up straight without changing the shape of your back. Squeeze your glutes as you straighten, pushing through the ball and heel of your foot.
Situps: 2 sets of 15
Lie on your back with bent knees and your feet flat on the ground. Move your feet until your knees are at about a 45-degree angle, depending on what’s most comfortable for you. Extend your arms toward the ceiling so your hands are over your shoulders. Lift your upper body off the ground as your raise all the way up to a sitting position. Avoid putting your hands behind your head, as this can cause tension on your neck. Focus on keeping your feet on the ground throughout the exercise. Once you are at the top, slowly lower yourself back down.
Hamstring Curl: 2 sets of 10
Lie face down on the lying leg curls machine, stretching your legs out fully. The roller pad should rest just above the heels, a few inches over your calves. Be sure to avoid having the roller on your knee or ankle joint. Grasp the support handles on each side of the machine. Exhale and flex your knees, pulling your ankles as close to your buttocks as possible. Keep your hips firmly on the bench. Hold briefly. Inhale as you return your feet to the starting position in a slow and controlled movement.
Bicep Curl: 2 sets of 12
Pickup a barbell with a shoulder-width grip and let it hang in front of your thighs. Brace your core as you curl the bar up to your chest, keeping your elbows pinned to your waist. Return under control to the start position.
Tricep Extension: 2 sets of 10
While seated,
hold a dumbbell in one hand directly behind your head, with your elbow bent and pointed towards the ceiling. Extend through your elbow until your arm is straight and the dumbbell is directly above you. Lower your arm back to the starting position and repeat.
Plan your Week’s Workout Program
Avoid randomly selecting your workouts as you go. It’s common to gravitate towards exercises that align with your existing strengths, opting for what feels comfortable. To truly enhance your fitness level, it’s essential to establish a structured weekly regimen. This involves strategically targeting various muscle groups. Consider the following practical weekly plan:
Monday: Active Recovery / Rest Day
Tuesday: Back and Biceps
Wednesday: Legs
Thursday: Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps
Friday: Back and Biceps
Saturday: Active Recovery / Rest Day
Sunday: Chest, Triceps and Shoulders
Looking for a Guided, Proven Program?
With a busy day-to-day life sometimes it’s just more efficient to jump into a proven process and guided program. Enters LES MILLS Strength Development™ at Fitness Project, a cutting-edge workout designed to take your training to new heights. As one of the first clubs in the Greater Houston area to offer this exclusive 12-week innovative workout program, we are excited to provide our members with an opportunity to excel, transform, and achieve their fitness goals like never before – build muscles, improve technique, and grow your confidence so you can train more powerfully in the studio and on the gym floor, no matter if you’re new to lifting or a seasoned pro.
We believe the process of building a better you is an ongoing project, an ever-evolving work in progress. We love seeing our members thrive and advance in their workout journey. Whether you have taken small strides or big leaps toward your fitness goals, we are here to celebrate every moment with you.
