Summer Fitcation FAQ

Grab a cup of coffee, tea or pre-workout (hehe) as you scroll through some FAQs on this magnificent Monday morning! I wanted to take some time and go over a few questions you may have today as you begin the brand new Weight Training Plans or questions that may arise in the coming weeks. If you see something that applies to you, read it! If you see something someone else may find helpful, be sure you pass it along! Spread that LG love and be an encourager whenever possible.

First off, what’s going on and where are these workouts?

The Summer Fitcation Challenge begins today! It’s a digital girls getaway where we will follow the same workout plan all summer long and do a whole bunch of fun things to make this one healthy, happy summer. With this challenge, there’s a huge focus on fun and enjoyability, which you’ll find trickles into the recipes share, photo challenges and website posts!

The workouts are all found in the Weight Training Plans (here) and each Sunday, you’ll find the schedule post for your week at a glance.

What do you mean when you say “traditional weight training” or “heavy” lifting?

So, here’s the thing… building muscle is hard! We talk a lot about seeing “results” but here’s a little bit of what that means behind the scenes. Working out is actually a stress placed on the body. During training, especially during weighted workouts, we literally break down muscle fibers. It is our hope that these muscles will repair themselves and grow back bigger and stronger, which is what we see as “results” and “progress.”

Muscle breakdown, however, doesn’t just happen. It’s hard work! Remember… this breakdown is a good thing. It’s important to mention that we all work out for a variety of reasons and we all have different goals. This conversation is simply speaking about the goal of building a fit body with lean muscle mass and how to work out for that specific goal. I’ve found the most effective workouts for that goal are what I call “traditional weight training.” This means that every day, we selectively target just 1-3 muscle groups at a time and perform both compound and isolated exercises using weights as resistance to breakdown and grow these muscles.

For that reason, you’ll rarely see total body workouts here. I always wait a minimum of 48 hours before targeting a muscle group twice: you won’t find a total body workout one day and the next day a leg workout. It’s very specific training targeted at muscle hypertrophy! To take that one step further, I often encourage lifting heavier weights as a form of progressively overloading our muscles. You see… our muscle size and strength is a reflection of our current exercises. We must do more in order to make gains and progress, which is made possible through increasing the weight (this is just one progressive overload example – see your weight training guide for more!).

What’s the intensity like on these workouts? What if I want to rev up the intensity?

Intensity is up to YOU! Think of it this way, let’s say a fitness plan says: “complete 1 mile of cardio.” YOU can decide to slowly and leisurely walk that mile or YOU can decide to run at a pace that challenges you every step of the way. YOU decided the intensity.

Similarly, all the workouts within the Weight Training Plans ask you to bring the intensity. To help you out, refer back to the Progressive Overload pages in the weight training manual to see how you can rev up the intensity. Personally, I have 2 favorite ways: weight increases and cardio. Weight increases are easier to accomplish if you’re working out at a gym or have considerably heavy weight at your home gym. If you’re in this for the long haul and working out at home, I highly suggest you invest in a barbell and plates; this allows for intense weight training workouts right at home! If you complete a workout and it wasn’t intense enough, it’s likely a sign you need to increase the weight next time. Cardio is another great way to intensify a workout. Instead of resting between sets, jog in place, do jumping jacks or my personal fav- jump rope!

Should I do extra abs? extra cardio? extra workouts?

I was always of the thought that more = better. BUT, as a college graduate with a bachelors of science in biology, I was proven wrong time and time again. My fellow science nerds will probably go “oh yes” to this – there is an inverted U theory, which demonstrates there is a point of diminishing returns on just about everything. For example, in the medical sense, there is a point at which taking a particular medication goes from “helping” to “harmful.” You can image think an upside down or inverted U… the peak is the maximum benefit from your workout and after that, your best performance and results plummet.
I’m of the “sweat once a day” mindset – two workouts just isn’t my thing. I give my 45 minute workout my all! I don’t text. I don’t stop to do something. I clear my schedule and make the most of that time. Then, I stop. I don’t think of extra this or that. Because weight training is a form of HIIT, we can enjoy the EPOC/afterburn effects and continue burning calories all day. As always, my guides are simply guides and I encourage you to make them your own by listening to your body, but don’t make the mistake I once did in thinking more is better.