So I thought I should write a quick summary of what my exercise plan looks like.  To be honest, it is an extremely simple program.  Because I am trying to lose fat, over the course of a week I am eating fewer calories than my body needs.  There are several days where I eat more calories than I need, as is the case with intermittent fasting.  These are the days when I go to the gym and lift weights.  I do this on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.



Monday
Bench Press:  Work up to a max set of 5 reps
                      Take off 10% of the weight and do one more set
Incline Dumbell Press: 3 sets of 6-9reps
Dumbell Rows: 3 sets of 6-10 reps
Tricep Extensions: 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Curls: 3 sets of 6-9 reps

 Wednesday
Glute Ham Raises: 3 sets of 6-9 reps
Squat: Work up to a max set of 5 reps
           Take off 10% of the weight and do one more set
Deadlift: Work up to a max set of 5 reps

 Friday
Pullups: 3 sets of as many as possible with good form
Overhead press: 1 set of 4-6 reps, 1 set of 6-9 reps, 1 set of 8-10 reps
Hanging Leg Raises: 3 sets of as many as possible
Facepulls: 3 sets of 10-12
Curls: 3 sets of 8-10

 All of these workouts take around 40 minutes to complete.  My goal is to go as heavy as possible on the big exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench, and overhead press.  When losing fat, you have to lift heavy to convince your body that it still needs the muscle.  The other exercises are down at lower intensity, but still with a focus on adding weight whenever it is possible.

 If I were not dieting right now I would be doing a program like starting strength, or stronglifts.  I used this method of lifting before I began the 12 Week Challenge and was making consistent strength gains.  Using that style of training I went from barely being able to squat anything to squatting twice my bodyweight.  These kinds of programs only work if you are eating to grow though.  So that is why I've switched to a lower volume approach for these 12 weeks.




For cardio, I do morning walks of 30-45 minutes, five times a week. This is just brisk pace walking. After my workouts on Monday and Friday, I go and run hill sprints.  The hill sprints take about 20 minutes to complete, and they are incredibly tough.  I chose hill sprints because unlike traditional moderate intensity cardio that can cause muscle loss, hill sprints are muscle sparring and can even cause muscle growth....also hill sprints are just bad ass and fun.

 That is all I'm doing.  Dieting, walking, lifting heavy weights, and hill sprints twice a week.  If I were feeling under-recovered the hill sprints would be the first to go.  Any questions, please let me know!