Phase 1 - Increase fitness level

Let’s not kid ourselves, getting fit is more than just getting off the couch and going for a walk a couple of times a week.

Getting fit is a mission to change your life in a way that will stick with you beyond the fad diets and attempts to bring on a six pack for a music festival.

As promised, here is the plan that my pupil followed for six months to get from fat to fit, now he is addicted to it and the habits and lessons he has learned from it will stick with him for life!

Phase 1 – 2 months

2 times a week the challenge was set to complete a jog, the cardio vascular test of endurance that can easily be tailored to suit the bodies ever adapting fitness ability. Start with a goal, in this case it was to the beach and back, a full 5 to 6 kilometer distance. Then begin the jogging and try to better yourself each time in the amount of distance you can cover before needing a walk break. If you can include a hill in the route that would be fantastic as you can gain a great little test of will power by pushing yourself even harder for the climb.

2 times a week we would meet at a park for a mixed cardio and strength session. About an hour long the sessions included, sled pulling, timed sessions of military burpees, timed sessions of Mt climbers, Plank holds, Shoulder presses and pushups. The timed elements started as 1min of the exercise then 30 seconds of rest, repeated 3 or 4 times. Some very simple equipment was used, we used a weighted bar for the shoulder presses, but you could easily buy a small set of dumbbells for $60 or less from sports or department stores. The weight that you use is determined by your own fitness level and strength abilities. The sled can easily be made from scrap wood and could be weighted down with anything heavy including bags of sand. The rope length used for the pulling could be intertwined lengths of rope or in our case, a couple of old snatch straps sewn together. The rest is all created from your own body!

Once a week the beach was the playground. Sled drags and sled pulls in the sand created a different dynamic. A large set of stairs also aided in timed runs up and down. Some more bar work to hone in on some bicep work to finish and of course some beach jogging made for a great little starter to the day.

See all of the reference pictures for the exercises described

Sled Dragging

Plank Holds

Sled Pulling

Shoulder Press

Example workout Schedule

Above is the simple eating choices plan, as you can see, there is no time in the day where you are starved or left hungry!!

Food Tips : Drink water through the day. If you have a rumble from the belly, drink some water first and see if it subsides. Minimize the pre dinner snacks. Minimize the beers. Use Sunday as the rest day not only for activity but also for food, eat a little more on this day. Just keep it healthy! And feel free to have a glass of wine. If having a steak, slice the fat off before cooking. Cook with the fat in the pan but remove before serving.