You did it again, didn’t you? You overindulged during the holidays, grazing the office buffets and family dinners with one too many desserts, and drinking maybe a few too many cocktails. Then, suddenly, one day you woke up with an extra 10 pounds staring back at you in the mirror.

So you made a resolution to trade your debauchery for the StepMill and clean eating-again-knowing it may take months to get back to where you were. But what if you don’t want to wait that long? That’s where we come in.

With the help of trainer and nutritionist Kim Oddo - who has worked with some of the world’s top figure and bikini competitors - we’ll show you how to get your buff bod back in only four weeks with this comprehensive crash-course training and nutrition program.

Yes, it’ll have your body sweating and (at times) your stomach grumbling, but in 28 days you’ll be back to where you were before the holiday season began - if not better.

Four Weeks To Fit: Weeks 1-2

You begin the first two weeks with upper and lower-body circuits, split by cardio spurts and ab gashes. This starts the Summer Shred!

Four Weeks To Fit: Weeks 3-4

In the last two weeks your fitness level will be tested, broken, tested and improved so you can dominate the gym and Shred this Summer!

Here are 6 tips that will help you to begin your fitness program and stick with it.

1. Thinking about starting a new fitness plan or exercise routine? Before you even begin your first day or exercise you should have a full physical exam to make sure that you are healthy enough to workout. Yes, I know that you have heard this before, but even if you are feeling fine, you don’t know if you have some type of underlying medical problem that might get worse by exertion. Depending on your age and current health condition your doctor may just give you a quick check up or may also want to do blood tests and / or a stress test.
Although you may think that this is unnecessary, it really is important.

2. After getting the ok from your doctor be sure to start off slowly. Just a few minutes here and there and at a low intensity. This will help your body get accustomed to being more active and you will also find that you will have less aches and pains the day following your workouts. Some times we over do it, then feel it for days later and then push back our exercise plan. If you go slowly this won’t happen.

3. There are times when you will feel discouraged. Accept that fact but move on and continue with your workout schedule. There are just days when we feel as though we are not progressing quickly enough and we just want to give up. This is just human nature. Remember that, push those thoughts aside and move on.

4. Be sure to spend enough time learning how to do your routine, workout or exercise properly. You will avoid injury and will see quicker results if you are performing your exercise as you should be. Is your form correct? Are you performing the correct number of repetitions? Are you breathing in and out at the right times? All of this is important, so before you make your exercise routine become automatic be sure that you have the basics down and you are doing exactly as your should.

5. Set realistic and honest goals. When you set goals that are more realistic you are more apt to pat yourself on the back when your achieve each level and there will be less chance of getting discouraged or frustrated. Sure it’s nice to say that you would like to lose 10 pounds each week - but be honest with yourself, you are more likely to lose 2 pounds a week and that is a more realistic goal.

Is your goal to run in a marathon? Before you can work up to a marathon, try a few 5 or 10K runs and see how you do. Build up to the marathon slowly and steadily. Be honest with yourself when you consider how far you will make it in the marathon. If you really can think that you can finish it - then go for it. But if you think that you can only go three quarters of the way - then do the run and be happy if you can only complete three quarters.

6. Be sure to keep an exercise journal. to keep track of your progress.
Your journal can be as simple as a spiral bound notebook which lists the days that you work out and what you have accomplished along with what you expect from your next workout. Or you could also track your progress on a spreadsheet or online. There are several free services that allow you to keep track with your own private online workout diary.

This article is NOT going to lecture you about what you already know…which is, to lose weight you need to eat healthy (less calories) and exercise (burn calories).

Instead of lecturing you on what you need to do. This article is to provide you with powerful techniques you can as to HOW to get yourself to the gym and not miss workouts

Overclock Your Body for Rapid Weight Loss.
Say what??? Overclocking is a term used in the computing world, and you can use this concept to lose weight in a very short period of time. In the computing world, overclocking refers to forcing a computer processor to run at a faster speed than it was intended for.

We can apply this concept to condition our mind and body to develop a the new habit of exercising regularly. Overclock your body by doing cardio for fourteen days straight. This is a little obsessive, but that’s whole point. You see a major one problem that most people have is that stop working out after the first two to  six weeks. By overclocking your body and going to the gym everyday for fourteens days, all of the sudden your accustomed to going to the gym now, it’s become a habit. Heck you don’t have to think about it. Suddenly, going to the gym three to four times a week is a piece of cake.

Put “Skin in The Game” -  Hire a Personal Trainer. The best way to lose weight quickly is to pay, put “skin in the game”, for a personal trainer to educate and train you. This is BETTER than going to the gym with a friend. When you actually have to pay for something, it’s human nature to value it more and get more use out of it.

Hiring a personal trainer will also cut your learning curve and start the development of proper habits both inside and outside the gym.

Workout First Thing in the Morning. I’ll be honest with you, I was not a morning person. However, there are so many benefits to working out in the morning that it worth going to be earlier than you’re normally accustomed too.

First, you will get your workout immediately out of the way, enabling you to do fun things after work.

Second, working out in the morning will energize you for the entire day. Who doesn’t want to feel more alive and energized?

Thirdly, you will be much less likely to skip your workouts. Our brains can come up with a million excuses for ourselves for not going to the gym after work. Workout in the mornings and you’ll reduce the amount of workouts you skip.

Lastly, and most important, you’ll rev-up your metabolism for the entire day, which translates to more weight loss.

Experts are good about giving us exercise advice. The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) regularly puts out statements telling us just how much exercise we need to improve our health. The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports has chimed in with its own guidelines. Even personal trainers, like me, offer the basics of how to exercise and you’ll notice that most of these guidelines look about the same: Cardio about 3-5 days a week and strength training about 2 times a week.

These guidelines are helpful, but often vague, leaving you wondering: How much exercise do I really need to lose weight?

Exercise That Works for You

What many of us want when we go on a search for exercise advice is specifics. We want to know what activities to do and for how long, how hard to work and how to do the exercises. We want someone to say, “Here’s the workout schedule you need to get exactly where you want to go.” While plenty of experts will tell you they have the answer, the truth is, no one workout schedule will fit your exact needs.

So how do you figure out how much exercise you need? One place to start is with your goals. To help you out, I’ve broken down the guidelines for the three most common goals: better health, prevention of weight gain and weight loss. The sample workouts and schedules included will help you make exercise a reality.

Guidelines for Your Health

In 1995, the ASCM came out with basic exercise guidelines detailing the minimum amount of exercise we need for better health. They updated these guidelines in 2007 with these recommendations:

Do moderately intense cardio 30 minutes a day, five days a week
Or
Do vigorously intense cardio 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week
And
Do 8 to 10 strength-training exercises, 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise twice a week.

Make It a Reality

The following examples show how you can schedule your workouts to meet the guidelines:

Just Getting Started

This workout schedule is a good choice of you’re a beginner and aren’t quite ready for 5 days of cardio:

• Monday: 30 min walking at 3.5-4 mph
• Tuesday: Total Body Strength
• Wednesday: 30 min walking at 3.5-4 mph
• Thursday: Rest
• Friday: 30 min elliptical, medium pace
• Saturday: Total Body Strength

Mix and Match

This series takes things a bit further with more workouts and more intensity:

• Monday: 30 min elliptical, medium pace
• Tuesday: 20 min interval training (alternate walking and jogging, or this Beginner Interval Workout
• Wednesday: Total Body Strength
• Thursday: 20 min intervals (alternate walking and jogging, or Beginner Interval Workout
• Friday: Total Body Strength
• Saturday: Three 10-minute walks at a brisk pace

Guidelines to Prevent Weight Gain

While there aren’t official guidelines for preventing weight gain, the ACSM position stand on the subject suggests moderate-intensity workouts between 150-250 minutes (20-35 minutes daily) or about 1200 to 2000 kcal a week may help you maintain your weight.

To see what this looks like in real life, check out the sample schedule below, which predicts calories burned for a 150-lb person:

Weight Gain Prevention Series

This exercise program includes a variety of cardio activities, all done at a moderate pace along with a simple strength and yoga workout, for a complete and balanced program:

• Monday: Elliptical Trainer, 40 min at a moderate pace, 327 calories, 10 minute stretching, 40 calories
• Tuesday: Basic Total Body, 30 min, 100 calories
• Wednesday: Walking, 45 min at 4.5 mph, 322 calories, 10 minute stretching, 40 calories
• Thursday: Basic Total Body, 30 min, 100 calories
• Friday: Swimming laps, 20 min, 137 calories
• Saturday: Yoga class, 60 min, 170 calories

Total Time: 245 Minutes
Estimated Calories Burned: 1236

Guidelines to Lose Weight

Now we get to the nitty-gritty, the amount of exercise you need to lose weight. You can see that it takes quite a bit of exercise just to prevent weight gain, and it takes even more to actually lose weight. For this goal, the ACSM recommends 200-300 minutes each week of moderate-intensity exercise. Keep in mind, though, that working harder for some workouts will give you more bang for your buck. To see it in action, the sample routine below shows how a 150-lb exerciser fits in 300 minutes of exercise a week:

Weight Loss Series

• Monday: 30 min High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) - Alternate 1 minute running (10 mph or as fast as you can) with 2 minutes of walking (4.5 mph) for 30 min, calories 320. Basic Total Body, 30 min, 100 calories
• Tuesday: 60 min kickboxing class, 550 calories
• Wednesday: 30-45 min Lower Body Strength, 300 calories, 15 minute stretching, 42 calories
• Thursday: 60 min yoga class, 170 calories
• Friday: 45 min HIIT - Alternate 1 minute 10 mph with 2 minutes at 4.5 mph for 45 minutes, calories 480
• Saturday: 30 min Upper Body Workout 150 calories

Total Time: 315 Minutes
Estimated Calories Burned: 2112

Making Sense of It All

If you’re a beginner trying to lose weight, you may be put off by the amount of exercise you have to do. The good news is, you don’t have to start at that level. In fact, a great way to approach it is to start with a focus on improving your health. Those workouts are perfect for beginners and allow you to build a strong foundation of strength before you move up to the more strenuous routines required for maintaining and losing weight. Start with what you can handle and use the guidelines as just that: Guidance to set up a program that works for you

So, you’re thinking about starting a new female fitness strategy.  Maybe this is your first real attempt, or, if you are like many women looking for weight loss and health solutions, you’ve tried and failed more than a few times.  Whichever the case, we’ve got some good news for you.  Equipped with the right plan of action, this time really can be different.  It’s all in how taking the proper steps:

Your Female Fitness Goal

Step one, and this is vital.  You need to have a practical female fitness goal and it has to be your individual goal. What do we mean by that?

Your Female Fitness Starting Point – Where are you starting from?  Are you ten pounds overweight with very little muscle tone?  Are you forty or more pounds overweight but used to be in shape years ago?  Can you see what we’re getting at here?  Simply cutting out a picture of a perfectly toned, bikini model, taping it to your refrigerator, and saying, “That’s my goal,” isn’t going to get you there.  What you’ll need to do is determine where you are starting from and come up with weekly and monthly goals that are right for you.

Weekly goals should include, cutting out foods that provide empty calories and provide very little nutritional value.  Check some of our other blog posts for insights on nutrition and how to read product labels.  Ideally, you should remove all the snacks, processed foods, and unhealthy temptations from your home.  If you aren’t ready to take that big of a step, that’s ok.  Start where you can.  Get rid of all the potato chips and packaged cookies.  Replace these items with fresh, whole fruits and vegetables.  Continue using this purge and replace method until your pantry is filled with healthy food and you’ve successfully changed your food choices.  Slow and steady is better than ‘not at all.’

As far as exercise goes, repeat the same method used for food replacement.  Take at least 15 minutes every day to include some form of exercise or healthy activity.  By doing so, you’ll be replacing an unproductive activity.  Continue to do so each week until you have reached the point of a 30-45 minute workout at least three times weekly.

Documentation is Vital for Success

Everyone has rough days and times they don’t feel motivated.  You can prepare for those times by keeping a food, exercise and progress diary. You can do this online or on paper.  Document your daily food choices (without worrying about calories), your exercise, and your weekly weight. The reason why we advise against calorie counting is because the calorie total is much less important than the quality of the foods you are choosing.  Think of it this way.  If you need to snack and choose two bananas instead of a candy bar, you win.  It makes no difference how many calories are in the bananas.  You are making healthy choices which will go a long way for your overall female fitness success.

By documenting food choices, weekly weight, and even including photos of yourself along the way, you’ll have a strong motivational tool for those days or weeks when you feel like going back to your old patterns.  Having the ability to look at your progress will encourage you to keep moving forward.

It’s Not a Diet…It’s a Lifestyle

Finally, in order to guarantee that this time will be different, always keep in mind that you aren’t on a diet.  This is a life change, not a 30 day quick weight loss plan.  It’s only by changing the way you view food (as fuel) and the way you look at exercise (as a way of life) that you will make the long term changes necessary to maintain your weight once you reach your goal.

Remember, this is your personal journey.  Don’t be discouraged by how far your friends or workout partner may be.  Stick to your journey, stay on your path and success will follow!

63 burpees (i HATE burpees, and i didnt have perfect form with a lot of them, but a burpee is still a burpee haha)

63 overhead dumbbell swings

45 mins walking

20 mins ‘shred’ workout (level 3, day 4)

that will do for a saturday :)

..sue xx

30 mins walking

20 mins ‘30 day shred’ (level 3, day 2)

20 mins resistance band workout

20 minutes stretch routine

…sue xx

20 minutes stretching

15 minutes walking

20 minutes 30 day shred (level 3- day 1)

so i started level 3 today, ok,  a day early lol, but i just wanted to get on with it! and i was pleasantly surprised! some of the cardio was incredibly hard, like the rockstar jumps, and the jumping lunges, but i did most of them at the highest level. but the strength circuits i found actually pretty easy! much easier than level 2. whats that all about? anyway, yeah, im just going to stay on level 3 for a little while now, and then maybe not do it every day, just every other day, and find other things to do alongside it.

..sue xx

all ive done today is my ‘30 day shred’ workout (20 mins, level 2, day 9)

because im on a training course for my new job, and its pretty much the whole day, and its quite a long way from home, so travelling takes a while too. i just havent had time for anything else, plus i am exhausted for some reason.

sitting on your backside all day really takes it out of you if you arent used to it!

i honestly do not know how office workers do that every day! i would rather die that sit  behind a desk all day! nothing wrong with it, its just it would kill me.

..sue xx

ok people, this is ”the 30 day shred” level 1 workout. its the only one i could find online. if you want to go further you will have to download or buy the dvd etc.

but yeah, if you want to give it a go, here it is! this is how i followed level 1, with this video.

…sue xx

30 mins walking

20 mins shred workout (level 2, day 7)

25 mins full body resistance

..sue xx

im just thinking about starting todays workout. ive had a half hour walk this morning, and im going to do my shred, and some resistance work.

i felt quite ill earlier, so i will try and take it easy, but not that easy. there is no way to take a shred workout easy!!

have a lovely weekend everyone :)

..sue xx

Are you undermining your workout? Fitness experts weigh in on common exercise infractions—and how to correct them easily. 

1. You Need to Switch Up Your Workouts

“After doing the same cardio or strength routine three to six times, your body adapts and you burn fewer calories,” says Michael Sokol, the owner of One-on-One Fitness Personal Training Services, in Chicago and Scottsdale, Arizona. Eventually your results—weight loss, muscle definition—will slow down. Also, repeatedly placing stress on the same muscles and joints could lead to an overuse injury.

Action plan: Once a month, change one thing about your cardio and weight-training regimens: Take a Zumba class in lieu of your Saturday walk, for instance, or use a resistance band instead of dumbbells. Bonus: Mixing things up may help you stick with exercise. A 2001 study conducted at the University of Florida, in Gainesville, found that people who varied their routines enjoyed their workouts more—and exercised more regularly—than did people who went with the same thing every day.

2. Cardio Isn’t the Magic Bullet for Weight Loss

While biking, running, and walking are great for your heart, “research suggests that it’s difficult to lose fat when you do only cardiovascular activity,” says Jeff Halevy, a celebrity trainer and the CEO of Halevy Life, a health and fitness service company in New York City. Although aerobic exercise will burn calories, it doesn’t really change your metabolism. What does: lean muscle mass. “Muscle helps you burn more calories even after your workout is over,” says Halevy. The more lean muscle mass you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate (the baseline amount of calories you burn in a day), says Wayne Westcott, Ph.D., the director of fitness research at Quincy College, in Quincy, Massachusetts. Women tend to lose five to seven pounds of muscle in each decade of adulthood—one reason why the pounds creep on as we get older. Westcott’s research has found that if you do strength training three times a week, you can add an average of three pounds of muscle in about three months, increasing your metabolism by 6 to 7 percent.

Action plan: Keep doing cardio three times a week, but add two or three strength-training workouts. Aim to work all the major muscles over the week; complete one to two sets of 8 to 12 repetitions of each exercise. To get started, check out the website of the American Council on Exercise for an extensive library of weight-training moves.

3. Wimpy Weights Will Get You Nowhere

According to the “overload principle,” for muscles to become stronger, they have to be challenged with a load that’s heavier than what they’re used to. (Think about the weight of your handbag—dinky three-pound dumbbells just don’t compare.) Without challenging your muscles, “you can’t substantially strengthen or tone them,” says Halevy.

Action plan: Choose a weight that you can lift for only 10 to 15 repetitions before losing good form—trainers call this “working to failure.” (That doesn’t mean your arms should feel like noodles when you’re done, or that you can’t bang out a second set after a minute or two of rest.) Don’t worry: You won’t bulk up. “Women’s bodies have a biological limit on how much muscle mass they can build,” says Halevy. “It’s hard for women to get big without using steroids.”

4. Muscles Come in Pairs; Train Them that Way

Most of us focus on what trainers call the mirror muscles—the ones you see when you look in the mirror (biceps, quadriceps). But just as every action has an equal and opposite reaction, every muscle has a mate that works in the opposite way. For example, you use your triceps to extend your arm and your biceps to bend it. To avoid imbalances that can lead to injury, it’s essential to train both equally.

Action plan: Consider doing weight training in what’s known as a split. Work, say, your biceps and hamstrings one day, then your triceps and quadriceps the next. This way, you’ll hit every muscle pair over the course of a week. One exception: the back muscles. “Many women have weak back muscles from working at a computer all day,” says Carly Pizzani, a New York City–based personal trainer. If you’re deskbound from nine to five, follow a two-to-one ratio when working your back and chest. That is, for every exercise you do for the chest, do two for the back.

5. Crunches Aren’t Crucial for Strong Abdominals

“They’re not the best exercise choice, because they strengthen only a few of the muscles in your core,” says Pizzani. What’s more, if your abs are weak, doing crunches could cause a strain on your neck, since you’ll probably be pulling on it in an effort to lift your torso.

Action plan: Although you don’t have to eliminate crunches from your repertoire, you’ll get more bang for your buck with moves that work the entire core area. The plank is a good one: Lie facedown on the floor with palms down and forearms under your shoulders. Tuck your toes under and tighten your abs to lift your torso. Keep your body in one line from head to feet. Hold for 30 seconds.

6. A Workout Doesn’t Merit a Post-Gym Pig-Out

When you’re feeling virtuous after you’ve exercised, it’s easy to eat back all the calories you just burned (and then some). If you’re looking to lose weight, that won’t help you toward your goal, says Molly Morgan, a registered dietitian and a board-certified sports nutritionist in Vestal, New York. (It’s not OK to collapse on the couch afterward, either: In a 2009 study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, long periods of sitting were associated with an increased risk of death, even for exercisers.)

Action plan: To stave off grazing after exercising, have a healthy snack an hour or two after your workout. And stay mobile as much as possible. Take the stairs, do a loop around the office, or pace while you’re on a conference call.

7. Bad Form Is Bad News When You’re Strength-Training

“When I see someone lifting weights with improper form, I get concerned,” says Sokol. “Not only can it diminish results but it can also lead to injury.”

Action plan: Even if you’ve been weight-training for a while, it’s a good idea to brush up on form. You can find videos that illustrate good lifting form on ExRx.net. Or, even better, invest in a session with a personal trainer. A few general tips: Count “one one-thousand, two one-thousand” as you lift the weight, says Sokol, and “one one-thousand, two one-thousand” as you lower it. “If you lift too fast, you let momentum, not your muscles, do the work,” he says. When doing upper-body exercises, keep your wrists straight; when doing squats and lunges, align your knees and ankles; and when bending over for an exercise (like a dumbbell row), keep your back flat. Always keep your neck aligned with the rest of your body.

8. Working Out on an Empty Stomach Won’t Burn More Fat

A common belief is that if you exercise before you eat, your body will turn to its fat reserves for energy instead of the food in your stomach. In fact, it’s just the opposite: In a 2011 study published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, people experienced a bigger boost in metabolism—meaning, burned more fat—when they exercised after eating breakfast than when they did the same workout on an empty stomach. The authors of the study theorize that when you eat before exercising, your body uses more oxygen, resulting in a metabolism spike and an improvement in fat burning.

Action plan: Eat already! Even a small snack with carbohydrates, protein, and a little fat, eaten a half hour before, will power your workout, says Morgan. Good choices: low-fat yogurt and a banana, whole-grain cereal and low-fat milk, or oatmeal and fruit. Or make it really easy and choose a fruit-and-nut bar, such as a Lärabar ($28 for 16, larabar.com).

9. A Death Grip on the Cardio Machine Strains Your Body and Burns Fewer Calories

When you hold the treadmill or stair-climber handles so tightly that your knuckles turn white (because you can’t keep up with the speed, perhaps), your body is forced into an uncomfortable position, which can put strain on your muscles. And “because your legs don’t have to work as hard when you lean on the machine, the number of calories you burn plummets,” says Deborah McConnell Plitt, a trainer for the Life Fitness Academy, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Action plan: Maintain proper form. On the treadmill, you should be able to stand tall and pump your arms. On the stair-climber, keep your body centered over the pedals, with your head up and shoulders relaxed. It’s OK to hold the handrails lightly, as long as your posture is correct.

10. The Fat-Burning Zone Isn’t Really a Fat-Burning Zone

If you’ve ever played around with the controls on a cardio machine, you may have experienced the “fat burning” program, in which you exercise at a low, steady intensity. The idea is that low intensity is better for weight loss than more vigorous effort, because you can sustain it longer. But studies show that even in a shorter workout, boosting your intensity can burn as many, if not more, calories than long, steady-state cardio. And “when it comes to losing or maintaining weight, it’s the total number of calories that counts,” says Halevy. Plus, by working harder, you can get out of the gym faster.

Action plan: Slow, steady workouts are a good place to begin if you’re just starting a cardio routine. But as you get more fit, bump up the intensity. Try interval training once or twice a week on nonconsecutive days: Work at a high intensity for a short spurt (say, 30 seconds), lower the intensity to recover (for 90 seconds), and repeat for 20 to 30 minutes.

damn, no time for a workout today :(

i was only going to do my shred, but i just dont have the chance. been for my deep tissue massage this morning (erm……..OUCH!!!), then i was just letting myself settle back before i did it, im working at six, so i was going to do it a little before then, but ive just had a phone call and i have to go for a meeting about my son, so that messes up that time slot.

oh well, i will be running around at work, and i am allowed a day off every now and then. its not like im just being lazy, i just cant do it today! plus after that massage, i dont want to push my muscles too far. she suggested i take it easy for a couple of days. yeah right lol.

..sue xx