Fat Burning and Toning Routine

Plan Details

The Fat Burning and Toning Routine routine by rickish is a 5 day workout plan. It is a beginner level plan to achieve cutting fitness goals.

Plan Description

This routine is focused on burning fat and building/toning muscle. This routine is not intended f... Read More

This routine is focused on burning fat and building/toning muscle. This routine is not intended for the gym rat, the person who spends hours every day in the gym and whose life revolves around fitness. The workouts are short but intense. In conjunction with this routine, you must also alter your diet to reduce the calories you are taking in by about 15%. Normally, the best way to do this is to reduce carbs. And the calories you do take in should be useful (rather than junk) calories. If you don't change your diet, you will build and tone. Unfortunately, it will all be hidden under a layer of fat! Probably not your goal. So focus on complex carbs (sweet potatoes, corn, brown rice), protein (fish, turkey, chicken), and good fats (avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.). Before the workout, consider a pre-workout drink. You want some good carbs to energize you. And after the workout, have a protein shake and try to eat a lean, complex carb rich dinner within an hour. Warming up: Most people do not warm up correctly. Warming up is not supposed to tire you out. It's supposed to warm you up! So follow this plan for the first exercise of each day: Sets 1 and 2: 50% of your normal weight for 12 reps. Set 3: 75% of your normal weight for 4 reps. Set 4: 90% of your normal weight for 1 or 2 reps. During your set, do fairly slow, deliberate, smooth movements up and down. Don't use momentum, don't lean. Do your reps with perfect form. Breathe out when exerting. Don't stop at the rep limit specified (i.e. 10 reps). Keep going. If you can do more, then up the weight next week. If you can't get to the minimum (i.e. 8 reps), reduce the weight immediately. Do not overstrain yourself. Likewise, do not let this workout become a walk in the park. If you want to burn fat, you must build muscle. Work at this! The primary key to this is ATTITUDE. Believe in the vision you have of yourself. When you're in the gym, be in the gym. Focus. Know that what you're doing will pay off, but you have to shelf your comfort and push beyond what you think are your limits. I encourage you NOT to accept a ho-hum approach to this. It's too important: It can change your life. Here is an overview of the routine: Sunday: REST Monday: LOWER BODY Treadmill Running (5-10 minutes) Deep Squats (4 warmups, 3 sets of 8-10 reps) Stationary Lunges (3 sets of 8-10 reps) Leg Extensions (3 sets of 8-10 reps) Leg Curls (3 sets of 8-10 reps) Standing Calf Raises (3 sets of 12-15 reps) Treadmill Running (10 minutes) Tuesday: CARDIO Treadmill Running (15 minutes) Stairs (15 minutes) Elliptical (15 minutes) Wednesday: CORE Treadmill Running (5-10 minutes) Crunches (3 sets, as many as possible) Hanging Knee Raises (3 sets, as many as possible) Hyperextensions (3 sets, as many as possible) Glute Kickbacks (3 sets, as many as possible) Planks (3 sets, as long as possible) Treadmill Running (10 minutes) Thursday: CARDIO Treadmill Running (15 minutes) Stairs (15 minutes) Elliptical (15 minutes) Friday: UPPER BODY Treadmill Running (5-10 minutes) Dumbbell Bench Press (4 warmups, 3 sets of 8-10 reps) Overhead Dumbbell Shoulder Press (3 sets of 8-10) One Arm Dumbell Row (3 sets of 8-10 reps) Dumbbell Lateral Raises (3 sets of 8-10 reps) Dumbbell Kickbacks (3 sets of 8-10 reps) Treadmill Running (10 minutes) Saturday: REST