12-Week Fitness & Weight Loss Exercise Plan
This post will be covering the exercise portion of the 12-week fitness and weight loss reset program that has been discussed on the podcast. Please note that this program is not meant to replace or change your martial arts or combat sports training. Instead, this is additive to whatever you are already doing.
Depending on your time availability, physical fitness and health levels, and primary training needs, the below will most likely need to be adjusted. You can try to follow along as described, but preferably you should work with a personal trainer and coach to optimize this for you.
If you don’t have someone locally to use, I offer this as a remote service, just use the “Contact Us” page on the website to get in touch.
Before you jump into any significant training or lifestyle changes, you should always consult a doctor, especially if you have any injuries, health concerns, or specific dietary needs.
Before we look at what I’ll be doing in my program, here are the fundamental principles used to create it:
Training is based on activities five days a week. In my case, I will do them on the weekdays, as spending additional time on the weekend conflicts with family time. This doesn’t mean the weekends are “off.” I will still get exercise from my martial arts training, playing with the kids, running with the dog, and other activities. However, I won’t spend time doing gym-based workouts.
The workouts are meant to take an hour or less as much as possible. In general, there are diminishing returns on additional time spent after this, and keeping training to an hour daily also allows most people to fit it into their schedule, including me.
Warm-up and cool-down time are built-in and part of the target of one hour.
Since this is part of my weight loss, muscle-building program, the workouts are meant to burn calories and build strength. Some conditioning improvements will be seen, but it is not the main focus.
This is supplementary training for martial arts and combat sports. The exercises align with common movements and strength needs related to fighting techniques when possible.
I generally work out at home, not in a gym. Due to that, the exercises I have programmed are based on what I have available. As I have a reasonably extensive at-home setup, not everyone may have this equipment, but most exercises can be done with body-weight only and will still achieve the weight-loss effects. However, strength gains will most likely be reduced.
I tend to keep the exercises fairly standard and use as few as possible. Of course, it isn’t very exciting, but for me, it is more about the improvements, rather than variety.
Where weights are used, the weight is progressively increased throughout the program. Reps are also increased over time.
I have included some exercises specific to address my injury rehab, including stretching or yoga nearly daily. When I create custom programs for others, I adjust them to fit their goals and needs. Doing them will be beneficial for anyone, but if something isn’t helpful for you, it may be in my plan for reasons specific to me.
For exercises in the strength work sections, where weight and reps are used, what you begin with should be based on your starting level and progressively increased approximately every two weeks as the program continues. The suggested weight increases are 5 pounds per dumbbell, kettlebell, or medicine ball, and 10 pounds on the barbell or weighted vest. The starting weight should be challenging, but you should complete the number of reps and sets within approximately five minutes per exercise type, including one to two-minute breaks between exercises.
As you progress, rep increases should be made to stay within the recommended time. If you find yourself finishing quickly, either the weight is too low, or you should increase the reps per set. If you cannot complete them in the recommended time, adjust the weight down, or reduce the number of reps per set.
With that, let’s jump into the day-by-day look at the exercise plan I’ll be following for the next 12-weeks.
Day 1. Monday. Lower Body Focus.
Ten minutes of yoga targetting the legs, holding each pose for approximately two minutes each. Poses can include but aren’t limited to butterfly, pigeon on both sides, squat, and forward folds.
5-minute jog or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Strength work.
Barbell squats. Three sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Barbell deadlifts. Three sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Dumbell lunges. Three sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Weighted hip thrust or glute bridges. Three sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Fifteen minutes of treadmill or exercise bike for maximum distance. When going for distance, the pacing is critical. You want to keep the pace up, but not so much that you won’t be able to finish. One day per week will be a “for distance” effort, so I suggest tracking your results to see progress over time.
Five minutes of cool-down on treadmill or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Five minutes of cool-down stretches. Select some poses from the warm-up and revisit them, or select others that target the lower body.
Day 2. Tuesday. Upper Body Focus.
Ten minutes of yoga targetting the arms, holding each pose for approximately two minutes if possible. At first, this may be challenging, so take breaks as needed. Poses can include but aren’t limited to downward facing dog, plank, side plank (both sides), and low plank.
Four minutes of jumping rope.
Strength work.
Barbell bench press. Three sets of 8 to 10 reps.
Pull-ups. Max reps in three minutes.
Push-ups. Max reps in three minutes.
Dumbbell rows. Three sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Ten minutes of treadmill or exercise bike, maintaining a consistent heart rate at approximately 65% to 70% of max heart rate.
Five minutes of cool-down on treadmill or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Five minutes of cool-down stretches. Select some poses from the warm-up and revisit them, or select others that target the upper body.
Day 3. Wednesday. Core Focus.
Ten minutes of yoga targetting the core, holding each pose for approximately two minutes if possible. Poses can include but aren’t limited to cat-cow, bridge, plank, boat pose, and locust pose.
5-minute jog or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Strength work.
Russian Twists with a medicine ball. Twenty seconds of effort with ten-second breaks for three minutes.
Scissor kicks. Twenty seconds of effort with ten-second breaks for three minutes.
Kettlebell Swings. Twenty seconds of effort with ten-second breaks for three minutes.
Plank. Twenty seconds of effort with ten-second breaks for three minutes. Mix up the type of plank by incorporating high, low, and side planks for both sides.
Ten minutes of treadmill or exercise bike tempo intervals, alternating between max effort for 30 seconds and 90 seconds at a medium pace.
Five minutes of cool-down on treadmill or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Five minutes of cool-down stretches. Select some poses from the warm-up and revisit them, or select others that target the core.
Day 4. Thursday. Lower Body Focus.
Ten minutes of yoga targetting the legs, holding each pose for approximately two minutes each. Poses can include but aren’t limited to butterfly, pigeon (both sides), squat, and forward folds.
5-minute jog or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Strength work.
Goblet squats. Three sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Barbell deadlifts. Three sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Dumbell rear lunges. Three sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Squat jumps with a weighted vest or otherwise holding weight. Three sets of 10 to 12 jumps.
Ten minutes of treadmill or exercise bike, maintaining a consistent heart rate at approximately 65% to 70% of max heart rate.
Five minutes of cool-down on treadmill or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Five minutes of cool-down stretches. Select some poses from the warm-up and revisit them, or select others that target the lower body.
Day 5. Friday. Upper Body focus.
Ten minutes of yoga targetting the arms, holding each pose for approximately two minutes if possible. At first, this may be challenging, so take breaks as needed. Poses can include but aren’t limited to downward facing dog, plank, side plank (both sides), and low plank.
Four minutes of jumping rope.
Strength work.
One-arm dumbbell rows. Three sets of 10 to 12 reps. One rep includes doing both sides.
Pull-ups. Max reps in three minutes.
Chin-ups. Max reps in three minutes.
Kettlebell strict press. Three sets of 10 to 12 reps.
Ten minutes of treadmill or exercise bike tempo intervals, alternating between max effort for 30 seconds and 90 seconds at a medium pace.
Five minutes of cool-down on treadmill or exercise bike at a low to medium pace
Five minutes of cool-down stretches. Select some poses from the warm-up and revisit them, or select others that target the upper body.
Part four of this series will cover how to integrate all the aspects. However, to get maximum benefits, I will note that it is suggested that you perform the workouts during your fasting window. Additionally, drinking a BCAA-based pre-workout supplement before training can increase gains and avoid fatigue during the fasting window. We will cover these more in-depth in the next two posts.
As mentioned above, my schedule is based on reserving weekends for family time and other activities, so I have two rest days in the week, back-to-back. Many people will want to space out the rest days. This is fine and generally preferred. However, my schedule and fitness level align with the above plan.
I suggest you make any customizations or changes that will enable you to stick to the training schedule, as the best training program is the one that you will complete. If that means only three workout days a week, pick a lower-body, upper-body, and core day and schedule them to fit your life.
If you are uncomfortable making a custom plan yourself and do not have a personal trainer or coach who can assist, this is a service I offer. It includes an initial assessment form or discussion, whichever you prefer, and tailoring the above to meet your lifestyle, current fitness level, and fitness goals. If you are interested in more details, use the “Contact Us” page on the webiste, or find us on Instagram at perpetuallysore247.
Stay tuned for the next post, where I will cover the supplements I am using and suggest during this program. I will follow that with a post tying all the program pieces together and sharing additional helpful hints to avoid plateaus and keep forward progress.
Until next time, have fun on the mats, and we’ll talk soon!
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