Intermediate cycle b: interval training

(second month)

introduction to this cycle:

cycle B: interval training

You are CRUSHING IT!  Those first four weeks flew right by!  

I hope that you are starting to feel more confident in your movement and your abilities.  This next cycle is going to build upon what you just learned to keep you moving in the same direction.

Now that you have started Cycle B, you should find that you have access to new videos in the Exercise Library!  Make sure you are taking advantage of the weekly inspirational emails to keep working on your mind/body connection.  You will be amazed at your transformation not only physically, but mentally as well.  

Speaking of transformations, you will be doing your first Progress Day during this Cycle! 

WOOP WOOP!

I know a Progress Day can sound scary, but don’t be frightened!  Think of it as data collection.  Everyone responds to exercise stimulus differently, and our bodies adapt to change at different paces.  As long as you are putting in the work and showing up for yourself, I KNOW you will see improvements from your Starting Assessment.   

We want to make sure we do our Progress Day between weeks 6-8.  You get a little leeway there, because life happens… you may have gone on vacation, gotten sick, a crazy few days at work, etc.  If we fall off the horse, we just hop right back in the saddle.  Once we are back on that saddle, it may take a day or two to get back to where we were on our program, and THAT’S OKAY!  Don’t beat yourself up over missing a day or two if you had to, what’s important is moving on, which is why you have that window to get your Progress Day in! :) 

Thank you for your continued trust in me while you invest in yourself!  As always, please contact us if you have any questions, problems, or concerns.  We are always here to support you in your health and fitness.

moving on up 

Cycle A was fun, wasn’t it?!  You got to see how your body responds to different exercise stimuli including: flexibility, balance, cardiovascular stimulus, and resistance training, while working on your overall endurance. Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with your body, it’s time to become stronger and maybe even a little faster.

In Cycle B, we are going to build on what we learned in the first cycle, except during these next four weeks, you will be focusing on interval training.  You will be in the hypertrophy phase of your resistance training (meaning you will be building muscle). The way to do this is by increasing our repetitions, and in doing so, you will be increasing your endurance.

You will be doing more traditional resistance exercises, coupled with yoga poses that require you to hold that balance and find that internal mental strength and awareness. In this Cycle, please make sure you take notes on any exercise you have questions about so you can use the tools at your disposal to navigate the answer, or you can refer to it as you contact us. 

If you notice you have a lot of joint pain with this Cycle, make sure you don’t skip out on the stretches at the end. If that doesn’t seem to help, reach out to the Natural Fitness community on tips to prevent soreness. A little soreness is common, and actually encouraged, but pain is not. 

I say it a lot in my videos, to my physical clients, really to anyone who will listen. Our bodies are amazing and they are capable of so much, we just have to train them.  You are here, you are at the beginning of your fitness journey, and you are starting Week 5!  I am so proud of you and your commitment to yourself. Keep focusing on your goals, refer to those inspirational emails, and keep at it!  These 4 weeks will fly by and you will be starting the third and final Cycle to your Third Level of Fitness in no time! 

Items to go over before starting your program:

Some Equipment is recommended for this level and cycle. If you are able to have a resistance band with handles and a door hook, that is most desirable. We would also love for you to have a stability ball and a chair/couch/ottoman that you can use for some exercises.

Annotations In Worksheets:

FB = Follow breath  

ES= Each side, we will be doing a lot on one side of the body and then the other.  Sometimes alternating, and sometimes completing one side before moving to the other.

AFAP= As fast as possible, but REMEMBER only go as fast as you can keep the form in check

EW= Each way, some movements require a front/back or side/side motion.  It will make sense in the videos, but it is something to note while looking at the excel sheets

Numbers, EX: 2010 or 4321= Think of each digit as an individual part of the exercise.  The first digit is going into the exercise, the second if there is a hold, the third is getting out of the exercise, and the fourth is if there is a hold before your next repetition.  Using 4321 as an example, think about a pushup, the 4 would be how many seconds you are going down, the 3 would be holding the pushup in the “push” position, the 2 would be how long it takes for you to push back up, and then the 1 would be holding for one second at the top before starting the movement again.  If the digit is a “0” that means there is no hold/pause, and you will continue the movement.

Reps= Repetitions, or how many times you will be doing an exercise

Sets= the number of times you will do the group of exercises.  Most of the time there will be 3 sets.  If you are not able to get through all three sets of all the prescribed exercises.

a/b/c = this is the grouping of exercises.  For example, you would do all “a” exercises for the prescribed amount and then you would start back at the top of the “a’s” and complete the number of sets listed before moving onto the next group.  If they are all “a” this is a circuit workout.  You will start with the first exercise on the sheet, go through all of them, and then start back up at the top.

intermediate videos (b)