Achieving Six-Pack Abs: Weight Routine

Hey, if she can do it I sure can!

This weights routine in my Achieving Six-Pack Abs program is going to be broken up into, initially, 12 weeks. Once the first 12 weeks are over I will re-evaluate what I've done.

I took some advice from Google+ and looked on bodybuilding.com. They have a segment that is called "The Female Training Bible: Everything You Need To Get The Sexy Body You Desire!"

The name is kind of cheesy and infomercial-ish but the information is really interesting. I plan to do this 12-week program without a gym membership and without taking any supplements. The website recommends all these powders and things that will help burn fat quicker etc. 

However, I'm really picky about what I put into my body and I doubt most of that stuff is vegan. Plus, I don't have a gym membership and don't want to purchase one. So I will have to tweak some exercises by making them body weight/free weight friendly.

The main overview of the program is to lift heavy weights. Starting in weeks 1-4 you perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps for each exercise. Meaning that if you can do more than 12 reps, you need to add more weight and alternatively if you can't do 8 reps you need to take off some weight.

In addition, there is a part of the program called "Stubborn Fat Protocol" which is just a fancy way to say HIIT (high intensity interval training). I plan to do 10-15 minutes of HIIT followed by 15-30 minutes of low-intensity cardio. During weeks 1-4 I will do HIIT twice a week.

On days that I can't run (because of weather, for example) I will incorporate some of the ZuskaLight videos or anything else I find on the web that allows me to do HIIT inside the house.

I also would like to keep up my running endurance. So once or twice a week I will do a normal long run. So anything up to an hour and more. I haven't decided whether I will focus on distance for those runs or not yet.

So here is what a typical week will look like for the month of October:

Monday -- weights upper body, abs, back exercises 

Tuesday -- weights lower body, long run

Wednesday -- HIIT, abs, back

Thursday -- weights upper body, long run

Friday -- weights lower body, abs, back, some kind of run

Saturday -- HIIT

Sunday -- REST

To give some examples of the types of exercises I will do for the upper body here's a list. 

I will be doing modified versions (again, so they are body weight/free weight friendly) of:

• bench press
• bent over barbell row
• dumbbell shoulder press
• skull crushers
• barbell curl
• dips
• pull ups (reverse row instead)
• lateral raises
• tricep push-downs
• cable curls

After the first week, which will be October 7th, I will post a reflection post. Then I will post after each month. The next abdominal picture for my photo diary will be on October 31st. So I hope to have some improvements!