weight training – Warrior Girl Fitness

Kettlebell Body Sculpting Moves

20 Day Kettlebell Challenge

Quick Tip: A fellow Brave Angel asked me the other day, “I workout, but I’m not quite sure how to sculpt my body, what can I do?” Here are five really important tips to help you sculpt your bod!

1. Diet is 80% of the equation. If you want to have a lean and sculpted body, you’ve got to watch what you eat! And I’m not talking about avoiding ice cream and sweets, I mean the macro-nutrient ratio of each meal (carbs-protein-fat). Carbs should be about 35-45% of each meal, protein should be about 30% of each meal, and fat should be anywhere between 10-20% of each meal. Carbs should be from unprocessed, unrefined, wheat free grains such as quinoa or brown rice, and you should keep these starchy carbs to a minimum. A majority of your diet/carbs should come from dark, leafy green veggies like Kale and Broccoli for example.

2. Protein and Weight Lifting is key when you are trying to sculpt and tone up! Don’t worry ladies, you won’t get bulky from lifting weights and eating protein. Females don’t have the hormones necessary to bulk up unless they are purposefully adding performance enhancing supplements to do so. Try to get in 1 gram of protein per goal body weight daily! So if I want to aim to be 130 pounds of sculpted and toned body weight, then I need to eat 130 grams of protein per day.

3. Eat moderate amounts of healthy fats. Your body needs fat to function, and will hold onto fat if you don’t eat enough healthy fat. Aim for about 15-20% of your daily caloric intake to be from healthy fats.

4. Cardio…How much and when? Only do between 25-45 minutes of cardio about 3x/week max. Too much cardio and you won’t be able to keep that lean, sculpted muscle you just earned by lifting weights! Also, too much cardio will make you want to eat like a beast and make it REALLY difficult to stick to your diet guidelines I just mentioned above. Fit your cardio in around your weight lifting days. Do cardio AFTER you lift weights or in a separate session of its own so you have enough stamina to get through your weight lifting sessions.

5. Weight Lifting. As for weight lifting, try to lift heavy weights 5 days/week. Alternate days. Meaning, focus on upper body muscle groups Day’s 1, 3 & 5 and lower body muscle groups on Day’s 2 & 4. This way you can really target those muscle groups and also give your muscles one day of rest.

Now, here are Day 16 & Day 17 of the 20 Day Kettlebell Challenge!

Day 16, Wednesday, Upper Body Sculpt:

Day 17, Thursday, Lower Body Sculpt

Two Simple Kettlebell Workouts!

20 Day Kettlebell Challenge

Welcome to the final week of the 20 Day Kettlebell Challenge! We are going to lift and swing our kettlebells right through Thanksgiving and all those wonderful temptations that Thanksgiving brings! Day 13, Sunday, was a rest day. So really rock out these two workouts over the next two days. The workouts for Day 14 and Day 15 are below. Watch your form and enjoy every minute of these two strength endurance kettlebell workouts!

Day 14, Monday, Upper Body Endurance Workout:

Day 15, Tuesday, Lower Body Endurance Workout:

Week #4 Workout Routines

October Barbell Challenge

Week #4 Workout Routines & Schedule

It’s week four! You should be feeling stronger day-by-day and feeling more cut and slim too! If not, you are either eating too much or too little. Make sure you are getting enough protein daily, watch your macro-nutrient intake ratio (protein vs. fat vs. carbohydrate ratio) and you are drinking plenty of pure filtered water daily too!

Below are the workout routines for week #4. You will notice some new exercises, like chin ups and push ups. I want you to feel how much progress you have made so far (with strength gains) when you do these new exercises.

For example, before you started this barbell challenge, about how many push ups could you do before failure? How hard was it for you to do a push up? This week when you try the push ups, pay attention and be mindful of how many more reps or better form you can hold while doing your push ups.

Also, if you don’t have a means to do chin ups at home (get a chin up bar like this one I use) or just substitute for inverted rows or you can do bent-over barbell rows instead of the chin ups. However, if you can afford it, invest in getting a doorway chin up bar because chin ups are a fantastic exercise move!!!

Week #4 Workout Schedule:

October 20th {Monday}: Upper Body Workout

October 21st {Tuesday}: Cardio Workout

October 22nd {Wednesday}: Lower Body Workout

October 23rd {Thursday}: Upper Body Workout

October 24th {Friday}: Cardio Workout

October 25th {Saturday}: Lower Body Workout

October 26th {Sunday}: Rest Day

Week #4 Workout Routines:

Enjoy your week and have fun with each workout. Pat yourself on the back for making it to week #4!

Week #3 Workout Routines

October Barbell Challenge

Week 3: Workout Schedule & Routines

This week is going to really burn, in a good way. The workout routines for this week are just a little more challenging, so get motivated to push yourself through each challenge. Take it one day-at-a-time, remember to always focus on form (quality over quantity), and HAVE FUN WITH IT!

By now, if you have been consistently following this workout program & sticking to a healthy, clean eating diet, you should be seeing some great results. If you are following a workout program but not seeing the results you want, 99% of the time it is because you are either eating too much of the wrong stuff, or eating too little.

You have got to watch your calorie intake, especially your macro-nutrient levels. If you aren’t getting enough protein, you won’t see any progress. If you are eating too much fat, sugar, carbohydrates, processed food, etc….you won’t be able to lose that excess layer of fat.

If you need help with what to eat, check out the Seven Day Detox Diet (it’s free) and also the Clean Eating Plan.

Below is the workout schedule for this week, as well as the workout routines!

Week #3 Workout Schedule:

October 13th {Monday}: Upper Body Workout

October 14th {Tuesday}: Cardio Workout

October 15th {Wednesday}: Lower Body Workout

October 16th {Thursday}: Upper Body Workout

October 17th {Friday}: Cardio Workout

October 18th {Saturday}: Lower Body Workout

October 19th {Sunday}: Rest Day

Week #3 Workout Routines:

Stay Strong, We are almost half-way through this month’s Barbell Challenge!

Yours Truly,

Brave Angel

Workout Routines for Week 2!

October Barbell Challenge

Week 2 Workouts & Schedule

Below is the schedule and the workouts for this week. If you are just now joining us in this challenge…. check out this post for the details on what, how, why, when.

Remember that you can sub out the barbell and use dumbbells or kettlebells instead. Have fun with it!

Week #2 Workout Schedule:

October 6th {Monday}: Lower Body Routine

October 7th {Tuesday}: Upper Body Routine

October 8th {Wednesday}: Cardio Workout

October 9th {Thursday}: Lower Body Routine

October 10th {Friday}: Cardio or Optional Rest Day

October 11th {Saturday}: Upper Body Routine

October 12th {Sunday}: Rest Day

Week #2 Workout Routines:

In order to build a foundation and measure our progress, we are going to stick with the Lower & Upper Body Routines we did last week. These two routines are below.

Upper Body Workout - Week #2 — Upper Body Workout – Week #2

Lower Body Workout - Week #2 — Lower Body Workout – Week #2

Cardio Workout - Week #2 — Cardio Workout – Week #2

You can run on the treadmill or outside if you’d like to do that instead of the above HIIT Cardio routine on the days designated as cardio workout days. If you choose to do your own cardio routine, try to do an interval run instead of steady-state cardio. For example, after warming up for five minutes, run at your max pace for 1 minute and then a moderate recovery pace for 2 minutes. You would repeat these two intervals for 10 rounds, or a total of 30 minutes. You can run outdoors, on the treadmill or use an elliptical, rower, stair stepper, spin bike, or arc trainer for your cardio workout if you’d like.

Good Luck #BarbellBabes!

Leave your workout results and questions in the comments section below!

3 Ways to Become the MacGyver of Spring Cleaning

It’s officially Spring here so it is time for Spring Cleaning! Have an open mind and let’s apply this yearly tradition not only to your home, but your body & mind as well! Become an expert and a MacGyver on Spring Cleaning!

Your Spring Cleaning Goals:

#1 = HOME: Clean out, declutter & focus on one room in your house that has been bothering you all winter!

#2 = MIND: Close your eyes, and think about one thing that you’ve been meaning to do, that has been on your mind all winter (or for the past year!). Write it down. Now write down the roadblocks associated with this goal or obstacle. Now get strategic and write down the steps to tackle each roadblock. This week start working toward overcoming your obstacle and achieving your goal ONE STEP-AT-A-TIME!

#3 = BODY: This week it’s all about simplifying everything! Simplify your diet. AND simplify your exercise routine (if you don’t have an exercise routine, than start with the one spelled out below!)

BODY: EAT CLEAN

Drink eight, 8 ounce glasses of water per day
Whole foods, nothing processed.
No baked goods, breads, added sauces, condiments, sugar or artificial ingredients or artificial sugars.
Eat lots of green leafy vegetables like kale, broccoli & spinach.
Add some colorful veggies to the mix like bell peppers, tomatoes & carrots.
Eat clean & lean animal and plant proteins like organic, free-range & grass-fed turkey, bison, & eggs, as well as raw almonds, cashews, & sunflower seeds!
Get some healthy fats in your diet from ground flax seed meal, avocados, coconut oil, & the nuts & seeds listed above.
Lastly, include some unrefined, unprocessed, wheat-free organic whole grains like quinoa & buckwheat!
Keep it simple. Each meal should only have 3-4 ingredients (for example: a kale salad with tomatoes, bell peppers & 2 eggs scrambled is a yummy breakfast, lunch or dinner option you can cook up in one pan on your stove top).
Use lemons and fresh herbs & spices to flavor your meals and snacks.

BODY: SIMPLIFY YOUR WORKOUTS

This week focus on one muscle group per day and do at least 5 workouts. Choose one of the exercise routines below. Do the given number of reps/sets/time and then perform the cardio option for given duration. Go at your own pace and for your own skill level & have fun with it!

ROUTINE #1:

Muscle Group – Chest/Arms. Do 5-10 sets of 10 push ups.

Cardio – Run for 25 minutes at moderately fast pace.

*Do push ups against wall, or on your knees, or on your toes depending on your skill level

ROUTINE #2:

Muscle Group – Glutes/Hams. Do 5-10 sets of 10 prisoner jump squats.

Cardio – Run for 25 minutes at moderately fast pace.

*Just do squat portion (minus the jump), if you don’t feel comfortable doing jump squats

ROUTINE #3:

Muscle Group – Triceps. Do 5-10 sets of 10 tricep dips.

Cardio – Run for 35 minutes at moderate pace.

*Do dips from a chair, a bench or a dip bar

ROUTINE #4:

Muscle Group – Quads/Abs. Do 5-10 sets of 10 step ups/leg.

Cardio – Run for 20 minutes at max pace.

*Do step ups from floor or onto a chair or step bench

ROUTINE #5:

Muscle Group – Back/Abs. Do 5-10 sets of 10 Back Fly/Back Row combo (image on right).

Cardio – Run for 45 minutes at a steady-moderately challenging pace.

*Use dumbbells or if you are a beginner you can even just use two water bottles!

It’s good to change up your workout routine every 4-6 weeks to trick your muscles & body (& mind)! I wanted to share with you one of my favorite workout shirts that gets me pumped up (on the right).

What’s your favorite inspirational & motivational workout gear?

When Lower Body Workouts Send You Running for Cover…

Here’s a lower body leg workout you can take a shot at today, and it won’t send you running… for cover… no pun intended! Sometimes, a leg workout routine can seem intimidating or overwhelming, especially if you add in a long cardio session after you strength train. So, if you’d like to try out a more simple approach, check this out!

We love leg workouts, especially body weight leg routines. And this one is simple yet effective for helping you get your legs (and your abs) in shape!

Compliments of the 28-Day Warrior Girl Challenge. This is “Workout #1” of the 5 Workouts Per Week plan. I did this workout at home this morning, and not only does it fire up your fat burning potential by incorporating High Intensity Interval Training, but it also helps to strengthen, trim & tone those legs (& abs) while you’re at it!

Tip: Pin this to one of your Pinterest boards so that you can take it with you to the gym!

To get the details on the exact instructions & modifications for all skill levels for this Workout and the rest of the “28 Day Warrior Girl Challenge”, visit our CLICK HERE!

W.O.W. Week 2 – RawFitnessChallenge!

Time for a new W.O.W. (workout of the week)!
This week we will be doing a ‘Time & Rep Challenge’. Again, focus on form first, endurance & strength will follow as you improve in fitness. You will perform the below exercises in a circuit fashion, perform the given # of reps for each move, then move onto the next move until you finish the whole circuit. Then do a 2nd and/or 3rd round. Your goal is to see how many rounds you can complete in 30 – 45 minutes. You choose the how long you want to push yourself for. If you’re a beginner, aim for 20-30 minutes. If you’re advanced, go for the whole 45 minutes. Or you can even up the intensity and just do 30 minutes! It’s up to you and your goals!

‘Time & Rep Challenge’: Warm up for 5 – 10 minutes.

Split Squats 30R/Leg
Pike Press 30R
Donkey Kicks 50R/Leg
Dips (Off chair, Dip station, 1-Leg, you choose) 40R
1-Leg Deadlifts 20R/Leg
Reptile Push Up 10R
Plie Squat Pulse 40R
Bicycle 30R (2 twists = 1Rep)
Double Straight Leg Circles 10R/Way (Lie w/back on ground for beginners)
Toe Touches 30R

Cardio: Do 10-20 minutes of high intensity intervals on treadmill, elliptical, arc trainer, outdoor jog, bicycle, spin bike, etc.

Do 30 seconds at a 6-out-of-10 exertion level. (Active Recovery Interval)
Do 30 seconds at a 8/9-out-of-10 exertion level. (Effort Interval)
Alternate between these two exertion levels for 10-20 minutes.

Cool Down and pat yourself on the back! Good Work!

Click on the exercise to be taken to a youtube video showing the exercise move if you aren’t familiar with what the exercise is. Make sure to have a nice big bottle of water nearby and write down how many reps, the weight you use, and how many rounds you get done. Then post your results on our 30 Day RawFitnessChallenge Facebook Page! Keep a journal of your workout results so you can track your progress!

M.O.W. (Meal of the Week): Perfect light meal that you can cook up on the grill! Sweet potato rounds are my ‘go-to’ when I’m hitting up Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Maple Vinaigrette a cookout. Everyone is throwing on their greasy, artery clogging burgers and hot dogs…meanwhile my sweet potato rounds are grillin’ up and are absolutely satisfying and tasty! Serve w/a side of raw vegan zucchini pasta that you can make ahead of time and bring with you to your cookouts. All the other guests will be jealous of your yummy plate of food!

Raw Vegan Zucchini Pasta

Grilled Sweet Potato Rounds

Disclaimer: I am not a nutritionist or a doctor. What I write in my blogposts is simply information that I have gathered over the years from reading and researching several health related topics from credible resources as well as personal experiences. I urge you to consult with a physician before changing your diet. The purpose of my blogposts are to share my experiences and fitness knowledge with everyone I possibly can to help others in their journey to improve their state of well-being.

30 Day Raw Fitness Challenge – Exercise Guidelines & W.O.W.

Here we go people! 30 Days to Re-Vamp Your Health!
So, I was hoping to get this post up yesterday, but we experienced ‘hurricane-like’ storms here in my area of Parkville, MD this past Friday. So when I returned from my vacation down at the ocean, I returned to no power, no air conditioning, 93 degrees in my house, all of my refrigerator food warm, and so on…we may not get our power back until FRIDAY which would be 7 whole days. Let’s just say I look pretty fabulous right now…sarcasm… I WILL DO MY BEST TO GET POSTS UP ON RAWFITNESSTV.COM and FACEBOOK to keep this challenge going during this time of challenge due to power outages! I promise:)

BUT!!!!! Let’s get our workout in still. I need your motivation people, in times like this, it’s so easy to find an excuse NOT to get a workout in, but just 10 minutes…start there and see where it goes! So let’s help each other out in this 30 day challenge! The previous post defines the ‘Nutritional Guidelines’ for the 30 day challenge, so please print those out and put on your refrigerator or somewhere you view daily. View ‘Exercise Guidelines’ below.

Log in 3-7 workouts per week on our Get Fit with RawFitnessChick Facebook Page
I will post a Workout of the Week (W.O.W.) on Sunday for you to do throughout the week. Make sure you give your muscles 24 hours to recover and rebuild. So do ‘cardio’ (run, jog, bike, aerobics, zumba, etc) in between strength training days or the W.O.W. days.
If you’re a beginner start with 3 workouts per week as your goal and add 1 additional workout every 1-2 weeks until you reach 5-7 workouts per week. A workout can be as short as 10 minutes. ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING. Listen to your body. If you’re exhausted, do something less intense or give your body a break that day. Just try to get at least 3 workouts in per week. And space them out every 1-2 days. Try to get a workout completed at least every 1-2 days.
Have a combination of ‘cardio’ and ‘strength’ workouts. If you are already lean and are looking to build lean muscle mass, your weekly cardio:strength workout ratio will be leaning more towards strength training and less time on the cardio aspect. If you want to shed excess body fat, lose weight, slim and tone up…aim to do 3-5 workouts per week that involve strength training to build or maintain lean muscle, and aim to do 3-7 workouts that involve cardio every week. I usually combine my strength and cardio into one workout, I complete my strength training first…then hop on the ‘arc trainer’ or ‘elliptical’ for 20 minutes of ‘cardio intervals’ (30 seconds of all-out-effort, 30 seconds of active recovery). Great way to blast fat & increase your metabolism!
If you’re intermediate-advanced. Don’t workout more than 60 minutes at-a-time. WHY??? Because when you workout more than 60 minutes, your body will begin to produce cortisol because it is ‘stressed’. Cortisol is a hormone linked to belly fat. You can get in a great workout in 60 minutes or less, trust me! If you aren’t seeing results from your workouts, don’t increase the duration of your workouts, increase the intensity and take a look at your diet. No matter how hard you workout, if your diet isn’t on track, then you’ll have extreme difficulty achieving your fitness goals.
If you’re pressed for time or just plain tired and don’t have the motivation. Get up and do at least 10 minutes of exercise for me! I don’t care what your excuse is…everyone has 10 minutes to spare! And if all you’ve got is 10 minutes, just increase the intensity and give it your all for that 10 minutes…then get on with your day!
AGAIN…POST YOUR WORKOUTS ON THE GET FIT WITH RAWFITNESSCHICK FACEBOOK PAGE!
1. Do the W.O.W. that I post or your own workout.
2. If you have the time, try to post what you did for your workout on the Facebook Page to help give others ideas and motivation!
3. Also, post your workouts on your twitter account and use hashtag #rawfitnesschallenge if you wish to:)

Workout of the Week: W.O.W.

“Building a Foundation” – This workout will use basic body weight moves, strengthening and toning moves, and incorporate a cardio-endurance aspect. Beginner’s, listen to your body, take your time, and just do your best, shoot for 1-2 rounds and if you get through 3 rounds, WAY TO GO! Intermediate & Advanced – aim to do 2-3 rounds and use alternative or less intense moves when necessary. EVERYONE, I want you to focus on form over ‘just getting through it’. Our goal is to build a foundation of strength and endurance. Push yourself, but when you lose form…that means you hit your max for that move. Take a breather and move on!

Circuit: Perform 1-3 rounds. Do each ‘move’ for no more than 50 seconds. Take a quick 10 second break and move onto the next move immediately. Therefore you will spend 1 minute on each move, including rest. If you perform 3 whole rounds, it will be about a 30 minute workout. I have give you ‘goals’ to hit in terms of # of reps for each exercise. Try to get as many reps per exercise in that 50 seconds. Use a stopwatch or interval timer app on your phone. Perform 1 round straight through, take a quick breather, and perform a second and third round if you can. Remember form is the priority as well as listening to your body.

100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips (Perform high knees while jumping rope/or just high knees if you don’t have a jump rope)
15 Reps Push Ups (Advanced: Feet elevated on chair; Intermediate: On toes; Beginner’s: On knees)
100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
50 Reps Jump Squat (Sit down into a squat with feet shoulder width apart, tap floor, power up and jump up)
100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
100 Mountain Climbers (Get into a push up position, tuck one knee into chest, hop/switch feet, 1 hop = 1 rep)
100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
30-40 Reps Dips off a Chair
100 High Knee Jump Rope Skips
50 Reps Plank Jacks (Get into plank position on your elbows and toes, jump feet out and together similar to motion you do with feet when doing jumping jacks, 1 hop out and together = 1 rep)

Click on the exercise to be taken to a youtube video showing the exercise move if you aren’t familiar with what the exercise is. Make sure to have a nice big bottle of water nearby and write down how many reps you get per exercise and how many rounds you get done. Then post your results on our 30 Day RawFitnessChallenge Facebook Page! Keep a journal of your workout results so you can track your progress!

RawFitnessChallenge – Nutritional Guidelines!!

I updated the ‘RawFitnessChallenge 30 Days to Re-Vamp’ post with new instructions on how to join the 30 Day Challenge & Interactive Community Board. Basically, we switched from using twitter.com as the main interactive community location to facebook.com. Read the post for instructions on how to join. You will go to my FACEBOOK PAGE ‘Get Fit with RawFitnessChick’ and make your commitment statement there as well as any posts related to the challenge, and this will be the main hub to find support and motivation.
Without further ado, click here for the ’30 Day RawFitnessChallenge Nutritional Guideline’. Read this and follow the 7 steps. You have 5 days from now until we start which will give you enough time to get prepared!

Will be uploading the exercise guidelines soon!