For me, the first four weeks of a fitness program is the hardest mainly because of the food plan. As mentioned in the last Juno newsletter, in the first 2 weeks I went on a maintenance calorie and macronutrient (macros) plan which was:

This Maintenance phase allowed me to shed body fat without going on a ‘diet’ which cuts out essential vitamins, minerals and macros. I need these nutrients to thrive on the volume of the training program.

For someone who was used to having 3500 calories and over 300g of carbohydrates per day during the holidays, these macronutrient targets were difficult. Thankfully my training program for the first 2 weeks was at a 70% intensity.

In week 3 and 4 I started to reintroduce more carbohydrates to go into a clean weight gain phase to increase size and muscle mass as my training gets heavier and harder. This is because being of Asian descent, it’s very hard for me to gain clean muscle mass without the added fat storage.

After 4 weeks I dropped 4.1% body fat and 3.2cm off my waistline. But don’t think that it was easy to get these results. 

There were a number of times where I didn’t hit my macros. During the Australia Day long weekend, I didn’t achieve my macro targets for 3 consecutive days! Another major setback was that I averaged 5 hours of sleep during these 4 weeks. Two to three black coffees helped with this. Also, I started stretching for the first half hour of every day.

So from here, my macros will go into a high fats phase before it goes into a carb loading phase and seeing how the body looks and feels, in week 9 and 10 I’ll go into a calorie deficit phase.

I would love to know how your fitness journey is going so far in 2019. Comment below or Contact Us directly.

Remember, keep your eyes on the prize.

Put your hand up if you are reluctant to go back to training and clean eating after your break? I find it very daunting after a 2 week holiday, let alone 3!

So that’s why in the first 4 weeks my program looks like this      

- I do exercises I enjoy and the intensity starts at 70%.

This way, I’m more likely to do the program and give it my absolute best and as the weeks go by, the intensity can increase at an appropriate pace. In my program it increases 2.5% every week. If I started week 1 at a 100% intensity which some programs suggest, then there isn’t any room to progress the intensity.

One obvious mistake most people make with their training program is they DON’T change their program periodically in phases. Personally, I measure results every 2 weeks and subsequently will change my program every 2-4 weeks depending on the results. 

The first phase of any training program is the General Preparation Phase and hence why in my first phase I put exercises which are fundamental, primal movements such as the squat, lunge, overhead press, deadlift and pullup. Also, I do my cardio on a separate day, and once again in the first 2 weeks, ensure its something you enjoy. My preference is boxing. 

In weeks 3 and 4, I do a hypertrophy phase (muscle building) and do a split program which focuses on 2 muscle groups per day. This increases the intensity of the workouts substantially and allows me to go into a fat burning zone because increasing muscle mass will help reduce body fat.

One final point. In my first 4 weeks, I start the program with the more difficult, compound exercises like a squat or overhead press and then finish up with exercises that are less difficult like a seated row and/or use less muscles and joints like a lying leg curl.

If you would like a copy of my program, contact us. 

Remember, keep your eyes on the prize.