Hello! Welcome to Brides Made Fit podcast, I am your host, Jennifer DiDonato and this is episode number 23. So thanks so much for joining us. Brides Made Fit is an ordinary choice in only in-home personal training service for wives to be and Brides Made Fit podcast is everyone's source for heath and fitness information and entertainment. So thank you so much for joining us today.
Once again, I just want to thank everyone out there who has been sending us e-mails and comments. We have our videos pretty much up on a majority of all of video hosts and websites out there. So we always get a lot of comments on those too along with e-mails that comes to me. So this episode is inspired you, the viewers out there.
Well, one of the viewer particular e-mails me and she had a particular question about being a beginner workout. So that's why today's workout is going to be the perfect workout for the beginner. I just want to read what she wrote in a nutshell. Her name is Dona and Dona writes, "I am considerably over-weight and I have been watching your podcast but they seem like exercises that I should do after I loose the weight. Now if I don't have much time to dedicate to working out, should I be focusing on cardio until I loose the weight?"
Dona, I am going to answer your question and that would be, "No, you don't want to only focus on cardio. You want to make sure that you are doing your cardio along with watching your nutrient, being consistent at all of those, and three, you want to make sure that you are incorporating in the strength training but you want to do it properly because you are a beginner." So we are going to get started but first before we get started on the movements, I just want to point out what we are going to be doing today.
This is going to be like a circus style training. For beginners who are working out, you could be or have been away from working out for let's say, 10 or 20 years, or you are just starting up here and you haven't even touched away. What's really important is that we do want you to get a good workout but we also want to make sure not injuring yourself because a big deterrent for people starting a program is that they know, "Well Jesus, while I do those weights, I am going to be so sore the next day." Then they feel like it's such a big let out and they feel like they can't do it but yes, you can do it. You just to make sure you are doing it right and doing it smart. So then you can carry it on and have it become a part of your lifestyle and not just be like, "Oh! That's such a drag. Every time I workout, it's sore."
So the key thing here is this is going to be circus style training where we are doing movements back to back. Then also, there is going to be total body movement to keep the heart rate up because elevated heart rate means we are burning more calories and that means we are going to burn more fat. Then also, you want to use lighter weights, not easy weights but lighter weights in higher repetition. So we are going to do about 20 repetitions of these movements because the more you are doing that, you are strengthening up your joints and your muscles. So then later on as your program progresses, then you can start with the heavier weights and really kicking into gear with the people who have been doing it for a longer or acquire more conditions.
So let's start with the first movement. I want you to get a set of dumbbells. I want it to dumbbells that are challenging, when you lift them, but I don't want them to be -- you can only do five of them and then they are just killing you. So I want you to pick up weights, maybe you will need 3 pounds, 5 pounds, even 10 pounds, depending on health condition you are. We are going to do a movement which is a single leg step-up to bicep curl.
So you can use a step at home, you can use your porch, you could use a stool, anything that you can use that can elevate you up on to a surface and then using the dumbbells for the bicep curl. The reason why we are doing a single leg is that we want to also condition your core, we want to condition your balance because without our core being strong, that may not optimize our result. So if your core is not strong and you can't balance on one leg, if you can't even do this, then that's something you need to practice and it's really important with this movement here.
So I am going to face the stool, you are going to have your all weight, palms facing forward. I want you to step-up in the center of the stool or the step, make sure your heel and your foot is completely planted on the step, step right up, single leg balance, bicep curl. Make sure you are not bringing the biceps all the way to your shoulders, bring it back down and switch legs, good! Step up, chest up, keep your abs tight. You are going to exhale on the upward movement and you are going to exhale on the upward movement of the bicep curl, good! So we are going to do 20 of these, that's going to be 10 for each leg.
It's really important that you push through the heel, when you stand up because that's targeting your hamstrings and your glutes too. So you want to have a nice firm butt, okay? I am sure if you are doing this right now, it's probably start to getting a little bit harder. You want some nice, little controlled. As you can hear from my breathing, I start getting my heart rate up. So that is a good movement because it's repetitive and you are training your body to start getting used to more challenging workouts. So when that starts to get easier, then you can use heavier weights. It's going to increase your heart rate again and you are going to feel the same way you did, when you started.
So now moving on, we are going to move on to a second movement that you can alternate with this one. So you can do 3 sets of 20 on that and then 3 sets of 20 on this movement right here and it's called an overhead squat or Squat Overhead Press. With this you are going to use the same dumbbells. You may need to increase the weight or lower the weight, but you are still going to do 20 repetitions. You are going to use the weights but you are still doing 20 repetitions, you are just using a different muscle which is our shoulders.
So you are going to stand with your feet facing forward, legs are going to hip width apart. We have done this squat before. So your toes are going to be facing forward and legs are shoulder width apart. You are going to start with the dumbbells or palms facing you. You want to make sure that you are making a straight bind, they are not curled inward or outward. Let me keep nice and straight, we are going to do a Squat Overhead Press. Squat through heels, keep heels down. So notice how we are absorbing the overhead press on the downward motion. Be sure you keep your back nice and straight and chest up, doing 20 repetitions of these. I am just going to turn to the side, so you can see the side profile, down.
This one really gets the heart rate up, really elevating it because we are using upper body and lower body. If you remember from our previous episode, a few episode back, this is what we call a part of the peripheral heart training. I am sure you remember that one because we are using the upper body and the lower body. So once again, grab weights that you can do multiple repetitions. I want you to do 20 repetitions of these and alternate them back and forth with the single leg step-up to bicep curl and with these.
So doing these movements will really increase your heart rate and will start to condition your body, if you have been away from it for a long time. Your glutes will be sore doing the step-ups and because of the squats and also you are going to be sore in your shoulders and your biceps, but being sore is not a bad thing. What that does? It just wakes up our muscles, we get tiny little tears in them but you want to make sure you are eating that protein afterwards and you are eating the right carbohydrates. So your body can replenish and refuel those muscles to work for you and not against you.
So Dona, thank you so much for the e-mail. I really hope that these exercises work for you, please e-mail me at jenny@bridesmadefit.com. Let me know how it f
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