Jul 5 2012

3 Weeks to Awesome – 10 Minute Back Workout

All you need is a couple of gallons of water to have awesome arms and a beautiful back! Today is day 10 of my 3 week program to hit your fitness goals.

Today is also a tracking day. We first took measurements 1 week ago, so now it’s time to take measurements again to find out what type of results you are able to achieve through exercise. We haven’t added in nutrition officially yet, but it will be coming soon!

During this 3 week program, you also have a super power to focus on each day to super charge your results. The super power we’re going to focus on today is building on to yesterday’s challenge of knowing your kryptonite. I want you to develop strategies to actually overcome your weaknesses. I created a worksheet that I use personally that really helps me to stay focused and overcome my own obstacles. You can see an example of my own personal worksheet below and also download a blank worksheet that you can use yourself.  It helps me immensely, I hope it also helps you!

Today’s workout is great workout if you’re a beginner. More advanced exercisers will want to check out one of my more advanced routines for back and arms. There’s a link to one I recommend below. Lift yourself up with some awesome arms!

VIDEO: BPM 3 Weeks To a New You Fitness Program Day 10

VIDEO: BPM 3 Weeks To a New You Fitness Program Day 10

If you are more advanced, choose another workout from BPM.Tv that focuses on the same muscle group. Today we are hitting back, so if you are more advanced pick a workout from the Lift Yourself Up: Achieving Awesome Arms section or the Back section.

Pull ups are by far one of the best body weight back exercises. With my injuries, I need to take a break from doing pull ups for another few weeks and I miss them so much! I felt like such a bad ass when I tried doing weighted pull ups with chains. I wasn’t sure if I could do it. I even surprised myself! Here’s a link to that workout: In Chains – Pull Ups Workout

BPM Cori Ann Lentz in chains pull ups workout workouts

No matter what workout you choose to do today, the most important part of the program is focusing on developing your super powers. It is these super powers that are going to super charge your results and help you to make these lifestyle changes become a part of who you are. Make sure to take your measurements and progress pictures today, download your own worksheet, take a look at mine as an example, then get to work on your own.

xoxo ~ Cori

bpm 3 weeks to a new you fitness program day 10 10 minute back workout workouts

Workout Breakdown

Time 54x54 workouts Time: 10 minutes.
Workout 54x54 workouts Workout Type: Time challenge.
Count 54x54 workouts Workout Exercises: 6.

Get your gear:

  No gear needed.
Just your own body and a decision to get it done.

Buy the same nutrition products as me:

Protein 54x54 workouts PROTEIN
Get your protein here
Greens 54x54 workouts SUPER GREENS
Get your super greens here
PB2 54x54 workouts Peanut Butter
Get your PB2 here
Egg Whites 54x54 workouts EGG WHITES
Get your egg whites here
Tea 54x54 workouts Tea
Get your tea here

BPM.Tv 3 Weeks To a New You Fitness Program Day 10 – 10 Minute Back Workout

Set your interval timer to a total of 10 – one minute – intervals with no rest. If you can go through the full routine again, go for it. I only went through it once, since I’m really focusing on allowing my body to heal from the car crash I was in a few weeks ago.

Focus on your form during this workout. Squeeze the right muscles. It’s more important to do the exercise correctly than quickly. Visualize each muscle that your’e trying to squeeze. See it getting stronger in your mind’s eye.

This workout is only 10 minutes. All you need is an interval timer and a couple of gallons of water. Each gallon of water weighs about 8 lbs.

Remember to post your scores! POST YOUR HOW MANY REPS YOU GOT THROUGH IN EACH INTERVAL! POST HOW MANY TIMES YOU WENT THROUGH IT. Keep track of your workouts so you know when you’re making progress! I want to know how you did.

Just remember that no matter how hard you workout, it is the super powers that will ultimately get you to your goal. You can find the super powers I want you to focus on at the end of each workout in the 3 week program.

Warm Up:
The warm up is built into this workout.

Prone Scare Crow:
1 minute

Lay face down on an ottoman or coffee table. Bend your arms at a 90 degree angle, rowing them back. Keep your elbows fixed and rotate your arms up into a high five or scare crow position. Return to start and repeat for a full minute.

Single Arm Bent Over Scare Crow:
1 minute – right
1 minute – left

Same movement as before, but now you are leaning over on the ottoman or coffee table and using only one arm with weight. In this case I used a gallon water bottle, but you could also take this workout to the gym, using a bench and a dumbbell.  After a minute, Switch sides.

Single Arm Bent Over Rows:
1 minute – right
1 minute – left

Switch sides, but stay in the same position. You are bending over the ottoman, coffee table or weight bench. Row back to your hip with your elbow bent. Try to really focus on squeezing your shoulder blades together.

Single Arm Bent Over Row to Rear Delt Raise:
1 minute – right
1 minute – left

Switch sides, but again stay in the same position. Still bending over the ottoman, coffee table or weight bench. Row back to your hip or thigh, down, then out towards the side. Squeeze your rear delt (back of your shoulder) each time you bring it out towards the side. Keep your body aligned. Wrist, elbow, shoulder should all move together. Hold your abs tight throughout.

Single Arm Bent Over Lat Pull:
1 minute – right
1 minute – left

Same position. Allow your arm to hang. Keep your arm straight, but not locked. Pull it back toward your hip, keeping your arm straight. Focus on squeezing your lats, especially the area where your back turns into your underarm. Switch sides after a minute.

Bent Over Row:
1 minute

Stand up and hold a gallon water jug or weight in each hand. Bend over to about a 45 degree angle and hold yourself there. Abs are tight throughout. Bend your elbows and row back to your hips. Stick your chest out slightly and focus on really squeezing your back.

Invoke Your Super Power: Organize Your Progress, Goals, Weaknesses and Strategies for Success.

During this 3 week program, I’m asking you to do more than just workout. I’m asking you to develop super powers each day to super charge your results.

The super power we’re going to focus on today is building onto being able to recognize our weaknesses so we can create strategies to overcome them. Today I want you to organize your progress, goals, weaknesses and strategies to overcome. I created a worksheet that you can use and download for free: BPM.Tv Progress Worksheet.

measurements workouts

I use this worksheet personally. It helps me immensely and I hope it helps you just as much! I plan my fitness goals a full year out. My worksheet looks a little different than the one above. That’s because I plan a full year in advance, but I created a progress sheet for you to plan 6 months out. You can always assess where you’re at in 6 months, then decide the direction you want to go in next.

For me personally, after I rehab my shoulders, neck and back, I will be going into an off season for 9 months. That means I will focus on building muscle for 9 months. I also want to keep my body fat below 12% during this time, preferably 10% to 11%. I then plan to compete in 3 shows next year. You can see an example of my progress, goals, weaknesses and strategies below:

fitness measurements and goals workouts

I take it beyond this worksheet and actually write my goals and plans on a huge blackboard in the middle of my home. I make it colorful and happy to look at so I feel energized by my goals instead of pressured by them. They are a center focal point in my home. I look at them several times a day and it helps to keep me focused on what I want to achieve. As I get closer to my goals, I begin to count down the weeks by using post its next to my goal dates. You can see my goal blackboard in the background of several videos.

goals workouts

You will be able to watch me strive to achieve my goals over the next year. You will be striving to achieve your own goals right along with me.

Keep in mind, things change and being able to adapt is another super power. Remember when we focused on that earlier in this program? Asking yourself “What if…” and mentally preparing ourselves by coming up with positive strategies to overcome issues? Even though you want to have the power to adapt, you still want to have a plan to give you direction and focus. This will be your measure. This will be how you define your own personal success.

Follow Through

I like to post something about cardio and nutrition at the end of every post because it is important.

Cardio and nutrition are going to be two of the most important parts of achieving your results, no matter what what your goal is. You can not work off your nutritional decisions with exercise. What? You can’t eat a donut, then just do 2 hours of cardio and *poof* it will be like it never happened? That’s what I’m saying. Come on. No. You can’t.

Your body doesn’t work like a simple addition or subtraction problem. It is not calories in vs. calories out. What you eat has a chemical effect on your body. Even if you do cardio to ‘burn it off’ the chemical effect is still present. Different sugars have an affect. Different proteins have an effect. Different fats have an effect. When you take a vitamin, you understand that it has an effect in your body that cardio will not ‘work off,’ right? Food works the same way. Different foods have positive and negative chemical effects within our body. You can’t just work them off.

You have to unlock and unleash the body fat by working with your body in every aspect. Your body works in harmony like a symphony. When one instrument is off, the entire song doesn’t sound right. A good steady drumbeat can’t make up for a guitar that’s out of tune. 2 hours of cardio cannot make up for a donut. Or pizza. Or macaroni and cheese. Or wine and a baguette. Got it?

Cardio

I recently cut my cardio to a minimum of 30 minutes of stairs with intervals as cardio 5 days per week.

When I’m trying to lose fat I usually do two separate 45 minute cardio sessions a day, but one session is really more like light activity and less like cardio.

I love my cardio and I like to stay conditioned. I personally prefer to do a little more cardio than the average figure competitor, then also eat a little more. It takes more time and effort, but I feel the pay off is well worth it.

The pay off is that I feel awesome. It might take me a little longer to build muscle because I do love my cardio, but it’s the cardio that helps me to keep focused and positive for the long haul. It’s important to know what keeps you motivated for the long haul too. I feel energized by cardio. I love it.

Post Workout Nutrition

When I was trying to gain muscle I finished every workout with a protein shake, animal protein, and some complex and simple carbs. These are healthy choices for gaining or for performance. These are not the right choices for me for trying to lose fat, define and sculpt muscle. Trying to define and sculpt muscle is different from gaining muscle. This means I need to eat something different.

When I am trying to lose fat and sculpt muscle, I am much more strict with my diet. Only true food sources. No protein powder.

I finish up every workout with lean protein from true food sources (a little red meat, white chicken, white fish and egg whites are best) and some dark green veggies or Super Greens mixed with water only. Again, no protein powder. If you are a vegetarian you would most likely need to supplement with protein powder. If you are not, let me say again that true food sources work best for losing body fat.

Even when I am trying to lose fat, I still FEED my body.

Want more information about nutrition? Check out BPM.tv Nutrition 101.

BPM Cori Ann Lentz Nutrition 101 workouts

You can also look at my current personal fat loss diet in order to get ideas on how to develop your own nutrition plan.

Cori Ann’s Prepping Fat Loss Diet:

BPM Cori Ann Lentz Nutrition Fat Loss Diet Plan1 workouts

You can click on the image above to link to my fat loss diet to get details about what works for me, but here is the basic breakdown.

This is my meal plan while I am trying to lose fat and define muscle. My carbohydrates come from complex sources only and are kept to about 100 grams per day.

My sugar is kept at about 18 grams per day. That’s it. That is less than what is in one banana. That means fruit is not in my fat loss nutrition plan. My sugars come from minimal amounts that naturally occur in veggies and in the complex carbs I eat each day. No matter what your goal, I highly recommend you watch your sugar intake, even ‘healthy’ sugar like fruit, and moderate it to a minimum based on your own personal goals.

My protein is kept at about 250 grams per day and comes from high quality, organic, free range (or wild) lean animal sources. My fats are kept at about 40 grams per day and come from my protein and complex carbohydrate choices (not additional plant sources like olive oil, coconut, nuts, or avocado).

That equals about 1800 calories per day. I don’t drop it much lower than that.

I eat natural, organic, whole foods that I cook myself, or if possible I eat them raw. I drink 1 to 2 gallons of water and a couple cups of either coffee or tea. There is no mysterious, magical diet. If you want to lose bodyfat you need to eat a fair amount of lean protein and A LOT of green veggies at every meal. Period.

BPM Cori Ann Lentz Cod Arugula Sweet Potatoes workouts

Did you like this post? Tell me in the comments!

Please share your thoughts and questions in the comments. Don’t be shy! Your comments may help to inspire another. Your questions may help someone else who has the exact same question, but is too shy to ask. I love hearing from you!

Try to come up with a way to make the exercises even more challenging! Try to have better form than me! Let’s inspire each other.

By Cori Ann Lentz • Workouts • 17 • Tags: , , , ,