Apr 21 2012

Cori Ann’s Weekly Workout Routine and Nutrition Plan

I have been receiving some requests to show my own personal weekly workout routine, nutrition plan, and how I fit health into my life as a mom and business woman. I’m here to show you that it is possible. I would be happy to share my daily and weekly schedule.

I’m a real person, a real mom, a real business woman, with a real history of struggling with my weight after having my daughter, as well as a real history of going the opposite direction and becoming “skinny-fat” from doing an abundance of high intensity interval training and endurance cardiovascular exercise.

I have all the same struggles, desires, temptations and obstacles that you may have. It’s a choice that I make every day to reach my goal, one workout at a time, one meal at a time.

xoxo ~ Cori

Cori Ann’s Weekly Workout Routine and Nutrition Plan

Cori Ann’s Weekly Workout Routine and Nutrition Plan

Most people have the desire for a healthy life but don’t usually see how they can fit it into their busy lives or tight budgets.  With our ever-growing to-do lists, exercise may take a backseat.

You may not realize it, but you living a healthy life is simpler than you think.  You don’t have to belong to a gym, all you need is the will to work. You need to commit to a lifestyle change.

We all tend to fall victim to fad diets and workout routines. It’s human to want to find an easier way, a more efficient way, a loop hole. It’s OK – we’ve all been there. Me included.

Let’s not look for short cuts anymore. The very best exercise routines require one primary thing – effort.

The same goes for healthy eating. It takes time and initiative to prepare a healthy meal for a busy family, or even just for yourself. When you go back to the basics you’ll be sure to see results.

I can share my own personal workout plan and nutrition plan, but what works for me may not work for you. We are each unique.

The constant is this…If you want to lose weight, you’ll have to be willing to put in the work. Lots of work. Having the resources you find here will help you get through the times you want to give up. Are you ready to work hard for the body you deserve? There will be days you want to give up. Days you feel defeated, exhausted.

NEVER GIVE UP. Be diligent. Be unwavering. Shove aside the obstacles in your way. And seek help when you need it. Team BPM is here for you. Get started on a new work out routine today!

Stats

Height: 5′ – 7.5″ (172 centimeters)
Competition Weight: 117 lbs (53 kilograms)
Off Season Weight: 125 lbs (57 kilograms)
Age: 35 years old and in the best shape of my life
Competition Body Fat: approximately 10%
Off Season Body Fat: approximately 17%

This is my first competition and these stats may change over time. My goal is to have an off season weight of approximately 130 lbs and a competition weight of approximately 125 lbs. My goal is to also keep my off season body fat below 18%.

Cardio Training

The amount of cardio I do varies depending on whether my current goal is to build muscle or lose body fat. It also depends on how my body is presenting and on my energy level.

The type of cardio I do remains the same. All of my cardio is now at an incline. This means my cardio consists of:

• Stairs
• Treadmill at an incline
• Uphill hiking

Each body is unique and different. Finding a form of cardio that works best for your particular body is an extremely important part of your own personal journey.

I do my cardio at an incline because my “fun” hangs out around my hips, glutes and thighs. Incline cardio conditions these areas, in addition to giving a cardiovascular workout.

Notice I’m not talking about losing fat from just my hips, glutes and thighs. That’s impossible. Fat is systemic, meaning you lose it and you gain it systemically, within your entire body. I’m talking about conditioning my hips, glutes and thighs. Toning. Sculpting. Defining.

I started doing intervals instead of steady state heart rate training. I typically keep my heart rate between 150 and 170 bpm. It may spike up to around 180 bpm for very short periods during intervals. This might not work for some people.

Doing intervals daily could be overtraining for some. A heart rate of 150 to 180 bpm could be way too high for some people, burning off all that beautiful muscle you work so hard to put on, or even putting your health at risk. For me, it currently works best.

I don’t wear a heart rate monitor. I just manually keep track of my heart rate when I think it might be getting too low or too high.

Minimum Cardio

I do a minimum of 45 min a day for at least 5 days a week. All year long.

Maximum Cardio

I do a maximum of two 45 minute sessions, not 90 minutes at once, 7 days a week.

Current Cardio

I have been starting my day with early morning cardio, 7 days a week. I do 45 minutes of stairs with intervals each morning at about 5:30 am. The first 5 minutes and last 5 minutes I warm up and cool down, meaning no intervals. My goal is to do as many intervals as I can for the 35 minutes in between, while keeping my heart rate between 150 and 170 bpm.

This usually equals about 3 to 4 miles of stairs depending on my speed and how many intervals I’m able to do. Here’s an example. I have about 4 minutes to go and I have already hit 3.26 miles of stairs.

Notice the height of the bar during my intervals. They aren’t minor intervals. I build up to the max speed that the machine goes. That means I’m running up the stairs during those intervals. I don’t hold on to the machine. I don’t lean forward.

I play a little game like “hot lava,” where the handles of the machine are like hot lava that I’m not allowed to touch. I run up the stair machine just as if I was running up bleachers at a stadium. You don’t hold onto the railing while you run bleachers at a stadium.

If you do stairs, please do your best to keep erect posture. This means your shoulders should be stacked over your hips, not forward. If you have to hold on, that’s OK, but please don’t lean forward.

In addition to that, I hike with my dogs for about 45 minutes, mostly uphill, 5 days per week. I honestly don’t usually think of this as cardio, just as exercise for my dogs. If I am thinking objectively as a trainer, I must admit it truly is another form of cardio that I am doing at an incline, about 5 days per week.

By sharing my routine, my nutrition and my schedule with you, I am giving you a glimpse into my real life. I am also giving you a glimpse into the lives of my family and the lives of my two dogs and fitness mascots, Lucky and Marcus. The video shows my dogs’ idea of living a good life. They literally eat crap, run away from what scares them, then lay around on the couch.

I hope that doesn’t describe your idea of living a good life. Where does nutrition and exercise fit into your life? Do you make a choice to fit nutrition and exercise into your life every day?

With a little encouragement, at least one of my dogs got up off the couch. Now it’s your turn!

Let this glimpse into my own personal training regime, nutrition plan and typical day be the encouragement you need to make the decision to get into the best shape of your life.

I am a normal person, just like you. We all are given the same amount of time each day. What we do with that time is our choice.

You can workout with me at home for free by following any of my workouts. Make the commitment. Start a new workout and nutrition program today!

A Dog’s Idea of Nutrition and Fitness

A Dog’s Idea of Nutrition and Fitness 

Weight and Body Weight Training

I currently do a 6 day split. That means I split up my body into 6 different muscle groups  and focus primarily on that part of my body during the workout. I don’t rest. I go right from one exercise to the next. I stop for about 10 seconds between each exercise to drink water and that’s it. All of the workouts that I show here on BPM.tv are portions of my own personal workouts or different variations of my own personal workouts.

I don’t focus on weight. I focus on going all out and doing as much as I can for the amount of reps and the sets, without resting. I keep the reps for my upper body between 8 to 15 reps. I usually keep the reps for my lower body between 20 to 40 reps.

As I get closer to my competitions, my body is getting a little tired. There are a couple of leg exercises that I have had to drop from 20 reps down to 10 reps. Pistol squats and single leg bench squats. Sound familiar? We do both of those exercises often here at BPM.tv. They’re hard, I know. They work. Once I’m back up to my muscle gaining diet, I will be able to bump those back up to 20 reps.

My main focus is keeping my shoulder caps round, my v-taper wide and my glutes high and tight so that my upper body stays symmetrical to my lower body. I incorporate many intensity techniques including: supersets, drop sets, pyramids, and giant sets.

If I feel like I have to rest, I simply drop the weight and keep going. I do a lot of the exercises with just my own body weight, just like I encourage you to do during the workouts I coach you through, here on BPM.tv.

I am a firm believer in consistency, listening to my body, and performing exercises with a full range of motion and proper form. Consistency is key. You must workout on a regular basis in order to see results.

“Muscle confusion” is one of the current fads, but changing your workout completely each and every time may not allow you to see your progress in strength and form. Don’t be afraid to do the same exercises or even the same workouts for a period of months, then just make small changes to it in order to progress. Make it more challenging and continue seeing results.

Do not push your body past what it is capable of. If you are using weights, do not be afraid to ask for a spotter. Be sure your form is correct, so that you work the muscle properly and so you don’t injure yourself.

Body weight exercises are a great way to learn how to squeeze and flex the proper muscles for an exercise, reduce your body fat, tighten up your physique, increase your energy and strength, and feel great about yourself!

Cori Ann’s 6 Day Split

Day 1: Monday • Shoulders

Day 2: Tuesday • Legs – Focus on Quads

Day 3: Wednesday • Back

Day 4: Thursday • Abs and Calves

Day 5: Friday • Chest, Back and Shoulders

Day 6: Saturday • Legs – Focus on Glutes and Hamstrings

Day 7: Sunday • Active Rest

This means I do my cardio in the early morning. After that I may take my dogs for an uphill hike, go for a leisurely bike ride, take a walk through downtown at sunset, paddle surf, go horseback riding, or something else that involves light activity and my passion for living life to the fullest.

Sometimes this might also mean simply cleaning my house, lounging around, drinking tea and watching movies.

Daily Schedule

Nutrition Plan

No matter what my goal, I eat at least 6 meals a day. I eat every 2 to 3 hours.

While my goal is to lose body fat, my meals consist of:

Protein

• Egg whites
• Cage Free, organic whole eggs
• Organic, free range chicken
• Cod, sole or tilapia
• Organic, grass fed beef or free range, organic, grass fed buffalo

Carbohydrates

• Gluten free rolled oats
• Cream of brown rice
• Organic red or gold potatoes
• Organic sweet potatoes or yams
• Organic asparagus
• Organic broccoli
• Organic cauliflower
• Organic spinach or other leafy greens

Fats

My fats come from my protein sources. I do not add any additional fats like nuts, avocado, coconut or oils.

Hydration

I drink approximately 1 to 2 gallons of water each day. I also drink 1 to 2 cups of coffee and 2 to 4 cups of tea.

Some of my tea is caffeine free and herbal. Some of my tea contains caffeine, like black, green or oolong tea.

I typically drink my first gallon of water during my workout. This means I have already drank a full gallon of water before most people even get up in the morning.

Hydration is an extremely important factor, no matter what your goal is. 2 gallons of water per day may not be the right amount for you, but making sure you are properly hydrated is important.

Even if you are exercising daily and eating extremely well, your cells are not getting any of the benefits if there is not enough hydration to pump the nutrients into them. Make sure you are hydrating properly for your own particular goal.

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.

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:

You can click on the 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.

Competitions

I have several competitions planned for 2012, but currently I am a novice without any competitive history in figure, bikini or competitive fitness modeling. Prior to this, my main competitions consisted of 5K’s, 10K’s, half marathons, marathons and triathlons. Although, I completed my races more for personal accomplishment. I was never truly competitive in my running or endurance sports.

Competition Prep Coaching

Please share your scores, thoughts, and questions in the comments. Don’t be shy! All that I ask is that we keep it respectful and thoughtful. 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!

By Cori Ann Lentz • Competition • 0 • Tags: bikini, Body Fat, Diet, figure, Fitness Model, Measurements, Nutrition, posing, Workout