Prep Week Module 4

Fitness

You have been given a recommendation of a fitness plan to start with. This can be adjusted to a more difficult level or less difficult level if you feel this is necessary. Just touch base with me before doing so.

You will be given a home version of workouts and a gym version of workouts at your level. The workouts are given to you in days 1-7. These days can be moved in ANY order that works for you and your schedule. I recommend to avoid two strength days in a row to allow for muscle recovery. The workouts can be done at any time of day that works for you. Just remember to do the recommended stretching, warm-up, and cool-down to prevent injury.

The Strength Workouts

You will have 2-3 strength workouts per week depending on your level. You are given a home version and a gym version. The home version only requires a light, medium, and heavy set of dumbbells and a chair or bench (and the optional TRX). You may also do the home version of workouts at the gym for more variety. If you would like some recommendations on dumbbells and other products and services, please check out the recommendations page.

The gym version has more variety because there is more equipment in a gym, but they are equally effective.

Keep in mind that if you have not exercised in a long time, take it slow the first few weeks and ease yourself into this fitness program. Give yourself some grace if you cannot complete the entire workout. Just try one set of each exercise at first.

If something bothers you, or you need a modification to any of the workouts, please contact me for assistance.

The length of your workouts depends on the level you have been assigned. I would give yourself 60 minutes initially for each workout. You will be figuring out which weight to use and familiarizing yourself with the different exercises, this will take more time. If you need to omit abs or a few sets of exercises in the workouts because of time, that is fine. I would rather you do as much as you can instead of not doing the workout at all. If you are not familiar with some of the exercises, you can simply click on the exercise in the workout and it will send you to a video of how to do the exercise. You may also refer to the exercise library which has all the exercises listed by muscle group and the links to each video.

The Cardio Workouts

You will have 2 days of cardio which for most of you, unless you are told otherwise, will be HIIT workouts. These High Intensity Interval Training workouts are much more effective at burning fat and improving your metabolism than steady state cardio. You get a better workout in shorter amount of time. Your HIIT cardio workouts will vary depending on what is convenient for you and the length will depend on your level. This can be ANY activity that gets your heart rate up (elliptical, treadmill, bike, running outside, boxing, swimming, tennis, etc.). These workouts are detailed for you on your workout pages posted in week 1.

You are also provided with pre-choreographed workouts that can be done anywhere (home, hotel room, on a beach).

Hiit workouts and tips

Heart Rate Monitoring

The focus of The Refine YOU Program’s workouts is to get enough to give us results but not too much to cause stress to our bodies and hormones. One way to be sure you are staying on track is by monitoring your heart rate, especially during cardio workouts. This is NOT required for the program. If you are more advanced and/or already have a heart rate monitor, you might as well put it to good use. Below is a guide to monitoring your heart rate if you choose to do so.

You may also gauge how hard you are working by how you feel. If you are gasping for breath and cannot say more than a few words at a time, you are at higher intensities (anaerobic). If you are doing cardio, sweating, but you are able to speak a sentence, you are doing “aerobic" activity.

Heart rate monitoring guide

Below is an image showing the heart rate zones and what your heart rate should look like during your cardio workouts. During your Higher Intensity Cardio workouts, your HR should be in the yellow zone mostly and can sometimes get in the red zone. During lower intensity cardio, you should be in the green zone. On rest days or active recovery days you should avoid going higher than the green zone.

The Exercise Library

This exercise library contains a list of all the exercises arranged by muscle group along with links to the videos of how to do each exercise. Please keep in mind that on the pdf file of the workout sheets, you can click the exercise to go straight to the video demo. The videos usually have a modified version or two of each exercise so be sure to watch the entire video. They are divided into muscle group so you can locate them quickly. You can also access these videos by clicking on the exercise in your workout.

click here for the exercise library

The YouTube Channel

Refine YOU also has a YouTube channel which contains all of the exercise videos for the program. If you join the channel you can simply search the channel for the exercise video. All you have to do is click the search button and type in the exercise and it will bring the video up for you.

click here to join the youtube channel

Peloton

One of the great things about The Refine YOU Program is the flexibility with the workouts. One of my favorite tools is the Peloton App. You do not need the Peloton bike or Tread to be able to take advantage of their amazing classes. Anyone can subscribe to The Peloton Digital App for currently only $12.99 per month to enjoy unlimited classes. These classes include cycling, treadmill running, treadmill walking, boot camp (treadmill with weight training), outdoor running/walking, strength, yoga, meditation, stretching, and cardio workouts on the floor. You can take live classes OR on demand classes. You get the “feel” of being in a class without having to a class and can be done on ANY treadmill or bike for those types of classes. The benefit of having their product (bike or treadmill) is the interactivity you get with the tracking of your performance, competing with yourself, competing with others, and interacting with others on the leaderboard. Click here to sign up for the Peloton App or for more information.

I have provided you with a detailed guide on how to incorporate Peloton Digital workouts into the workouts in the Refine YOU Program.

Peloton digital workout guide

Tips

Print out the workout sheets for the first week or take a screen shot of the workouts on your phone. You might want to go through the exercises to get a good idea of what you will be doing. On the pdf, simply click on the exercise and it will direct you to a video demonstration of the exercise. Sometimes you need to click at the first couple of letters to get the link to work. You can even make a small note on your printed paper to remind yourself how to do the exercise. This might save you time on your first workout day so that you are not looking up every single exercise. I would also bring this with you and write down the weight you use for each exercise. (*Keep in mind you cannot access the links from the workout pages through a screenshot.)
Once you are comfortable with the workouts, I find that it is helpful to view the workout and take a screenshot of the workout on my phone. Then, when it is time for your workout, all you need to do is pull it up in your photos.
If you have certain classes that you enjoy participating in, you may substitute these into the workouts. However, to substitute correctly, I recommend that you follow the workouts that I provide WITHOUT substitution for the first week or two. You will get a feel for how the cardio and strength days feel. You will then know how to substitute in your classes more appropriately.
For your cardio workouts (which include intervals) there is a free app called “seconds.” This allows you to set an interval timer without having to watch the clock. There is a paid version which allows you to save timers and you can customize things a bit more. The free version is fine.
When you are doing your strength workouts, you should be lifting heavy enough that you should not be able to do many more reps than what is required. If you feel you can do 5 more reps, you should increase your weight.

Postpartum/Breastfeeding Client Information

If your core is weak or you have diastasis (separation of the rectus abdominal muscles) from being pregnant, we will need to modify your abs. Instructions on how to check for this...

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent, and the soles of your feet on the floor.

2. Place one hand behind your head, and the other hand on your abdomen, with your fingertips across your midline-parallel with your waistline- at the level of your belly button.

3. With your abdominal wall relaxed, gently press your fingertips into your abdomen.

4. Roll your upper body off the floor into a “crunch,” making sure that your rib cage moves closer to your pelvis.

5. Move your fingertips back and forth across your mid-line, feeling for the right and left sides of your rectus abdominis muscle. Test for separation at, above, and below your belly button.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON’T SIMPLY PULL YOUR HEAD OFF THE MAT, A COMMON MISTAKE. TO EFFECTIVELY CONTRACT YOUR ABS, YOU NEED TO MOVE YOUR RIB CAGE CLOSER TO YOUR PELVIS. IF YOU DON’T ADEQUATELY ACTIVATE YOUR ABDOMINAL WALL, YOU MIGHT ASSUME THAT YOU HAVE ABDOMINAL SEPARATION. BUT FOR MOST, AS THE RIB CAGE MOVES CLOSER TO THE PELVIS AND THE CONTRACTION DEEPENS, THE WIDTH OF THE GAP AT YOUR MID-LINE WILL DECREASE.

Don’t panic if you feel a “hole” in your belly in the first few postpartum weeks. Everyone’s connective tissue at the mid-line is lax after childbirth. As you recover, your mid-line will slowly regain its former density and elasticity, and the “hole” will become shallower, and if you do the right exercises, more narrow too.

SIGNS OF DIASTASIS RECTI/ABDOMINAL SEPARATION

A gap of more than 2 1/2 finger-widths when the rectus abdominis is fully contracted. The gap does not shrink as you contract your abdominal wall. You can sometimes see a small mound protruding along the length of you mid-line.

NOTE:
If at any time you see a round, hard, or painful bulge protruding from your belly button area, or along your mid line, consult with your OBGYN

If you have diastasis recti, do not do the abdominal workouts on the regular workout sheets. You must do the diastasis abdominal workouts given instead of the abs in the workouts until you have closed the gap. Failure to do this will result in the permanent “mama pooch” no matter how trim you are. Feel free to substitute these into your workouts or do these daily.

8 week core rehab