Abs Diet Weekly Workout Schedule

When you construct your schedule, make sure to: Leave at least 48 hours between weight workouts of the same body parts. Your muscles need time to recover and repair themselves after a workout. Take 1 day each week to rest with no formal exercise. Warm up for 5 minutes before starting to exercise, either through a light jog, riding on a stationary bike, jumping rope, or doing slow jumping jacks.

The three components of your weekly schedule

1. Strength training: Three times a week. Below are total-body workouts with one workout that puts extra emphasis on your legs.

2. Additional cardiovascular exercise: Optional, on non-strength-training days. Examples are cycling, running, swimming, walking, and using cardio machines. An interval workout is recommended for 1 day a week, and light cardiovascular exercise like walking is recommended for 2 of your 3 off days.

3. Abs exercises: Twice a week. I recommend doing them before your strength training or interval workouts.
www.menshealth.com/nutrition/abs-diet-workout-plan


(If you need to familiarize yourself with the different parts of the Abs Diet workout, click here.)

Your Weekly Workout Schedule

Here, you're going to do circuit training to optimize your muscle-building potential. That is, you'll perform one set of an exercise and then move immediately to the next exercise, with just 30 seconds of rest. Follow the order of the exercises here; that will allow you to work different body parts from set to set. (Click here  for a complete set of exercise descriptions and instructional photos.)

By alternating between body parts, you'll keep your body in constant work mode and be able to perform the movements back-to-back without rest. Here's why circuit training works so well: You'll save time because you'll cut the amount of rest you need when you alternate muscle groups. More important, you'll keep your heart rate elevated throughout the workout, so you'll burn even more fat while you're exercising -- whether it's in the gym or in your own living room.

In the first 2 weeks of the program, do the circuit twice. Move from exercise to exercise with no more than 30 seconds of rest in between. When you complete one circuit, rest for 1 to 2 minutes, then complete the second circuit. After the first 2 weeks, when you've become comfortable doing two complete circuits during a workout, increase your workload to three circuits per workout. In every exercise, use a weight that you can handle comfortably for the number of repetitions noted. When that becomes too easy, increase the weight on each set by 10 percent or less. Here's a sample schedule of how you might arrange your workouts.

Monday:

Total-Body Strength Training Workout with Ab Emphasis

Complete one set of each ab exercise*, then complete the rest of the circuit twice.

Exercise	Repetitions	Rest	Sets
Traditional Crunch*	12–15	none	1
Bent-Leg Knee Raise*	12–15	none	1
Oblique V-Up*	10 each side	none	1
Bridge*	1 or 2	none	1
Back Extensions*	12–15	none	1
Squat	10–12	30 seconds	2
Bench Press	10	30 seconds	2
Pulldown	10	30 seconds	2
Military Press	10	30 seconds	2
Upright Row	10	30 seconds	2
Triceps Pushdown	10–12	30 seconds	2
Leg Extension	10–12	30 seconds	2
Biceps Curl	10	30 seconds	2
Leg Curl	10–12	30 seconds	2

  

Tuesday (Optional):

Light Cardiovascular Exercise Such as Walking

(Try for 30 Minutes at a Brisk Pace)

Wednesday:

Total-Body Strength Training Workout with Ab Emphasis

Complete one set of each ab exercise* once, then complete rest of circuit twice.

Exercise	Repetitions	Rest	Sets
Traditional Crunch*	12–15	none	1
Pulse Up*	12	none	1
Saxon Side Bend*	6-10 each side	none	1
Side Bridge*	1 or 2 each side	none	1
Back Extensions*	12–15	none	1
Squat	10–12	30 seconds	2
Bench Press	10	30 seconds	2
Pulldown	10	30 seconds	2
Military Press	10	30 seconds	2
Upright Row	10	30 seconds	2
Triceps Pushdown	10–12	30 seconds	2
Leg Extension	10–12	30 seconds	2
Biceps Curl	10	30 seconds	2
Leg Curl	10–12	30 seconds	2