With the new year brings a new workout plan; of course. I’ve always loved and hated the idea of New Year’s Resolutions for a few reasons. The holidays are ridiculously busy and it’s near impossible to keep a consistent routine in everyday life let alone fitness. The New Year just happens to be the light at the end of the chaotic tunnel; especially trying to make our little family’s first Christmas together special. I hate the idea of a fitness related resolution because I would like to ideally stick with a fitness routine year round. With the birth of our first baby (and another on the way), this was not the theme of 2016.

With a long break from work, it was the perfect time to sit down and write up a plan. I’m working on being flexible and forgiving with myself this year, so this plan is a work-in-progress. My husband is starting up training again for special forces selection, so I created this plan with his goals in mind. Being almost five months pregnant, I’m really just trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, not really grow huge muscles or run a marathon.

Pulling from trial and errors of the past, we decided upon six week cycles of programming. This will be long enough to establish a strength program while also being short enough to avoid boredom of repetition. I will post the more advanced style program that my husband is following as well as the simplified stay-in-shape program I will be partaking in. He likes to split up his cardio and lifting sessions to keep fresh, but I plan on condensing the workouts into one session to save time.

This is an overview of how our weeks are planned out:

Monday: Day 1
AM Cardio (Advanced Programming): Swim intervals
PM Lifting/Strength Training (Advanced and Simplified): Upper Body

Tuesday: Day 2
AM Cardio (Advanced): Long swim/water confidence, running intervals
PM Lifting (Both): Lower Body

Wednesday: Day 3
AM Cardio (Advanced): Swim intervals
PM (Both): Active Recovery

Thursday: Day 4
AM Cardio (Advanced): Long swim/water confidence, running intervals
PM Lifting (Both): Upper Body

Friday: Day 5
AM Cardio (Advanced): Swim intervals
PM Lifting (Both): Lower Body

Saturday: Day 6
AM Cardio (Advanced): Long swim/water confidence, running intervals (both)

Sunday: Day 7
OFF!

Day 1: Upper Body (Advanced Programming)

AM Cardio Session:
Swim intervals
5-10 Intervals, 30 seconds-1 minute rest between
50-100m
Running intervals
6 Intervals, 30 seconds-1 minute rest between
Max effort 400m sprint

PM Lifting Session:
Warm up
Performed with an orange Rogue Monster Band (15# resistance):
1. Internal rotation 2 x 10
2. External rotation 2 x 10
3. Band pull apart 2 x 10
4. Arm circles, forward and backward (Holding lightweight plates) 1 x 10

Lifting
1. Super Set:
(A) Push-ups 3×20
(B) Pull-ups   3×10-12
2. Bench Press
Either week 0 or week 1 of Wendler 5-3-1 Cycle)
**If you don’t know your 1 rep max, use this week to find it. If you do know, then use your 3 rep max (90% of your 1RM) to base your numbers off of.
Set 1: 5 @ 65%
Set 2: 5 @ 75%
Set 3: 5 @ 85%
Example:
If my 1RM is 135 lbs, I would base my sets off of 120 lbs
Set 1: 5 @ 80 lbs
Set 2: 5 @ 90 lbs
Set 3: 5 @ 100 lbs
3. Super Set: 3 x 10-12
(A) Shoulder dumbbell press
(B) Barbell row
4. Super Set: 3 x 10-12
(A) Dumbbell lateral raise
(B) Dumbbell rear delt fly

Core
Super Set:
(A) Supermans 2 x 20
(B) Push-up position plank- on hands or elbows 2 x 2 min

Day 1: Upper Body (Simplified Programming)
Warm up
Performed with an orange Rogue Monster Band (15# resistance):
1. Internal rotation 2 x 10
2. External rotation 2 x 10
3. Band pull apart 2 x 10
4. Arm circles, forward and backward (Holding lightweight plates) 1 x 10

Lifting
1. Super Set:
(A) Push-ups 3×10
(B) Assisted Pull-ups   3×10
2. Bench Press (Dumbbell or Barbell) 3×8-12, increasing in weight each set
3. Super Set: 3 x 10-12
(A) Shoulder dumbbell press
(B) Barbell row
4. Super Set: 3 x 10-12
(A) Dumbbell lateral raise
(B) Dumbbell rear delt fly

Cardio
Row 2,000m for time

Core
Super Set:
(A) Supermans 2 x 20
(B) Push-up position plank- on hands or elbows 2 x 2 min

Day 2: Lower Body (Advanced Programming)
AM Cardio Session:
(A) Swim intervals
5-10 Intervals, 30 seconds-1 minute rest between
50-100m
(B) Running intervals
6 Intervals, 30 seconds-1 minute rest between
Max effort 400m sprint

PM Lifting Session:
Warm up
1. Banded hip flexor: 2x 10 steps down, 10 steps back
2. Sampson lunges, 10 each leg
3. Pry squats, 10 with a 3-5 second pause

Lifting
1.Back Squats (Juggernaut training)
Week 1 of program: 2 minutes max reps @70% of 3RM (90% of 1RM)
2. Romanian deadlifts 3×12
3. Weighted step-ups 3×20 (10 on each leg)
4. Russian swings 3×15-20

Core
Leg raises 3×20

Day 2: Lower Body (Simplified Programming)
PM Lifting Session:
Warm up
1. Banded hip flexor: 2x 10 steps down, 10 steps back
2. Sampson lunges, 10 each leg
3. Pry squats, 10 with a 3-5 second pause

Lifting
1.Back Squats
2 minutes max reps with medium-light weight
2. Romanian deadlifts 3×12
3. Weighted step-ups 3×20 (10 on each leg)
4. Russian swings 3×15-20

Core
Leg raises 3×20