At this point, you may think you need to take the day off, but I’m here to tell you that active rest is what you need. The 2 cardio sessions you’ll perform today will help you recover and get you ready for the upcoming weight-training sessions and the final weeks of Operation Aesthetic.
At this point, you’re on reduced calories—13 calories for every pound of your current weight. That means you really need to focus on your nutrition and supplement regimens. This will support retention of muscle mass while you’re burning body fat. Remember that on active rest days you’re getting in a ratio of 50-30-20 of protein to carbs to dietary fats.
You can get in your abs training after your early-morning cardio or before or after your later session. You’ll hit the upper portion of your six-pack with floor crunches followed by hanging leg raises, which target both your lower abs and your obliques.
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EXERCISE
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SETS
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REPS
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COMMENT
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Early-morning cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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Perform this session upon waking on rest days before consuming food.
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Floor crunch
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4
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20
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Place your feet on the floor with bent knees, and rise and contract your abs as deeply as you can. Hold them tight to emphasize a stretch on the way down.
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Hanging leg raise
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4
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Burnout
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Keep your form strict, contract your abs with every rep and stop when your form gets choppy.
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Post-workout cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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You can perform this one at any time of day so long as it’s at least 3 hours or so after your previous session. Make sure you’ve had at least one whole-food meal between these cardio sessions.
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TIP: Shift up the type of cardio you perform throughout Operation Aesthetic when you can. It’s fine to emphasize one basic form over others, but getting other types of cardio helps to challenge your body, keeping your metabolism revving. As an example, if you usually perform treadmill work, you can shift to an elliptical trainer or an easy jog outdoors.
FAT-FRYING SUPPS: RE-KAGED®
This post-workout protein provides essential ingredients that support recovery. After you finish your Operation Aesthetic workouts, you need to prioritize recovery to ensure you can perform at your best during your future workouts. With ingredients such as whey protein isolate combined with ProHydrolase® digestive enzymes, patented Creatine HCl, BetaPower®, and fermented L-Glutamine, RE-KAGED helps you recover so that you’re ready to hit the gym for every session in this program.
FOR BEST RESULTS: Get in RE-KAGED immediately after every weight-training workout. You can also add a dose after your last cardio session on your 4th-day-of-the-week cardio.
