Today is your first Active Recovery day on Phase Two of my 8-Week Fat-loss Figure Trainer. As you know by now you want to emphasize both the “active” and “recovery” aspect today. You will not perform any weight training today, but you should complete the amount of cardio that is proper for you. My basic recommendation is to go with 20 minutes, but you may need to do more or less cardio based on how your figure appears at this point. I’ll go into more detail on changes you should consider on tomorrow’s Rest Day, where you’ll re-evaluate any changes you should make as you get deeper into this figure Trainer.
You should also take a close look at your abs and consider how much work they need at this point in your program. Today, I’ve recommend two moves that target your abs from different directions. Hanging leg raises activate from the lower portion of your six pack, and kneeling cable crunches activate from the upper side of this large muscle.
At this stage, your cardio should still be about recovery, but you can begin to increase the amount of time you spend performing steady-state cardio if you think more calorie burning will support improvements in how your physique looks. Keep in mind my advice that I’ve mentioned before: Using intensity techniques for cardio while keeping calories low may work against your goals because it also tends to burn muscle tissue. You just need to get on your machine of choice—or perform the other activity or activities you prefer at a steady state.
For machines, you can go with a stationary bike, an elliptical trainer, a treadmill or a stair climber. If you want to get out of the gym, then you can go for an easy jog, swim or hike; or you can perform less common cardio exercises such as jump rope, wall-climbing or whatever appeals to you most. Choose the recovery activity that’s right for you.
For your abs, you should really be honing in on how each muscle is working. Really emphasize the stretch and contraction in the muscles you need to target to improve detail and appearance.
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EXERCISE
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SETS
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REPS
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Hanging leg raises
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3
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15
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Kneeling cable crunches
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3
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15
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Cardio
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1
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20 minutes
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CYDNEY SAYS: On my Active Recovery days, I often perform an hour or so of yoga. This helps me stretch my muscles and get them ready for the next week’s work. Other stretching classes are also beneficial—these include Pilates, YoPilates and foam-rolling classes, which are available at some gyms. You can also perform many of these activities at home.
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CLEAN BURN®
You’ll also take Clean Burn just before whole-food meals to help support fat burning. Clean Burn contains a powerful combination of ingredients that work to attack fat loss through multiple physiological processes. These include mobilizing fat from storage, boosting metabolism, and increasing thermogenesis. Ingredients include green tea extract, capsicum fruit, Gymnema sylvestre extract, and chromium complex. For best results, you should take 3 doses of 2 capsules every day while following my nutrition program to help maximize fat loss while maintaining lean muscle.
CYDNEY SAYS: Be as rigorous with your weight-loss supplements as you are with your training and nutrition. They all work together to help you get the most from your 8-week Fat-loss Figure Trainer.
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