You want to continue to perform your cardio sessions on your mid-week rest day. The purpose of this day is to allow your body to recover from the stresses you’re putting it under while cutting calories. But you also want to keep up your metabolism, so you do want to perform some light activity. This will encourage your body to keep releasing body fat from storage while you’re recovering and on reduced calories.
One thing that happens as you cut calories is that your body adjusts to a reduced intake, burning fewer calories during basic activities. That’s because you’re sending your body the message that it needs to hoard fat due to reduced intake. Performing cardio and consuming plenty of protein combat this while protecting your muscle mass and encouraging muscle burning.
Add in abs training today if this is a weakness in your physique. I recommend pairing abs training with your later cardio session. I’ve included lying bench leg lifts, which target lower abs with cross-body crunches to target upper abs and obliques.
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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Lying bench leg lifts
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4
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15
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Emphasize using your lower abs to raise your legs.
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Cross-body crunches
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4
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20 per side
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Force a contraction into your upper abs as you bring your elbow to your opposite knee.
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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 do from one session to another. You can rely on one basic form, but getting in a second or third type of cardio helps confuse your body, keeping up metabolism. For instance, if you normally perform work on a treadmill, you can shift to an elliptical a few times a week, or even go for an easy jog outdoors.
ESSENTIAL SUPPS: PRE-KAGED®
This pre-workout helps prime me before workouts when I’m cutting calories on programs like Operation Aesthetic. PRE-KAGED® features ingredients that include CarnoSyn® beta-alanine, BetaPowerÒ betaine, fermented amino acids such as BCAAs and pure L-Citrulline, patented Creatine HCl, PurCaf® Organic Caffeine, SPECTRA antioxidant blend, coconut water powder, and more. I like to get in this pre-workout product about 30 minutes before each weight-training session. PRE-KAGED supports heightened mental focus, better performance, and, most importantly, energy to blast through tough workouts.
FOR BEST RESULTS: Get in a serving about 30–45 minutes before every weight-training workout.