Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer

Hi there!! Been a while huh?

Obviously I’ve sort of fallen out of the routine of writing daily posts for my blog. It’s kind of one of those things where time flies by, then I just feel weird posting. Like, all the readers are gone now…hopefully that’s not the case because I’d like to get started again!

Anyway, I won’t blab on anymore about my lack of posts. Instead, I’ll update you on what I’ve been up to!

In a nutshell, I’ve been mommying, traveling, and working out! When I say “traveling” it sounds so awesome like I’ve been going to exotic places but we’ve really just been seeing some family and traveling to Cleveland for work. Colorado’s been so hot lately I’m definitely craving a trip to the beach though.

On the workout front, I started trying some workouts from Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer. I’ve never really tried a structured workout program before so I thought it would be a worth a shot.

So, obviously this chick works out. I assume she works out with a trainer, but I still trust her workout plan because she’s ripped and it’s free so not much to lose.

The workout plan is 12 weeks but it’s broken down into 3 phases.

Phase 1:

Phase 1 is focused on muscles endurance and muscle building. There is actually NO cardio during this phase.

The first two weeks are basically to prep your muscles before you start “building” (don’t worry you’re not going to become a body builder…the word “building” is always scary). It’s only 4 days of strength training. You perform 3 sets of 12 reps of each move at 60% of you maximum effort so it should be challenging, but not too hard you can’t finish.

The second two weeks is still only strength training but you’re essentially just lifting heavier weights. The reps you perform come down to 10 instead of 12 since you’re lifting heavier (80% now).  You also start lifting 5 days a week instead of 4.

 

For me, the hardest part during this phase was NOT working out more than 4 days a week. I have a tendency to beat myself up on days I don’t workout which I know is silly, just something I need to get over. I’m trying my best to trust the program!

Nutrition during this phase is basically to eat every 3 hours, measure everything out beforehand (hello meal prep), drink lots of water, take supplements she recommends, stick to higher protein but still consuming carbs like sweet potatoes, etc. Here’s a link to the approved foods (there’s lots it’s not too restricted).

 

Phase 2:

Welcome back cardio!! This is the phase I thought I’d struggle with because honestly, after the marathon, the thought of cardio just sounded horrible. But I started to try different forms of cardio like the stairmaster for example and I really like it!! I feel like I’m makin’ that booty grow every time I step on it.

Anyway, the first two weeks of phase two consist of heavy lifting and cardio. The lifting reps drop to 8-10 reps with 85% max effort and the cardio is 30 minutes of whatever you want-running, stairs, elliptical, whatever!

The last two weeks of this phase you start lifting even heavier. You increase the sets to 4 but the reps come down. Basically, the point is to try and gain lots of muscle while adding cardio to burn fat.

 

Nutrition during this phase is similar to phase 1 except you start decreasing your carbohydrate consumption. Your total calorie intake doesn’t really change, just try and consume less carbs throughout the day.

 

Phase 3:

Okay, so I haven’t actually made it to phase 3. I was doing pretty well and then we went out of town for like, 2 weeks and it all went to hell. I’ll give you the lowdown anyway.

This phase is all about fat burning. You’re still hitting the weights, but adding HIIT (high intensity interval training), plyometrics, supersets, and active rest to increase the intensity during your workouts.

During the first two weeks, your adding high intensity cardio bursts like sprints. You’re working out 6 days a week so it will definitely be challenging. The first week of phase 3, your diet is basically the same as the previous week. Starting with the 2nd week though, you start to carb cycle.

 

Here’s some info off her site about carb cycling:

Carb cycling takes the macronutrients (the proteins, fats and carbs) of your meals and manipulates them to reduce body fat to very low levels, with as little muscle cannibalization as possible.

Here’s the theory: Because carbs are the body’s preferred source of fuel, cycling those carbs – eating lower amounts some days, higher amounts other days – confuses the body by not giving it a constant and dependable fuel source. When we reduce the intake of carbs on lower carb days, we’ll replace those calories with protein and healthy fats. That way you’ll have an adequate number of calories and maintain as much muscle as possible as you continue to exercise.

This technique isn’t for the faint of heart; following it to the letter takes discipline. You’ll need to count and weigh every meal, taking care to consume the proper portions of macros from day to day.

This carb cycle will last only 3 weeks. Any longer and you might lose too much hard-earned muscle.

(http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-3.html)

So, that sounds hard-ish. But doable!

 

I think I’m going to pick back up at the beginning and see this thing through! Twelve weeks sounds so long but honestly, the time is flying by!  If I restart, that means I’ll be all done in September. That sounds insane….I’m not ready for September yet!!

I’ll snap a “before” picture so I can actually measure my progress…I suppose I’ll share that on here too (ewww embarassing).

 

Have you tried LiveFit Trainer? Thoughts?