How To Build A Killer Workout Program

How To Build A Killer Workout Program

The best part about the internet- there are endless free resources for fitness. The bad thing about the internet- there are endless free resources for fitness. There are a lot of amazing pieces on fitness and health and working out and losing weight and what to eat and what not to eat and supplements and water and sleep and rest and gyms and cardio and everything. Guess what- all that stuff is confusing SO I have created the only how-to workout builder guide that you will ever need.

This is a generic plan. If you would rather have me do all the work for you- please checkout bowmarfitness.com for meal and training plans that will take the guess work out of everything

Step 1- Determine Your Fitness Goals

Your goals need to be specific, measurable, and timely. Your goal also needs to have actionable items that you can follow to hit your goal. 

Bad Goal: I want to lose weight by going to the gym. 

Good Goal: I am currently 25% body fat. I want to lose 1% of body fat each week until I am 18% body fat, this should take me 6-10 weeks (taking a plateau into account and a plan adjustment). I will achieve this goal by hiring a meal prep coach to write a customized nutrition plan for me, I will prep all of my meals, I will lift 5 times a week and I will do cardio 3-4 times a week until I hit my goal. Additionally, I will drink at least 1 gallon of water a day and take all of my supplements recommended each day. 

Step 2- Take Measurements

In order to know what works and what doesn’t, you need to measure. You need to measure a lot. And you need to measure two times a month. 

Measurements to take:

Weight

Body Fat Percentage

Neck (in inches):

Chest (in inches):

Biceps (in inches):

Waist (in inches):

Hips (in inches):

Thighs (in inches):

Calves (in inches):

Make sure to measure everything RELAXED and RECORD all numbers into an excel spreadsheet for tracking. Create columns for check in 1, 2, 3, etc

Step 2.5- Determine if what you are doing right now is working or not. If it is working- then just keep doing it and make sure you are measuring. If it is not working, keep reading. 

Step 3- Make A Workout Plan

If you know that you want to lift 5 times a week, you know how many days you have to work with for your lifting plan. I highly recommend focusing on muscle groups in groups of 1 or 2 to truly focus on ripping the muscle fibers and then allowing enough rest days in between lifting that same group again for the fibers to repair bigger and stronger. If you have a general goal such as to lose body fat, then follow a program like this:

Day 1- Shoulders

Day 2- Legs

Day 3- Back

Day 4- Chest and Abs

Day 5- Arms and Glutes

Day 6- Rest

Day 7- Rest 

Cardio would need to be done 4 times to hit your goal and that can either be done at the same time as lifting (make sure you do cardio second), do fasted cardio, and/or do cardio on rest days. 

If you want to grow your shoulders, for example, follow a program like this:

Day 1- Shoulders

Day 2- Legs

Day 3- Back and Arms

Day 4- Shoulders

Day 5- Chest and Abs

Day 6- Rest

Day 7- Rest

Step 4- Determine the exercises and the sets/reps

KISS- keep it simple stupid

Yes, I post some kinda crazy workouts on instagram (@sarah_bowmar) that a lot of people have never seen before but I HAVE BEEN LIFTING FOR YEARS AND SO HAS MY HUSBAND, WE HAVE AN ARSENAL OF WORKOUTS. If you are new to lifting, stick to the below:

Quads- Squats, Lunges, Box Jumps

Glutes and Hamstrings- Hip Raises, Deadlifts, Good Mornings, Step Ups

Push (chest, shoulders, and triceps)- overhead press, bench press, dumbbell press on incline, push ups, dips

Pull (back, biceps, and forearms)- chin ups, pull up, inverse body weight rows, dumbbell rows

Core- plans, mountain climbers, hanging leg raises

For sets, I recommend doing 3-5 sets per exercise. Keep your toal workout numbers of sets for all exercises 15-25 set range AKA pick 4-5 exercises of 4 sets = 16 - 20 sets for your whole workout.

For reps, if you are looking to burn fat while building muscle (everyone’s dream), keep your reps per set to the 8-15 range. If you can do more than 15 without much of a challenge, it’s not difficult enough for you. 

Step 5- MEASURE

Measure every 2 weeks. If you notice things aren’t working- change them. Never try to fix something that isn’t broken. 

TOTAL TIME

You should not be lifting anymore than 45-55 minutes per day (there is another blog post about why this is lower in the my blog- just keep scrolling)

Again, this is a GENERAL PLAN. If you need a full proof plan to take the guess work out of everything- checkout bowmarfitness.com

How Long Should My Workout Be?

I see all these fitness "celebs" and "insta-trainers" posting about how often they are at the gym and BRAGGING about doing hours of cardio and lifting for 2+ hours. Why?

I have three theories:
1- they want to intimidate the non-lifters into thinking you need to spend hours at the gym and the only way to do that is you spend money and buy their programs
2- they are uneducated and think they have to work out that long to see results. don't get me wrong, you will see results doing this but there are much more time effective ways to workout
3- their coach/trainer is uneducated and has them on this "program"

I am in no way bashing anyone's methods- you do what works for you but just make sure you have all the facts before you start paying rent on an elliptical

What is an ideal weight lifting time? 45 minutes

Males and females: your testosterone levels will peak at 45 minutes (yes ladies, we have test levels too). At the 45 minute mark- you will have reached your maximum growth. Anabolic activity also peaks at this time as does muscle glycogen. Your muscles can only expand and stay expanded for so long before they start to deflate.

This doesn't mean working out for 45 minutes. This INCLUDES all the time spent dilly dallying around the gym, taking swelfies, etc. It's 45 minutes from the time you pick up your first dumbbell. That is why it's so important to have a PLAN when you go into the gym because you are a time crunch if you care about actually getting all the benefits from your weight training session.

After 45 minutes, your body will start releasing less and less testosterone and your body will go into a catabolic state after 60-90 minutes AKA your body needs fuel since you're dicking around and lifting way longer than you should. So- your body will resort to what it needs and it will start to consume your muscle. Not pretty. That's why you probably see people in the gym all the time who never look like they have made progress (could be their diet too but that's none of my business).

What about cardio? In an ideal state, cardio should be done at a separate time than your weight training. Simple as that. If you can't make your health a priority and you need to do in the same split, lift for 30 minutes and do cardio for 25-30 minutes.

As always, make sure you eat within 30 minutes after you lift so you don't go catabolic.

If you need help, rates are below in an earlier post. My email is sarahbakian@gmail.com

Improvement Season- One Month In

So it's been one month since my last show ended and I entered "improvement" season. I'm lifting heavier than I ever have in my life and I actually enjoy going to the gym again. I also am eating almost double what I was when I was leaning out for competitions. The added food is definitely feeding my muscles in the best way possible.

The biggest struggle has been the lack of cardio. I am trying to limit myself to 2 spin classes per week to prevent my muscles from breaking down and in order to continue to see gains. I miss my cardio sweat sessions but I love that my jeans don't fit over my butt anymore and that my shoulders and abs are really becoming stronger and more defined.

Keep on keepin' on

I'm posting some accountability pictures too

Grateful. Humbled.

This past weekend, Chelsea, Jeremy, and I traveled to Cleveland to watch an NPC show and to attend a fitness expo.

Roadtrip?!?!?! Yes please.

Upon arrival, the FIRST person Chelsea and I spotted, with her back to us, was Jessica Paxson. Our idol. A goddess in every sense of the word.

Chelsea and I first met Jessica at the Arnold when we were sitting in front of her family and fiance. We were in utter disbelief as she stood inches away from us, talking to her family about her suit, hair, make up, etc.

Jessica is currently on the cover of Oxygen. Her and her fiance, Blair, own a gym. AND they live in Ohio.

Having the chance to see Jessica again was incredible. Having her talk to us for 20 minutes about contest prep was literally priceless. She is the most down to earth, incredible, gorgeous woman on this planet. Words cannot describe how motivating it was to get to talk to her at the expo.

Samples.Samples.Samples. We were all in a protein overload when we left the expo to go into pre-judging. The experience helped so much for Chelsea and me in terms of posing and stage presence.

When we got back to Toledo from the show, we started posing practice. Despite feeling like water buffalo from all the protein, we definitely made progress.

To finish up the incredible day, we went to get sushi with a bunch of our friends at Sakura. Vegetarian rolls and dishes are prettier than any meat dish, in my opinion :)

In all, it was an incredible weekend and definitely has gotten me more excited to be on stage in 32 days!