Day 1 (post Insanity): Chest/Bicep

For those of you just reading this blog, I am taking a 8-12 weeks off Insanity (as I have completed it) and mixing in some weight lifting for toning and building muscles.

My first day of being at the gym after been away for so long wasn't too bad. the workout was very doable. I actually finished it in 45 minutes. The chest workout didn't seem to be too hard - which means I should be adding weights. The bicep workout was good. My biceps were really pushing at the last 2 reps. Here is the summary, I also jotted down how much weight I lifted on each.

The weights actually seem pretty low and wimpy but oh well. Hopefully there will be improvements after 60 days.

Chest
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Bench Presses (2 x warmup sets)	2	15
Bar bell Bench Presses (45lbs on each side)	3	8
Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses (40 lbs each side)	3	8
Incline Flys (30 lbs each side)	3	8
Biceps
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Curls (just the bar)	3	8
Dumbbell Curls (20 lbs)	3	8
Concentration Curls (15 lbs)	3	8

Weight Lifting Plan

I tried looking online for muscle building workout plans that are for 8-12 weeks. So I jumped on to the web and landed on MuscleAndStrength.com and bodybuilding.com which have a ton of different workout routines submitted by users (I think).

They all looked pretty similar for Intermediate weight lifters and 3 to 4 day workouts. I skimmed through a lot of them and came to do liking this one http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/7-intermediate-4-day-split-workout.html. Mostly because it seems easy enough for me to complete, but definitely still a challenge with those reps. The exercises were those I could easily do at my small gym and they were also familiar. Another challenge would be doing the exercises 4 times a week.

Here is a summary (and you can see the details from the link above but in a different order):

Mondays: Chest/Biceps
Tuesdays: Legs
Wednesdays: Personal outdoor activity / Cardio
Thursdays: Shoulders/Triceps
Fridays: Back
Saturdays: Cardio
Sundays: Off

On Cardio days I plan to do Insanity - Basically start with Day 2 and go forward. Of course, I won't be including the fit tests and recovery workouts.

We'll see how this goes.

What's Next?

Now that I have finished the Beachbody Insanity program (1) and have taken 2 weeks off from working out, I decided to start planning my next phase.

Beachbody Insanity was only the beginning of my journey to obtaining a better body and for the next year I plan to do a rotation between Insanity and weightlifting. This is my own plan but it should work as long as I keep my focus and don't get sidetracked too often.

1) 60 days of Beachbody Insanity (Round 1) - Check
2) 60 days of Weight Lifting - Next

Diet?
I will be eating in the same manner as have been. I'll post a detailed version soon.

Weight Lifting?
It is important to keep your workouts varied and doing Insanity after Insanity would be impossible. Towards the end of Insanity I was definitely worn out and tired of doing cardio. Also, I am looking to tone up and pack a little bit of muscle so weight lifting will do the magic. At the same time, your body burns more fat with muscle - another plus!