Getting in shape, strengthening your core, and losing weight can be remarkably simple if you know what to do. Far from trying some ‘miracle’ supplement or diet, we focus on proven ways to get you the body you want. Mainly, we focus on a 15 day guide you can follow to build up your strength and prepare yourself for an amazing year to come.
One of the benefits of this program is that it can mostly be done with adjustable free weights at home. Everything can be done even without a gym membership. Our quick guide moves between weightlifting with an emphasis on cardio in the mornings. The reason for this is that the weightlifting helps to strengthen while the cardio will help improve aerobic limits and work to make you leaner in the 15 days. The guide includes a breakdown of what you will be doing for each of the 15 days and incorporates dozens of different weightlifting exercises designed to provide you a comprehensive, compound routine.
The Routine
Day 1: (Monday) – Chest + Abs + Triceps (CAT)
Day 2: (Tuesday) – Off
Day 3: (Wednesday) – Back + Abs + Biceps (BAB)
Day 4: (Thursday) – Off
Day 5: (Friday) – Calves + Legs + Shoulders (CLS)
Day 6: (Saturday) – Off
Day 7: (Sunday) – Off
Day 8: (Monday) – Chest + Abs + Triceps (CAT)
Day 9: (Tuesday) – Off
Day 10: (Wednesday ) – Back + Abs + Biceps (BAB)
Day 11: (Thursday) – Off
Day 12: (Friday) – Calves + Legs + Shoulders (CLS)
Day 13: (Saturday) – Off
Day 14: (Sunday) – Off
Day 15: (Monday) – Chest + Abs + Triceps (CAT)
About The Routine
This 15-day workout is designed so that you do not train in isolation. Getting a stronger core means doing exercises that target both the core as well as the surrounding muscle groups. Without focusing on the full body, you will achieve fewer results in the specific area you are interested in. The 15 day workout is 15 days to allow for 3 (CAT) days where you will focus on your chest, your abs, and your triceps.
Off days will be critical during your 15 day workout challenge. Off days are days where your body can rest, recuperate, and grow stronger. Without these days, your gains will slow to a halt and you will dramatically increase the risk of becoming injured. While you can do cardio on these days, stay away from anything that will tax the particular muscle group you were working on the previous day.
As you can see, the workout targets different parts of the body on different days. This allows you over the course of a week to target the entire body, allowing certain muscle groups to recover while you train others. Far more effective than attempting to do everything at once, the exercise routine listed above will help speed up your results and leave you feeling competent and ready to go a the end of the 15 days.
A final note, be sure to train heavy. All of the exercises below are a single set. You should be struggling to complete the set at the end. Some exercises listed below, like pull ups and pushups have a total number in a rep that you may not be able to do. You can handle this by returning to them throughout your exercise to give your muscles some time to recover or simply go until you can no longer do any more. There are less stressful versions of both exercises you can also do if your body is not yet to the point where it can do a single one.
Daily Exercises
CAT: Chest + Abs + Triceps
Done 3 times during your 15 day workout, this exercise routine is perhaps the most important. It targets your core and provides a number of different compound exercises that will help strengthen throughout.
#, Sets, Reps, Exercise, Notes
- 1, 1, 15, Barbell Bench, Do A Press Wide Grip
- 2, 1, 15, Bent Arm Dumbbell Pullover
- 3, 1, 20-25, Cable Crossover
- 4, 1, 15, Chest Triceps
- 5, 1, 15, Dips Triceps
- 6, 1, 15, Dumbbell Flyes
- 7, 1, 15, Incline Dumbbell Press
- 8, 1, 15-20, Machine Bench Press
- 9, 1, 20-25 Push Ups, Elevate Your Feet
- 10, 1, 15, Triceps Pushdown
- 11, 1, 15, Tricep Dumbbell Kickback
BAB: Back + Abs + Biceps
Done 2 times during your 15 day workout, this exercise routine helps to reinforce the gains you are making with the CAT routine. With back, abs, and biceps, you will feel a lot of your gains reinforced. At the same time, depending on your recovery rate, you may find yourself a little tired. As long as you feel capable, attempt to push through the 14 exercises as you will have 4 days to recover some of these muscle groups after.
#, Sets, Reps, Exercise, Notes
- 1, 1, 20-25, Ab Crunch Machine
- 2, 1, 12-15, Cable Hammer Curls
- 3, 1, 12-15, Close Grip EZ Bar Curl
- 4, 1, 12-15, Concentration Curls
- 5, 1, 20-25, Crunches, Using An Exercise Ball
- 6, 1, 20-25, Hanging Leg Raise
- 7, 1, 12-15, Lying Cable Curl
- 8, 1, 12-15, Machine Preacher Curl
- 9, 1, 12-15, One Arm Dumbbell Preacher Curl
- 10, 1, 15, One Arm Dumbbell Row
- 11, 1, 15, Pull Ups
- 12, 1, 15-20, Seated Cable Rows
- 13, 1, 15, Wide Grip Lay Pull Downs
- 14, 1, 15, Wide Grip Pulled Downs, Behind The Neck
CLS: Calves + Legs + Shoulders
Calves, legs (general), and shoulders will help to train other parts of your body, allowing you to keep up with your exercise goals and providing you with an opportunity to fully train your entire body. Typically, the CLS routine will have the most impact on your cardio workout, as these groups are often used. Do cardio the morning before you start your workout routine, and take the following day’s cardio slower if you are feeling muscle exhaustion. As a final note, the CLS routine is a bit longer than either the two above because it covers an extensive range of muscles secondary to your goals.
#, Sets, Reps, Exercise, Notes
- 1, 1, 20, Barbell Rear Delta Row
- 2, 1, 15-20, Dumbell Lunges
- 3, 1, 15-20, Front Dumbbell Raises
- 4, 1, 20, Hack Squats
- 5, 1, 25, Leg Extensions
- 6, 1, 25, Leg Press
- 7, 1, 15, Leverage Shoulder Press
- 8, 1, 15, Lying Leg Curl
- 9, 1, 20, Romanian Deadlift
- 10, 1, 15, Seated Barbell Military Press
- 11, 1, 25, Seated Calf Raises
- 12, 1, 20, Seated Leg Curls
- 13, 1, 15-20, Side Lateral Raises
- 14, 1, 20, Seated Bent Over Rear Delta Raise
- 15, 1, 25, Standing Calf Raises
- 16, 1, 20, Standing Leg Curl
- 17, 1, 25, Thigh Abductor
- 18, 1, 20 Wide Stance Barbell Squats
Notes On The 15 Day Woman Bodyweight Challenge
Cardio
Cardio is going to be an important part of your workout. As we discussed above, cardio helps to improve your endurance and train your muscle groups in a way that is different from the weight lifting you will be doing. We recommend that all cardio occur first thing in the morning. Do your cardio before you eat breakfast. You will want to do cardio for between 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cardio can be anything from a jog outside to a recumbent bike, treadmill, jump rope, or anything else that keeps you moving. Your objective with cardio is to get your body to a point where your heart rate is well above your average. Doing so will provide optimal fat burning conditions and help to make you leaner as well as stronger. Cardio is also a great option because it helps you lose weight in ways that weightlifting will not. While both are equally good, doing them together will produce far better results both in toning and fat loss.
Diet
The 15 Day Woman Bodyweight Challenge is not a time to go on a starvation diet. You will need a healthy level of calories so that your body can rebuild after workouts and recover in time. Instead of attempting to cut the calories you eat, change the types of calories you are consuming. Find the average number of calories for someone your size, age, and gender for a low workout lifestyle. Plan your diet around getting a healthy supply of whole grains, proteins, fruits, and vegetables. Nutrition will be key if you want to lose weight and diet effectively during these 15 days. Lentils, soups, and water are all great ways to reduce the chances of getting hungry as well as helping you to stay full longer.
Injury Prevention
Depending on what you are doing, you may be at risk of injury. It is a normal concern that every person who heads out to the gym has to consider. While preventing injury completely isn’t possible, you can help to dramatically reduce the chances of ever being injured through stretches and movement of your body before weightlifting. For this reason, some will go through various yoga poses, will shake out their limbs before exercising, will do cardio before, or will otherwise work to warm up their body before heading out for the day. Consider doing the same and turn your 15 day workout into a success.
Motivation
One of the biggest challenges we have to deal with when exercising is staying motivated. The 7 steps to ensure that you stay motivated with your workout routine are as follows.
- Establish The Habit Of Going And Engaging In The Routine
- Know Why You Are Doing It
- Start Slow And Do Not Try To Rush All The Exercises
- Start Simple With The Exercises We Posted
- Be consistent
- Involve Other People
- Don’t try to over do it.
The 7 points are designed to keep you on task with what you are trying to do. Establishing the habit of going means turning your ‘should’ and ‘ought’ statements into action. It means showing up, and performing at least half the exercises before you give yourself permission to head home. If you are struggling to get out to the gym, know that simply getting there and changing into your workout clothes is enough to keep you motivated throughout the rest of your time.
Keeping in mind why you are exercising is another important way to stay motivated. Know that you are becoming stronger, reducing your chance of diseases, reducing your chance of getting sick, and helping out your future self a lot. It is important to remember that in exercising, blaming yourself or judging yourself for not living up to a lofty expectation will never help.
Starting slow and simple means that you do not try to rush or add too much additional exercising to what is listed. It is common to be very motivated, especially at the start. Keep that in check and you will reduce your chance of burnout as well as injury. In addition, taking the time to do each of the exercises correctly will provide far better results after the 15 days than attempting to rush them.
Being consistent means getting through each of the exercises to the best of your ability. You will have to push yourself at times to finish a set. Know that it will be more than worth it in the future.
Staying motivated can mean engaging other people in your workout. Post about what you are doing, get family and social support, and even try to engage others who can join you. Doing so will provide ample reasons for you to continue exercising, even if your interest isn’t there personally.
As a final point, we reiterate what we’ve said again and again, don’t try to overdo it. Take the middle path, and push yourself as you follow the guide but don’t try to stress your body to the point where it is harmful. Work to identify your limitations, and best of luck as you succeed in completing the 15day woman bodyweight challenge!
