How to get in awesome shape in 3 weeks!

Dare to take our ultimate fitness challenge?

workout

Presenting Part 2 of the series.

PART 1: New Year Countdown: The ultimate 5-week fitness challenge

Week 2: Understand macro-nutrition.

In fitness, there are 5 golden rules.

1. Exercise
2. Eat right
3. Sleep well
4. Drink water regularly
5. Be patient

People exercise, sleep and drink water in most cases, but fail to take in the right food at the right time.

When working out, it's important to know and calculate your macro-nutrients, which are protein, fat and carbs.

Carbs are a source of energy, whereas good fat, which is great source of Omega 3 is needed to keep your body healthy.

Out of all your macro-nutrients, proteins are very essential.

You can consume carbs and fats from various sources, but often fail to take in the right amount of protein, which is essential for muscle recovery, repair and growth.

How to calculate your macros:

Body weight in kg x 1.5 for protein
Body weight in kg x 1.4 for carb
Body weight in kg (divided by) 4 for fat

This pattern is ideal for anyone who wants to lose weight.

Each gram of protein has four calories.

Each gram of carb has four calories.

Each gram of fat has 9 calories.

Based on the calculation, a 80 kg individual will be taking the following:

80 kg x 1.5 = 120 gm protein x 4 = 480 calories

80 kg x 1.5 = 120 carbs x 4 = 480 calories

80 kg/4 = 20 fat x 9 = 180 calories

The total number of calories consumed are 1140, which is ideal for anyone trying to lose weight.

The calorie intake only goes up with time as you need to keep adding 10 per cent more to it every week, since your body require more energy.

From the last week, you might be a little sore, which is very normal.

This week, we are going to up our game a little and try to push harder when exercising.

Recommended workout routine for week 2:

4 sets of 50 high knees

Stand upright with your feet apart. Hold out your hands straight, at your hip level.
Contract your abdominal muscles. Make sure to keep your core tight throughout the exercise.
Begin jogging and eventually, lift your knees higher.
Try to touch your knees to your hands.
Make sure that you are lifting your knees higher, so that they can touch your hands, not the other way around. Repeat.

4 sets of 10 push-ups

Get down on your knees and place both your palms to the ground. Make sure the distance between them is a bit wider that your shoulders.
Contract your abdominal muscles, inhale and slowly bend your elbows and lower your chest until your chin is close to the ground.
Do not push out your buttocks and make sure your body is straight, from the top of your head to the end of your spine.
Focus on your breathing and hold that position for 10 seconds. Exhale.
Return to the starting position. Repeat.

4 sets of 25 jumping jacks

Stand up straight with your hands by your sides and feet together, in an attention position.
Quickly jump while spreading your feet towards your sides and by bringing your arms directly over your head.
Immediately reverse the movement to jump back to the standing position. Repeat.

4 sets of 12 alternate bicep dumbbell curl

Stand up straight with a dumbbell in each hand at arm's length.
Keep your elbows close to your torso and your palms facing upwards.
Now, keeping the upper arms stationary, exhale and curl the weights while contracting your biceps.
Alternate between both hands.

4 sets of 12 shoulder dumbbell press

Sit on a bench with back support and hold a dumbbell in each hand.
Spread your feet so that they are about hip-width apart.
Bring the dumbbells to your ear level by bending your elbows and raising your arms to shoulder level.
Leave a small gap between your back and the bench by tightening your abdominal muscles and placing the back of your head against the pad.
Push the dumbbells up and in, until the ends of the dumbbells touch lightly, directly over your head, and then lower the dumbbells back to ear level. Repeat.

4 sets of 30 sec wall sit

Stand up straight with your back against the wall.
Slowly, move your feet forward so that your knees are at a 90 degree angle and your hamstrings are parallel to the floor.
Hold this position for 30 seconds.
Slowly, come back up. Repeat.

4 sets of 30 sec plank hold

Lie face down and position your palms parallel to your shoulders and your feet flexed with your toes on the floor.
Inhale and slowly raise your body up. Your body should make a straight line from your head to your toes. Tighten your core and buttocks.
Focus on your breathing and count to ten.
Slowly exhale and lower yourself back to the floor. Repeat.

4 sets of 20 squats

Stand with your feet open slightly wider than hip distance apart and pointing slightly outwards.
Look straight ahead and not down towards the floor. You can keep your hands straight out, parallel to the floor or create a fist.
Inhale, lower your body by pushing your hips out towards the back. Try and go as low as possible so that your hip joint is parallel to the floor.
Exhale, press into your heels, and keeping the balls of your feet on the floor, straighten your knees. Repeat.

10 mins walk at a mild pace.

For this week the intensity has gone up a bit as the workouts will be 35 to 40 minutes long.

All you need is a pair of dumbbells and these workouts can be performed form the comfort of our home.

Keep 30 - 45 second breaks between the sets and 1 to 1.5 minutes between exercises.

The author is the founder of My Bollywood Body, a popular online fitness platform based in Canada, which promotes the concept of E-Gymmimg.

Lead photograph: Kind courtesy Neel Shakilov/Pixabay.com