Strength Day 2 — V-Shaped Torso, Biceps, Abs, Tabatta

Always use a slow, controlled pace when lifting. And avoid resting between repetitions. Breaks are longer in this phase than you may be used to. You will be best served by adhering to this guideline. This is because when your body has longer to recover between sets, it will regain more of its strength. And that is the focus of this phase in particular. During breaks, if you feel like you need to be doing something, you can work on the following: 1) sitting up straighter, pulling shoulders back, and making a mental note to work on this posture in your daily life, as well 2) update My Fitness Pal to make sure everything is recorded from today so far (that is, if you’re working on your nutrition — if you need help with this, reach out to me directly) 3) perform a stretch or muscle release that you've really enjoyed/found effective from the warmups/at any point in your past 4) unclench your jaw and focus on deep breathing 5) you may complete a one minute plank in between sets - up to 6 sets per workout For your weightlifting sets, the second set should be the hardest set. You may use the first set to get mentally and physically revved up for the rest of the sets. For lower body exercises, you should feel like you have 1-2 perfect reps left in your "tank" when you stop the set. in other words, push yourself JUST SHY of failure. With your upper body exercises, I recommend using weights that initially are on the "safer" side -- remember, going slowly makes everything more difficult. as you develop more confidence and trust in your upper body strength training abilities, you may push yourself to true failure, as long as you are maintaining perfect form and never place yourself in a situation where you may get injured. As always, I look forward to hearing your questions. Please message me directly. Enjoy!