BLAKE LIVELY PROGRAM

I have trained training Blake for over a decade! She is amazing human being and I am grateful for all her support.

This is a dumbbell only program. All you need is a pair of dumbbells.

Everyone starts at different strength levels. When selecting weights, I recommend starting easy during the first week. Get familiar with the program & track your weights. (Playbook now has logging!) The goal of my programming is to work up to 1-2 reps from failure. In other words, when completing sets with a particular weight you should have enough “gas left in the tank” to hit 1-2 more reps. Never sacrifice form to increase weight.

If you complete your last set and you can complete an additional 3-5 reps, then it is time to increase the weight. Don’t be afraid to go heavy, as long as you don’t sacrifice form.

For all unilateral (one-sided movement), perform the programmed number of reps on each side. Exercises labeled alternating, single arm, or single leg are easy to identify as unilateral movements. However, there are other unilateral movements that don’t have these indicator words such as walking lunges, hip flexor stretch, side planks, bear crawls, etc.

I never program rest during the warmup. The warmup is meant to increase your heart rate and therefore your blood flow which enables more oxygen to reach your muscles. The movements are not overly strenuous, and you do not need to rest between the rounds. However, if you need rest, take it!

Every exercise has a video tutorial. Please look through the exercises to ensure you know how to complete the movements properly. I recommend watching all the exercise you are unfamiliar with prior to starting your workout. This will ensure a smooth workout with little to no referencing the videos. — Which will overlap the music on your phone.

Non-Scale Victory! These are improvements that may go unnoticed if you are only focused on the scale. For example: your clothes fitting better, more active with your family, more energy for life, improved sleep, hitting new RPs, losing inches not pounds, improved mental health, improved medical markers (blood pressure & blood sugar levels). Your health journey is so much more than a number on a scale.

Take Pictures! You don’t have to post them anywhere. While you are burning fat you are also gaining muscle. The scale will not tell the whole story. Before and after photos are a great way to track body composition changes. 


Take an honest look at your day. What are you doing with the other 23 hours? Training for 1 hour per day and then spending the remainder of the day anchored to a desk or motionless on the sofa will not lead to massive results. In addition to this program, I highly recommend getting around 10,000 steps per day. If you are nowhere near 10,000, just focus on improving.

Consistency. Once consistency is mastered, you can start focusing on your intensity.