Want to lose weight, improve your overall fitness or just kick your wellbeing into shape? You can get it done in just 21 days! This is according to trainer Marco Borges, author of Power Moves, who argues that his supershaper workout delivers wow effects that will keep you hooked. Borges asserts, ‘In less than a month you can not only sculpt a new body but, more important, change your exercise attitude.’ There’s nothing more important that an exercise attitude when it comes to getting the body you want. After all, if you get out of bed in the morning feeling pumped and ready to go, you’re going to get far better results than if you can barely drag yourself to the gym, and Borge has a routine that his A-list clientele, including Beyonce, swear by.
What’s the secret to fitness success? Borge claims that his exercise-enthusiasm-inducing magic mix contains eight allover toners plus a dose of cardio on most days. He notes, ‘A five-days-a-week commitment is the key to both quick weight loss results and making a routine stick.’ The point to his “no excuses” plan is that it helps you to form some serious fitness habits, getting you to add sets and reps of the sculpting moves every week, as well as inserting an extra 10 minutes into your cardio routine. In order to get started, all you need is a five to 10-pound medicine ball or a dumbbell of the same weight, as well as a commitment to the plan. All you need to do is give it three weeks of your life, and you’ll never feel the same again.
Borge’s approach to fitness is not just about getting you to pump more iron or run more laps; you also need to work on your mindset if you’re ever going to achieve your goals. Therefore, he breaks each week down into two categories; exercises for the body and exercises for the mind (don’t worry, that doesn’t mean you have to start doing brain training exercises like sudoku or anything!)
Week One: Week one’s mind challenge is to write down your progress in a journal, so that you can see it all in black and white. Borge advises, ‘Dedicate five minutes a day to keeping an exercise journal, noting how you feel after each workout or how you stay active.’ When you see how you are achieving your daily goals, this will help to build the momentum you need to keep going. But which lovely goals should you see written down in your fitness journal? For your body work, Borge notes that you need to do two sets of 8 to 12 reps per resistance-training move (of your choice) twice a week on non-consecutive days. You also need to incorporate 25 to 35 minutes of cardio exercise into your routine on five days during the week.
Week two: Your mind challenge this week is to plan ahead. Waiting for a break in your day is a good way to get you exercising in the beginning, but if something comes up or you just don’t find a space in your day, your fitness plan can fall by the wayside. Therefore, Borge recommends that you schedule it the night before. Your body routine for this week should involve doing three sets of eight to 12 reps per move three times a week and 35 to 45 minutes of cardio five days a week. Remember to do your cardio first on weight-lifting days.
Week three: Get your brain into shape by finding solutions, not excuses. You may think you don’t have time for a full session, but instead of quitting, you can break it into 10-minute bits. ‘Once you’ve started, it’s easier to keep going than it is to quit,’ Borges says. You need to achieve three sets of 15 to 20 reps per move three times a week and 45 to 55 minutes of cardio five days a week – go on, you know you can do it!