Nicola Hogan Fitness Coach

The hardest part of fitness, usually isn't the session itself....

It is to stop negotiating with yourself & follow through.

It is making the decision & showing up.

But once it's done, you never regret giving that one hour to yourself.

The workout, the run, the walk, it's a reminder that you can follow through even when you don't feel like it.

It doesn't need to be perfect, it doesn't need to be your favourite session.

But that feeling afterwards, knowing that you still showed up for yourself.

That's always worth it ❤️

Kicking the week off with a workout focused on the Back & Biceps 💪

1️⃣ Gorilla Row / 3x8 each side.

2️⃣ Single Arm Preacher Curl / 3x10 each side.

3️⃣ Lat Pull Down / 3x10-12.

4️⃣ Iso Hammer Curl / 3x8 each side.

5️⃣ Barbell Bentover Row / 3x8-10.

6️⃣ Chest Supported Reverse Fly / 3x10-12.

Save it & try it for yourself 🔥

Here is a workout to target 🎯 your ABS 🔥

1️⃣ Abducting V-Lift.

2️⃣ Side to Side Knee Tuck.

3️⃣ Diagonal V-Lift.

4️⃣ Plank Pull Through.

✖️ 8-12 reps.
✖️ 3 rounds.

Save it & try it for yourself 👊

A well designed program will always place a lot of emphasis on OVERLOAD.

This means the program should get progressively more difficult over time.

Which is essential for making long term progress.

Here are a few ways you can increase intensity & effectively apply overload into your training without continually increase weights/reps.

1️⃣ ESSENTRICS

Using assistance on the concentric phase then removing the assistance on the eccentric phase.

2️⃣ ISOMETRICS

Adding a pause at the hardest part of the exercise to increase time under tension.

3️⃣ PARTIAL REPS.

Adding half or quarter reps to an exercise increases the duration of each rep and the amount of muscle contractions.

I am using press ups and pull ups to demonstrate but you can apply these methods to pretty much any exercise to increase the intensity of the movement 💪

Here is a simple but effective lower body workout focused on the Legs & Glutes for you to try 🔥

1️⃣ Barbell Deficit Lunge / 3x6 each side.

2️⃣ Barbell Romanian Deadlift / 3x8-10.

3️⃣ Dumbbell Front Squat / 3x8-10.

4️⃣ Single Leg Bridge / 3x10 each side.

Save it & try it for yourself 🙌

Lateral raises are a great exercise for targeting & strengthening the shoulders.

They are an isolation exercise.

An isolation exercise is a term used to describe an exercise that involves using only one joint and one muscle group.

For lateral raises this would be the side delts.

There are a few ways you can change the range of motion, muscle activation and difficulty of the movement.

Here are 6 different variations you can try next time you are working your Shoulders 🔥

1️⃣ Inward Leaning Dumbbell Lateral Raise.

2️⃣ Bilateral Dumbbell Lateral Raise.

3️⃣ Single Arm Leaning Cable Lateral Raise.

4️⃣ Seated Lateral Raise.

5️⃣ Side Lying Lateral Raise.

6️⃣ Iso Lateral Raise.

Save them & try them for yourself 💪

Monday is not punishment for enjoying your weekend.

You don't need to 'make up' for going out to dinner, having dessert or having a life outside of your routine.

Beating yourself up, less food, more cardio....

That's guilt disguised as discipline.

Instead of asking "how do I make up for it".

Try asking "what's the next step to move me forward".

Return to routine.

Plan your next session.
Prioritize protein.
Drink your water.
Get out for a walk.

The whole point of building a routine is to improve your life, not to make you feel guilty for living it ✨🤍

Here is a workout focused on building & strengthening your Abs 🔥

1️⃣ Weighted Hip Driver.

2️⃣ Feet Elevated Sit Up.

3️⃣ Weighted Around the World.

4️⃣ Feet Elevated Shoulder Taps.

✖️ 8-10 reps.
✖️ 3 rounds.

Save it & try it for yourself 🙌

In case you needed a reminder...

The days you least feel like it are usually the days that matter the most 💯

Here is a workout focused on the Biceps & Back using only the cable machine 💪

1️⃣ Bicep Curl / 3x8-10.

2️⃣ Single Arm Row / 3x8 each side.

3️⃣ High Curl / 3x10.

4️⃣ Wide Grip Lat Pull Down / 3x8-10.

5️⃣ Single Arm Hammer Curl / 3x8 each side.

6️⃣ Reverse Fly / 3x10-12.

The cables are a great way to provide constant tension while lifting and lowering the weight which helps increase muscle activation.

Save it & try it for yourself 🔥