Strength Circuit Workout | Body Recomposition Workout Plan Day 29

Is Coconut Oil Bad For You Now? | Strength Workout | Live Lean Shred Ep. 29

On today’s episode of Live Lean TV, I’m taking you through strength circuit workout #17 from the Afterburn 1.0 body recomposition workout plan.

Welcome back to day 29 of the Live Lean Shred 42 day body recomposition workout plan.

If you’re still with us at this point, I’m sure you are crushing it.

I’m going head down to the gym very shortly.

Jessica was going to help me film, however since it’s baby Kyla’s nap time, somebody has to stay with her.

This means I’m going to have to film this strength circuit workout for you vlog style.

I’ll try talking to you throughout the workout, however we’ll see how busy the gym is.

If you haven’t downloaded the workout yet, you can sign up here to get the new workout PDFs emailed to you for free.

Table Of Contents – Jump To:

What Does Jessica Add To Her Coffee?

Jessica enjoys drinking coffee while she works on her writing projects.

Here’s what Jessica normally adds to her coffee:

1. Splash Of Half And Half: which is a mixture of equal parts whole milk and cream.
2. No Sugar: she doesn’t like sweet coffee.

She either drinks straight black coffee or with just a dash of half and half, but not too much.

Unlike me, she doesn’t drink coconut oil coffee.

It’s not that she doesn’t like the taste of coconut oil coffee, she just finds it too much effort to put the coffee in the blender.

Don’t worry she admits that it is a very lazy excuse.

Like I always say, health takes a little bit of effort.

I like to take the extra time to make my coconut oil coffee because I love the taste and adding coconut oil does have a lot health benefits.

I find the combination of caffeine and coconut oil makes me feel focused and alert, and by adding healthy fats, it keeps me feeling more satiated.

Is Coconut Oil Bad For You Now?

Speaking of healthy fats, we should probably talk about coconut oil because we’ve been asked this question so often.

We’re on Facebook all the time running our groups, so we always see this “breaking news” ad or article that says coconut oil is bad for you.

Since coconut oil is “trendy” these days, it means more people are using it then before.

When something is trendy, the media always picks up on it.

Consequently, there is widespread concern following the media’s coverage on an article claiming coconut oil is now considered unhealthy.

Here’s the deal.

The American Heart Association (AHA) came out with a report saying coconut oil is bad for you.

Here’s My Take On It

Don’t be a headline reader.

It’s hard for me to sit here and argue with the America Heart Association.

However, based on my personal experience and insights from natural health experts and doctors specializing in these areas, they strongly advocate for coconut oil and the consumption of saturated fats.

They argue that saturated fats are not responsible for heart disease or elevated cholesterol levels.

The true cause of heart disease and bad cholesterol comes from the overconsumption of unnatural processed foods.

A lot of these articles are recommending you replace coconut oil with vegetable oils, including canola oil and soybean oil.

Just think about the motives behind these reports.

I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but think about how the cholesterol lowering pharmaceutical drug business is a billion dollar industry.

What do they tell them to do?

Replace coconut oil with vegetable oils such as soybean oil and canola oil, which create excessive inflammation in your body.

When you continue consuming those inflammatory foods, bad cholesterol goes up, then doctors recommend these pharmaceutical pills.

Everybody’s happy, except for you.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but when I think about this, it makes me so sad.

The individuals I admire in this field, who are making significant strides, not just in fitness but in health as well, are in their 60s and 70s yet appear as youthful as someone in their 20s.

Those are the people that I’m listening to.

Bottom Line On Coconut Oil

I always say, you do you.

This means paying attention to your personal life experiences and your body’s responses, informed by your blood test results.

If your results are good, keep it up.

In the end, it’s your choice, but I’m keeping coconut oil in my diet because I love it and stand by it.

Strength Circuit Workout #5 | Body Recomposition Workout Plan

I’m back in the gym for another strength day.

This is strength workout #5 from our Live Lean Afterburn 1.0 body recomposition workout plan.

Here’s the PDF of today’s strength training circuit workout, complete with links to all the exercise demonstration videos.

If you haven’t accessed the Afterburn 1.0 workout PDFs yet, sign up here for free to get every workout emailed to you.

This workout follows the same structure as the previous strength training circuit workouts:

• Strength Circuit Workout #1
• Strength Circuit Workout #2
• Strength Circuit Workout #3
• Strength Circuit Workout #4

How Much Weight Should You Be Lifting?

Since it’s a strength day workout, the goal is to pick a heavy enough weight load that will allow you to hit muscle failure between 5-8 reps.

Failing out simply means after the 5-8 rep, you should have nothing left in the tank to lift another rep.

If you can hit 9 reps with that weight, it’s too light.

Stop and increase the weight on your next set.

That’s how much weight you should be lifting for every set.

Note: It’s going to be hard for me to max out on some lifts because there is not has enough weight in my condo gym.

If this is the case, the key is to slow down the tempo to make the lighter weights feel heavier.

Are you ready?

4 Minute Warm Up

Before beginning the strength workout, perform the following 4 minute warm-up:

• WU1. Seal Jacks x 30 seconds
• WU2. Air Squats x 30 seconds
• WU3. Push Up x 30 seconds
• WU4. Alternating Pendulum Lunge x 30 seconds

Complete this circuit two times consecutively, without resting between exercises.

Strength Circuit A

Before beginning the first exercise, ensure you’ve set up your circuit station with all necessary equipment and weights.

Here are the four exercises in strength circuit A.

A1. Barbell Deadlift

The first exercise in strength circuit A is the barbell deadlift.

Barbell Substitution: Smith Machine Deadlift

• Total reps from all sets combined: 25
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 4-5
• Rest: 20 seconds

Coaching cues:

• Since my gym did not have a free weight Olympic barbell, I had to replace the barbell deadlift with the Smith machine deadlift.
• If you have access to a free weight barbell, opt for that instead of the Smith machine.

A2. Weighted Wide Grip Pull Up With Dumbbell Between Thighs

The second exercise in strength circuit A is the weighted wide grip pull up with dumbbell between thighs.

• Total reps from all sets combined: 30
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 4-6
• Rest: 20 seconds

Coaching cues:

• If you have access to a weight dip belt, you could also do the weighted wide grip pull up with weight plate and belt.

A3. Dumbbell Flat Bench Press

The third exercise in strength circuit A is the dumbbell flat bench press.

• Total reps from all sets combined: 35
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 5-7
• Rest: 20 seconds

A4. Standing Arnold Press

The last exercise in strength circuit A is the standing arnold press.

• Total reps from all sets combined: 30
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 4-6
• Rest: 60 seconds

Coaching cues:

• You can also do the seated arnold press.
• During my first set of the standing arnold press I had about two more reps left in me after hitting the 8th rep.
• If this happens to you, keep that in mind so you can increase the weight for your next set.
• Keep increasing the weight to get stronger.

After you complete all the indicated reps for every exercise, move on to the ignite it up.

Ignite It Up: Split Squat

The ingite it up exercise is the split squat, often referred to as the stationary lunge.

• Reps: 30 seconds per leg
• Sets: 1
• Rest: 60 seconds

Coaching cues:

• Let’s get to work and pick up the energy.
• After the ignite it up, take a 60 second rest, then move on to strength circuit B.

Strength Circuit B

Complete the following 4 exercises in strength circuit B.

B1. Barbell Back Squat

The first exercise in strength circuit B is the barbell back squat.

Barbell Substitution: Smith Machine Back Squat

• Total reps from all sets combined: 25
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 4-5
• Rest: 20 seconds

Coaching cues:

• Due to not having access to a free weight Olympic barbell at my condo gym, I substituted the barbell back squat with the Smith machine back squat.
• If you have access to a free weight barbell, choose that over the Smith machine.

B2. Barbell Upright Row

The second exercise in strength circuit B is the barbell upright row.

Barbell Substitution: Smith Machine Upright Row

• Total reps from all sets combined: 35
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 5-7
• Rest: 20 seconds

Coaching cues:

• If you have access to an olympic barbell use it instead of the smith machine.
• Opting for a wider grip can increase shoulder safety during the barbell upright row.

B3. Barbell Push Press

The third exercise of strength circuit B is the barbell push press.

Barbell Substitution: Dumbbell Push Press

• Total reps from all sets combined: 30
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 4-6
• Rest: 20 seconds

Coaching cues:

• Since there is no Olympic barbell here, I have to do push presses with dumbbells.
• Pick up some heavy dumbbells, lock down that form, and get stronger.

B4. Barbell Romanian Deadlift

The last exercise of strength circuit B is the barbell romanian deadlift.

Barbell Substitution: Smith Machine Romanian Deadlift

• Total reps from all sets combined: 25
• Reps per set: 5-8
• Sets: 4-5
• Rest: 60 seconds

Coaching cues:

• Since I did not have access to a free weight Olympic barbell, I had to use the Smith machine.
• If you have access to a free weight barbell, utilize it instead.

After completing the total reps for each exercise, take a 60 second rest, then move on to the 4 minute tabata workout finisher.

4 Minute Tabata Workout Finisher

Since the weather was so beautiful outside, I decided to take my shirt off and get a tan by the pool, while finishing today’s strength circuit workout.

The 4 minute tabata workout finisher is comprised of:

• 20 seconds of work
• 10 seconds of rest
• Repeat for a total of 4 minutes

C1. Mountain Climbers

The first tabata exercise are mountain climbers.

• Reps: 20 seconds
• Rest: 10 seconds
• Sets: 2

Coaching cues:

• Complete 20 seconds, then take a 10 second break before moving on to the next exercise.

C2. Seal Jacks

The second exercise are seal jacks.

• Reps: 20 seconds
• Rest: 10 seconds
• Sets: 2

Coaching cues:

• Complete 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then move on to the next exercise.

C3. Jump Jacks

The third exercise are jumping jacks.

• Reps: 20 seconds
• Rest: 10 seconds
• Sets: 2

Coaching cues:

• Complete 20 seconds of rep, then rest 10 seconds before moving on to the last exercise.

C4. Straight Arm Plank Floor Jack

The last exercise is the straight arm plank jack, also known as the floor jack.

• Reps: 20 seconds
• Rest: 10 seconds
• Sets: 2

Coaching cues:

• Complete for 20 seconds, rest 10 seconds, then repeat the circuit one more time.

Repeat that one more time for two circuits, then you’re done.

Next Workout: Circuit Training Workout #18 | Body Recomposition Workout Plan