7 Minute Health

As an athlete all through school and college I found myself never getting muscular, though I also never got fat either as I had a high metabolism and was probably not doing what I should have been doing in terms of proper nutrition and lifting weights.

Now don't get me wrong...I always ate pretty good, though I never watched what I ate and never took any supplements growing up.  I was a meat and potatoes type of person but burned a lot of calories playing many sports all year round from baseball, basketball, football and for the longest time, lacrosse, which I also played in college.

Heck, I could come home after a night out in college, sit down and have a bag of Doritos, then follow it with something sweet like a candy bar and not think anything of it...the problem is I still like to (and think I can) do the same thing.  Nowadays it will make me fatter as I am not nearly as active as I have been since college, though the last few years I have been getting back into it and kicking my metabolism into gear.

The 7 Minute Workout by Now Lifestyle

While I had tried a protein shake now and again from places like Arbonne or Beach Body, I never got into the "do it daily" routine of being fit and getting healthy  with a program like those as an adult and parent of three daughters.  That changed back in January 2017, when I found the Now Lifestyle platform and their Now Body products including the 7 Minute Workout along with health supplements.

By found, I really mean I was made aware of it as I had always used the marketing tools offered by the parent company GVO as their CEO, Joel Therien was a bodybuilder and was passionate about his fitness.  When he announced that he was releasing the platform to learn proper nutrition to couple with short workouts I knew it was a good fit as I hated spending a long time working out.  Being the dad of three teenage daughters who are all busy with sports, activities and school events I wanted something to fit my schedule and that I could likely do from home if I needed to.  

The workouts are meant to be short and intense until you reach muscle failure for a specific group of muscles only one time every 10 days.  That there was a huge benefit for me in the beginning as the few times I had tried to get back into shape over the years I went about it wrong...I tried to just jump right in full steam ahead and go all out either running or lifting and then for the next 4-5 days I felt like I could do nothing as my whole body ached or was sore.

I went about it all wrong and this is what most people unfortunately end up doing.  You go crazy at the gym and feel the need to work out every muscle every other day and never really give you muscles time to rest/recover/repair and regrow and thus you do not see the results you want to see and perhaps hurt as well and then shy away from the gym.

Just think about how many people fail on their new years resolutions.  They go gung-ho at the gym, then feel like crap and keep taking days off then get back to it and do the same thing and bring themselves pain and extreme soreness, sometimes never returning.

Now Body and Now Lifestyle 7 Minute Workout Cycles

The Now Body and Now Lifestyle platform breaks down the workouts into a 10 day cycle.  This cycle is broken down into 5 workouts that each function on a major set of muscles or group of muscles and takes place every other day.  You thus get a lot of recover/repair/regrowth time and do not experience full body soreness, though depending on your technique and improvements, you may still experience tightness/soreness in a region for a day or so if failure is reached.

The series goes as follows:

1. Day 1: Back and Biceps
2. Day 2: Active Rest
3. Day 3: Shoulders, Forearms and Abs
4. Day 4: Active Rest
5. Day 5: Hamstrings and calves
6. Day 6: Active Rest
7. Day 7: Chest and Triceps
8. Day 8: Active Rest
9. Day 9: Quads and Glutes
10. Day 10: Active Rest
11. Day 11: Start over cycle again as Day 1 Back and Biceps etc.

Cycle 1: Back and Biceps

NOTE: When you first start any of the activities and exercises be sure you are in proper health to be able to start.  It is recommended you speak with your health care provider before starting any exercise routine or nutritional plan if you feel you are at risk of injury, illness or even death.

Assuming you are ready to get going, as you will notice in my examples below you really do not need to do many exercises each cycle day and thus the reason for being able to have short workouts.  While it is labeled as a 7 Minute Workout you might find yourself in the gym for a half an hour or so if you end up talking to people, waiting for machines and playing on your cell phone instead of actually doing the physical work.

Some examples of back and biceps exercises that are easily accessible at a gym or can be modified from home with resistance bands include but are not limited to back row, lat pull down (close grip/wide grip), dumbell/barbell curls and preacher curls.

Cycle 2: Shoulders, Forearms and Abs

After each workout day there is a rest day, though it should be an active rest day.  You can do any activities you want as long as you do not bring the muscle groups to failure.  It could be running/jogging, swimming, walking/hiking, riding a bike, playing a pick up game of your favorite sport or similar activity that keeps you active and burning calories.

For the official 2nd day of the cycle though, you move to the shoulders, forearms and abs as your major areas of focus.  Some of the exercises you can do on this day include but are not limited to shoulder press, rear delt fly, lateral/forward delt fly, shrugs, wrist curls, crunches/sit ups etc.

Cycle 3: Hamstrings and Calves

After two cycles focusing on the upper body muscles, the third cycle heads down to the legs and focuses on hamstrings and calves.  While you may also be doing a lot of active rest activities that require your legs, this day will take it a step further and work you to failure.  

Exercises during this cycle include but are not limited to leg press/squats/walking lunges, seated/lying down leg curls, calve raises and seated raises.

NOTE: If you are attempting some of these with free weights or at home without the aid of a spotter you may risk serious injury so please proceed with caution.  Also be sure to view the image of the correct foot placement and incorrect foot placement that some gyms allow you to easily configure.  For example be sure your feet are the same distance apart based on markings available to help create proper form and prevent injury.

Cycle 4: Chest and Triceps

Cycle 5: Quads and Glutes

On the last day of the cycle we bring it back to the lower body and legs with quads and glute exercises.  These include but are not limited to squats, leg press, seated leg extensons, adductor/abductor machine and rear leg extension.

You will follow this day by another active rest day, so get out and enjoy nature for an afternoon before you start the cycle over again with Back and Biceps.

Active Rest Days

As mentioned above active rest days are the days in between your workout cycles.  While the goal in each cycle is to workout to failure (assuming you have a spotter to help push you through a couple more reps to really achieve proper failure) the goal of active rest days is to get your body moving and  keep your metabolism guessing.  The more active you are the more calories you will burn and thus play a positive role in weight management.

Whether you prefer riding a bike, hiking, swimming, running, playing basketball or walking your dog, being active will bring your energy levels up compared to just sitting on your butt the whole day or a major portion of the day.  Endorphins will continue to flow and make you feel better all around and you might even see things and experience new places that you have never been to before.  Personally I prefer hiking and walking with some running thrown in there, though I also have been known to be a weekend warrior and play some lacrosse games now and again!

Refuel and Recovery

It is just as important what you put into your body as it is what you do to your body in regards to getting yourself into great shape, or at least a better shape.

If you continue to put junk into your body as you workout it will be a struggle to see results as quickly as you wanted to though you might still see them.  On of the most import things you can do after your cycle workouts and having brought your muscle groups to failure is to provide the body with the nutrients it needs to repair and regrow muscle.  The main thing needed for this is protein and especially BCAA's or Branched Chain Amino Acids.

Amino Acids are the building blocks of protein and without them we could not create hormones, enzymes, antibodies and other cell structures and of course muscle tissue.

If you want to improve your chances of developing more muscle which takes up less space than fat and also burns up a lot of calories 24 hours a day, then you need to increase the amount of protein you are consuming on a daily basis.  Most people are protein deficient and eat an excess of carbohydrates, which in turn leads to weight gain over time if not burned off successfully.

Couple that with increased fiber intake and you can reduce your cravings by slowing down the digestive process, maintain blood sugar levels and you will notice that your pants will begin to fit much nicer when you start to drop the pounds.

The Now Body and Now Lifestyle health and fitness plan also carries a line of nutritional supplements that help you meet these needs and include such products as whey protein (vanilla and dutch chocolate), fiber capsules, Creatine, Elevate Energy Booster and Elevate Extreme, LipoXPlus and more to be released as the company continues to grow and meet it's clients needs.

You can order your supplements at http://NowLifestyleStore.com and have them shipped right to your home.

Try Now Body and Now Lifestyle

Right now you can try out the Now Lifestyle and Now Body fitness workouts with no risk as we have a money back guarantee.  Just create a username and you can get an inside look at the members area as well as see more example workouts as well as nutrition and fitness training/education videos from CEO Joel Therien sharing how the 7 Minute workouts and increasing protein/fiber in your diet can cause massive changes in your health and overall well being.

Create your Now Body/Now Lifestyle account at http://7MinuteMuscles.com then just click whether you want to work with Joel Therien (men) or Yevgenia Antonova (women) or just click on their images right below here!