In-Shape Fitness · Dover, Fairfield
Machine-only. Full body each session. Core every day. 45–55 min midday window.
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High daily stress and poor sleep raise cortisol, which directly slows fat loss and impairs recovery between sessions.
On nights with under 5 hours: finish the lifting, skip or cut cardio to 10 minutes, and leave. Sessions under 60 minutes also prevent cortisol from climbing further during the workout — part of why this plan is built the way it is.
Feet mid-plate, shoulder-width. Press through your heels and keep knees tracking over your toes. Lower until thighs reach roughly 90 degrees — don't bounce the platform at the bottom.
Pad just above your ankles. Pull all the way through and hold a half-second at full contraction. Return slowly — don't let the stack drop on its own.
Seat height: handles at mid-chest. Back flat against the pad throughout. Press to full extension without locking elbows hard. Control the return.
Grip slightly wider than shoulders, palms away. Lean back slightly, pull to upper chest. Lead with your elbows driving down and back — treat your hands as hooks, not pullers. Squeeze at the bottom.
Handles start at shoulder height. Press up without shrugging your traps toward your ears. Stop just short of locking out. Lower slowly — this is where most of the work happens.
Pad on top of your shins, just above the ankles. Extend fully, hold for a count at the top. Lower in 3 slow counts. Don't let your hips lift off the seat to get the weight up.
Sit upright, back flat. Push knees outward in a controlled arc — no swinging. Hold at the widest point, then return slowly. Control matters more than load here.
Elbows at shoulder height on the pads. Bring arms together in a smooth arc — like hugging a barrel. Stop just before elbows touch. Don't let the machine snap your arms back open.
Chest against the pad, spine neutral. Pull handles to your lower ribcage. Squeeze your shoulder blades together at the back position. Control the return — don't let your torso round forward.
Face the machine, chest against the pad. Arms slightly bent, lead with elbows pulling outward and back — not your hands. Think reverse hug. Shoulders stay down throughout.
Shift feet to the upper third of the plate. This angle loads the glutes and hamstrings more than standard placement. Press through your whole foot — heels especially. Lower slowly, don't bounce.
Targets the upper chest more than Day A's flat press. Handles at upper-chest level. Brace your core lightly so your lower back doesn't arch away from the pad. Full press, controlled return.
Use the neutral-grip (palms facing each other) close handle. Pull elbows straight down along your sides. Hits the lower lats more than Day A's wide grip. Same cue: lead with elbows, not hands.
Rope or straight bar on the cable column. Elbows pinned to your sides — they stay there. Push to full extension, then let the cable bring your forearms back slowly. Elbows flaring out means the weight is too heavy.
Low pulley, EZ or straight bar. Stand close enough for tension at the bottom. Curl from full extension to full contraction, elbows stationary at your sides. Don't lean back to swing the weight up.
Kneeling, rope behind head. Your ribcage curls down toward your hips — not your head to your knees. Contract hard at the bottom, pause, then return. If your hip flexors are doing the work, you've lost the position.
Arms on the pads, back flat. Bring knees up and curl your pelvis forward slightly at the top — that tilt is what hits the lower abs. Lower with control. When this gets easy, straighten your legs.
Rotate through your torso — let your navel lead the turn, not just your arms. Smooth arcs, no jerking. If the rotation machine is taken, do cable woodchops: high pulley, pull diagonally across your body, 12 reps per side.
Default: incline walk. Set incline to 8–12%, speed to a pace where you are breathing harder but can still talk. Fits inside the total time budget and burns more per minute than flat walking at the same speed.
Once a week, swap for intervals: 1 minute hard, 2 minutes easy walk, repeated 4–5 times. Cap interval days at 12 minutes total.
On rough sleep or high-stress days: 10 minutes flat walk, then leave. Finishing the lifting matters more.
When you hit the top of the rep range on every set with clean form, go up one notch next time. One notch. One exercise at a time, not everything at once.
After Week 4, return to Week 1 with the heavier weights you have built up to. This is how you keep progressing past the first month without grinding yourself into the ground.
Rest 60–90 seconds between sets. On low-sleep or high-stress days, taking 2 minutes is fine — pushing short rest just makes the session feel worse for no extra benefit.