It’s easy to become overwhelmed with options when it comes to choosing YOUR programming and nutrition. There are so many GOOD options, but that does not always translate into something that is right for YOU at this stage in your journey with the goals that you have. The purpose of this post is to assist you nail down a plan that you can feel confident in and excited to be consistent in keeping. Let’s get started (or continue) and PROGRESS with PURPOSE.

I’ll just start by saying the last week of Tighter Together is equally exciting and so so sad! My favorite challenges are the Spring anf Summer challenges because I feel like it’s an amazing time to focus in on fitness goals prior to the change in schedules that Summer brings. We’ve been through it together— this was one of the hardest TT Challenge programming I’ve ever created, so it’s imparitive that we know how to continue the mazing progress that has been started. I never want those of us who have shared such a common bond of sweat, strength and strategic nutrition and so much community integration to feel unsure of how to continue progress! You have all learned AND put into practice things that have the ability to change your life and I’m privileged to have been a small part, thank you! However, whether you completed the challenge or not, I think this post can help you determine an action plan specific to YOU.

1. Continued Fat Loss with Emphasis on a Balance of Resistance + Cardio Workouts:

THIS IS MY RECOMMENDATION FOR MOST PEOPLE

Basically, if you are enjoying the results of TT, but still have further to go towards losing fat and changing the composition of your body, then this is your plan:

Workouts: MOVESAPP : Progam choice: the Weekly Moves Workouts within your workout plans library is going to be most similar to TT style and structure while allowing you NEW workouts every week. These workouts are varied from week to week, but ALWAYS include the foundational movements: squat, deadlift, hip thrust, push, pull, etc. They are designed to be effective, yet engaging. One important reminder that I feel is VERY important to communicate is that you do NOT always need to be in “push” mode. I personally will be doing the MOVESAPP workouts prioritizing the three muscle group specific workouts each week: Lower Body, Upper Body, and Back + Chest. If I get 4-5 workout per week, great— if not, GREAT.

You can easily be in and out in 30 minutes using the notes to shorten or take on the Cardio/Bonus for a little additional length (60-70 minutes). They are brand new every single week and touch on every muscle group + 1 Fast-Paced Conditioning/ Core workout + 1 Full Body Workout. The multiple muscle recruitment + Isolation exercises + plyometrics will give you the most bang for your buck when it comes to changing body composition and building a strong, functional, lean, athletic physique. You can cancel anytime and are not locked into a commitment for more than a month! (more detail)

Move Sweat Shred 8 Week Guide + Move Sweat Shred: ANYWHERE (bands + bodyweight only) are also BOTH available on the App with the subscription. The benefit to having all of these programs at your fingertips is that if you are traveling or short on time, you can just swap a workout from your PLANS tab from Move Sweat Shred Anywhere with minimal thought or effort.

MACROS: It’s so important to me that we understand that difference between “weight loss” and fat loss. The most effective way to burn fat is to build your metabolism through MOSTLY increasing lean muscle tissue (weights) + SOME calorie expenditure (cardio) + SLIGHT/ maintainable deficit (meaning a calorie deficit, but adeqate enough to regulate hormones and support workouts). If you still have 15-20+ lbs to lose, you can stick with your TT macros another 4- 10 weeks. If you decide to continue carb cycling, you can choose to pair your carb cycling days and workouts HOWEVER you prefer— think about it like this: 5 low carb + 2 high carb = 7 total days and the same overall calories no matter how you position them, so YOU can customize! I don’t recommend longer than that without a break (8-14 weeks total deficit).

My recommendation for most people is to recalculate your TT macros to less of a deficit (typically the calculation within the last few pages of your TT manual is still in a slight deficit or very close to maintenance macros depending on the person). This allows your body a break--protects your metabolism from down regulating and adapting, but still gives you the opportunity to use the accuracy of macro counting to continue your goals. PLEASE read the transitional materials provided for you within the manual— Courtney Rushing has contributed such valuable information about next steps and why they are so important.

*HOWEVER, if you are new to macro counting or would like a macro count more tailored to your needs and specific preferences, the Personal Macro Consultation allows me to dive depper into individual factors like diet history, body type, hormonal/thyroid concerns, eating preferences, etc. I simply do not have the capacity to do this for everyone who is a part of the challenge— you have the tools to adjust on your own, but further assistance will requite a consultation. Due to the increased demands, your personal macro consultation may take up to a week to be personally formed and sent. If you need personalized ongoing coaching, I recommend Courtney Rushing and will include that link here: Nutrition Coaching

If you’ve LOVED the Facebook Page and don’t want to lose the community, there is an exclusive page for those subscribed to the weekly moves app for similar comraderie as you complete workouts and encourage others along the way. You will be verified to join since the information shared is specific to the active membership.

2. Reverse Diet + Muscle Growth

Workouts: There is often TOO MUCH emphasis given to the exact “type” of wrorkout and the body composition outcome than is scientifically accurate. You could be doing ANY kind of workout cobined with an overall calorie SURPLUS and you will gain weight of some kind (fat, muscle, or a mixture of both). You could also be UNABLE to workout in any formal way (no workouts at all) paired with an overall calroie DEFICIT and you still will lose weight of some kind (fat, muscle, or a mixture of both). With that said, there are ways to help PAIR your workout efforts + your nutrition efforts to streamline the efficiency of your results and that is what I am here to help you determine. I recommend sticking to the hypertrophy style training (muscle growth) workout in MOVESAPP Weekly Moves Workouts and supplementing with your Tighter Together workouts if you want to add in a second leg day or have multiple upper body/ lower body workouts per week. Example Week: Monday (WMW Legs), Tuesday (WMW Upper Body), Wednesday (TT Back + Chest), Thursday (TT Lower Body) Friday (WMW or TT Full Body). That’s just an example, but if you most desired outcome is a focus on muscle growth, more muscle group specific workouts will be better than conditioning cardio/ full body, etc.

The multiple muscle recruitment will be important for functionality, but Isolation exercises will be your best friend and where you should focus on implementing progressive overload (increasing weights used slowly). I do not recommend the additional cardio bonuses or excessive plyometrics as your goal is slightly different and not focus on cardio or explosive movements that are intended to widen a caloric deficit. Take extra time with exercises that you can progressively overload and be SURE you’re using the app’s capabilites to refer back to prior weights so you are using the calories to PROGRESS forward and lift heavier over time.

EXCITING NEWS!! (likely launching this fall) Brandon Moss, DPT., and I are working to develop an additional strengh straining plan that will also be available to Moves App members for no extra cost in their PLANS library with the below strategy:

Apply evidence-based methods of strength and hypertrophy improvement over a 12 week period. Progressive overload is the primary driver of the improvements we are seeking. In order to ensure this principle is properly applied exercises will need to be repeated and recording of data critical. It is difficult to properly progress if you can’t remember the reps, sets, weight used the last time. Nutrition’s role in this process is also critical. A calorie surplus with a high protein intake will be the best method to ensure muscles have adequate nutrients to grow in response to the stimulus of exercise.

MACROS: Reverse dieting is the process of slowly adding in calories in a specific macro ratio (carbs + fats) to aid in the growth of muscle and increase metabolic capacity. This process can seem intimidating at first as most people are life-long “dieters,” but there is a huge reward in the investment when it comes to metabolic adaption and your future. When you complete a reverse diet and then change your goal or start a fat loss goal down the road, your metabolism will be more responsive since it is working from a much higher baseline intake instead of slowed due to chronic low calorie intake.You also have everything you need to get STARTED within the manual— when you re-calculate your macros to maintenance, you are giving yourself a STARTING POINT with your daily intake and from there, you can monitor your BIOFEEDBACK (information your body is giving you). You can add calories incrementally to “build” or “reverse” your calorie intake to a higher point over time instead of making a large jump. The advantage to doing this is that most people’s capacity to maintain adapts to accomodate the slow increases over time making your “maintenance'“ intake a much higher daily calorie amount. This can be as slowly as you want to or as quickly as you want to— typically in the form of carbs and fats— protein will stay the same. 100 Calories per day per week could look like 25g carbs each day or 10g (40 cals) carbs and 6g ( 54 cals) fats . The ratios and rates of additions will be in your hands. The most important variable is consistency—- it’s typically a slow and steady process and not for everyone. Remember, the main goal is to increase your caloric intake in a way that minimizes fat gain, increases strength, and metabolic rate— to think that reverse dieting = fat loss is a misunderstanding of the intended result.

3. Endurance Based Training with a Continued Foundation of Strength

If you are shifting your exercise goals to be more endurance- focused and to increase your cardio-based performance (half marathon, marathon, triathalon, etc), then I personally recommend the Weekly Moves Workouts (3-4 days a week priorotizing muscle group sepcific workouts: lower body, upper body, and back +chest) + your desired cardio sessions 1-3x a week as needed. You could also complete the Move Sweat Shred 8 Week guide (part of the workout library with the MOVES APP subscription, so you can complete it with added convenience). MSS is designed to work in tandem with a training program so that you can easily substitute cardio for different running/endurance training WHILE increasing speed and decreasing injury and improving body composition. One thing to be aware of us is that Move Sweat Shred does NOT have built in 30 minute versions and does require a gym setting. Weekly Moves Workouts DO have 30 minute versions and can all be done from home.

MSS is designed to have a little more flexibility with cardio and allows two days a week (Wednesday and Saturday) that can easily be your longer runs, while Tuesday’s Upper Body workouts always end with HIIT that can be subbed for a sprint/track/speed workout. Same concepts apply if you follow WEEKLY MOVES (I would skip HIIT Cardio and Full Body weekly and substitute for your training plan).

Nutrition: Unfortunately, I can't give recommendations without being more informed on you personally as this can be highly individual based on the person, their specific training needs and more. If you have experienced the common (and frustrating) weight gain during a training cycle, then I recommend the Personalized Macro Consultation as it allows me all the information I need about your mileage, aesthetic and performance goals. I love to help marathoners fuel their workouts without the unwanted weight gain that can come along with the increase in mileage and ravenous appetites.

4. OTHER

Please always feel the freedom to explore what you find most enjoyable! If it means 2 circuit style workouts a week + a class offered at your gym, then by all means go for it! The goal for any and all of this is for you to realize that perfection is not required, but consistency makes all the difference. SInce you have a foundation of actual understanding of the science of food and it’s nutritional components, this could be an excellent time to practice the “building your plate” method of nutrition. You are going to be inately aware of portion sizes— the need of protein sources, volume foods, nutrient dense carb sources that provide energy and fat sources that you enjoy. Use that knoweldge to loosen the reins and put your working knowledge to the test. It’s a nice way to keep nutrition from becoming too “data-driven.” Every few days or weeks, you may want to use a method to track your intake as a little “check-in” to see where things are falling and areas you may need to adjust.

I really do care about your next steps…..not only fitness related, but as a PERSON, so let me share a few practical things:

LIVE A LITTLE

You heard me! This challenge had a different personal approach for me since other areas of my life matter more to me than external physique changes— I hardly tracked macros this challenge at all and still loved it! You never have to force yourself into a mindset that isn’t meant for you in the stage you’re finding yourself. I love the TT workouts, but nutrition is something I’ve built up over time and being used to eating quite a bit more prior to the challenge, I didn’t see any benefit to sacrificing that. I don’t mean for that information to make you feel poorly about yourself if you were used to eating much less and struggling to meet yours. We are all somewhere in this journey, but HARDLY the same place. I hope that this challenged has encouraged US to be people who bust their butts when it’s time to work out, but then have an equally good time making memories even if it means missing a workout. I can only promise that this life is shorter than we realize and I KNOW none of us will regret the relationships or deep belly laughs we share with others….

Embrace the Phase YOU Are In

This one is easier said than done, but I’m trying DAILY to discipline myself and share it as I do. None of us sees the nitty gritty parts of each others lives in full disclosure, but we can assume that they are there and BE KIND. So, whether you’re a mom who can’t catch a minute alone, or someone WISHING they were a mom more than anything and it hasn’t happened, or maybe a student who is tight on resources, or a boss babe laser focused on a career path that takes determination and daily energy....we have a common thread. We are all guilty of looking to another person’s life and wishing to take bits and pieces and add them to our own. Resist the urge! Comparison is a game that has no winner. We are all so much more alike than we are different and there is much more to be gained when we are uplifting in our thoughts and words to ourselves and others. At the end of this life, your body will not be your legacy— in fact, nobody will care (including you)-- cling to things that have eternal rewards!

Find joy in your daily routine, make a change if it’s needed, but build up and uplift others as you do.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

+ Are there videos of the workouts?

YES! There are form videos of every exercise in the workout library and Tighter Together challenge workouts. Form is extremely important to me and is crucial to being able to progressively overload and stay injury free!

+ Can the workouts be done from home or a gym?

All workouts can be done from home or a gym setting. When there are machines used (rarely), there is an “alternate exercise” feature within the app that provides an at-home alternative to target the same muscle in the same way! Over 65% of app members complete all workouts from home.

+ What workout equipment is needed?

The Moves app contains an entire bands + bodyweight only guide (Move Sweat Shred Anywhere) perfect for travel. For other workouts, a gym will have all required equipment and below are the at-home recommendations:

DUMBBELLS-- I RECOMMEND A VARIETY IF POSSIBLE, RANGING FROM 5-20 LBS, BUT THE SPECIFIC AMOUNTS WILL DEPEND ON YOUR FITNESS LEVEL.
[RESISTANCE CABLES]1 WITH HANDLES or LOOP BANDS**-- (SUBSTITUTE FOR CABLE MACHINE)- THE RESISTANCE ALSO DEPENDS ON FITNESS LEVEL. The LOOP Bands are very versatile as you can wrap them around anything stationary as well as use them during the MSS: ANYWHERE workouts, so I recommend those! Yellow, Red and Blue are the resistance levels I use most and range from 5-65 lbs resistance. The discount is applied through this link!
KETTLEBELL- (OPTIONAL) THE WEIGHT COULD BE ANYWHERE FROM 15-40 LBS AND ISN'T REQUIRED, BUT IS HELPFUL! YOU CAN ALWAYS SUBSTITUTE A SINGLE DUMBBELL AND HOLD IT ON IT'S END TO CREATE A SIMILAR TOOL
MEDICINE BALL- (OPTIONAL)10-15 LBS WOULD BE IDEAL.
RESISTANCE BANDS- THESE ARE GREAT FOR UPPING THE INTENSITY OF LEG DAY, AND THIS LINK INCLUDES AN APPLIED DISCOUNT!
STEP- COULD BE A CHAIR, A STURDY BOX, ANYTHING
OPTIONAL: BARBELL, JUMP ROPE, CARDIO MACHINES

+ What is the average length of workouts?

Weekly Moves workouts typically take around 45 minutes- 1 hour, but this will greatly vary based on the individual. If 30 minute workouts are your sweet spot, I have you covered! There are notes within each workout giving a 30 minute option.

+ What does the Moves App Library Include?

Weekly Moves Workouts - Uploaded every week and most focused on body compositional changes with a lots of variation, but rooted in the ability to build lean muscle and create a strong, functional physique.

Move Sweat Shred - 8 Week Guide with a greater cardio emphasis. Slightly more plyometrics, high intensity intervals and recommendations for built-in cardio. Perfect for RUNNERS or endurance athletes who also want to maintain the element of strength training.

Move Sweat Shred: ANYWHERE - 4 Week Guide with short, high intensity focused workouts with bands and bodyweight ONLY. Perfect for travel and quick workouts-- both muscle group specific and full body included!

+ Can I Switch Between the available programs anytime?

YES! The entire library is at your fingertips for anytime your needs change. You can switch between the guides at any time as they are all available to you in your PLANS tab.

+ What is the Weekly Moves Workouts split/schedule?

Any of the 5 workouts can be completed at any time that is convenient for you, but the overview of the week is: Monday - Legs + Glutes Tuesday - Upper Body + Low Intensity Steady State Cardio (optional) Wednesday - Cardio + Core + Conditioning- Full Body, sweaty, higher intensity Thursday - Back + Chest Focused (optional core and optional cardio) Friday - Full Body (a favorite of many people with lots of variation, challenges, etc)

+ For what Fitness Level is MOVES App designed?

There is something for everyone within the available programs. Move Sweat Shred is progressive in difficulty as you move through the weeks. My recommendation to start is to reduce weekly moves workout by 1-2 rounds per circuit to allow strength and stamina to build-- you’ll be amazed how quickly you are completing full workouts. The mantra “modify and go” is LOVED within the community. Some days you will have more time, more energy, more strength to give towards your workout and some days 1 round of each circuit is a day well done! The beauty of the workout structure is that it’s very adaptable to the individual and their needs.