LiveFit Trainer

October 1st marked the beginning of a new program. I usually develop my own workout programs, but I had been looking to try something new. After spending the Summer hemming & hawing, I finally settled on Jamie Eason’s LiveFit Trainer. I looked through the entire program, read through her philosophy and am looking forward to sharing my excitement for the program as well as my progress along the way.

I have been strength training consistently for almost a year now but started to hit some plateaus in my workouts. I was finding it difficult to build muscle and reach the personal goals I had been setting for myself all Summer. So when I found Jamie Eason’s program I was relieved that I would no longer have to put in the time into coming up with my own plans. I’m definitely enjoying having the work already been done for me!

I wanted to reivew the basics of the LiveFit Trainer, because I think it’s amazingly accessible and useful for a broad audience. Even if you don’t have a gym membership, you can use some of her circuits and other home-based workouts to meet your needs. But its Jamie’s philosophy and 3 Phase system that I find to be fairly universal. She really focuses on the basics and fundamentals of nutrition and fitness, which are the building blocks to success no matter what results you are looking to achieve!

Phase I

This is the start to the program. You begin to build healthy habits (in the kitchen and gym!) and get your body used to regular physical activity. Jamie’s program starts slow and builds upon itself, which is nice for anyone no matter your activity level. Phase I allows the body to begin developing and building muslce important for optimal functioning. She does not encourage using the maximum amount of weight you can lift, as you don’t want to subject your body to any injury. What is important to understand, is that Phase I includes ZERO cardio and focuses solely on muscle developement. Cardio tends to break down muscle, so it is very difficult to build muscle/tone when you are performing cardiovascular activity simultaneously. If the body burns fat with cardio workouts, but has not previously developed muscle there will likely be very little muscle tone. This often leads to frustratration and disappointment.

Phase II

By now, if you have committed yourself in Phase I you have begun to see a change in your energy and ability (and willingness!) to challenge yourself physically. The focus of Phase II is the continuation of muscle building, while the introduction of cardio allows for fat burning to begin taking place (without sacrificing the muscle you developed in Phase I). Workouts in Phase II become progressively more intense, as muscle maintenance is an important part of this Phase. Jamie encourages you to challenge your ability to lift heavier weights and limit your rest in between exercises.

Phase III

The last Phase focuses on fat burning while preserving the hard-earned muscle from the previous Phases. “The Phase 3 workouts emphasize techniques designed to enhance the cardiovascular benefits of training.” Jamie puts an incredible amount of focus into nutrition during this Phase. She encourages you to keep track of your nutrient intake (although you likely have already done so since the beginning of the program), and focuses on ensuring there is enough calorie deficit in your meal plan to allow for proper fat burning and subsequent weightloss. This is the Phase where all of your hard work should really pay off!

Jamie Eason. Mind you, this girl is not some huge body builder. She is a mere 5’2″ tall and has been known to compete at 105lbs. That doesn’t mean she can’t be in fantastic shape and have muscle tone!

Program Insight

Nutrition ~ Jamie puts a lot of emphasis on nutrition throughout the entire program. There are a lot of fitness enthusiasts who rely very little on cardio, and do a lot of their sculpting in the kitchen. Nutrition is important and she provides an excellent overview of nutrients & recipes. {here’s my version of her Carrot Cake Protein Bars}

Committment ~ Absolutely necessary! Each Phase is approximately one month making the entire program 12 weeks. But Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a new {or improved} physique. A habit alone takes about 28 days to create, so the program reinforces consistency and committment throughout. Setbacks and mistakes {even unintended injuries} happen, so expect to maybe miss a day here and there. But Jamie is awesome about encouraging you to pick up where you left off and push forward. Its terribly unfortunate that television commercials and magazine articles lead people to believe they are “7 days away from the perfect body!” Fitness and health is a lifelong committment, and if you’re setting out to create physical change expect it to take some time. Please please please don’t get disappointed if your weight fluctuates or you don’t see drastic results the first few weeks. If you are honestly putting in 100% effort into anything you do, you will see change/improvement. Patience is a virtue. Challenge, but don’t be hard on yourself!

No Boys Allowed! ~ Just kidding. Jamie developed this program for the human body. She did not design it to specifically exclude males or females. Any guy who has the audacity to say “I’m not gonna do that, it was written by a girl” should conmit to the program and talk later…  Jamie is one of the well-known faces for bodybuilding.com, has more muscle tone and is leaner than many males I know. So don’t let anything deter you from looking into it!

Muscle?! ~ I just want to get into shape, not be a body builder!…Hold the phone!…Although Jamie does come from a fitness & bodybuilding background, she really did design this program for anyone. What a lot of people fail to understand is that more muscle really does burn more calories. MANY people complete this program to simply feel and look better (and commit to a lifestyle change!), not to compete in a fitness competition. Yes, you will build muscle. Muscle tone allows for definition, and once you gain muscle and introduce more fat-burning-activities your body will shed unwanted fat and reveal the tone and shape underneath. Effort and the weight your are lifting will determine the amount of muscle you build.

$$$ ~ “It is only 3 easy payments of $39.95!” Sound familiar? There’s so many programs on television nowadays that cost an arm and a leg & its really irritating. NO WORRIES! Jamie’s program can be found for FREE! No joke. Yes, you’ll probably want to print off the workouts and/or meal plans but she charges nothing at any point during the program. What’s great too, is that there are tons of comments by people under each day so you have constant guidance and support from those who are at the exact same point in the workouts.

My Personal Goals ~ My goal for myself is to put on muscle. I was able to get in decent shape over the past year but I would love to see more definition and evidence of the work I’m putting in. Plus, I have taken the past 2 months off from the gym for various reasons. We all know life just gets in the way sometimes and now I have a lot of ground to makeup. But I’m determined to get back to it and be the best Lori I can be. Plus, I really want to see if I’ll push myself to finish the program. I know I’m persistent, but it will be a huge personal challenge to stay with it and I’m ready to rise to the occasion! Sometimes personal challenges are the most rewarding!

I strongly encourage you to look into the program. If you have questions, ask! There’s so much support throughout the program, Jamie want to allow any ounce of room for failure. Jamie can be found on Facebook here and fans can always be found asking for guidance about the program and relying on each other for extra support. She has an incredible fan base and truly wants everyone to succeed to be the best they can be!

Just like the recipes I post, I won’t recommend something without trying it myself! So I’m approximatley 3 weeks into the program and am definitely seeing and feeling myself getting stronger. I love having everything written out ahead of time and not having to think about what I’m going to do from one day to the next. I admit, my diet could be better so I know once I buckle down I’ll see my hard work come to fruition!

“Character is how much work you put into life when there is no one around to see how hard you’re working.”