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CONTENTS
01.
About Lauren Simpson Fitness
02.
About The ADvanced Home Training Guide
03.
Calculating Your Macros
04.
How To Use MyFitnessPal

Meals with05.
Simple INgredients

How to ADvance06.
Your Home Training
07. Your Goals
How to Work Towards
08.
Minset Chapter
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As a coach, my core beliefs
revolve around mindset,
consistency, and discipline. With
01.
About Lauren Simpson Fitness

coaches in the industry and

have a team of experts in my
corner. So that I can learn from
the correct training & nutrition, each of these and translate the
I was able to transform my information to my clients in a
shape. If I can do it, you can way that they can implement
too!! Over the past few years, into their lives!
I have helped thousands of
women discover their inner I wanted to create something
strength and transform their with LSF that uplifts each and
lives. I do not sell unsustainable every one of my clients. By
programs that get you shredded teaching you the reasoning
fast, rather, I preach the value of behind my programming and
lifestyle change, empowerment meal plans you are able to make
through education and confident choices in regards
movement, and creating healthy to your workouts and eating
habits that will last you a without needing a coach for
lifetime. the rest of your life. Throughout
my programs and challenges
At Lauren Simpson Fitness my clients can see how their
we believe that knowledge is training, nutrition and even
power. You can find a coach mindset changes, they receive
that will write you a meal plan tips that may clear up industry
and put you through workouts, myths or talk about a highly
however this will leave you with requested topic, and they have
little to no actual health and a Facebook community where
fitness knowledge once your they share all of the knowledge
partnership has ended. This that they have gained from
is why I ceaselessly research, working with me!
work with knowledgeable

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02.
About The advanced
home training guide

This guide was created to help you girls smash

your goals from home. With some basic
equipment, there is no reason why you cannot
stay fit and healthy without stepping inside the
gym. Home training means that you have removed
the hassle (and time) of traveling to a different
location to work up a sweat, which means one
less excuse not to workout! I am going to give
you all the tools you need to train hard at home,
see results, get fit and be the healthiest version
of yourself! I am giving you an advanced training
program with educational content around it, as
well as heaps of information surrounding your
nutrition, which will be a huge contributor to your
results. So let’s get those gains from home!

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 03.
calculating your macros

To figure out how many calories you need to eat each day, and what the macronutrient
breakdown of those calories is, you first need to know your TDEE.

Your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is the sum of:

• Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which refers to the amount of calories you burn
just by being alive. Our body needs fuel to function, even if we weren’t to leave bed
for the day. This is going to be affected by your age, height and weight and state of
health. Generally speaking, the less we weigh and the less muscle we have, the less
energy we will need to stay alive (or the lower your BMR will be).

• Your Physical Activity. This includes all planned exercise, for example your LSF
workouts.

• Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). This includes any daily activities like
walking, talking, grocery shopping, cleaning and anything else that has your body
moving excluding planned exercise. Your NEAT levels tend to be lower while in a
calorie deficit (especially if it is extreme) as we will subconsciously move less due
to lower energy availability.

• Thermic Effect of Eating, which is basically the energy your body uses to digest the
food that you consume. An interesting thing to note is that protein takes the most
energy to break down and digest, which is just another reason why we should have
adequate protein in our diet!

This may sound like a lot to figure out, however by entering your information into
https://tdeecalculator.net/ you will receive an estimate of your TDEE. These are an
estimation of your body’s daily calorie needs, also known as ‘maintenance calories’,
which means that you will maintain your weight if you eat them consistently and your
energy output does not change.

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WEIGHT LOSS CALORIES
To lose weight we need to be in a calorie
deficit, which just means to eat less
than your TDEE. I recommend a 10-20%
deficit as this is going to be sustainable
and keeps your energy levels as high
as possible while still losing fat. It is
important to note that over time your
TDEE changes as your body composition
changes, this is common when putting the
body in a calorie deficit for an extended
period. For this reason, it is recommended
to re-calculate your energy requirements
as you progress and your physique
changes. As a guide, checking your energy
requirements every four weeks, whilst in a
calorie deficit is a good place to start, this
can help to avoid any plateaus in progress.

MUSCLE GAIN CALORIES

To gain weight and build muscle we need

to be in a calorie surplus, which means
eating more than your TDEE. Once again, I
recommend a conservative surplus of 10-
20% to minimise fat gain. As with a weight
loss goal, it is still necessary to adjust
your energy intake to match your goal and
your energy requirements as you progress.
Hence you should also re-calculate your
energy requirements approximately every
4 weeks. Keeping in mind when changing
energy requirements the macronutrient
breakdown still needs to be in balance.

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 MACRONUTRIENT BREAKDOWN

Once you have determined your daily calories in relation to your goals, it is time to
break this down into your daily macronutrients. The three macronutrients are:

PROTEIN CARBOHYDRATES FATS

4 Calories Per Gram 4 Calories Per Gram 9 Calories Per Gram

In terms of daily protein The primary job of carbs in Fat plays a key role in vitamin
recommendations, there is the body is to provide energy. transport throughout the
no ‘one size fits all’ number, Carbohydrates are also body, provides structure
however as a guide it is necessary for healthy female and strength for our cells,
recommended we consume hormone function, under eating promotes artery function and
1.6-2.2g of protein per kg of carbohydrates can cause health, and aids brain health
body weight, or alternatively if the loss of your period. Each and functioning. It is also
you know your body fat levels person’s activity levels will essential for healthy hormone
you can use the following have a significant influence on levels, is involved in signalling
method: their daily carbohydrate needs; throughout the body and
2-3 grams of protein per kg of imagine the difference in energy provides insulation and
lean body mass. For a 60kg output of an endurance athlete protection for cells, organs
person, this would be between versus a person that works a and the body as a whole. To
approximately 120 and 180 desk job and goes to the gym a have healthy skin, hair and
grams of protein per day. few times a week. This means nails adequate fat intake is
it is very difficult to provide a required. It is recommended
recommendation, however it that fats make up around 15-
does tend to mean that the more 30% of total daily calories.
active you are, the higher the
percentage your daily macro split
should be dedicated to carbs.

If you are new to tracking and looking for where to start, you can begin with a macronutrient breakdown
of 30% Protein, 40% Carbohydrates and 30% Fats. From here you would divide your calories up by the
above percentages and then calculate the total grams from each macronutrient.

Another method to determine macro ratios is to calculate your protein needs first (based on the above
recommendations), then allocate 20-30% of your daily calories to fats, and then allocate the remainder to
carbohydrates.

Please remember that this is a starting point, from which you will build as your knowledge and experience
progresses. Each of us has a unique makeup as well as unique daily demands on our mind and body and
completely individual lifestyles. This could mean it takes a little trial and error to find the calorie level and
macro split that suits you and gets you the results you’re working towards.

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 04.
How To Use MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal is a calorie tracking app that is very useful for anyone

who practices flexible dieting or tracks their macronutrients and
calories. Although the app can seem intimidating for anyone who
hasn’t used it before, I promise that it is quite simple to use. Once you
understand the basics of using MyFitnessPal, entering your food for
the day is really quite simple and time-effective. It takes 10 minutes to
log all of your food in the morning and ensures that you are set-up and
organised for the day!

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 After downloading the app to your phone, the first thing you will need to do is sign up for free.
You can choose the premium version with additional features for a small fee, however you can do
everything necessary with the standard version. The app will prompt you to enter your weight, height
and other details so that it has an idea of how many calories you need per day. Please take note that
these suggested nutrition goals can often be inaccurate and I recommend you change these to the
macros we calculated above!

The ‘diary’ page shows your meals for the day. These meals can be re-named in the settings page if
you would prefer to number your meals (for example Meal 1, Meal 2 etc). When adding ingredients
and items to your day it is important to note that My Fitness Pal has a user-generated database. This
means that when searching for food, the results that appear have all been entered by other users.
The consequence of this is a high number of discrepancies with macronutrients and calories. Any
items that include a green check next to the name means that this item has been crosschecked and
is, therefore, more likely to be an accurate entry. I would also recommend using the ‘scan barcode’
feature. After pressing ‘add food’ you can choose the barcode option to scan the barcode from your
packaging, which will not only save time but also ensures you choose the correct brand. It is still a
good idea to cross-check this MyFitnessPal information with the actual packaging.

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 The most accurate way to log your food is by weight.
Weighing your food and logging grams and millilitres is far more
accurate than by tablespoon or cups etc that can be measured
slightly differently every time. You can change this with most
foods in the database by pressing ‘serving size’ after selecting your
ingredient and changing from cups or spoons to grams or millilitres.

There are a number of ways that you can add your meals for the day,
a basic one being adding each ingredient. For example, if you were
having a piece of avocado toast you would add:
• 1 piece of bread (choose sourdough or rye etc based on what
you are using)
• 30g of avocado (use grams over ‘half an avocado’ as they differ
in size)
If you need to delete a food from your diary, just swipe left on the
entry and choose to delete. You can now see each ingredient in your meal, the macronutrient
breakdown and total calories. The app also shows your remaining calories for the day!

My Fitness Pal gives you the option to add your exercise to the diary, which I do not
recommend. Your daily calories are already determined by the total energy expenditure
(including exercise) you manually entered previously, so by adding exercise, you will be eating
those calories again.

Some girls struggle to keep track of their water intake, so a useful tool to use is the ‘water’
section of your diary. You can add cups or litres of water as you drink them to ensure you are
getting in enough fluids.

How strictly you track your food will be dependent on your goals. When I used to prepare
for a competition I would track everything including my vegetables. If you are not
following such a strict regime, you can be a little bit more relaxed. For example instead of
weighing your green vegetables you can just log in ‘1 cup’ as an estimate. Ingredients like
your proteins, carbohydrate sources and fats are far more calorie dense than vegetables
so I recommend weighing them as often as you can to ensure accuracy. Keep in mind, it’s
always wise to track your starchy vegetables such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas and
corn as these are more calorie dense than other vegetables.

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 05.
Meals With Simple Ingredients

In a time where we are limiting how much we go to the shops, it is a good idea to stock
up on ingredients and stick to the basics. Choose non-perishable ingredients that you can
keep in the pantry, and bulk buy your meat for the freezer.

BREAKFAST

Cinnamon porridge with blueberries 314 cals | P32 | F8 | C29

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• ¼ cup rolled oats 1. Place oats in a small saucepan and pour
• 1 cup whole milk in the milk. Bring to a boil over medium
• 1 scoop Blessed or OxyWhey heat and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring
protein powder constantly.
• ¼ tsp cinnamon powder 2. Remove from the heat and stir in either
• ⅛ cup blueberries Blessed or OxyWhey protein powder (I
use strawberry milkshake flavour), and
cinnamon. Top with blueberries.

Sriracha eggs and avo toast 511 cals | P23 | F27 | C43

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 2 whole eggs 1. Boil eggs for 8 minutes, let cool and then
• 2 slices wholemeal bread peel. (This step can be done the night
• ½ whole avocado before).
• 1 whole tomato 2. Toast the bread, then spread with avocado,
• 1 tsp sriracha sliced tomato, eggs and sriracha.

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 BREAKFAST

Overnight chocolate oats 242 cals | P19 | F6 | C26

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• ¼ cup rolled oats 1. In a serving bowl, add oats and pour in the
• ½ cup reduced fat milk milk.
• ½ tbsp dark chocolate chips 2. Mix well and refrigerate overnight.
• ½ scoop OxyWhey or Blessed 3. When ready to serve, remove from the
protein powder refrigerator and microwave for 30 seconds
• 1 tsp peanut butter (can also eat cold).
4. Stir in chocolate chips, peanut butter and
protein powder (we recommend Oxywhey
delicious chocolate).
5. If the mixture is too thick add in a little more
milk or water to thin it out. Serve.

Raspberry Smoothie 314 cals | P45 | F6 | C23

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• ½ cup frozen raspberries 1. Combine all ingredients in a blender.
• ¼ cup blueberries 2. Pulse until smooth and creamy.
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt 3. Transfer to a serving glass.
• 1 scoop OxyWhey or Blessed 4. Mixes best with Oxywhey strawberry
protein powder milkshake flavour.
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup ice cubes

LUNCH/DINNER

Ground beef and green beans 325 cals | P26 | F6 | C34

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 4 oz lean ground beef 1. Preheat the oven to 190C.
• 1 whole sweet potato 2. Cook the ground beef in a non-stick pan on
• 4 oz green beans medium heat until brown.
• 2 whole spring onions 3. Wrap the sweet potato in foil and cook in
• 1 tsp sriracha the oven for 45 minutes.
4. Steam the green beans, and measure out 4
oz (115gm) cooked ground beef.
5. Serve ground beef mixed with spring onions
and sriracha, with sweet potato and green
beans on the side.

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 LUNCH/DINNER

Chicken Green Curry 427 cals | P26 | F13 | C51

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 3 oz chicken breast 1. Cook the rice according to packet
• ¼ cup reduced fat coconut instructions.
milk 2. Heat the olive oil in a pan.
• ¼ cup long grain rice (raw) 3. Dice the chicken breast and vegetables.
• 1 tbsp green curry paste 4. Add the green curry paste and chicken to
• ¼ tbsp olive oil the pan. Cook for approx 5 minutes.
• 1 whole zucchini 5. Add the coconut milk and vegetables
and simmer for a few minutes or until
vegetables are tender.
6. Serve with the rice.

Tofu, Broccoli and Brown Rice 295 cals | P22 | F9 | C35

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 6 oz extra firm tofu 1. Cook the tofu on a non-stick pan on
• 1 cup broccoli medium heat until golden.
• ½ cup cooked brown rice 2. Steam the broccoli and finely slice spring
• 2 whole spring onions onions.
• 1 tsp sriracha 3. Serve the broccoli and tofu on a bed of
brown rice and top with sriracha and spring
onions.

Lentil Pasta 445 cals | P29 | F4 | C73

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 1 cup red lentil pasta 1. Cook the pasta according to instructions.
• ½ cup tomato pasta sauce 2. In a non-stick pan fry the mushrooms and
• 1 cup button mushrooms spinach for a few minutes.
• ½ cup baby spinach 3. Add the herbs and pasta sauce and simmer
• 1 tsp italian seasoning over a low heat.
• 2 tsp nutritional yeast 4. Serve the sauce with the pasta and sprinkle
• Salt and pepper nutritional yeast and salt and pepper.

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 LUNCH/DINNER
Spicy meatballs with wild rice 357 cals | P50 | F10 | C14

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 5.5 oz lean ground beef 1. In a medium bowl, combine together lean
mince ground beef, carrot, sriracha, and season
• 1 tsp sriracha with salt and pepper.
• ¼ cup cooked wild or brown 2. Mix well and shape into bite sized
rice meatballs.
• ¼ whole carrot, grated 3. Coat a non-stick frying pan with cooking
• ½ cup marinara sauce spray and heat to medium high heat.
(sugar free) 4. Fry meatballs for 7-10 minutes or until
• Salt and pepper completely browned, carefully flipping once.
5. Add marinara and pour in ¼ cup of water.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 15
minutes.
6. Serve with rice.

Chicken, broccoli and sweet potatoes 320 cals | P38 | F6 | C28

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 4 oz chicken breast 1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).
• 1 cup broccoli 2. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and
• 1 whole sweet potato place on a lined tray.
• 1 tsp basil 3. Peel sweet potato and cut it into rounds.
• Salt and pepper Place on tray with chicken and bake in
oven for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is
cooked through and sweet potato is tender.
Remove from oven.
4. Steam broccoli and serve on a plate with
chicken, sweet potato and basil.

Salmon fillet with zucchini noodles 199 cals | P21 | F6 | C18

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 3 oz salmon fillets 1. Run zucchini through a spiralizer and
• 2 whole zucchini transfer to a frying pan lightly coated with
• 1 tbsp sugar free barbecue cooking spray.
sauce 2. Pour in chicken stock and cook until liquid
• ½ tsp oregano has evaporated, stirring occasionally.
• ¼ cup chicken stock Transfer to a serving plate.
• Salt and pepper 3. Brush salmon with barbecue sauce and
season with salt and pepper.
4. Add to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes
per side.
5. Serve with zucchini noodles.

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 LUNCH/DINNER

White fish with kale 339 cals | P34 | F11 | C29

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 4 oz white fish 1. Preheat the oven to 190C (370F).
• ½ cup cooked brown rice 2. Sprinkle lemon rind over fish and season
• 1 cup baby kale with salt and pepper.
• 1 tbsp lemon zest 3. Bake for 30 minutes.
• Salt and pepper 4. Shred the kale and combine with cooked
brown rice.
5. Serve fish over rice mixture.

SNACKS

Tuna sandwich thins 164 cals | P20 | F4 | C20

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 1 whole sandwich thin 1. Toast the sandwich thin.
• 1.75 oz canned tuna, oil free 2. Layer the drained tuna and vegetables on
• ½ cup baby spinach the thin.
• ½ whole tomato 3. Season with salt and pepper.
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp pepper

Rice cake avo smash 193 cals | P5 | F8 | C26

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• 2 whole brown rice cakes 1. Mash the avocado and spread on the rice
• ¼ whole avocado cakes.
• 1 cup button mushrooms 2. Saute the mushroom and layer that and the
• ½ whole tomato sliced tomato on the rice cakes.
• ⅛ tsp salt 3. Season with salt and pepper.
• ⅛ tsp pepper

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 SNACKS

Salted Caramel Nice cream 194 cals | P14 | F4 | C30

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• ½ scoop Blessed or OxyWhey 1. Blend all of the ingredients in a high speed
protein powder blender until smooth.
• ½ cup almond milk 2. I recommend using Blessed salted caramel
• 1 whole frozen banana in this recipe.
• 1 tbsp peanut butter

Strawberry Banana Milkshake 288 cals | P23 | F5 | C43

INGREDIENTS METHOD
• ½ scoop Blessed or OxyWhey 1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. I
protein powder recommend OxyWhey strawberry milkshake
• ½ cup whole milk for this recipe.
• ¼ cup plain greek yoghurt 2. Pulse until smooth and creamy.
• 1 whole banana 3. Transfer to a serving glass.
• ¼ cup strawberries

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06.
how to advance
your home training

The thought of training at home may make you think that you will be
soon reaching a plateau and will be unable to advance your training or
increase intensity, however I am about to provide you with a toolbox of
ways to break a plateau and continue seeing results! These methods
will add to your training by making your muscles work harder, for
longer, using the same weight. In other words, these methods will help
you to PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD without needing to add extra load. I
understand that it is expensive to continue purchasing heavier weights
as you get stronger. So if you do not have the equipment to keep
adding load, try one of these instead. You will see all of these methods
used in my Advanced Home Training Program.

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 TIME UNDER TENSION

Time under tension (or TEMPO training) is a great tool to utilise at home in order to increase
intensity. This means that your muscles are under more tension for more time! To do this,
slow down each repetition. You may choose to slow the eccentric phase (the ‘lowering’ part
of the movement) or the concentric phase (coming out of a rep - when your muscles are
contracting). Either way will have those muscles firing extra hard and work for longer. You
may even want to slow down both phases!

Here is an example of tempo training using a squat:

3:2:1:1
The 3 represents a 3 second eccentric phase of the squat, this is when you are squatting down.

The 2 represents a hold at the bottom of the squat, this is when your muscles are under the most load, so
adding a pause here will make it much harder!

The first 1 represents a 1 second concentric phase. This would be when you are coming back out of the
squat.

The final 1 means that there is only a 1 second pause before beginning the next repetition

1 & 1/4 REPETITIONS

1¼
1 & ¼ repetitions are another popular tool that you can use. You will perform one full rep plus
an extra ¼ rep at the most difficult part of the exercise. This will quickly fatigue the major
muscles that are working in the exercise, as you are basically doubling the reps for that
phase!

An example of this using a reverse lunge would be:

Begin the exercise as usual, taking a step back with one foot, and lowering the back knee towards the
floor.

Once you reach the bottom of the movement, raise the back knee back up ¼ of the way.

Lower all the way back down to the bottom range, then come out of the lunge and step forward.

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 PAUSED REPETITIONS

Paused repetitions are when you come to

a complete pause during one part of an
exercise. You would likely choose to pause
in the bottom when the muscles are under
the most load - therefore being the most
effective spot! This is a very easy way
to fatigue the muscles, especially when
performing high repetitions or using a weight
like a dumbbell or kettlebell.

Using the chest press for an example, you

would lower the elbows out beside you,
and take a pause there before pressing the
dumbbells straight back up.

DECREASED REST PERIODS

Decreased rest periods are a great way

to use more muscular endurance without
adding extra load or heaps of repetitions. If
you would usually rest for 60 seconds after
a specific exercise, try to cut it back to 45
seconds instead. This will give the muscles
slightly less time to recover, helping you to
reach a new capacity!

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 PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

Let’s put some advanced home training principles into practice, starting
with a bodyweight squat!

1. Master the technique of a normal bodyweight squat. Think about all the cues that
help to engage the correct muscles and keep good form! For example keeping the
knees pressed out, chest up, pressing through the heel, big toe and little toe of your
feet.

2. Once you are confident with your squat, add some tempo training and a pause.
Maybe use the tempo of 3:2:1:1 (as used above). This means a slower eccentric
phase with a pause in the bottom.

3. Hold a weight in front of your chest. This will add load to your quads!

4. To add even more load to your quads, try elevating your heels! Using any sort of
small platform under your heels will help to engage the quads.

5. Add a dropset! Perform a set of squats holding weight, then immediately after drop
the weights and perform another set of bodyweight squats. This is a great way to
fatigue your muscles.

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 07.
How To Work Towards Your Goals

You may feel as though it is impossible to reach your physique goals from home, however
this is far from the truth! There are small adjustments that can be made to the workouts
you are doing and nutrition to match, depending on your goal.

FAT LOSS

Fat loss mostly comes down to your nutrition, as we covered in the ‘calculating your
macros’ chapter of this e-Book. Ensure that you are sticking to your slight deficit, but
also move your body in any way that you can! This could be going for periodic walks
throughout the day to hit a certain step count, or just making sure that you are getting
up and stretching multiple times per day.

A factor that can greatly help your fat loss goals is your NEAT. Neat stands for Non
Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, which basically means any activity that you perform
in a day that is not planned exercise. Examples of this include:

• The walk from your house to the train station

• Walking from your car to work
• If your apartment building has stairs
• If your job is active (waiting tables, a group fitness instructor, something that
involves moving heavy boxes)

Your NEAT is what will burn the most calories throughout the day. Your workout may
burn up to 400 calories, however if you have an active job that you are working for 8
hours, this will likely burn up to 1000!
There are a few ways to increase your daily NEAT. My biggest recommendation would
be getting extra steps in. If you are able to get outdoors, I recommend:

• Walk to the shops instead of driving

• Get off at an earlier bus stop and walk the rest of the way
• Walking out of the office to a park to eat lunch

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 FAT LOSS

If you are unable to get outside, there are still other ways that you increase your NEAT:

• Set an alarm to get up every 30 minutes and walk around your office or home.
• Get a standing desk. You can purchase these online or make your own, but using an
ironing board or high set table.
• Clean the house! Choose that chore that you’ve been putting off for weeks, get up
and get it done!
• Play with your puppy! Whether you take them for a walk or just have a 20 minute
play, it all adds up.

I recommend training 5-6 times per week if this is an option for you, consisting of
a variety of workouts. Traditional resistance training is going to help you maintain
muscle and strength in a fat loss period, so I will still structure training around this
even in a shredding phase. The difference is that I will likely include higher repetitions,
and some extra cardiovascular training. Cardio can be anything from LISS (or steady
state cardio), HIIT (high intensity cardio), plyometric exercises, or all of the above!
These types of workouts will help improve your cardio fitness, heart health, help to burn
some extra calories and they are just a fun way to change up your training and keep it
interesting! A scoop of EHPLabs OxyShred is a great way to get you in the mood for
your higher intensity sessions.

MUSCLE GAIN

Muscle gain at home, once you have progressed past an intermediate lifter, means
that it’s time to get creative!

You are likely to only have a small selection of weights, which means that you can
probably not go as heavy as you would at the gym. I recommend building up to as
heavy as you can go at home, then increasing the repetitions that you are using at that
weight to apply more overall load to the muscles. The ideal repetition range for muscle
gain is 6-15, so avoid going any higher than approximately 15 repetitions for too many
exercises as you are unlikely to be building muscle this way. Once you reach this
threshold, focus on performing the techniques mentioned in the above chapter ‘How
To Advance Your Home Training’. These methods will help to increase the tension your
muscles are under throughout the workout, as well as provide them a new stimulus to
adapt to! If possible, seek out some heavier weights too.

During this time it may be a good idea to supplement with creatine, to help draw water
to your muscles. It is a great product to use to help you both gain and maintain muscle
mass!

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 RELAX AND ENJOY
YOUR TRAINING

In periods of time where we are under a lot of

stress, whether it be from losing a job or just
general stress, this could be a phase where you
do not need to be focusing on specific physique
goals. If you are unable to get to the gym and
train your usual way for a few weeks, use this
time to just have fun with your training! It is
likely that you haven’t spent much time training
at home before, so instead of worrying about
aesthetics, enjoy this new training stimulus and
don’t worry about the rest!

Training at home may feel like a huge change

of routine to begin with, but it comes with so
many benefits and you will likely end up loving
it! Without needing to travel to and from the gym
you will have so much more time on your hands.
This means you can workout for longer if you
usually find yourself rushing a session so that
you can get back home in time. This will help you
to feel more relaxed and likely end up doing a
much better session!

Doing your workout at home means that you can

convince your significant other or housemate
to join in too! Training with someone else is a
great way to boost motivation and keep great
energy and vibes throughout the workout. You
can choose your own playlist to blast, and of
course wear whatever you are comfortable with
wearing because you are in the comfort of your
own home!

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08. Mindset Chapter

Having the right mindset

when setting out on a
new goal can be just as
important as nailing your
nutrition and smashing
through workouts. Here I
guide you through what I
do to work on my mindset.
Just like you #LSFBabes I
need to continue to work on
my mindset daily. Make it a
non-negotiable daily task. I
promise you will start to feel
better about yourself both
inside and out!

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 GRATITUDE

We all have those days where things may not have gone our way, or we are just having
a bit of a down day. These are a normal part of life! However, it is important not to let
ourselves dwell on these moments for too long. Practising gratitude is a fantastic
way to get you in a more positive mood. I practice gratitude first thing in the morning,
right before going to bed and any time during the day when I’m feeling a little down. I
choose three things in the morning to be grateful for, and again three things at night
I’m grateful for; whether that be my family, my amazing partner, my body for allowing
me to move around, or even my pets! What I’m grateful for might change daily or
might even be different from morning to night depending on what happens during the
day. If you don’t have the most positive relationship with your body I challenge you to
make one of your grateful points each day be something positive about your body. For
example ‘I am grateful for my strong legs being able to walk me around every day’ or
‘I’m grateful for the ability to complete 1 hour of a challenging workout’ these types of
statements said daily will slowly start to help you work on improving your self esteem.

HOW TO BECOME A POSITIVE PERSON

• It all starts with you! Think about how you react to situations during the day, take
a step back and think about why something may be affecting you. We can’t control
what happens around us but we can control how we react to it. Try to practise being
optimistic about a situation, you’ll find this helps you to let go of things faster and
move through things.

• Be nice to people! It’s amazing how complimenting someone can make not only
them feel good but you as well! Seeing someone smile can act as a bounce board
for your mood. Positive energy feeds on positive energy! Try saying or doing
something nice for another every day.

• Make your space positive! Whether that be your home, office or working
environment; you want a space that makes you feel happy. This might be by
brightening your space up with some new plants, photos of friends and family,
fresh flowers, beautiful smelling candles or some nice artwork. If your environment
makes you feel happy you’ll find it easier to be positive throughout the day.

• Exercise! Never underestimate the power of a good workout! Even just 20 minutes
per day can help to get you in a better mood, hello endorphins! If you wake up
feeling low, then get your exercise done early in the morning. It’s a sure way to set
you up for a good day!

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 CREATING A DAILY ROUTINE
Having a set routine can help you to feel more accomplished each day! I like to have
a list of tasks that are non-negotiables for the day. As I move through the day I tick off
the tasks and by the end of the day I am feeling pretty badass!! These do not need to
be unachievable tasks either; start small with tasks like practising gratefulness in the
morning, moving your body for a walk or workout, hitting your protein target for the day,
or saying something nice to someone! These can all be used as part of a great daily
routine to get your mindset firing to reach your goals!

HOW TO CUT YOUR BS EXCUSES AND

FINALLY GET RESULTS
Stop making excuses for not starting a program. Today is a new day, just start!
Replace your problems with solutions, make your situation work for you! Write down
what is stopping you/ holding you back and then brainstorm some solutions. So what
if you don’t have a piece of equipment or exactly the right ingredients for a recipe. You
can still make it work by adapting or swapping something for your personal needs.
Adapting to your circumstances will become your superpower and this will allow you
to continue to reach your goals EVERY SINGLE DAY! The hardest part is starting, once
you’ve done this you can start to build momentum, then you will less likely want to
skip a workout or splurge with your eating. Don’t let your ‘failures’ from the past hold
you back. Your life isn’t about you yesterday, it’s about who you are now! You have
the power to change who you are today, and set yourself up for success. Life can be
a bit of a rollercoaster at the best of times! Learning to accept these curveballs and
knowing that you will come out stronger on the other side can help with your mindset
during these times. You got this girls!!!

MENTAL BLOCKERS OF TRAINING AT HOME

It can be so tempting to skip your workout and just binge your favourite tv show comfy
under a blanket on the couch, but choosing this option will not get you closer to your
goals! If you are feeling a little unmotivated try to look at your workout as if it was an
appointment. Schedule it into your diary and set alarms to remind you to do it. Even
setting a couple of alarms with 10 minutes between them can get you to think about
your choice a bit more. Do you really want to cancel your workout three times in a row?
Not having all the equipment or a huge variety of weight choices can make you feel
a little under resourced at home but don’t let this get you down! In this program I will
show you ways to maximise your workout with minimal equipment, by using strategies
such as time under tension and exercises with 1 ¼ reps. Changing how you perform
your exercises will help you to reach your goals even without a gym!

25
 TAKING CONTROL OF
YOUR EATING HABITS

Do you have problems sticking to a nutrition

plan? Do you find yourself mindlessly eating
when you’re at home? Or do you tend to binge
when anxious or upset? Using your mindset to
work on how you think and feel about eating
can be very beneficial if you’re wanting to gain a
healthy relationship with food. A lot of us don’t
even realise the pressure we put on ourselves
when it comes to food choices. Let go of thinking
of foods as healthy or unhealthy, as this outlook
only leads to guilt around food. Let yourself
indulge from time to time, I personally eat an
ice cream every night because I love it and it
helps me to feel satisfied! Depriving ourselves
of things we love can lead to binging and a cycle
of restriction, guilt then binging again. This is
not healthy for both our body or mind!! Instead
of turning to food when feeling anxious or upset
try doing other things that you love such as
taking your dog for a walk, cooking, drawing,
or having a relaxing bath. Try pinpoint why you
may be feeling that way and do something that
is going to serve you in a positive way. I like to
use mindful eating as a strategy to help with
recognising cues of hunger and satisfaction. I
recommend practising mindful eating any time
you eat. To do this aim to chew each mouthful of
food 15-20 times before swallowing, and focus
on the taste, texture, and smell. Being more
aware of this will help you to recognise when
you’re full and to feel more satisfied with each
meal.

26
NOW LET'S GET
INTO WORKING
OUT FROM
HOME!

www.laurensimpsonfitness.com