You are dedicated to increasing lean body mass and decreasing body fat percentage. You exercise at home and/or at the gym several times a week. You are always looking for up-to-date information on fitness. With all your hard work and research, you’re still not achieving the goals you’re striving for. Why? You’ve been reading misinformation for years. Yes, that is correct.
Do you do cardiovascular work 3 or 4 times a week? Plus? Are you using a steady beat? Are you taking the same aerobics and indoor cycling classes multiple times a week? It’s time to revamp your exercise program and mix things up! But how? Here you will finally find the answers you are looking for.
First of all, unless your goals include endurance for, say, running a marathon or boxing, you can rule out that constant cardio workout. Yes, you read that right, get rid of it! Instead, you’ll want to incorporate interval training into your routine.
Let’s face it, our bodies want to stay where they are. Our body’s main concern is survival and it wants to achieve it with as little effort as possible. In order to alter body composition, i.e. reduce our body fat percentage and build that lean body mass, we need to shake things up and shake up our systems on a regular basis. Our bodies adapt to constant cardio and the same aerobics classes week after week, making it difficult to drop that body fat percentage. That’s where interval training comes into play.
Interval training isn’t just for the super serious athlete. It’s an excellent tool to use for your fat loss goals, whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned athlete. Figuring out how to use intervals is simple once you learn how to do it. You will work hard during your training and you will train for less time! What could be better than that? To get serious results, you’re going to want to train seriously. Be sure to breathe hard, sweat, and even make some noise as you complete your strength and metabolic workouts.
Challenging your body in this way increases your metabolism, essential for lowering your body fat percentage. If you’re an intermediate to advanced athlete, use high-intensity interval training (HIIT). Raising your heart rate in short bursts requires more calories than constant cardio, which equates to more calories burned.
Start with a 5 minute warm up. Next, start your intervals. One of my favorites is a moderate bike ride for 45 seconds alternating with 10 seconds of high tension foot running. Start by doing this for 10 minutes. Finish with a 5 minute cool down. The extra 5 seconds are for tension adjustments. Do 2 of these workouts per week adding a minute to your interval training each week. You will want to include a third metabolic workout in your weekly plan.
Try running at full speed for a minute and then walking at a moderate pace. The best place for this is outside. If a treadmill is your only option, go for it. Alternate between mountain climbers and jumping jacks, doing 30 seconds of each followed by a 30-second rest period. Start with 5 rounds, adding one round each week. Do a metabolic circuit that includes a series of exercises staying only between circuits.
These exercise ideas will jump-start your metabolism. Combine them with strength training and proper nutrition and watch the fat melt off your body. Here’s to reducing your body fat percentage!