FIVE RULES TO A MORE PRODUCTIVE WORKOUT

Five Rules To A Better Workout

If you want to start doing workouts that will create lasting fat burn, better muscle definition, and contribute to lifelong health, you must start applying the five workout rules below when going through your workouts.

These five rules were created after years of experience, research, and testing to figure out not only what works best when it comes to burning fat, but what workouts are best for your body.

Applying these rules to your workouts will boost fat burning, muscle definition, and overall health. If you are serious about changing the way you look, start following these rules:

1. The more intense your workouts, the better:

You have heard me say this before, and you will hear me say it again. The more intense your workouts are, the more fat you will burn. The “fat burning zone” is a way of the past. Study after study has proven high intensity workouts are superior to long slow cardio.

In a study done by Experimental Biology, researchers found that maximal fat utilization occurs at an intensity near anaerobic threshold. This essentially means, the more intense your workout is, the more fat you will burn.

2. Activate as many muscles as possible:

While doing isolated exercises may give you that burning sensation or “the pump” as bodybuilders call it, the real fat burning comes when you activate as many different muscles with each exercise you do.

For example, doing a barbell squat will burn fat more calories than doing a leg extension.

Plus, compound movements will also help you gain strength faster and build lean muscle easier.

Isolated exercises do have a time and place but when looking to burn the most fat, stick to compound movements!

3. Keep your workouts to no longer than 30-60 minutes

Back in college, my coach forced me to keep my resistance workouts to no longer than 60 minutes. The reason for this was he said our brains start to lose focus after the 60-minute mark. Later, as I did some of my own research I found it to be true. Not only that, but I also discovered that workouts lasting longer than 60 minutes can have a negative effect on fat burning!

Here is the quick breakdown of how our body responds during workouts:

• Start of the workout: Our bodies naturally start producing testosterone as we engage in intense exercise (remember, testosterone is a good thing, even for women. It keeps us strong, lean, and healthy!)
• 15 minutes into the workout: Our bodies are still producing testosterone, which allows us to burn fat and get lean.
• 30 minutes into the workout: Testosterone peaks at the 30 minute mark.
• 45 minutes into the workout: Focus decreases, and testosterone levels start dropping down to baseline.
• 60+ minutes into the workout: Our bodies start producing less testosterone and start producingmore cortisol which can lead to increased fat storage and will hurt lean muscle growth.

As you can see, testosterone levels peak at the 30 minute mark which means you will get the most out of your workouts when staying in that time frame. A few minutes here or there, won’t make a huge difference but a workout lasting over 60 minutes will actually cause you to store fat because of the increase in cortisol (also known as the fat storing hormone!)

In short, keep your workouts to 30 minutes and no longer than 60 minutes.

4. Include sprints 2-3 times per week

Sprints are the most powerful physique shaping workout on the planet. As was stated earlier, the closer you work to you anaerobic threshold, the better. Sprints are the prime definition for working near or at that threshold.

Sprints will directly target eliminating stomach fat, and is a workout that makes your abs “pop”. Plus, it increases testosterone and Growth Hormone which both play a vital role in keeping us lean and healthy.

5. Walk daily

The more time you spend walking, the less time you spend sitting. Instead of spending hours at the gym working out, a far more beneficial approach would be to workout 3-5 times per week for 20-30 minutes, then walk 30-60 minutes daily out in the sunshine.

Walking will help burn fat, plus you will get your daily dose of Vitamin D which is something we all need!

If you want to start burning more fat, get leaner, and improve your overall health, start applying these five rules into your weekly workouts. Keep you workouts simple, intense, and short and watch as your results start to soar!

DAVID E KNAPP NCSF-MCPT,CNS

PRINCETONBOOTCAMPS@YAHOO.COM