Discover How to Fix the 7 Deadly Workout Sins to Achieve Metabolic Breakthrough
By Paul Barette BSc (hons) DipPT & BJ Gaddour, CSCS
Here's BJ's story…
As a former fat kid and disgruntled owner of a naturally slower
metabolism, I have made it my life’s mission to help other people like
me achieve metabolic breakthroughs to dramatically improve body
composition, performance, and overall health. I have always struggled
with my weight and it affected me a lot as a kid. I used to shower in
the dark to avoid seeing my reflection. I used to fib to my friends that
I was allergic to chlorine to get out of having to go shirtless to swim
and risk turning the pool party into an expo at Sea World. I was so
afraid to talk to girls because I feared they found my mere existence to
be nauseating.
But I remember the day everything changed for me-- It was after a family
cruise and we finally received our photos from the trip and one photo
particularly caught my eye. It was the photo you take with your group
before you first board the boat. What I saw absolutely horrified me. It
looked like I had a double chin, bordering on triple chin status. At the
time I was wearing a XXL shirt and a size 42 pants and I looked
absolutely miserable. I was literally a prisoner in my own oversized
body and I finally had enough. After seeing this picture I knew I had to
make some changes because I just couldn’t live like that anymore-- it
was too painful and too depressing.
What
follows is a culmination of years of research and trial and error to
produce rapid and lasting weight loss through cutting-edge metabolic
training that only requires a 90-minute commitment each week. This is
the exact system I used for my own personal metabolic breakthrough and I
still follow these guidelines today to maintain single-digit body fat
percentage year round.
Alright baby, time to crank up that metabolism!
What is metabolism?
Metabolism is the sum of all chemical processes that take place in the
human body to sustain life. Many people are born with slower metabolisms
that make them prone to weight gain. Other people, known as lucky ____
(fill in the blank), are born with faster metabolisms and seem to have
no problem being lean regardless of their activity levels or dietary
habits- I hate them too!
Though metabolic rate is largely determined by genetics, there are
various ways to increase metabolic rate (the speed of your metabolism)
through exercise, nutrition, and supplementation. Here we will focus
solely on the metabolic impact of a properly designed exercise routine.
Deadly Workout Sin#1- Performing daily body part workouts
One of the longest running inside jokes within the fitness industry is
the fact that Monday is “international chest day” where most gym-goers
will do endless sets and reps of bench presses and chest flies until
their boobies “burn so good” and swell as if being nipped by a swarm of
ginormous mosquitoes.
We
can thank the drug-abusing bodybuilding world for the concept of
training one body part per day for best results. If you open the typical
bodybuilding magazine, below is a great example of a training program
you might come across (or some variation of this):
Monday- Chest
Tuesday- Quads
Wednesday- Back
Thursday- Hamstrings
Friday- Triceps
Saturday- Biceps
Sunday- Calves
Please keep in mind that when you take a cocktail of anabolic
performance enhancing agents, just about anything you do will result in
less fat and more muscle– not to mention a host of deadly side effects
and the possibility of growing a tail (anything is possible).
The reality is that training your whole body more frequently will result
in bigger strength and muscle gain, greater fat loss, and more
metabolic boosts than training each muscle group once per week– and the
science supports this.
In a recent study at the University of Alabama, researchers had two
groups of men perform two different strength-training programs with the
same total training volume (sets and reps) for each muscle group.
However, one group split the work across three total body workouts while
the other group trained each muscle group separately one time per week.
They discovered that the total body workout group gained five
additional pounds of lean muscle mass compared to their body-part
training counterparts.
It’s critical to understand that the more muscle you have the greater
your resting metabolic rate (RMR). Your RMR is the total number of
calories you burn every day regardless of activity and adding several
pounds of lean muscle mass will result in an additional daily calorie
burn of up to several hundred extra calories per day. This translates
into an awesome fat-smashing snowball effect over the course of weeks,
months, and years. Think of more muscle as the fat-burning gift that
keeps on giving.
Another benefit of having more muscle is that your body’s carbohydrate
tank gets bigger. The human body has a limited ability to store glycogen
(sugar) in your muscles and liver before it spills over into the blood
stream and leads to unwanted fat gain. The total amount of glycogen your
body can hold, or your sugar tank, depends on a host of factors
including gender, body size, age, etc. However, by building more muscle
through high-intensity training your body can subsequently store more
sugar.
For example, let’s just say that your sugar tank was originally 250
grams of carbs but is now 300 grams due to intensive training and
muscle-gain. The extra 50 grams of leeway before your sugar tank over
flows means two things:
1.) You can consume more total carbohydrates before your sugar tank
reaches capacity where you then begin to gain fat and smooth out unless
that energy is expended. It’s just like when you overfill the gas tank
in your car— the fuel spills on the floor and all over your hands and
shoes costing you money and making you a pyromaniac’s wet dream. Though
consuming excess sugar may not be as deadly, it’s the source of the
raging obesity epidemic plaguing our sedentary society and leads to host
of scary health problems like heart disease, diabetes, high blood
pressure, metabolic disorder, etc.
2.) The lower your sugar tank the more your body will revert to using
both dietary and stored fat to make up for that energy deficit. Thus if
you gained more muscle and simply consumed the same amount of total
carbohydrates, you will automatically burn more fat for fuel throughout
the day. Now if you consume less total carbs in conjunction with more
muscle mass then you will be a lean, mean fat-melting machine.
Plus, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that working your entire body
each workout will torch more calories and thus accelerate metabolism and
fat loss results. More muscles used equals more total work performed
equals more total sugar, fat and calories expended-- all good stuff!
Lastly, it appears that it’s best to wait about 48 hours before
performing your next total body workout. In multiple studies at the
University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, researchers determined
that muscle protein synthesis was elevated for up to 48 hours after a
resistance training workout before it returned to normal. Performing
another total body workout with less than 48 hours of recovery may not
allow for adequate muscle repair thus impairing performance.
THE FIX: For busy people looking for the biggest bang for their fitness
buck, best results will be achieved with 3 total body workouts per week
with ideally 48 hours between workouts to maximize muscle growth and
recovery.
Deadly Workout Sin#2- Performing marathon workouts lasting 60 minutes or longer
I’m not sure what it is about our society that thinks its cool to do
things for an incredibly long period of time. There’s no better example
of this than the typical college student who brags to his or her friends
about pulling an all-nighter to cram for a final exam. In reality, best
results would have been achieved by spreading out all of that studying
over the course of the entire semester in order to achieve true and
lasting knowledge rather than simple and useless short-term memory. I’d
be lying if I said I’ve never procrastinated before myself as I’m
literally writing this article the day before its due date-- but don’t
tell my editor, wink.
Fitness is no different. What do most people who want to lose weight do?
They either sign up to run a marathon and/or join a gym to do endless
hours of long, slow, boring cardio on a treadmill, elliptical, bike, or
step machine.
On a side note, if I ever see you “getting your cardio-on” while reading
a magazine or checking your email I will slap you in the mouth and have
you arrested for being a hopeless moron.
Why so harsh??
Well, a landmark aerobic training study from the International Journal
of Sports Nutrition determined that 45 minutes of steady state aerobic
training 5 days per week had zero effect over dieting alone when it came
to weight loss— that’s 45 hours of activity for nothing! However, the
lack of results wasn’t solely due to the length of the workouts, but
also the low-intensity nature of these workouts.
In
addition, long, drawn out workouts have diminishing returns and create a
negative hormonal environment in our bodies. That’s because during
one-hour plus exercise bouts our body enters survival mode and releases a
catabolic stress hormone called cortisol that both causes muscle loss
and results in unwanted fat gain in trouble spot areas.
According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA),
anabolic, muscle-building hormones like testosterone are maximized in
about a 30-minute high-intensity workout window. It is at about the
45-minute mark that anabolic hormones begin to fall as their catabolic
counterparts, mainly cortisol, simultaneously begin to rise.
THE FIX: Shorter, more focused and intense workouts produce better
results than one hour plus marathon sessions. If you have to workout for
longer than 30-45 minutes to feel satisfied than you probably weren’t
working hard enough in the first place or you were committing some form
of the other deadly workout sins.
Deadly Workout Sin#3- Using single-joint isolation exercises that address only one plane of movement
When we discussed Deadly Workout Sin#1, we mentioned the disgraceful
practice of training each muscle group one time per week. Well, to make
the matter even worse, lots of fitness enthusiasts will comprise these
body part workouts with useless single-joint isolation exercises that
often take place in only one plane of movement.
Single-joint,
isolation exercises involve the use of only one joint at a time.
Classic examples are leg extensions and leg curls (only involve the knee
joint) and biceps curls and triceps extensions (only involve the elbow
joint). Though these single-joint, isolation exercises may result in a
better “pump” or “burn” in a specific muscle that makes it feel more
effective, it doesn’t mean that they are providing the optimal
muscle-building stimulus when compared to their multi-joint, compound
counterparts.
Multi-joint, compound exercises involve functional movement patterns
that occur in the real world across multiple joints at the same time
thus resulting in greater total muscle activation and heavier loading
and subsequently greater calorie burning, fat loss, and muscle growth.
For our purposes, there are six foundational movement patterns that
comprise the ultimate total body metabolic workout:
Hip-Dominant: Any exercise that primarily targets your posterior chain
(glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors) and involves the flexion,
extension, rotation, adduction, and abduction of the hips. In addition,
lower body exercises where your torso is bent forward more than
45-degrees are best classified as hip-dominant. The exception to this
rule is for any exercise where the upper body is NOT actively involved
like a hip extension. Classic hip-dominant exercises include deadlift,
step-up, hip extension, and swings.
Push: Any exercise that primarily targets your chest, anterior and
medial shoulders, and triceps and involves a pushing pattern in either
the horizontal or vertical plane. Horizontal pushing exercises involve
pushing a load away from your torso as if your torso was upright while
performing them. Classic examples include push-up and chest press
variations. Vertical pushing exercises involve pushing a load in an
upward or downward direction relative to an upright torso. Classic
examples include dip, vertical push-up or overhead press variations.
Knee-Dominant: Any exercise that primarily targets your quadriceps and
involves the flexion and extension of your knees. In addition, lower
body exercises that actively involve your upper body and where your
torso is vertical or bent forward less than 45-degrees are best
classified as knee-dominant. Classic knee-dominant exercises include
squat and lunge variations.
Pull/Scapulothoracic: Any exercise that primarily targets your lats,
posterior shoulders, upper and mid back, scapulothoracic joint, biceps
and forearms and involves a pulling pattern in either the horizontal or
vertical plane. Horizontal pulling exercises involve pulling a load
towards your torso as if your torso was upright while performing them.
Classic examples include rowing and Y, T, W, L, I raise variations.
Vertical pulling exercises involve pulling a load in an upward or
downward direction relative to an upright torso. Classic examples
include pull-up, pull-down, high pull, and bicep curl variations.
Pillar- Integrated Shoulders, Hips, and Core: Any exercise that
primarily targets your shoulders, hips, and core. The primary objective
is to train spinal stabilization in all 3 planes of movement including
anti-flexion, anti-extension, anti-lateral flexion, and anti-rotation.
Classic examples include front, side, and back pillar or plank
variations. Pillar movements also include functional, ground-based
rotational exercises like chopping variations.
Total Body: Any exercise that integrates any combination of the
aforementioned movement patterns or simultaneously calls upon your upper
and lower body. The total body nature of these exercises also results
in maximum heart rate elevation and the optimal fat-burning,
muscle-building stimulus. Classic examples include squat to presses,
swings, and explosive olympic lifting variations like cleans, snatches,
jerks, etc. In addition, traditional cardiovascular locomotive and
plyometric exercises like running, leaping, hopping, skipping, bounding,
jumping, shuffling, etc. also fit under this category.
In a study at Ball State University, researchers determined that
additional isolation exercises for the arms had no additional benefit in
terms of arm strength and hypertophy (muscle growth). One group did
four compound upper body exercises (like presses and rows) in each
workout while the other group did the same four exercises plus some
extra biceps curls and triceps extensions. Since they both achieved the
same results it appears that single-joint, isolation exercises have
minimal if any benefit.
So now that we know the importance of training movement patterns (not
body parts) with multi-joint, compound exercises, let’s not forget about
the importance of incorporating exercises that occur across multiple
planes of movement.
Too often people perform exercises in only one plane of movement,
typically the sagittal plane that encompasses movement up and down and
front to back and divides the body into left and right halves. The
classic exercises that fit the bill here are bench presses and squats.
However, movement in life and athletics occurs in three planes of
motion: sagittal, frontal, and transverse. Frontal plane movements occur
side-to-side and divide the body into front and back halves. Transverse
plane movements occur in a rotational manner and divide the body into
upper and lower halves.
Let’s use the lunge as an example. A forward lunge takes place in the
sagittal plane, where a lateral lunge takes place in the frontal plane,
where a rotational lunge takes place in the transverse plane. Performing
lunge variations in all three planes of movements best ensures optimal
strength, functional carryover, muscle gain, and proper muscular
balance. This in turn improves posture and injury reduction.
I should add that performing exercises in free space is ideal (also
termed “free weights”). Machines limit movement to a fixed path and do
not properly engage your body’s key stabilizers, particularly your hip,
spinal, and scapular stabilizers, which will put you at a much greater
risk of injury outside of the gym.
THE FIX: Employ functional multi-joint, compound movement patterns that
address all three planes of movement for maximum muscle growth, fat
loss, and metabolic spikes.
Deadly Workout Sin#4- Using low-intensity work periods lasting 2 minutes or longer to burn fat
This one is mainly for all of the ladies out there- and I’m not about to
sing a Michael Bolton or Marvin Gaye song here… unless of course, the
price is right.
Women have the relentless tendency to perform endless hours of cardio
and if they do use weights they tend use loads that are so light that
they might as well not even bother—so small that they can barely be seen
by the naked eye.
Heck,
most guys out there have a hard enough time gaining muscle. Now factor
in that women have 15-20 times less testosterone than men do and the
answer is clear. In other words, women never have to worry about gaining
too much muscle-- it would require freakish genetics and loads of drugs
to even come close. Using heavier loads will just result in greater
calorie burning, a faster metabolic rate, and a tighter, more toned and
athletic physique.
One of the biggest myths in fitness is the concept of the fat-burning
zone. It all started in 1993 when researchers at the University of Texas
determined that lower to moderate intensity activity burnt the greatest
amount of fat for fuel. In addition, peak fat oxidation (burning)
appeared to occur at 65% of aerobic capacity. This is basically the
exercise equivalent of conversational cardio or a power walk or slow
jog.
However, we’ve already established that aerobic training has zero effect
on weight loss over dieting alone, so we know that a power walk or slow
jog will just not cut it.
Furthermore, though lower intensity exercise burns proportionately more
fat than high-intensity exercise, high-intensity exercise burns more
total calories per minute and thus still results in a similar amount of
total fat burnt during exercise as its lower to moderate intensity
counterpart.
The fact of the matter is that high-intensity exercise is scientifically
proven to burn nine times more body fat than ordinary exercise per unit
of effort. Plus, it’s not about how much fat your burn during your
workout that’s important. The harder you exercise the more sugar you
burn for fuel and this allows you to burn more fat during rest periods
and in the hours and days between your workouts for maximum total body
fat burning.
For the best real world example of which style of training is best for
lean muscle gain and fat loss, just look at the body of sprinter versus
the body of an endurance athlete. Sprinters are not only more muscular
but actually have a significantly lower body fat percentage than
endurance athletes. Though I’ve seen lots of overweight distance runners
and walkers in my day, I have never seen an overweight sprinter. That
has to count for something and again the science supports this anecdotal
evidence.
In
the Gibala Study, researchers collected a bunch of college students who
were in good health but not participating in any athletics. One group
rode a bike at a sustainable pace for 90-120 minutes. The other group
performed 20-30 seconds of cycling at maximum effort followed by four
minutes of full recovery and they repeated this sequence up to four to
six times for a total of 18-27 minutes. Each group exercised three times
per week for two total weeks. In the end, they discovered that both
groups achieved identical improvements in endurance even though the
high-intensity group had only exercised for six to nine minutes while it
took the low-intensity group five hours to achieve those same results! I
know, crazy, right?
What’s even crazier is the fact that the high-intensity group had
greater weight loss than their low-intensity counterparts. According to
the head researcher Martin Gibala the “rate of energy expenditure
remains higher longer into recovery” from high-intensity interval
training.
There’s just something special about high-intensity anaerobic (without
oxygen) work periods of 30-60 seconds. First of all, they are glycolytic
in nature meaning that they burn muscle glycogen, or the sugar stores
in your muscles, at optimal rates. The more sugar you burn during your
workouts the more body fat you will burn in the hours and days between
your workouts.
Second of all, it is generally accepted among fitness experts that
maximum hypertrophy, or muscle growth, occurs when performing exercises
with heavy loading and a time-under-tension lasting 30-40 seconds. At a
rep speed of two to three seconds per rep that comes down to the classic
bodybuilding rep range of eight to 15 reps per set. More muscle gain
means greater metabolism which means more rapid and lasting weight loss.
Lastly, high-intensity anaerobic work periods of 30-60 seconds also
create the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss by releasing
hormones knows as catecholamines (mainly adrenaline). This surge of
adrenaline mobilizes body fat, particular in the stubborn areas like the
abs and lower back for men and the hips and thighs for women.
Interestingly enough, resorting to shorter and even higher-intensity
work periods of 20 seconds or less actually causes a greater
catecholamine release that leads to even greater fat mobilization during
the workout. On the other hand, not as much glycogen will be depleted
with these shorter work periods thus resulting in less fat being burnt
at all other times of day. However, employing shorter, more intense work
periods with incomplete rest periods will deplete your phosphagen
stores (ATP-CP) and force your body to start using more sugar for fuel
(this is beyond the scope of this article).
In general, I believe it’s a fair trade off. Plus, I’m a firm believer
that the best interval training protocol is the one you haven’t done in a
while, if ever. In other words, I recommend incorporating a wide
variety of work periods ranging between 30-60 seconds or less for
maximum fat blasting and metabolic disturbance and to keep your body
guessing.
The bottom line is that intensity is the only thing that truly makes
your body change. If you take one thing away from this article, I hope
it is this!
THE FIX: To burn fat and skyrocket metabolism 24-7-365, employ
high-intensity work periods lasting 30-60 seconds or less to deplete
muscle glycogen stores during your workouts in order to burn more fat
fuel when resting and at all other times of the day.
Deadly Workout Sin#5- Performing straight sets of a single exercise
It takes about three to five minutes following intensive exertion for
your body to completely recover and get ready for another bout of
maximum effort without any significant decreases in performance. In
traditional weight training, if you’re performing three sets of 10 reps,
that means that it would take a minimum of 10-15 minutes to complete
your first exercise in your workout putting you on track for one of
those one hour plus marathon sessions that we already know is not
optimal.
However, there is a very simple way that we can maintain peak intensity
while allowing for full recovery: perform alternating sets of
non-competitive exercises. My preferred method of alternating sets for
metabolic acceleration is circuit training.
Typically it takes a trainee about 30 seconds to complete 10 reps of a
given exercise at a controlled tempo of three seconds per rep.
Previously we outlined that there are six basic movement patterns that
make up any sound training plan with each movement pattern emphasizing a
different region(s) of the body. So let’s build ourselves a killer
six-exercise metabolic circuit where we allow for about 15 seconds of
rest and transition between exercises and a 60-second rest and
transition at the end of the circuit to re-group, grab a swig of water,
and say a quick prayer to the fitness Gods begging for mercy:
1- Hip-Dominant Exercise @ 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
2- Pushing Exercise @ 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
3- Knee-Dominant Exercise @ 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
4- Pulling Exercise @ 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
5- Pillar Exercise @ 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
6- Total Body Exercise @ 30 seconds on, 15 seconds off
Let’s examine the beauty of what we just did here:
- In approximately five minutes, the circuit format allowed us to
perform all six exercises that comprise a whole body workout where in
the straight sets format it took us the same amount of time to complete
one set of a single exercise
- By alternating between non-competitive exercises in a circuit format,
we are able to achieve maximum intensity while allowing for a full
5-minute recovery by the next time we repeat that same exercise
- In only 20 minutes, we can complete four rounds of this whole body
circuit and be done for the day while we’d just be starting our second
set of the second exercise in straight set format
Clearly the circuit training format is by far the most time-efficient
approach and it also has many other of the key variables for proper
metabolic training in place such as high-intensity work periods, quick
and focused 20-minute workouts, short rest periods, total body workout,
etc.
I believe circuit training is the foundation of any solid metabolic
workout. Let’s take a look at two breakthrough scientific studies that
support what I’ve seen in the real world:
Burn over 500 calories in 20 minutes: In a recent study by the
University of Southern Maine, researchers discovered a more accurate
method of estimating calorie burn from weight training than had been
used previously. They discovered that a weight training circuit burned
71% more calories than previously thought. In fact, an eight minute
circuit burned somewhere between 159 and 233 calories which breaks down
to about 20-28 calories per minute!
Elevate metabolism for up to 38+ hours post-workout: In a study by the
European Journal of Applied Physiology, researchers determined that a
31-minute circuit training protocol of three compound, multi-joint
movements significantly elevated metabolism for 38 hours post-workout--
at which point they decided to stop tracking. This metabolic afterburn
was due to a couple of factors. The first is due to increased tissue
turnover due to the need to build and repair muscle microtrauma after
high-intensity training. The second is due to increased Excess
Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) due to the oxygen debt created
by high-intensity anaerobic exercise.
From a personal standpoint, when I was a young and stupid I used to
workout for two to three hours at a time using the straight set format.
It was always incredibly mentally draining to know that half of my day
would be eaten up every time I worked out. However, I had all of the
time in the world to workout then so I took advantage of that. Strangely
enough, I had a lot of extra body fat for someone who was working out
for several hours a day— that’s weird, right?
Now that I’m not as young and a little less stupid (I think) and I am a
business owner the only workouts I currently have time for are metabolic
workouts that have me in and out in 30 minutes and on with my busy,
hectic days. Today I maintain a low body fat percentage year round and
it’s all due to these circuits and a sound diet that emphasizes protein,
produce, and water every couple of hours.
The choice is yours-- get better results in less than half the time or
take hours of your precious time to get nowhere and fast. Well, I guess
it’s not much a choice after all.
THE FIX: If your goal is maximum results in minimal time, employ
alternating sets of non-competitive exercises each and every time you
workout. Metabolic circuit training is by far the best way to get into
the best shape of your life in 30 minutes or less so you can get on with
your very busy day.
Deadly Workout Sin#6- Using long rest periods of 2 minutes or more between exercises
How many times have you seen this happen in the gym:
A big, burly, meathead of a man lays down to grunt out a couple reps of
heavy benches presses where the bar bounces off of his chest like a
basketball while his ass leaps off of the bench with his lower back
resembling the Arc de Triomphe.
Then he racks the weight and goes and grabs a swig of water or chugs a vat of protein.
A couple minutes pass and now he’s watching some highlights on Sports Center with a few of his meathead buddies.
A couple more minutes pass and now he’s molesting some good-looking cardio queen with his eyes.
Finally, five to seven minutes after he completed his last rep on the bench press, he’s ready start his next set.
More likely than not, this guy will take several hours to complete his
workout at this pace. Clearly, this is not the most efficient way to
exercise.
Now, if your goal is maximum strength and power, then three to five minute complete recovery periods have their place.
But chances are, if you’re like most of the general population, you
could care less about how much you can bench or squat and are more
focused on having the lean, muscular build of a Men’s or Women’s Health
model.
In
other words, most people can afford to lose some fat and gain some
muscle and the key to doing so is to maximize training density. Density
describes the amount of work completed per unit of time. Density also
happens to be the biggest primer for fat loss because the more work you
can complete in the same amount of time or less the leaner and more
muscular you will be.
How do we accomplish this? We do so by reducing our rest periods between
exercises. According to the NSCA, shorter rest periods lasting 30-60
seconds or less resulted in the greatest growth hormone response. Growth
hormone is one of the most powerful fat-burning and muscle-building
hormones in your body.
Look no further than the world famous Tabata Study for the fat-burning,
metabolic-boosting benefits of high-intensity work periods combined with
short rest periods. In this groundbreaking cycling study, researchers
discovered that only four minutes of a 20-10 interval protocol (20
seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest) provided
greater fat loss and conditioning than 60 minutes of steady state
cardio.
Now one of the problems with this study is that in the real world most
people aren’t able to perform multiple bouts of max effort for the same
exercise with short rest periods (in fact, most of the elite cyclists in
the study couldn’t complete all four minutes of the 20-10 protocol
because it was too intense).
However, by employing a circuit training format where you perform
alternating sets of non-competitive exercises, we can maintain the
high-intensity work periods in conjunction with the short rest periods
as in the Tabata study.
Furthermore, I have personally found this 2:1 negative work to rest
ratio (in this case of Tabatas, 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off) to be
unreal for rapidly improving fat loss and fitness for my campers and for
my own personal workouts.
THE FIX: Employ short rest periods of 30-60 seconds or less between
exercises in order to maximize training density and the growth hormone
response from exercise for maximum fat loss and metabolic acceleration.
Deadly Workout Sin#7- Performing the same fitness routine for six weeks or more
This one is pretty straight forward- if you perform the same workout
routine day in and day out, week in and week out, your body will stop
changing and you will hit a dreaded plateau.
The classic example of this can be seen in any run of the mill gym or
health club. On day one, after your sign a contract where you pay money
to use somebody else’s equipment, you’ll meet with a “personal trainer”
who probably is wearing some cute little jacket that says “personal
trainer” on it (I’m convinced the reason for this is because some
personal trainers may actually forget what they do for a living-- too
much protein on the brain). Then he or she will teach you how to use all
of the machines (don’t get me started on machines) and will then
recommend doing a circuit of three sets of 10 reps for each body part
every time you workout.
Now keep in mind that if you are sedentary and haven’t exercised in
years (if ever), absolutely anything you do in the gym will elicit a
positive response.
If you exercise with heavier loads, your body will respond by gaining more muscle to accommodate the new training demands.
If you employ shorter rest periods between sets while maintaining the
same total work output, your body will respond by improving conditioning
and melting unwanted body fat.
If you perform a new exercise altogether that challenges your body in a
very unique way, your nervous system will quickly figure out how to
master this movement resulting in increased performance.
The human body is a smart and efficient machine and will quickly adapt
to any training plan that you throw its way. Within the first two to
three weeks of any new training program you will notice the biggest
improvements in your performance and physique. However, the human body
is constantly striving for homeostasis and efficiency and after
performing the same program for about four weeks there are diminishing
returns.
That’s
why it’s critical to change-up your fitness routine every month. By
simply tweaking a couple of variables in your training plan, like your
exercise selection, exercise order, work periods and rest periods, etc.,
you provide a new stimulus that will force your body to change and
prevent dreaded physique and performance plateaus.
Now, don’t get me wrong here-- we always perform the same movement
patterns in every training program because they are foundational.
However, there are lots of different exercises that fall under the same
movement pattern category that we can cycle between. New exercises
require more mental and physical energy to perform thus burning more
calories and causing a greater metabolic disturbance and this is exactly
the type of stimulus your body needs to break out of any fitness rut.
The best example for this is the push-up since there are literally
hundreds of push-up variations. We pretty much do some sort of push-up
variation every workout, but by constantly switching up the type of
push-up we’re using there is always a new stimulus that keeps the body
changing. Plus, the better you get at one type of push-up, the better
you get at all of the others and visa versa.
In addition, let’s not forget about the mental component here. The brain
needs variety and performing the same routine for extended periods of
time will not only decrease performance but will also lower your
motivation to workout. So you’ll start skipping training sessions here
and there and then all of a sudden you’ll find yourself back at square
one—sitting on your butt, twiddling your thumbs while watching an
infomercial about this incredible new waist belt that will give you the
flat tummy of your dreams… all for only four easy payments of $19.95 so
it can sit under your bed and collect dust before your dog uses it a new
chew toy.
I have personally programmed for thousands of people online and I have
worked with hundreds of campers in the trenches for many years. What
I’ve discovered is that if I simply swap in new exercises and move to a
different interval training protocol every three to four weeks I can
constantly keep their bodies changing and performance continues to
improve. Not to mention the fact that their motivation to workout
remains sky high with every new challenge I throw their way.
Also, my camps operate on a three weeks on, one week off schedule-- I’ve
found this to be the sweet spot for the typical busy person looking for
general fitness in their 20’s through 50’s. We work very hard for three
weeks trying to keep pushing the envelope each subsequent week by using
a gradual progressive overload. Then we employ an active recovery week
to allow for mental and physical regeneration, prevent overtraining, and
reduce the risk of injury. Then we start a new program altogether and
we wash and repeat like clockwork. The results have been simply amazing.
THE FIX: Change-up up your fitness up your fitness routine each and
every month to prevent dreaded weight loss and performance plateaus.
Employ new exercises and different work and rest periods (or interval
protocols) to constantly provide a new stimulus that your body must
learn how to adapt to.
