Guys and girls, it’s time to make a change. If you are looking to lose body fat, increase strength and get the body you want, keep reading.
Gone are the days when an hour slog on the treadmill, at 60% of your maximum heart rate, was the best way to lose body fat.
Make way for interval training and resistance training.
A combination of these 2 training methods will not only give your body the shock it needs to succeed but expect all of the following:
- A faster metabolism.
- Stronger muscles.
- A Leaner physique
- Better athletic performance.
- Reduced workout time.
If this is not enough to convince you to give it a try, keep reading.
What is interval training?
Interval training is a type of physical training that involves bursts of high intensity work. This high intensity work is alternated with periods of rest or low activity, the eponymous intervals.
A good example would be a 1 minute sprint on the treadmill followed by a 1 minute jog/walk.
For best results I would not recommend longer than 30 mins including both warm up and cool down.
This is a more effective way to burn calories. However the bad news is these intervals sessions need to be intense in order to produce enough lactic acid to have the desired effect but the good news is you will only need to perform them twice a week.
A good weekly schedule for both men and women would look something like this:
Mon: Full body resistance training.
Tue: Intervals on the treadmill
Wed: Rest
Thu: Full body resistance.
Fri: Intervals on the rower.
What is resistance training?
Resistance Training is a form of strength training in which each effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed, stretched or bent).
Now ladies don’t be put off by this, you will not end up looking like Arnie, I promise.
Again we are looking to up the intensity here compared to a typical weight training routine. In come the supersets and triple sets.
Supersets are where you perform two exercises back to back before resting and triplesets are where you perform three exercises back to back before resting.
Both of these methods place the muscles under a greater tension for a longer period thus raising your metabolism and providing cardiovascular benefits as well as stimulating your fibers for growth, strength and tone. AGAIN LADIES DON’T BE ALARMED.
A typical routine should last no longer than 40 minutes including warm up and cool down and may look something like this:
3 x 12reps of each superset with 40-60secs rest between.
- Incline dumbell press paired with Deadlifts
- Press ups paired with squats
- Shoulder press paired with barbell curls
- Side raises paired with Cable tricep extensions.
The above has a focus on the larger muscle groups of the body (the bigger the muscle the more energy it requires to perform the exercise, which means more calories burned and a higher metabolism). See where I’m going with this!
The truth is most people spend at least 90 minutes training in the gym and most probably don’t even come close to the above. So up the intensity, reduce your training time and look and feel better for it. Trust me.
Now I don’t want to go crazy with detail but I just wanted to get the point across.
I understand some of the above information may go against a lot of things you have read/heard in the past or you may still not believe me, so please if you have any questions or would like some ideas on how to incorporate this into your routine then please get in touch matt@fitterlondon.co.uk
Have a great day and look forward to hearing from you.
Always happy to help,
Matt Whitmore
