Exercise Advice: I should be sleeping... but I'm posting
My sister sent me a great list by Forbes of top 100 Website for women. So I've been going through the list. I don't usually share exercise advice. Not entirely sure why. Mainly cause I rarely do anything nowadays beyond walking up 5 flights of stairs multiple times a day and my ridiculously hard spinning class.. but found this on a great site: Jane Has a Job.
Got Only 30 Minutes at the Gym? Here’s How to Make the Best of It
[Ed.: This workout comes from a real, live personal trainer. Don't worry, it's not from me -- I don't think anyone would ever mistake me for a fitness expert.]
It’s easy to convince yourself to skip a workout, especially when it’s just one. The thing is, usually that one will turn into another, until eventually you’ve missed a whole week or month of fitness.
One of the number one reasons that people give me when they’re rationalizing their infidelity to health is their lack of time. I’m going to kill that excuse for you right now and give you a fast fat-burning workout to kick your results into high gear.
The best thing you’re going to hear in this whole post is that to get a nicely toned body you don’t have to do any cardio at all. None. Without getting into the complicated bioenergetics too much, doing resistance training burns way more fat than cardio does.
Now I know exactly what you’re thinking, “but I always bulk up when I do weights!” There are a few reasons that you’ve bulked up in the past, but the workout I’m going to show you at the end of this post won’t make you bulk up.*
*Note: Everyone will “bulk up” for the first 2-4 weeks when starting a new resistance program; it’s your muscles defending themselves. That means stick with it past 2-4 weeks, and the swelling will go down.
Let’s get back to that whole cardio thing. Conventional wisdom is that 1 hour of cardio with a few hand weights and ab exercises will get you fit. While you may burn more calories during a workout like that, the benefits pretty much stop right after. With a workout that gets your heart rate up by incorporating resistance training you can increase your metabolism for up to 72 hours. Pretty sweet, right?
On top of that it’s nearly impossible to keep up the intensity of these kinds of workouts for an hour, meaning that you can get everything done in a half hour (or even 10 minutes if that’s all you’ve got). No more “I don’t have time” excuse.
No boring cardio. Awesome results.
Without further ado here’s that workout I promised.
Results-Oriented Workout in 30 Minutes or Less
Perform each of these exercises back to back for as much time as you have, or up to 30 minutes. Take breaks when you have to, and do the first round of each exercise at an easy pace to allow your body to warm up.
1. Lunges – complete 10 on each leg
2. Push-ups (yes, knee push-ups are okay) – complete 10
3. Squats – complete 10
4. Plank (like a push-up, only you’re on your elbows and you don’t move) – hold for as long as you can. Here’s an example from YouTube, but hold it for longer than she counts.
5. Squat thrusts (squat down to the ground, jump your legs back to a push-up position, do a push-up, jump back to the low squat, jump in the air) – Complete 10. Here’s a good example with some progressions.
A quick word of caution: Don’t go beyond your limits! This workout is for those who have consulted with their doctors.
You can do this kind of workout on non consecutive days (Mondays and Wednesdays, for example), and you can also substitute or add other exercises — just make sure that they are big movements like squats or push-ups.
Kian is an A.C.E. certified Personal Trainer, STOTT Trained Pilates instructor, and is finishing his masters in Kinesiology. He made his transition from “fat kid” to fitness professional, and it’s his passion to help as many people as possible reach their fitness goals. He is currently the owner of Ameli Training in Concord CA, and runs a health and fitness blog at www.amelitraining.com.
