Flab to Fab in 15 Minutes a Day!
By Robert Adams, CPT/Fitness Coach
OK, so you just got done reading the latest monthly issue of your favorite fitness-and-health magazine about the newest and latest exercise program, and you are more confused than ever on what is the best way to "Get in Shape, Build Muscle and Burn Fat for Life."
What really is the best and most efficient form of exercise for maximum results?
· More weight or less weight?
· More reps or fewer reps?
· Higher intensity or lower intensity?
· More cardio than resistance training?
· More resistance training than cardio?
· Machines or free weights?
· Train every day or once a week?
In working with my existing personal fitness clients at MyHomePersonalTrainer.com, I have learned some of the most common but correctable mistakes a lot of men and women make in trying to support their long-term fitness-and-health goals.
Top 10 Common Fitness Training Mistakes
1. Too much machine work -- A lot of women and men train using too often just their preferred machines, which limits their range of motion and does not work their muscles in an efficient and effective manner. Ultimately this can limit the engagement of small stabilizer muscles that give you maximum benefit throughout your fitness training program.
2. Not lifting enough weight -- A lot of women do not lift enough weights to engage their muscles for long-term muscle growth.
3. Working only half of your body -- A lot of men focus too much on just their upper body and end up mainly training their chest and arms, thus making their body parts look very unbalanced and disproportionate to each other.
4. Too many reps -- A lot of women do too many reps per set, once again not allowing their muscles the opportunity to grow and develop so that they can change their muscle/fat body composition.
5. Overtraining -- The benefits of resistance training, unlike cardiovascular work, come after the training is over. Sometimes people think more is better and in resistance training that is not always the case.
6. Not fueling their bodies for training -- Both before and after training. Your body is an engine that must be fed with high octane, good quality fuel to maximize your fitness results. Starving yourself before or after a fitness training workout limits your capacity to perform at peak levels.
7. Training the same way -- Any fitness training program that is more than 4-6 weeks will not only get stale for you, but will provide you diminishing long-term fitness results.
8. Cardio before weights -- Wearing yourself down prior to your resistance-training workout with cardio can only reduce your opportunity to get the best possible training session.
9. Steady as she goes -- A big mistake is keeping your fitness training pace always in moderate mode. Incorporating high-intensity training is the way to keep it fresh, fast and effective.
10. Cardio, cardio and more cardio -- Burning fat is a great thing, but burning muscle is a bad thing. Cardio is a good fat burner, but also can burn muscle if you over indulge.
Your Flab to Fab 15 Minute Fitness Solution
1. Break away from the machines -- Use dumbbells to engage both sides of your body, and for a greater challenge perform unilateral exercise movements (alternating from one side to the other when lifting weights).
2. Take it to almost failure -- It's important to engage the muscles completely and make sure that no matter whether you are completing 8 or 12 reps, the last 2-3 should be challenging and you should not be able to complete another 2-3 reps. If you can, then raise your amount of weight to engage those muscles. Make sure to use a spotter if you're lifting heavier weights.
3. Lunges and squats -- Probably the two best lower body exercises that can be performed to engage the largest muscles in your body. Working your lower body will keep you symmetrical in shape and also help you burn more fat and change your Body/Fat ratio by developing the largest muscles in your body to become your fat-burning machines while your body is at rest.
4. Stay in the range -- 8-12 reps is about the perfect rep range for most people trying to improve their general fitness level. Too many reps will leave you with NO good quality results and too little will make it very hard to train without a spotter. Lift heavy for size and strength and keep changing your rep range to keep your body guessing while developing strong fat burning muscles.
5. Take a break -- Rest and recovery are a crucial element in any successful fitness training program, and I recommend to my clients at least 24-48 hours rest between resistance training sessions. I always recommend at least 48 hours for your larger muscle groups, which would be your lower-body leg workouts. I also recommend taking a week off during your training programs to give your body a break, and in most cases you will come back even stronger. Keep your body fresh and strong, and you will get greater long-term fitness success.
6. Eat to train and train to eat -- Your body is an engine, so feed it like one. You cannot perform well at peak levels without fuel, especially if you are engaged in a high-intensity resistance-training workout. Eat a combination of good quality high-fiber carbohydrates in combination with a lean good quality protein before your training sessions and always refuel again after you workout. You need to feed the muscles you just broke down so they can get stronger again.
7. Keep it fresh and challenging -- Any training program that is maintained for longer than 4-6 weeks will not be as effective in the long run. Always keep your body guessing, challenged and fresh with new and innovative fitness training programs. Your body should never be allowed to develop a rhythm using the same training programs. You will ultimately get diminishing returns on your training sessions. So keep your body guessing for maximum long-term results.
8. Don't limit yourself -- Machines will typically provide only one range of motion and will not help improve any muscle imbalances you may have. When you use dumbbells, you have no choice but to engage both sides of your body when lifting weights. Using free weights will really uncover any weakness you may have on one side of your body, promote a more natural range of motion, support imbalances of your muscle groups, and introduce you to tons of exercises that can be performed with a low-cost and home-friendly training method. Also, challenge all your muscles by using a stability ball. Stability balls provide you incredible flexibility in terms of cost, variety of exercises, and most importantly the engagement of many, many stabilizer muscles that would never be worked utilizing a fitness machine or even a bench.
9. Save it for the weights -- There is nothing more challenging than a high-intensity resistance-training session, and doing your cardio before your weights will not provide you the energy you need to perform at a peak level needed to maximize your weight-training sessions. Complete your weight workout. Then if you want to perform cardio on the same day as your resistance training, do it after the weights. Your body will thank you for it. Build muscle, and then burn the fat!
10. Take to new levels -- Short, high-tntensity fitness training is the way to go. Your body and mind will love you for it. Train with high intensity in short bursts and get maximum fat burn both when performing your resistance training and cardio workouts. That is the only way I train my clients, and it helps them fit their training into their busy schedules so they can stay on track to turn the flab to fab in only 15 minutes a day!
11. You cannot live by cardio alone -- Although cardio is an excellent fat burner, especially if performed as a high-intensity interval-training workout, you need to realize that burning fat is only part of the equation. It is essential that any complete and balanced fitness-training plan includes an effective high-intensity resistance-training program to maintain and increase your muscle mass. By integrating resistance workouts into your traditional cardio routines, you will build muscle and burn fat both during your workouts and while you're at rest. You need to develop your body into a Fat Burning Machine, and changing your body composition is the key to long-term success.
The secret in developing the perfect personal fitness training program begins with the following tips:
1. Focus on the four major muscles groups -- Stay away from isolation exercises. Burn fat and build muscle when working those major large muscle froups more often.
a. Legs -- squatb. Chest -- chest pressc. Back -- bent-over rowsd. Shoulders -- overhead press
2. Perform compound exercises (multi-joint movements) -- Working multi-joints at the same time provides maximum benefit to your muscles.
a. Legs -- lunge or squat (hip and knee joint)b. Chest -- chest press (shoulder and elbow joint)c. Back -- bent-over row (shoulder and elbow joint)d. Shoulders -- overhead press (shoulder and elbow joint).
3. Perform supersets -- No rest between two exercises. Working more than one muscle with no break provides and efficient and effective workout.
a. Work opposing muscle groupsi. Chest then backb. Work alternating between upper and lower bodyi. Chest then legs
4. Perform circuit training -- No rest through your entire workout. Circuit set training turns your fitness training into high-intensity resistance training.
a. Train for maximum gain by performing all your exercises with no break.
5. Build your fitness training with value and flexibility in mind -- A great fitness value with outstanding fitness benefits.
a. Train with a quality stability ball.b. Train with dumbbells while at home or at the gym.c. Train with exercise Bands while traveling on the road for work or vacation.
Robert Adams, a nationally certified personal trainer and fitness coach, is N.E.S.T.A (National Endurance & Sports Trainers Association) Certified and the Head Fitness Expert for MyHomePersonalTrainer.com where he supports fitness clients in building muscle and burning fat while they develop a perfect fitness body for life.
OK, so you just got done reading the latest monthly issue of your favorite fitness-and-health magazine about the newest and latest exercise program, and you are more confused than ever on what is the best way to "Get in Shape, Build Muscle and Burn Fat for Life."
What really is the best and most efficient form of exercise for maximum results?
· More weight or less weight?
· More reps or fewer reps?
· Higher intensity or lower intensity?
· More cardio than resistance training?
· More resistance training than cardio?
· Machines or free weights?
· Train every day or once a week?
In working with my existing personal fitness clients at MyHomePersonalTrainer.com, I have learned some of the most common but correctable mistakes a lot of men and women make in trying to support their long-term fitness-and-health goals.
Top 10 Common Fitness Training Mistakes
1. Too much machine work -- A lot of women and men train using too often just their preferred machines, which limits their range of motion and does not work their muscles in an efficient and effective manner. Ultimately this can limit the engagement of small stabilizer muscles that give you maximum benefit throughout your fitness training program.
2. Not lifting enough weight -- A lot of women do not lift enough weights to engage their muscles for long-term muscle growth.
3. Working only half of your body -- A lot of men focus too much on just their upper body and end up mainly training their chest and arms, thus making their body parts look very unbalanced and disproportionate to each other.
4. Too many reps -- A lot of women do too many reps per set, once again not allowing their muscles the opportunity to grow and develop so that they can change their muscle/fat body composition.
5. Overtraining -- The benefits of resistance training, unlike cardiovascular work, come after the training is over. Sometimes people think more is better and in resistance training that is not always the case.
6. Not fueling their bodies for training -- Both before and after training. Your body is an engine that must be fed with high octane, good quality fuel to maximize your fitness results. Starving yourself before or after a fitness training workout limits your capacity to perform at peak levels.
7. Training the same way -- Any fitness training program that is more than 4-6 weeks will not only get stale for you, but will provide you diminishing long-term fitness results.
8. Cardio before weights -- Wearing yourself down prior to your resistance-training workout with cardio can only reduce your opportunity to get the best possible training session.
9. Steady as she goes -- A big mistake is keeping your fitness training pace always in moderate mode. Incorporating high-intensity training is the way to keep it fresh, fast and effective.
10. Cardio, cardio and more cardio -- Burning fat is a great thing, but burning muscle is a bad thing. Cardio is a good fat burner, but also can burn muscle if you over indulge.
Your Flab to Fab 15 Minute Fitness Solution
1. Break away from the machines -- Use dumbbells to engage both sides of your body, and for a greater challenge perform unilateral exercise movements (alternating from one side to the other when lifting weights).
2. Take it to almost failure -- It's important to engage the muscles completely and make sure that no matter whether you are completing 8 or 12 reps, the last 2-3 should be challenging and you should not be able to complete another 2-3 reps. If you can, then raise your amount of weight to engage those muscles. Make sure to use a spotter if you're lifting heavier weights.
3. Lunges and squats -- Probably the two best lower body exercises that can be performed to engage the largest muscles in your body. Working your lower body will keep you symmetrical in shape and also help you burn more fat and change your Body/Fat ratio by developing the largest muscles in your body to become your fat-burning machines while your body is at rest.
4. Stay in the range -- 8-12 reps is about the perfect rep range for most people trying to improve their general fitness level. Too many reps will leave you with NO good quality results and too little will make it very hard to train without a spotter. Lift heavy for size and strength and keep changing your rep range to keep your body guessing while developing strong fat burning muscles.
5. Take a break -- Rest and recovery are a crucial element in any successful fitness training program, and I recommend to my clients at least 24-48 hours rest between resistance training sessions. I always recommend at least 48 hours for your larger muscle groups, which would be your lower-body leg workouts. I also recommend taking a week off during your training programs to give your body a break, and in most cases you will come back even stronger. Keep your body fresh and strong, and you will get greater long-term fitness success.
6. Eat to train and train to eat -- Your body is an engine, so feed it like one. You cannot perform well at peak levels without fuel, especially if you are engaged in a high-intensity resistance-training workout. Eat a combination of good quality high-fiber carbohydrates in combination with a lean good quality protein before your training sessions and always refuel again after you workout. You need to feed the muscles you just broke down so they can get stronger again.
7. Keep it fresh and challenging -- Any training program that is maintained for longer than 4-6 weeks will not be as effective in the long run. Always keep your body guessing, challenged and fresh with new and innovative fitness training programs. Your body should never be allowed to develop a rhythm using the same training programs. You will ultimately get diminishing returns on your training sessions. So keep your body guessing for maximum long-term results.
8. Don't limit yourself -- Machines will typically provide only one range of motion and will not help improve any muscle imbalances you may have. When you use dumbbells, you have no choice but to engage both sides of your body when lifting weights. Using free weights will really uncover any weakness you may have on one side of your body, promote a more natural range of motion, support imbalances of your muscle groups, and introduce you to tons of exercises that can be performed with a low-cost and home-friendly training method. Also, challenge all your muscles by using a stability ball. Stability balls provide you incredible flexibility in terms of cost, variety of exercises, and most importantly the engagement of many, many stabilizer muscles that would never be worked utilizing a fitness machine or even a bench.
9. Save it for the weights -- There is nothing more challenging than a high-intensity resistance-training session, and doing your cardio before your weights will not provide you the energy you need to perform at a peak level needed to maximize your weight-training sessions. Complete your weight workout. Then if you want to perform cardio on the same day as your resistance training, do it after the weights. Your body will thank you for it. Build muscle, and then burn the fat!
10. Take to new levels -- Short, high-tntensity fitness training is the way to go. Your body and mind will love you for it. Train with high intensity in short bursts and get maximum fat burn both when performing your resistance training and cardio workouts. That is the only way I train my clients, and it helps them fit their training into their busy schedules so they can stay on track to turn the flab to fab in only 15 minutes a day!
11. You cannot live by cardio alone -- Although cardio is an excellent fat burner, especially if performed as a high-intensity interval-training workout, you need to realize that burning fat is only part of the equation. It is essential that any complete and balanced fitness-training plan includes an effective high-intensity resistance-training program to maintain and increase your muscle mass. By integrating resistance workouts into your traditional cardio routines, you will build muscle and burn fat both during your workouts and while you're at rest. You need to develop your body into a Fat Burning Machine, and changing your body composition is the key to long-term success.
The secret in developing the perfect personal fitness training program begins with the following tips:
1. Focus on the four major muscles groups -- Stay away from isolation exercises. Burn fat and build muscle when working those major large muscle froups more often.
a. Legs -- squatb. Chest -- chest pressc. Back -- bent-over rowsd. Shoulders -- overhead press
2. Perform compound exercises (multi-joint movements) -- Working multi-joints at the same time provides maximum benefit to your muscles.
a. Legs -- lunge or squat (hip and knee joint)b. Chest -- chest press (shoulder and elbow joint)c. Back -- bent-over row (shoulder and elbow joint)d. Shoulders -- overhead press (shoulder and elbow joint).
3. Perform supersets -- No rest between two exercises. Working more than one muscle with no break provides and efficient and effective workout.
a. Work opposing muscle groupsi. Chest then backb. Work alternating between upper and lower bodyi. Chest then legs
4. Perform circuit training -- No rest through your entire workout. Circuit set training turns your fitness training into high-intensity resistance training.
a. Train for maximum gain by performing all your exercises with no break.
5. Build your fitness training with value and flexibility in mind -- A great fitness value with outstanding fitness benefits.
a. Train with a quality stability ball.b. Train with dumbbells while at home or at the gym.c. Train with exercise Bands while traveling on the road for work or vacation.
Robert Adams, a nationally certified personal trainer and fitness coach, is N.E.S.T.A (National Endurance & Sports Trainers Association) Certified and the Head Fitness Expert for MyHomePersonalTrainer.com where he supports fitness clients in building muscle and burning fat while they develop a perfect fitness body for life.
posted by Judy King | 4:30 AM
7 Comments:
I am up for both of them Merbear. I would need some instruction on the tennis part but I have no recent experience. I also would have to clear the garage to get at the bike and there's a challenge and a half. I probably could burn a lot of calories just getting ready to bike! =) We have wonderful biking paths in Calgary. There is a tennis court downt the hill from the church on the way to Confederation Park.
I am so with you! Let's break out the tennis rackets! I love tennis and it is an excellent way to get that heart rate up! We should have ladies tennis nights once a week or every two weeks. Racquetball, anything like that. We could rent the courts, and just go for it!
Tennis sounds like a lot of fun to me.. or maybe even a game of volleyball once a month. I can set that up for all the ladies. I'm sure many ladies would be up for beach volleyball in the sand. Carla, Debbie & Jen, Sue, Christine, plus all of us and others I'm sure. Good way to get maybe women like Joan and Dianne involved in teh group.
There's tennis courts everywhere... although I'm not good at the eye coordinating thing either... but it would still be fun!!
I'm also going to set up a swim night coming up as a fundraiser for the youth!
I think this summer will be great! Does anyone rollerblade? I'm a beginner and I love taking the path that is by the airport, there's not too many hills and it's not crowded. I go on Sat mornings at around 8....maybe some could rollerblade and others can bike!! What do ya all think??
Rollerblading was one of the goals I set for when I lost 100 lbs. Not there yet and it seems the older I get the further away the ground is. Maybe it is my vision. cough cough. You just never know though. Not crowded sounds great. Do they provide cushioned sidewalks to fall on? =)
You are a brave woman! I wouldn't have the nerve to try that at any size!!! I hate heights! LOL
Ya.. there's grass on both sides.. lol. And there's even a bench to rest on half way in the middle.
I'll pass on the rollerblading...I can't even rollerskate, and ice skating freaks me out, ok, ok, I'm weird...but I amm all for the rest. Volleyball, tennis, racquetball...let's do it.
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