Quality and Variety, Over Quantity

I've had a lot of people ask me over the last couple of weeks what are the best type of workouts to do... I will try to keep this as simple as possible, but if I get carried away, or you don't understand something, just ask ;) There really is no single "best" workout, but many great workouts, it's just a matter of finding what is best for you, and what you will be able to stick with and maintain.

Ideally, if you were to work out 6 days a week, you should shoot for about 2 easy, 2 moderate, and 2 hard days, with variety being the "spice of life." Your 2 easy days could be considered a long(45-60+ min) bike ride, walk, or hike, light jog, etc... you are in motion, and are getting a light sweat going, but can still carry on a conversation with someone. You won't be getting your heart rate up as high, or burning as many calories, but it is important to give your body an easy or recovery day, especially after a hard day. The better shape you get in, you maybe able to eliminate an easy day and do an additional moderate or hard day. Before performing any workout, it is important to warm up. Cool down and stretch when you are finished.

On moderate days you should be pushing yourself a bit harder, and trying to get your heart rate up higher than on an easy day. A good way to gauge a moderate work out is you should be able to carry on a conversation but be slightly winded. It's called the "talk test." I also like to call it sweating off the doughnut, because you'll have a little bit of a sweat glaze going on. This can be a jog, lifting weights - compound or multi-functional lifts, full body lifts, high incline on a treadmill, swimming, etc. You don't need to go as long(about 30-60min), but if you fuel your body properly and as you get in better shape, you can sustain a good hard workout. This is where the majority of your workouts should be. Programs like P90, ChaLEAN, Hip Hop Abs, Brazil Butt Lift, TurboJam, etc, are primarily in this range, but can be considered hard, too.

Now for the meat and potatoes... your HARD days... This is what can get you through a plateau, burn more calories, is a proven way to increase your metabolism, and get you into great shape. On your hard days, you need to PUSH. Whether it is just going for a hard 30 minute run/jog, doing a hard workout DVD, sprints, or HIIT(High Intensity Interval Training - should do HIIT at least 1x a week), get your heart rate up! HIIT is the best way to go, whatever your choice of torture. There are lots of way to do HIIT, but the most important thing is to get your heart rate up as high as you can for a short duration, then recover for a short duration. Repeat multiple times over a 10-20 minute time frame. Do use caution when doing HIIT, and make sure if you have any heart or medical concerns you are cleared by your doctor.

A popular form of HIIT that can be done on a treadmill, bike, elliptical, or running outside is Body For Life's HIIT, using the RPE scale(Rating of Perceived Exertion) going one minute at a time from a 5 to 6 to 7 to 8 to 9, then back down to 6, then up again to 7, 8, 9, down to 6, back up 7, 8, 9, and on your last cycle, 6, 7, 8, 9... 10!!!, then cool down. It is based on your own level. What maybe a 7 for me, maybe a 10 for you. The idea is to push a little harder each minute, each cycle. It's 20 minutes total. Another popular one is a 90/30 - 90sec warm up, 30 sec HIIT, 90 second recovery, 30 sec HIIT - repeat 6-12 times, cool down. Then there is TurboFIRE, Insanity, Insanity: The Asylum, and parts of P90X. Many of Beachbody's programs are structured around HIIT cardio. That is why they produce results.

From Wikipedia, "A study by Gibala et al. demonstrated 2.5 hours of sprint interval training produced similar biochemical muscle changes to 10.5 hours of endurance training and similar endurance performance benefits. According to a study by King,[6] HIIT increases the resting metabolic rate (RMR) for the following 24 hours due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, and may improve maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) more effectively than doing only traditional, long aerobic workouts." This is where I mean quality over quantity. I get a lot of people that will just sit on a machine for an hour or two at a time, day in and day out... I would go bored out of my mind! For me, I want the biggest bang for my buck. In. Out. Done. Go hard or go home. HIIT will increase your anaerobic capacity and threshold, burn more calories in a shorter amount of time, increase your metabolism, and who doesn't feel great after a good hard workout??? This is what I am talking about when I mean quality over quantity :) Just make sure you give yourself an easy day or day of rest after performing HIIT. This is hard stuff and your body needs to recover.

Variety; it is also important to mix it up. Do something different! Our bodies are adaptable. If you do the same thing over and over, it gets used to it and won't want to change. Think of it as shocking your body and keeping it on its toes... you don't want it to know what it is coming. If you are someone who likes a routine, you should change your routine every 6-8 weeks. If you are lifting weights, don't be afraid to occasionally increase your weights and lift heavy. Especially women.

We do not have enough testosterone to "bulk up." What tends to happen is women start lifting weights and their clothes might feel a little tighter after the first week or two... this is normal. When you start lifting, you are tearing and damaging muscle tissue, which leads to inflammation and swelling. Make sure you are eating enough protein, and drinking enough water. Once your body realizes what is going on, and gets through the initial phases of DOMS(Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness), it will get better. We want muscle, muscle burns fat! An additional 5lbs of lean muscle mass can potentially increase your metabolism by 200 calories a day.

To maximizes your results, it is best to do a combination of cardiovascular activities, and weight lifting. Unfortunately, we can't spot reduce, and that is why nutrition is so important. Don't get into a habit of "justifying" a treat after a hard workout. If you are on a mission to lose weight, an occasional treat is OK, but not everyday. If you were to go burn 300 calories in your 1/2 hour of HIIT, but then turn around and enjoyed a Costco blueberry muffin for breakfast(400+ calories!) because you feel like you "earned" it, then you may over eat what you have just worked so hard for. We get into this habit of "self entitlement" which can be destructive. We work our butts off, then wonder why we aren't losing or seeing results... Depending on what your goals are, time to buckle down and commit full circle... or should I say full triangle... My next "Die Fat Girl" (www.diefatgirl.blogspot.com) post is going to be on the "Weight Loss Commitment Triangle" that I created and should help people determine where they are in their goals, and how to be more effective and productive towards them. So thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more!