Tuesday Training Tip and a Fat Burning Workout Routine: Less is more, but less is not easier. Unlocking the secret to burning fat and creating lean muscle.

 

 Kelly’s Tuesday Training Tip: Less is more, but less is not easier.

Unlocking the secret to burning fat and creating lean muscle

 Ok, let’s be honest here. How many of you think that if a little bit of exercise firms and tones than a lot of exercise will turn you into a slim, skinny jean wearing supermodel? How many of you have pounded away at the treadmill or elliptical for an hour at a time, 5 days a week, but haven’t really noticed any real results or muscle tone? I’m sure we’ve all been there and I’m guilty as charged, too. It wasn’t until a few years ago that one of my athletic trainers told me some advice that stuck because it worked. He said, “Go harder, not longer.” I took his advice and have been pounding out short, super intense workouts ever since with amazing success.

 To prove my point, a study was recently published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism in which researchers asked a group of women to do 45 minutes of steady, moderate cardio like the elliptical for 5 days a week for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, the women experienced no change in their body composition compared to women who didn’t exercise or diet at all. Now if that’s not depressing, I don’t know what is.

 So, I officially give you permission to stop wasting your time – Let’s break the chain of the long, boring, dreaded treadmill and elliptical sessions now! Instead of working out more, I’m going to show you how to work out harder, smarter and faster in as little time as 15 minutes a day for 3 days a week. Sound to good to be true? It’s not if you do the right exercises and lift the right amount of weights, I promise.

 What determines whether or not you shed fat is not the duration of your workouts, but the intensity. High intensity workouts are the quickest way to burn fat and build lean muscle. In other words, it takes hours upon hours to walk or jog away that extra weight, but you’ll be able to sprint it off in no time. In a study by the Journal of Applied Physiology, reported that just 2 weeks of high intensity alternate day training boosted fat burning ability by 36 percent.

 I’m going to give away another secret to shed fat and create lean muscle quickly: You need to embrace resistance training and lift way more weight than you think. Women, put away those little 2 and 5 lb dumbells – they aren’t doing a thing for you. You need to choose heavier weights than you think to build lean muscle and loose fat. That means women need to be checking out those 15, 20, 25+ lb weights and men need even more.  Women especially tend to think the heavy weights aren’t for them. I’m talking to the women here now: I promise you will not look like the incredible hulk when you lift heavy weights. What you will look like is leaner, more toned, and you’ll start to notice that your clothes are getting too big. Women, you are far stronger than you give yourself credit for. You can easily carry those 20+ lbs of groceries from your car to the door and carry that 30+lb baby/carseat, right? That’s what I thought.

 Here’s how to figure out how much weight you should use. Grab a set of 15 lb dumbbells and do a set of 12 bent over rows. The weight is the correct weight if you start to struggle on the 11^th or 12^th rep. If you can do 12 reps easily, you need more weight. If it’s too hard on the 5^th or 6^th rep, you need to go down to 12 or 10 pound weights. You will know the weight is perfect for you when you start to struggle on the last few reps. It should be hard – that’s the point and that’s the key to loosing fat and building lean muscle.

 Here is a basic total body, high intensity dumbbell workout that works every major muscle in your body. These are just a few basic moves that can and will change your body composition when done with the proper heavy weights. You can do this quick routine at home or at the gym.

 Basic Total Body Workout that only takes 15 minutes

These exercises must be done in a circuit, which means you do one set of each exercise and move onto the next without rest. When you complete the list of exercises then you can rest for 1 to 3 minutes and then repeat the entire list for a total of 3 times.

 12 Squats with dumbbells

12 Jumping Jacks

12 Chest Press with dumbbells

12 Jumping Jacks

12 Bent over Row with dumbbells

12 Jumping Jacks

12 per side (24 total) Bicycle Twist

12 jumping jacks

Rest and repeat 3 times

 

 

 

 

*Do this routine 3 times a week with at least one day in between. So, you might do it Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If you want to really speed up your fat loss, I highly recommend incorporating a sprint session right after your dumbbell workout session just one day a week. You can do sprints outside or on the treadmill, elliptical or bike. Sprints will be 15 minutes in length. If you are on the elliptical, bike or treadmill, they will look like this:

Warmup/Jog for 2 minutes

Sprint 30 seconds

Brisk jog or pedal for 1 minute 30 seconds

Sprint for 30 seconds

Brisk jog or pedal for 1 minute 30 seconds

Repeat this until you hit 15 minutes.

Cool down for 2 minutes.

To make this count and to burn the most amount of fat, make sure your sprints are all out and you are really pushing yourself. You should not be able to hold a conversation when you are sprinting. In fact, you should struggle to even be able to get one or two words out when you are sprinting. Make it count! These 15 minute workouts will be tough, but it’s only 15 minutes – you can do it!

 I’ve given you a basic plan to get you started in the right direction to burn fat, tone and build lean muscle. Keep watching and subscribe to my fitness posts, where I will build upon this plan with more routines and exercises to challenge you and your body.

 I’d love to hear if you are using this plan and how it’s working for you. Feel free to post any questions or comments about it here.