Fitness Efficiency

If you live in Orange County, CA you know just how serious people take their health and fitness. Every where you look you find people doing some type of fitness. Maybe you are one of these people, however you have found yourself in the dreaded “fitness fog.” For months you have been really good about getting a work out in several days a week. At first you noticed some positive changes with your body and overall health, but then things started to plateau. You have become frustrated and discouraged. You are losing interest putting in so much effort with little return.

You’ve heard claims about these “new” “innovative” workouts that promise to help you lose weight in less time. Sounds great, right? You are ready to ditch your fitness routine and jump on the bandwagon. Reader beware. Many of these programs just don’t live up to their claims and may leave you even more frustrated than you were to begin with. All is not lost though..Read on..

New research is proving that there really is a way to burn more calories, improve cardiovascular health, and melt stubborn abdominal fat in less time. Most people have heard of interval training. While this is not a new way of working out, sometimes it gets over-shadowed by the constant promotion of “new” fitness trends. We are a society that gets bored easily and has been conditioned to expect new trends in all facets of life. Fitness is no different.

Interval training really is quite simple and straight forward. It’s all about mixing things up. Let’s say you have been using a treadmill to work out. You walk or run for 40 minutes and you do this day in and day out. What’s happening is that your body has gotten used to this routine. It knows what to expect. It’s bored. You are not efficiently working out at this point. Simply switching things up will shock your body into burning more calories. Instead you could walk for 30 seconds, jog for 1 minute, sprint for 30 seconds, and repeat this routine for a total workout time of 15 minutes and be done.

Serious athletes have used this strategy for years, so there is no reason why the rest of us can’t enjoy the same benefits. “High Intensity Interval Training is great for exercisers who want to build speed, endurance, or lose weight. It’s a serious time saver, butt buster, and calorie killer,” explains Caroline Jordan, group fitness instructor at Equinox gym in San Francisco.

Now that we’ve peaked your interest, let’s get started!

Interval training can be incorporated into any workout you choose. Whether you like using the treadmill, stationary bike, swimming, walking, dance, etc. The best part is that you will never get bored like you may have before. You can change up each workout to spice things up and keep your body guessing what you are going to do next.

You should gradually work in your new interval training. Don’t go all out at first. Listen to your body and back down for awhile if necessary. All interval training workouts can be modified up or down to meet your fitness goals.

20-Minute Interval Training Workout

Caroline Jordan devised this interval work-out for New Beauty magazine. It should be performed no more than 2-3 times per week. Allow at least 1 day for cross training or recovery between workouts. This can be done on a treadmill, elliptical, outside on a track or trail, and even used with swimming. Adding a weight training work out into your weekly work out routine is recommended.

3-5 minutes for warm up

30 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

90 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

30 seconds high intensity

3-5 minutes cool down

Done!

It’s very important to stretch following your workout. Incorporating a foam roller to your post workout regimen is very beneficial. This will keep muscles from tightening up and hurting.

From all of us at Pacific Center for Plastic Surgery, here is to a healthy and fit new you!