Losing Weight with Shorter Cardio Sessions

In my experience, the least popular exercises to aid weight loss tend to be the long cardio sessions, such as, running on a treadmill or cycling on a stationary bike for 45 minutes. We know that, although often boring, such long times are required to burn enough energy to help lose weight. So here is a great alternative which can dramatically shorten the time spent exercising but still requires you to use as much, and sometimes more energy.

The alternative to running or cycling at a steady pace for such a prolonged time is called High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Studies have shown that exercising at a higher intensity for shorter times can not only bring better results, but could save you time in your workouts. It has been published that Interval Training can also contribute towards weight loss via calories being burned in the hours after exercise, due to a response that occurs from the body after exercise called Post Exercise Oxygen Consumption (PEOC).

Although research is in its early stages on this aspect, it is widely accepted that Interval training can:
• Improve cardiovascular endurance
• Burn more calories in a shorter time
• Reduce risk of Cardiovascular diseases
• Reduce boredom with your current routine, meaning you are much more likely to continue with exercise.

Interval Training can be applied to any piece of cardio equipment you wish to use, or when running or jogging outside. After a 5 minute warm up, instead of just maintaining a steady pace, try this. For the first 20 seconds of every minute, sprint, not flat out, but make sure it is a faster rate than your normal speed. Then continue at your normal speed for 40 seconds. Repeat this sequence every minute for up to half hour. There are endless options too, for example, you can do 30 seconds sprint, 30 seconds normal, or whatever you feel comfortable with. You can make it more difficult by playing with the times as you improve. It is a challenging adaption to a normal run, cycle or cross trainer session, but this method should ensure you burn as many calories as you would in a longer workout, whilst saving you valuable time. And that has to be a good thing!

Many clients have seen great results when incorporating this into their exercise programs. The only thing to bear in mind is that this may not be suitable if you have high blood pressure. So check with your GP or an exercise professional if you are unsure.

Good luck with your exercising!
Dan

Personal Training, Motivation, Gym Direct Debits and My First Blog

Hi people, thanks for taking time to read my first blog. I’ll try to make it interesting and keep you entertained. However a need a little favour from you at the end.

It is sad but true that hundreds of people are sufficiently motivated to turn up to a gym and they are willing to put in a lot of effort, but through a lack of knowledge they may most likely not benefit from what they’re doing. Prime examples being the guy who wants bigger arms and does nothing but bicep curls when the triceps make up most of your arms. The girl who wants to lose fat around her waist so does countless sit-ups. In a nutshell, you can’t target fat loss in a specific body area by exercising it. Maybe you were provided a program by the gym instructor, but only do the exercises, or use the machines from that program that cause you the least discomfort. I put that last one in because that was always me before I learnt about all this! All these common mistakes often lead to a lack of results, motivation is then lost and it could be 4-5 years before that person finds the motivation to exercise again.

The worst part is – they have to carry on paying for that 12 month gym membership they signed up to for the next 10 months, even though they don’t visit the gym once!

Maybe even a month of personal training would give you the knowledge to avoid this, and clients often see more results in one month with a trainer than they do from a 12 month gym membership for this reason. They may even save cash.

If this sounds like you – I urge you to get some professional advice; I’m not saying it has to be through me. But if you are currently putting a big effort in make sure it is not wasted, even if you only had a few sessions so that you knew what to do and how to do it.

I NEED YOUR HELP PLEASE!!!!!
Please if you could take a second and leave a comment at the bottom to tell me if you read this post, if it was remotely interesting, useful, or held your attention through to the end, I would be extremely grateful.

Thanks
Dan