How do I know this is me?

You brag about how long you spent at the gym on the treadmill and how many calories your burnt over the 1-2 hours
You work out in the Fat burning zone
Your joints are starting to ache
You don’t know why you are getting more flabby

Group 2:

The chat and rest for 4 minutes between each set, I am at the gym for 2 hours so where are my muscles

How do I know this is me?

Your last work out took an hour and you only worked your chest
You haven’t seen your house during daylight hours because you go straight from work to the gym and there is definately not Enough daylight to accomodate the two.
Your muscles are hidden under insulation
If I asked you to do cardio you would feel like you were having a coronary.

Group 3:

The I don’t have time / exercise is boring

How do I know this is me?

The last time someone asked you to go to the gym you said “i don’t have time”
You think that you have to do long boring cardio and you think that, is boring
You would rather sit and watch a TV show then get your work out in
You actually don’t have time because you think exercising takes a long time

Group 4:

I love my work out its over fast and I am seeing results

You never spend more then 45 minutes exercising (including warm up and cool down)
You know what a 4 minute work out is and you do them
You version of Long, Boring cardio is actually Family/Friend Fun day and you go for hikes, swims and bike rides.
You are a member of Hot Fox Boot Camp

For more information on how you can move into Group 4 go to http://www.hotfoxbootcamp.com or call 403 850 6043 today to get your free 2 week trial with Hot Fox Boot Camp

Rock it!

Lynnell Ible, CSCS

Traditional resistance training; the format most of us have used or know about involves performing exercises in a sets and reps format.

You perform a certain number of reps for each given exercise or you perform until fatigue

Rest for 30 seconds up to 5 minutes depending on your training goals.

Repeat for a specified number of sets, again based on your goals.

For fat loss and lean muscle  shorter rest periods (30-45 seconds) are recommended.

For strength and power, longer rest periods are prescribed.

Do you see the problem?
Straight sets are easy to follow especially if you are new to fitness, but they are an inefficient way to order your exercises. Picture this, you are training at your commercial gym, you pump out 10 reps on the Leg press, head to the water fountain, chat with a few buddies, catch a climpse of the cardio theatre, head back to the leg press and repeat. Most people, guys in particular take about 3-5 minutes between sets. That means that 3 sets of 10 on the Leg Press would take up to 15 minutes to complete. And you have only done one movement pattern (double leg push). You would need at least one hour to perform four different exercises!

Can we make it better?

Alternating Sets
The alternating set format is a more effective and time-efficient approach to ordering your exercises. You will perform one exercise, followed by a short rest and then perform another non-competing exercise with a short rest and so on and so forth. Alternating sets allows you to recover one area of your body while performing work on another area. This improves training economy and density: more work in less time, the cornerstone for any sound fat loss program. Below are different ways to perform alternating sets:

Supersets: Alternate between two different non-competing exercises (e.g. upper body and lower body such as push-ups and lunges)

Trisets: Alternate between three different exercises (e.g. push, pull, and lower body such as push-ups, rows, and lunges)

Circuits: Alternate between four or more different exercises

Though supersets and trisets are excellent alternating set options, I believe circuit training is by the far the best option. To demonstrate why, let’s examine my favorite circuit training template using timed set intervals:

The 50-10 Five Exercise Circuit: You will alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for all five exercises in the following 5-minute circuit:

Exercise#1- Squats

Exercise#2- Dips

Exercise#3- Single-Leg Hip Extensions

Exercise#4- Pull-ups

Exercise#5- Leg Raises

Perform this circuit up to four times for a 20-minute total body fat burning workout.

Wow, in the same 15 minutes that it took for 3 sets of leg press you have now gotten in 3 sets of 5 different exercises. That is a staggering total of 15 work sets! In addition, the intensity on each exercise is just as high as if you had performed the straight set format. You will have had a full 4 minutes to recover before returning to any selected exercise. (same as the straight set format described earlier)

To recap, Performing every exercise with maximal intensity, separated by short rest periods, creating a high volume of total work in the shortest amount of time is the key. The key to creating the optimal hormone enviroment for fat loss. Circuit training gives you the best of both worlds and therefore is unmatched for the ability to simultaneously maximize fat loss and lean muscle gain. Try the following template that I use with my boot camp members for some killer, yet simple fat loss, lean muscle building circuits:

Exercise#1- Double-Leg

Exercise#2- Push

Exercise#3- Single-Leg

Exercise#4- Pull

Exercise#5- Core

Here’s a workout video showing you a great circuit you can perform anywhere:

http://tinyurl.com/n8dufg

I’ll be sharing some more great circuit training workouts from my boot camps in the weeks to come

Become a HOT FOX

Lynnell Ible

http://www.hotfoxbootcamp.com