Workout for the WEEK!

With Spring coming… I am hoping you are feeling more motivated to get something done for your health… for your long-term health.  Not just your “shape”, but your overall wellness!  So with that in mind, what if we use current motivation, to build lifetime habit, that takes little effort and will yield long-term results.

Working out can be effective in 4 – 8 minutes a day.  3-5 X a week.  This is the truth, and it has been proven to me and by me, time and time again.  Be part of the proof.  But first, just know, that even though the time commitment is almost nothing.  The commitment is REAL.

You need to be willing to do this 3-5x a week and do it for months to see results, and then after years, you will see AMAZING results.  The entire point of intensity is to push more caloric expenditure, more muscular endurance demand, and more cardiovascular effort.  An elevated heart rate… the higher the elevation, the greater the positive change.  NOW.  Before you go killing yourself, just know that if you are highly UN-trained, that you risk more difficulty, and even health risk at first, so your intensity needs to be your intensity.  If you are reading this, and you are on medication for your heart, you might want to simply ask your doctor… “Is it ok if I exercise with intensity?” And the reality is, they might not know the truthful answer for you.

So, now that we have covered that.  Let’s talk about WHAT it is that we are doing.  If you have ever read my recommendations for exercise in the past, the 4 and the 8 should have given it away.  The best interval ever designed for maximal fitness.  TABATA.

20 seconds of all-out work, followed by 10 seconds of rest.  For a total of 8 rounds or 4 minutes.  Followed by another session of 4, and once you are highly trained, another session and another.

What do you do?  Whatever.  Seriously, you can do anything you want.  The best way is to pick the same movement for 4 minutes, then change it out for the next 4.  For example, pick one exercise to do:

squats, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, lunges, v-ups, hollow rocks, burpees, jumping jacks, jump rope, dead-lifts, bench press, weighted squats, clean and jerks, dumbbell cleans, or running (and the list goes on and on).   I actually ran my fastest mile ever doing it as a Tabata, 20 on 10 off (which ended up being no less than a fast jog by the time 10 seconds came, I never got down to a walk, and the sprint portion was brutal.. 5:35.  Recently I ran a mile all out and it took me exactly 6:00… and though I felt worse than my best, I was still off the pace by :25.  Tabata is intense.

At the end of 4 minutes, roll right into another 4 with a new movement.  And you just gave yourself an exercise program that will bring you to an advanced level of fitness over time.  That is all it takes.

So, do me/you and everyone who loves you a favor, and give it a try today!!

Be well and Be blessed! – Dr. E