Pick up Your Intensity!

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By Shannon Flanagan – CPT

“I was at the gym for 2 hours today. I earned this piece of pie.” Sure, you were at the gym for 2 hours, but how many hours were spent actually working out? How many were spent sweating and busting your butt until full exhaustion? Fitness should be fun. However, if your set routine involves reading a magazine on a cardio machine followed by the same weight machine circuit, chances are you aren’t seeing the results you want.

In the beginning, working out can feel taxing, even unbearable. That is not the fun part. But once your body learns how to do various exercise movements and your strength and stamina improve, it’s time to upgrade your program. It is proven that increasing to more vigorous levels of activity help to improve your health, fitness, and appearance. If you want to bring sexy back…..you need to bring on the sweat.

People think they do not have time to get the body they want. I often hear, “I don’t have hours to spend at the gym”. Well, you don’t necessarily have to spend more time at the gym. Actually, if you focus on the quality of your workout, you could possibly spend less time there. For example, concentrating on getting deep enough in a squat or achieving full extension and flexion of a bicep curl will improve total muscle building and fat loss. It’s better to do less sets and reps the correct way than to do more incorrectly. Interval training is a very good way of getting the most bang for your buck. Experts recommend a range of intensity levels, but many interval workouts go up to 85 percent of your max heart rate. If you can learn to push yourself appropriately, you can also score the benefits of a higher metabolism. I would rather have less time in the gym and more benefits. No one wants to waste their time. A faster metabolism means burning extra fat calories; you are rewarding yourself by working harder.

The bottom line is, if you want results you need to work for them. If you want to CHANGE your body you have to CHALLENGE it. Albert Einstein stated, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Change it up and enjoy the results!!!