Hi guys, Kris from Custom Fitness here, your personal trainer in Amarillo. How can you create the best mix, the perfect storm, for optimum workout results? Today we’re taking a look at just that. If you have questions about today’s blog or would like more information about how to enhance your current routine, give us a call at 806-322-3188.
Imagine going to workout everyday. You sweat, you’re sore, you’re tired, but the results are lackluster at best. Sound familiar? The reason, often, is that the workout is not tailored to you. Take a group fitness class for example. The instructor does the same workout for everyone regardless of individual needs. You won’t see results if the workout isn’t challenging your body’s specific demands – or at least not as quickly as you want to see them.
In the cardio room, you’ll see people packed onto the elliptical and treadmill areas like sardines. They do the same machines everyday and they don’t get results. They use the same style of workout at the same intensity everyday. This isn’t giving the body the shock factor is needs. Your body requires routine disruption regularly to keep it adapting and changing.
Predictable routines happen in the weight room too. People have their preferred circuit with their preferred weights and do them for the preferred numbers of reps per set. They replicate their workout day in and day out.
Crossfit is pretty popular, but can that give you results? It depends. Each time someone follows the Crossfit curriculum they are doing something different (good), but they are cloning the set of movement patterns across all of the challenges (bad). Depending on what your body needs, that could be right for you.
There’s no need to put so much effort towards things that will only disappoint you if it doesn’t satisfy your body’s needs. You can create the perfect storm yourself. You don’t have to go spend hours on a cardio trainer. You don’t have to participate in group classes that are getting you nowhere. You don’t have to dizzy yourself repeating the same circuit everyday. Here’s how to create your perfect storm:
If your goal is weight loss, muscle tone, body transformation, etc. You need an intense workout 5 days a week. I didn’t say high impact, puke-worthy, nor fall-over-dying workout. Intense means an internal, physiological challenge. You want to push your heart to get your blood pumping. You want to stimulate your muscles to fatigue, so they can garner strength to go beyond that later. You want to test your endurance to keep wariness at bay. You want your body to work right up to the edge of comfort and then return. Then the next day you do it again, and again. Eventually you’ll find that what was once your “edge” is now your warmup.
That takes care of 5 days of the week. The other 2 days of the week you are actively resting. That doesn’t mean actively scrolling through Facebook. It means you are still moving, but isn’t as intense. This could be things like yoga, pilates, myofascial release with a foam roller, housework, etc. Something gentle that gets you moving while you recover. A common misconception is that your results come from your workout. Nope. The workout is where the body is slightly broken down to rebuild later. Keep in mind, the body can only rebuild itself into that lean, sexy self if you take the time for it to recover.
More muscle leads to a higher metabolism. Higher the metabolism, more fat is shed. If your goal is weight loss and muscle tone you have 3 workout options: strength, cardio, or both. The combination would be in the same vein as High Intensity Interval Training (AKA HIIT). Please note the first I does not mean Impact. A lot of people hear HIIT and think of jumping jacks and running. It doesn’t have to be that way. HIIT can actually be gentle on the joints. Some of our Custom Fitness patrons has knee, hip, and feet issues that don’t take to impact too well. They can still do HIIT programs that end up with relief to the joint instead of agony.
You have to think about your end goal. Are you wanting more strength out of it? Go for a strength focused workout 3 days a week with cardio 2 days a week. If you want weight loss or a metabolism boost then mix up strength and cardio. What about just cardio by itself? For the past 50 years people have been obsessed with running for hours on end as their sole exercise. Typically, these aren’t the healthiest people. Long endurance cardio has been proven to cause minimized muscle mass, disrupt your health, and your cardiovascular system maxes itself out once you’ve reached your full capacity. I don’t know about you, but even as a personal trainer in Amarillo, I need a workout that is a lot shorter. I like to keep my workouts to 30 minutes or less knowing that I gave my body the shock that it needed and pushed myself to the edge. Get in, get out, and get on with the day. If that’s you, consider applying a HIIT style to your workout to help you maximize results. If you’re not sure what that would look like, give us a call and we’d be happy help you write a program that will get you where you want to be.
To create the perfect storm you need to be intensely working out 5 days a week, actively resting 2 days a week, and alternating between strength and cardio training via a body-comprehensive program or day to day. Whatever you’re doing you want to make sure you are switching it up regularly. The program should encompass strength, flexibility, cardio, and all planes of motion to make it really worth your time.
If you would like our help creating a perfect storm program which is customized to your body’s needs, your goals, and your nutrition preferences, give us a call 806-322-3188 or e-mail us at info@customfitness.biz. We’d love to bring you in for a consultation. You and I can sit down together and figure out exactly how to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. At Custom Fitness, we are YOUR personal trainer in Amarillo, Texas. Have a great day everybody.