You can read every magazine, spend all your money on diets, learn the quickest way to lose fat, build muscle in 7 days, or copy the slimmest celebrities exercise programmes and nutrition. I get asked questions all the time regards to what milk is best for you or which is better for you; “cold water or room temperature water?”
We have evolved into a world of ‘instants.’ We can buy instant coffee, instant puddings, and use Cash ATM’s anywhere. Everything needs to be fast and now! We don’t plant seeds in the garden and wait, we plant full-grown plants and watch. Our language is even faster with due to: email, fax, and super-fast broadband.
This means in the world of health and fitness, weight loss needs to be completed in less than 6 weeks and muscle growth needs to be breaking door frames not today but yesterday! Well listen here guys and step back from all the hype. Humans were designed 1000’s of years ago to survive and adapt to everyday tasks. If you train your body to burn fat efficiently through a combination of resistance and cardiovascular training that elevates our heart rate to 55-75% for more than 22mins we will burn our fat stores effectively and as a result we will look leaner and improve muscle definition. If we lift heavy weights (+75% 1RM) over 6-10 repetitions for 5 days a week our bodies will adapt and increase muscle mass to keep up with our strength demand.
Back To Basics
If exercise is new to you: You should train 2-3 times a week for 40mins at a low intensity for initial 6 weeks.
If you’re a conditioned trainer (healthy blood pressure and BMI): You should train 3 times a week for 60mins at 60-75% of your maximum heart rate then progress your training with variations of exercises, exercise order, and training days.
If you’re an advanced trainer (athlete, elite performer, or exceptional fitness and health): you should train 3-5 times a week for 40-60mins at +75% of maximum heart rate with 4 weekly training variations.
These will show benefits at a healthy rate of change without the adverse effect of reversibility when you miss a week of training due to work or holidays. Weight loss must remain at 2lb or less a week and strength gains should be +5% every 6 weeks. Aim to adopt an healthy lifelong active lifestyle that keeps you strong and healthy for the future not just for your summer holiday!
To work out your maximum heart rate it is 220 minus your age. For example, 220 – 35 years old = max heart rate 185bpm
