Posts Tagged ‘workout routine’

Shorten Your Time in the Gym – Part 2

Friday, March 21st, 2008

Still on the subject of cutting down the time you spend in the gym. If you are training for fat loss, here’s a tip to cut down the time you spend doing boring cardio.

Rather than spending fourty minutes to an hour doing cardio, why not try adding some interval training into your routine. The routine needs to be divided into different intensity levels, these are low, medium and high. A rough guide to these would be as follows;

Low intensity – This would be a very gentle jog or fast paced walk.

Medium intensity - Pace yourself at a steady jog, not to fast though.

High intensity - Fast jog or sprint.

I’ve based these around jogging, but you could use a rowing machine or exercise bike, or any similar equipment. 

So here’s how it works…

5 minutes – low intensity (warm up)

3 minutes – medium intensity

2 minutes – high intensity

3 miuntes – medium intensity

2 minutes – high intensity

3 minutes – medium intensity

2 minutes – high intensity

5 minutes – low intensity (warm down)

This is an excellent fat burning workout, it’s great for getting fit as it is quite challenging. Definately worth giving it a try if you are looking to shorten your workouts.

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Posted in Fat Loss Training, General, Muscle Building Training | 6 Comments »

Shorten Your Time the Gym – Part 1

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008

Many of us have busy lives, some times it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day. So how can we get back some time by shortening the time we spend in the gym, without affecting our results?! One answer is super setting. 

Super setting is basically when you complete a sets of a different exercise instead of resting. See the example below for how this works.

Benchpress – set 1

No Rest

Dumbell row- set 1

No Rest

Benchpress -set 2 

 No Rest

Dumbell Row – set 2

And so on…

So you can see in the example above that when you would usually be resting, between sets you are moving on with another exercise. It is important that you pick either opposite movements or none related muscles, so you are able to complete each exercise toyour full capability. In the example you can see a pushing movement for the chest, followed by a pulling movement for the back. You could also super set biceps and triceps, shoulders and calves, legs and abs, etc.

Following the superset technique will shorthen the time you spend in the gym, and also increase the intensity of your workout.

Look out for part 2 coming soon…

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Posted in Fat Loss Training, General, Muscle Building Training | 1 Comment »

The Big Three for Muscle Growth

Friday, March 7th, 2008

There are three exercises which are widely regarded as must do exercises to have in your workout when aiming to build muscle. What are these? See below…..

  • Number one on  the list is the good old bench press. The number one exercise for your chest, bar none. This compound exercise is great for putting on size on your chest. The chest is one of the most impressive areas of the body when toned and built to a good size.
  • The second on the list is the barbell squat. A very demanding exercise, both mentally and physically. Mainly targets the legs, but also strengthens all of the core (lower back and abs) . The results that can be achieved by this movement are amazing. 
  • Lastly is the deadlift. This is an exercise that is great for building a strong back. Care must be taken when performing this exercise, as the risk of injury is high if form is bad.

These are three great exercises that you should consider introducing into your workout routine, as excellent gains in muscle size and strength can be made.

The deadlift and the barbell squat can be tough on your body. If you are unable to perform any of these, perhaps due to an old injury or general discomfort. Dont worry, all is not lost. There are alternatives that can produce great results to.

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Posted in Muscle Building Training | 3 Comments »