Time to Up the Ante

That's right. Up the Ante. It is time to increase your intensity when doing cardiovascular exercise. I have had numerous conversations lately on what one can do to change up a routine and improve their results. Without a doubt, my consistent answer is to increase your intensity.

Think about how you walk on the treadmill, ride the bike or pedal the elliptical. Are you panting or feel that your heart rate has really elevated during the time you are on there? No? Are you able to read a book, talk with your buddy or follow intently whatever programming is on the TV? Yes? You are not working hard enough and you are wasting good time. Your workout can be completed quicker if you put more effort, hard work and energy into it. Trust me, if you want to lose weight, your weight has not budged in a year and you are doing the same thing, you need to rethink your approach.

Several research studies support the fact that high intensity exercise is a more efficient way to burn fat and calories. Check out this one small study that was presented at the Experimental Biology Annual Conference (and others support the results too).

22 subjects (11 men and 11 women) cycled at a high, medium, or low intensity. The researchers measured their "fat burning" to see which was most effective. The researchers learned that the max fat burning was the highest intensity exercise — near maximum effort — essentially the state you’re in when sprinting.

Stop wasting endless hours doing some low intensity cardio. Kick it up a notch to really see the results! Keep in mind when I say "near maximum effort" it means different things for different people. For some, that means walking a little faster for short "bursts". For others, it’s an all out sprint. Or you can use a bike, elliptical, rowing ergometer, etc. Just go back and forth with "as hard as possible" to "active recovery." For example, if you run outside or on the treadmill try this regimen. Warm up for 5 minutes then start intervals of 1 minute bursts of your high intensity pace followed by 4 minutes of a moderate intensity. Repeat this several more times for a great 30 minute interval workout. Regardless of where you’re starting, adding those short "all out" efforts will get you where you want to be more quickly. I also encourage general movement of at least 5 hours per week in addition to these short bursts. Be Well!