5 Minute Fitness

"Think about it. You walk into a video store, you see 8-Minute Abs sittin' there, there's 7-Minute Abs right beside it. Which one are you gonna pick, man?" (There's Something About Mary)

For some reason I am hearing more and more about 5 minute circuits, 3 minute arms, 6 minute abs, 10 minute workouts, 4 minute fat loss, etc. It's starting to sound like hype, like the latest ab gadget everyone wants in January each year, that you can only get on TV for 3 payments of $19.95 - but wait! Call now...

If you could assign a number of minutes to body parts to make the fat go away what would your assignment look like? I'd look a little like this: 8 minute arms, 5 minute chest, 30 minute abs, 20 minute glutes, 20 minute thighs and 0 minute calves. (Only because my calves are 14-15 inches no matter what I weigh!).

This language of only taking minutes to workout is powerful because it plays on our emotions. We tend to hope there is an easy, quick answer to losing fat and chiseling our abs. Let's face it, for most of us, the weight crept up, something happened to suddenly make us aware of it and we want to get it off, and fast! I tend to think dropping weight fast is not ideal, but the good news is an effective workout can literally take only minutes. Our real assignment is to separate the junk workouts from the real ones.

That's tricky because unfortunately the language is being used by both sides - the ineffective, hype products as well as some reputable, successful approaches. The key is going to be intensity. The most obvious tell-tale sign of a poor program is if someone is telling you that you can get trim and chiseled in 5 easy minutes a day. Run the other direction.

Signs that a 3-10 minute workout is legitimate might be if it is:

• one part of a comprehensive program
• interval training
• timed circuit training
• a quick, add-on workout to a structured program
• a high intensity finisher to a resistance training workout

What do I mean by comprehensive program? I believe a comprehensive program for fat loss is a detailed, structured training plan that includes various methods of resistance training, specific metabolic work, interval training, additional conditioning and cardio if needed, nutrition guidelines and a maintenance plan.

Here are some examples of short workouts that make sense:

Interval training: 30 seconds hard work followed by 30 seconds recovery for 10 rounds (10 minutes).

Circuit training: 6 bodyweight exercises, performed consecutively for 30 seconds each, followed by 30 seconds rest for a total of 3 rounds (10 minutes)

Timed supersets: 2 exercises alternated and performed for a pre-determined number of reps to accomplish as many sets as possible in 5 minutes.

Quick workout: a 5-10 minute full body workout encouraging extra workout time for those needing to increase daily activity overall.

Finisher: Kettlebell snatches alternating sides every 10 reps for a total of 5 minutes without stopping.

You can probably think of many more examples. Keep your head clear, don't fall for what seems to be an easy way out. Look for legitimate programs that appropriately acknowledge the work it takes to achieve fat loss. Remember to look for signs of intensity and examine programs closely before commiting!

If you'd like to check out my previous post on choosing a workout, click here.

Less Food or More Work?

It's easy to get stuck in a rut with fitness goals, especially when they revolve around weight loss, fat loss and trying to figure out the nutrition end of it. We know that to get the weight off we must create a calorie deficit. That means either eating less food or doing more work. Which should you choose? A calorie deficit could be created by doing either, but if you've been working at this a while and need a boost my vote is for more work.

Eating less and less food to lose weight is a nasty cycle. I've been on that ride before. Your body is designed to adapt and survive. It will learn to survive on less food (you can only give up so much). And guess what? In case of a famine your body decides it would rather hang on to the fat and give up the muscle. So cutting your calories dangerously low or for an extended period of time eventually backfires. I'm convinced my long ago time period of eating as little food as possible blew my metabolism. Your body needs an adequate amount of good, nutrient dense, clean fuel for general operation, and even more so to power you through your workouts. So as tempting as it is to start slashing calories right and left, it's a wild cycle I would not recommend. Start first with cleaning it up and getting compliant.

Another thing to remember is that just because you lose weight, it doesn't necessarily mean that weight was fat. Hmmm.

So, for me, looks like it's more work.

More work doesn't have to mean longer work. Ramping up intensity may do the trick, such as lifting heavier, adding more sets or reps, or even doing combinations of heavy lifting plus circuits and intervals. Interval training has been shown to be very effective for fat loss (hallelujah!) and when done right it's a lot of work in a little bit of time. The beauty of interval and other metabolic work is the bang you get for your buck in terms of continuing to burn calories after the actual workout. This helps blast fat. Newbies do not need to be intimidated by resistance training or interval training. Even beginners can do it. Some of the most effective exercises are the basic ones you've been hearing about for years, and if you are just starting out you can get results from using your bodyweight for resistance. Squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, rows, presses and chin-ups can do wonders. Same is true of interval training. You don't have to do wind sprints. It's relative to your level of fitness now and can progress over time.

In addition to intensity, it may truly boil down to adding more work over the course of a week to keep your metabolism fired up. I find that while 3 days of resistance training a week is effective for me and necessary for muscle recovery, it's not enough total activity for me. I am my leanest when I keep the burn going by incorporating work on the resistance days that revs my metabolism up and then adding interval training and/or select body weight workouts on the off days to keep that fire going.

Lastly, we've just got to get up and move and spend more time on our feet than on our backsides. Now it's time for me to get off the computer and go do something.

Related Post(s):

Workout Plans and Intensity

Fitness and Nutrition

This blog is going to be all about fitness and nutrition. I am fascinated by the human body, what it can do, how it works, and how it was geniusly and deliberately designed. I'm also intrigued by our society's sedentary lifestyles, rising obesity rates, poor eating habits, and haphazard health management and at the same time our obsession with weight loss, anti-aging, quick fixes and the easy way out. All types of training for fitness are interesting to me, but I particularly love strength and interval training. Fat loss and metabolism are also of special interest to me. I find that so many people would like to make positive changes in their lives in the areas of fitness and nutrition but don't know how or where to start and may not have the right information or support. My goal is to dedicate this space as a helpful tool to achieving higher levels of fitness and optimal nutrition.