Summer is officially here and many of us are “ramping up” our exercise program to get summer ready – fast! Here at mcc, we’re rewarding everyone with FREE RAMP UP EXERCISE CREDITS this July and August! Increasing your exercise frequency can be a great way to stimulate results and this way, it doesn’t cost you a dime!
For sure, ramping up your exercise frequency can be just the ticket to increasing your results. But, there are LOTS of ways to challenge your body and not just by doing MORE, MORE, MORE! Sometimes, you can get even better results by doing LESS! Wait… What?
We’re all busy and we all want results – yesterday. The thought of even MORE work required to lose fat and gain lean muscle is sometimes enough to make us skip our workouts entirely!! Reality is, if we want to make a real change to our body, the stimulus for that change HAS to be there. Adding that extra walk after dinner is a great choice to make, but it won’t likely make one iota of difference to your body fat percentage or dress size. Let’s talk about what WILL!
There is ONE thing in your workout that is your body’s secret weapon for fat burning. For the same amount of workouts per week, the time spent in a class, for the same number of reps, and even for the exact same exercises you do, without one key factor you could be all but wasting your time when it comes to fat loss. What is it that’s holding you back? INTENSITY.
Here’s how I think about it in a really simple way when it comes to intensity in a workout:
You can ramp up your intensity with…
- less reps, but more weight
- shorter duration, but more effort
- interval training protocols to ramp up the heart rate (eg Tabata, other versions of HIIT) versus steady-state cardio
Particularly for beginners, increased intensity can come from…
- changing the order of the exercises in your session
- adding new exercises/variations of exercises
- changing the speed of performing your exercises…Try super-slow or if you’re ready, faster or even “explosive” speed!
The takeaway point is that THE INTENSITY HAS TO BE THERE and there are many different ways to find it! The best option for adding intensity might be different for each of us, but leave all of that to us as your trainers! It’s our job, and it’s certainly what we’re passionate about!
Join us for classes this summer to learn how you – whether you’ve been working out for years or are just getting started – can find the optimal intensity to maximize fat loss during each workout and finally get the results you’re after!
