Bust old workout routines and get more burn for your buck with five tips from fitness expert and author Jackie Warner:
- Circuit Train. Completing a group of 6-10 exercises in a near-continuous series is the best and fastest way to expend calories and tone muscles. Basic weight lifting burns 200-250 calories per hour; circuit training with weights and body resistance, 350-550 per hour.
- Go Big. Build a routine that works multiple joints and incorporates big muscles in the arms and legs that burn more calories than smaller ones. Good choices are presses, rows, and squats.
- ONLY Do Intensity Cardio. Unless you have a heart condition, cardio workouts should be intense enough to feel your muscles burn. Here’s one program that’s fun too! Raise treadmill ramp to maximum uphill and slow walk (almost a lunge) for 2 minutes. Then lower the ramp and run for 2 minutes. Take 1 minute to bring your heart rate down and repeat four more times for a 20-minute session.
- Try Plyo Magic. Add plyometrics (also known as jump training) at the end of each set in your workout. For example, follow 15 leg presses with 10 squat jumps, or do clapping push-ups (with hands leaving the ground) after a chest press.
- Lift Weights. Losing weight is all about resistance training to add muscle and speed metabolism. Concentrate on the big muscle groups: chest, back, glutes, hamstrings, and quadriceps and keep moving! Work the upper body, then jump up and work the lower body without rest. Add more weight when you are able to do more than 20 reps in a set.
Don’t Miss: More from Warner about building core strength as featured in The Saturday Evening Post.
Photo courtesy Jackie Warner.
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