When you set out to improve your fitness there is one thing you must decide before getting into a program: What is your goal? Are you looking to put in long, endurance based training sessions and impress your friends with the amount of volume of training you can do or instead are you looking for results?
My training philosophy for the last 25 years has revolved around working to find the most efficient workout, providing the best results in the shortest time. This is how I’d like you to look at your training. If you are putting in 1-2 hours a day or believe you need to do more because you’ve watched the volume of training done by contestants on any number of weight loss reality shows; STOP and look at changes you can make to your training that will produce similar results with less training.
There are many ways to achieve your fitness results and to keep it simple I’ve broken it down to two different categories: Volume and Intensity. With the proliferation of weight loss shows continuing to grow, the push has been towards greater and greater volume of training. The contestants are being trained 4-8 hours a day for 3 months. Before you begin this training regimen I have 3 main questions.
- Is this realistic for you to perform while continuing your regular work/school/family life?
- Do you have the motivation and interest to train for this amount of time per day?
- Can your body handle that amount of work continuously?
If you can answer yes to all 3 questions, then you have the answer to the type of training you should do – Volume!
If on the other hand you answer no to at least one of the questions, then you know you need to look for an alternative to volume training. The best alternative I have found is HIT (High Intensity Training). This is an approach that involves 1 set of 8-12 reps of 1 exercise per major muscle group. Each exercise must be taken to a point of fatigue, that point where another properly performed rep is not possible. Once this occurs, set the weight down and quickly move to the next station. By transitioning quickly to the next station you stimulate cardiovascular fitness and burn more fat.
A typical HIT workout can be completed in less than 30 minutes and should be performed 2 or 3 non-consecutive days per week. The average training time for our clients is 20 minutes. Taking that out over the week the trainee works out roughly 1 hour per week and achieves the same or greater results than the promoted results of a 1 hour 3-5x/wk cardio routine combined with a 45-60 min strength routine 2x/wk – total of 6.5 hours.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, performing 3-5 days of cardio and 2 days/wk of strength should produce 1-3 pounds per week weight loss and 1-2% body fat reduction. Not bad! However, the results for 3 HIT strength training sessions produces the same 1-3 pounds of weight loss and 1-2% body fat reduction. The typical client training with HIT principles loses an avg of 8-12 pounds of fat in a month and 2% body fat. These results have been duplicated in multiple studies over the years.
The question now becomes do you have 6.5 or more hours (remember the TV contestants are doing 20-40 hours/wk) per week or 1 hour for exercise? Which is more likely to get done over the long term? My intent is not to sway you one way or the other, just to present the facts. Now you are an educated consumer and you know there is another way. Now it’s up to you to pick the one that makes the most sense to you and do it!
The biggest thing is to know YOUR goal, pick the philosophy that you like best and do it!
