The Explosive Holiday Fat-Busting Workout

Written by Shoshana Pritzker Tuesday, 18 May 2010 17:19

“The Explosive Holiday Fat-Busting Workout” incorporates scientifically proven features to burn more calories and promote fat loss:

•    Exercises are arranged in supersets, so that you rest one muscle group while working another. Supersets allow you to do more exercise in less time.
•    The program provides minimal rest periods. Don’t rest between exercises within each superset, but rest 1 minute between supersets. Minimal rest increases the release of adrenaline and growth hormone that promotes fat loss.
•    Choose a weight with which you can barely complete 15 repetitions. Each set requires 12 reps, so you are training at slightly less than maximum (i.e., 12-repetitions maximum; 12 RM). Do each repetition as fast and explosively as you can. However, do not cheat; do each exercise with good form.
•    The exercises are arranged in a precise order to maximize growth hormone and adrenaline release. Large muscle, lower body exercises (i.e., step-ups and leg curls) are scheduled last to maximize the release of fat-burning hormones. This sets the stage for increased fat use during the aerobics portion of the workout that follows.
•    Lift weights first and do aerobics second to maximize growth hormone and adrenaline release.
•    Do 30 to 60 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobics (e.g., treadmill walking, jogging, elliptical trainer or stationary bike) on weight-training days (three days per week).
•    Do high-intensity interval training workouts— a series of intense, short-burst exercise followed by rest— two days per week when you aren’t weight training.
•    Rest one to two days per week. High-intensity training increases the risk of overtraining and overuse injuries. Listen to your body and back off if you develop aches and pains (beyond the usual). It is OK to take short rest intervals between sets and exercises when you begin the program. Work toward minimizing rest periods as your fitness improves.
•    Get plenty of sleep. Sleep promotes growth hormone release and weight loss.
•    Be more active during the day. Some studies found that people who exercise intensely
compensate by doing less exercise later.

Go out of your way to increase your activity levels: park in the back lot at the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator at work, put the television remote in a drawer or go dancing. The holidays are times that you spend with your family. Involve them in your activity program and improve their health and fitness, too.

Include interval training in your fat-loss exercise program. Intervals involve doing high-intensity exercise with rest intervals between repetitions. For example, on a running track, sprint the straightaways and walk the turns for two miles. In the gym, do 10-20 repetitions of 1-minute sprints on the treadmill or elliptical trainer followed by 1 minute of rest between repetitions. This program includes a treadmill-running interval program that you can do indoors at a health club.

Don’t be a holiday statistic. This year, make November through January the time when you stopped the slide toward “fatdom” and became more lean, shapely and sexy.