With it being 2006, lots of people make resolutions for an entire year that are usually broken within the first 24 hours of the new year.
One of the most frequent resolutions (stop me if you’ve heard this before) is to work out “more”.
Hearing that reminds me of a time when I prided myself on working out for 2 or more hours. Couldn’t move that well or remember my name afterwards, but I wore that title like a badge of courage.
Now that I know better, I know time isn’t a major factor with your fitness results unless it’s too long.
The other day I met one of my clients in the gym and prior to our workout, I spotted a friend of mine who I took a sec to say hello and see how she was doing.
She told me all about her workout and how she wasn’t getting results and started to explain to me what her workout was and so forth and so on.
The first thing she mentioned was her 50 minutes on the elliptical machine (who would’ve guessed) and then her weight training routine.
I immediately had to stop her before she got too indepth and told her I would speak with her later about it once my client and I finished.
So, after I worked with my client, the first thing I told her was, “Your need to increase the intensity of your cardio to burn more fat. It doesn’t matter how long you do it for, it’s more about quality when you’re training.”
She asked, “But I thought cardio was supposed to help your body burn fat.”
“It does,” I replied. “But realize that your body will only reflect the quality of your workout, not the time.”
I continued, “If you have a painter who’s painting a house and he takes 50+ hours to do it, but he misses some spots, doesn’t mix the paint just right, lays out an texture that isn’t level and pretty much jacks up the entire job, does it matter that he took 50+ hours and he still managed to jack it up??”
“No,” she said. “It sounds like the painter just sucks..”
“Right on the money,” I said.
“Now, take another painter. He mixes his paint just right. Plans his entire pattern and color scheme before he picks up a brush, knows where to lay out which color and how many coats to put on, and doesn’t miss a spot – but it only takes this guy 10 hours to complete the job…Is time a factor?”
“No,” she said. “He’s just a better quality painter.”
“Exactly. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, if it’s a bad job, it just plain sucks. But if he takes his time, knows what he’s doing and makes sure every brush stroke counts and doesn’t miss a spot, then his work is of a much higher quality, even if it takes him half the time.”
You gotta realize that more time in the gym is simply more wasted time that you could be spending at home with your loved ones, curled up on the couch watching your favorite DVD, or writing like I spend most of my spare time.
You don’t build ANYTHING in the gym. You break down muscle tissue and you get out and rest so the muscles can recover.
More time spend annihilating your muscles could result in just the opposite of what you were trying to accomplish in the first place!
Just like on American Idol, hopefuls can sing a song that lasts for 40 secs or 4 minutes. If they suck, they suck. If they’re good, they’re good. Doesn’t get any easier than that.
Online home fitness specialist and fitness author and author Lee Smith specializes in helping people get in shape in the comfort of their own homes. For more incredible tips and tactics like these and a free subscription to his “Successful Fitness Strategies” newsletter, visit [http://www.howtoachieveyourfitnessgoals.com].
