Sometimes people assume I spend hours at the gym. “Where do you find the time?” they ask, fully aware I run two businesses, raise two teenage boys, and regularly get a solid eight hours’ sleep.
Even if I did have copious free time, I wouldn’t dare spend it at the latest fitness class. In San Diego where I live, we have nice weather pretty much year-round, but spring become especially inviting. The last thing I want to do in gorgeous April weather is get cooped up at the gym!
The good news is that you need neither extra hours nor a budget to get lean, muscular, and healthy. You want to work out smarter, not harder.
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Start With Movement
If you’re a complete exercise newbie, you should start with 60 total minutes of movement daily. Real exercise counts, but so does walking the dog, gardening, or cleaning.
Enjoy the nicer weather and park far away from the grocery-store door, take the stairs instead of the elevator, or walk rather than drive to your nearest Starbucks to meet your bestie for green tea. Everything counts towards that hour quota.
Increase Intensity with Burst Training
Burst training, or high-intensity interval training (HIIT), becomes the best way to (literally) step up your workout. If you want to blast fat and build muscle in just minutes a day, burst training’s your ticket.
Here’s the deal. To get those benefits you need to go all out. You should be breathless and it might become unpleasant. To do that, you’ll complete 30-60 seconds of all-out, full-throttle bursts followed by active recovery for twice as long. Do this all at once or break up into multiple bouts.
My favorite ways to do burst training include sprinting or bursting up a hotel stairwell. This becomes a killer workout when I’m at, say, a weekend conference and can’t hit the hotel gym. In the warmer weather, I’ll hit the hill at my nearby park to soak up some rays while I burst. Win-win!
Work in Weight Resistance
Weight resistance is your metabolic Spanx that holds everything together so you look lean, toned, and fabulous.
Guys, you will not become the Hulk lifting heavy a few times a week. Gals, you will not become She-Ra lifting heavy dumbbells, so please put down those wimpy pink weights and stop being afraid of the weight room!
The concept with weight resistance is simple:
Hit each body group at least two times a week
Allow 48 hours of recovery for each body group
Work in sets of eight to 12 reps for optimal hypertrophy
Divide workouts into four groups: upper body pushing, upper body pulling, hips and thighs, and power core
Do three to five exercises per body group
Do the heaviest weight you can handle in good form
Allow 60-second rest breaks between sets
Warm up prior to resistance training
Stretch in between sets or after workout
Do multi-joint free weight, body weight, or cable exercises
Pulling Everything Together
Burst training combined with weight resistance becomes my favorite workout for efficiency and effectiveness. You can get lean and toned in less time than it takes to find a gym parking spot on a spring Saturday afternoon.
I’ve combined both with my Fast Blasts, which provide an intense, full-body workout in just 8 minutes, in the comfort of your home, with minimal equipment. Grab a FREE one here.
Now that spring is here, I’ve put together the perfect thing to help you spring into shape.
This guide can help you ditch those stubborn winter pounds so you can reach your goals and look fit and fabulous as warm weather approaches. Inside you’ll find:
3 simple strategies to boost your spring fitness and set yourself up for success (PLUS: My #1 post-workout secret for optimizing recovery)
Spring Into Shape in Just Minutes A Day: the full-body workout you can do from the comfort of your home with minimal equipment in just 8 minutes a day!
6 delicious spring recipes for faster fat loss, including: Chai Waldorf Salad,* Granny Smith And Kale Salad, Chocolate Coconut Popsicles,* Mock Nutella,* Asian Style Flank Steak Lettuce Cups, and Lemon Cream With Sprinkles.*
*Since these spring recipes use my All-In-One Shake, I’m also giving you…
…a coupon to SAVE $10 on any variety of my Paleo-Inspired or Plant-Based All-In-One Shakes!
Here’s to shedding excess fat as easily as a heavy down jacket!
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