Better Results in Less time

By parttimer | April 8th, 2010

Getting a workout done in less time is most quintessentially based on two factors: intensity, and variation. Intensity is how hard a trainee works, whereas variation, causing muscle confusion, inspires continuous growth with each and every workout. Underlying these two main factors of workout success are the important principles of perceived exertion, and the so called “after-burn”.

More particularly, muscle confusion, achieved through variation, is exposing oneself to a variety of workouts. Variety exists in the form of repetition, number of sets, number of exercises, and duration of rest periods. This process in its entirety allows for optimal stress on muscles, and hence, the reason one can experience unprecedented results. Muscle confusion keeps the body acclimating.

When one does the same exercise routine every time they workout, the body adjusts to become more efficient and builds the least amount of muscle required to do so. That is why practitioners experience the so-called plateau in improvement. Results eventually taper off as the body reaches the ability to do that specific exercise alone with minimal effort. The body reaches a point of homeostasis. The plateau is experienced when muscles are able to endure what they are put through without having to make any further changes. Muscles stop growing as evolution has ordained their need to conserve energy (in a calorie less world). When this happens, ones level of perceived exertion is downplayed because the body can now do more with less effort, hence the lesser amount of calories burned in the process.

It’s common knowledge that if one wishes to increase flexibility, they have to stretch. Likewise, if one wishes to gain the ultimate body, they have to continuously experience the stretch induced by different routines in order to keep body at a constant state of progression. If one wishes to obtain better flexibility, they must continuously stretch their muscles incrementally farther with each practice.

In order to achieve greater results, the body must be put through shock. The key is to train your muscle in new ways to gain continuous results.
The number killer of any fitness program is complacency. Complacency is doing the same routine over and over. We all have been there, but ultimately it is important not to fall into this trap. Not only does muscle growth subside, less calories are burned in the process, motivation decreases, and the individual gets nowhere. The number one reasons for complacency are lack of induced variety.

The way to combatovercome} complacency is to expose oneself to many different exercises. This is where muscle confusion comes in. The more that one engages in various types of exercises, the more intrinsic motivation, and energy that one attains. With application of muscle confusion, one achieves the results that he or she has been looking for. 

Time is a crucial factor because it ties in directly with intensity, which plays a key role in any training regimen. Intensity is defined by the amount of work performed per increment of time. Therefore, the less time one spends doing the same amount of work, the greater the demand on the body’s resources: energy, and muscle.

The body works no differently than a combustion engine chemically speaking. The similarity lies in the chemical reactions that convert chemical energy into motion, and intensity has an interesting effect on these reactions. That is why fuel mileage maximizes at 55 miles per hour, whereas it sharply declines at increased speeds. Likewise, a car uses less gas to accelerate from zero to 50 than it does going from fifty to one hundred. The reason a car can burn more energy over a given distance is the same reason that one can burn more energy in the same workout.The underlying theme? Intensity matters.

The amount of work put into walking a mile is nowhere near the stress incurred from running that same mile. In addition, effect of high intensity exertion takes place long after the workout is done. Metabolism responds by running much faster long after you have completed running that mile. Intensity leads to a transformative experience within, even when the body is not working out. While running only burns 200 calories every 10 minutes, the accumulated calories burned from that run is over 1000 calories.

In conclusion, perceived exertion must be there; and intensity has got to be there and it is all accomplished by a workout in less time. That is what working out in less time is all about.

 

Written by:

Pablo HIll

Edited by:

Harry Klenda