Hey everyone. Today I have a guest post for you from Rafi Bar-Lev. Rafi previously wrote articles for his blog The Fitness Adviser – http://thefitnessadviser.com/ but has now expanded his online presence and created the online fitness community Passionate Fitness – http://www.passionatefitness.com/. At Passionate Fitness you can upload picutres, make friends, submit and read articles use the forums and more. It’s a really great place to meet like minded people and I recommend you check it out after reading his article.
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Do you ever wonder what really makes your workout successful? Why sometimes you hit the gym for 20 minutes and feel like you accomplished more than when you spend two hours there? In this article you’ll find out out how to make every workout a successful one.
The Importance of Getting Your Heartbeat Up
Have you ever seen people at the pool who are overweight despite swimming for an hour a few times a week? Do you ever notice that they tend to be very good swimmers and never really exert themselves too much? The only way to really get your metabolism going and to really make your workout work is to get your heartbeat going during the exercise. If you’re not breathing hard at least during part of your workout, then you’re doing something wrong.
Using Interval Training to Enhance Your Workout
A great way to ensure you get your heartbeat going and maximize your workout is to use interval training, which studies have shown to be extremely effective. Interval training is essentially doing short bursts of intense exercise, taking a rest, and repeating in sets. It can be applied to pretty much any kind of workout, whether sprinting, swimming, or even body weight exercises. Here’s an example of how you might apply interval training to body weight exercises:
With no rest in between the exercises, do:
– 20 push ups
– 1 minute plank
– 4 pull ups
After that set of those exercises done quickly, rest for 1 minute, and while your still tired continue to the next set. Repeat for a total of 3 sets.
The example that I gave you is actually a variation of one of the workouts recommended to do before trying out for the navy seals. It works so well by applying interval training and combining physical strength with cardiovascular strength and stamina. Essentially…it gets your heart beat up which is the key.
Putting Your All Into Your Workouts
When it comes down to it, you get the most out of your workouts when you put the most into your workouts (seems logical, right?). To make sure that your workout is a successful one, put your all into it and push yourself to do that one extra repetition.
So what are you waiting for? Go out there and give it your all!