Stay Fit in Less Time
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Stay Fit in Less Time 20-minute cycle workout 20-minute run Endurance Flexibility Strength << back to Work/Life Balance << back to ANF Women's Forum  |
Strength Expert recommendations To build muscle, Woodgate recommends the push/pull/squat routine. “Simply squat with a fitness ball behind you to work your legs, then do 10 push-ups so you’re using the large muscles on your front, followed by a pulling exercise on the weights machine to give your large back muscles a workout,” he says. “This is a really concise training session that gives your whole body a proper workout and should only take you 20 minutes two to three days a week.” Go by with less Reach for the weights once a week, targeting all the muscle groups you typically work. A study from Ball State University in the US put 10 sedentary adults on a traditional strength-training program three days a week. After three months, half the group returned to inactivity, while the other half hit the weights just once a week. The quitters returned to their weakened state, but the once-a-weekers maintained all the strength gains they’d developed in the first three months. The least you can do Try our once-a-week, five-minute strength routine, “The Power of Four”, designed by Dr Wayne Westcott, fitness research director at South Shore YMCA in the US. “Navy research shows you can maintain strength and even lose fat and gain muscle, by doing just four exercises,” Dr Westcott says. The key is to hit all of your major muscle groups. And one set will do it: studies show you get 50 to 90 percent of your strength gains from your first set. |