Is your training up to snuff? Here are 9 revolutionary new findings that will help you improve your workouts.
“LAW” 1: Machine Training Is the Best
True, machine training is the best way to quickly grow muscle mass. However, it’s risky, simply because the exercises put your body in unnatural positions. A study at Georgia State University followed men for two years as they used workout equipment. The results were as follows: the test subjects improved their muscle mass by 34 percent. However, at the same time their coordination, balance, and flexibility deteriorated by around 3.5%.
Therefore, workout equipment actually gives you a lopsided body. The researchers’ conclusion was as follows: “Using workout machines has more disadvantages than advantages.”
THE NEW LAW: Weight train frequently, but with your own body weight or with free weights instead of weight machines.
„LAW“ 2: Differences in speed cause you to gain, not lose, fat.
The long held belief is that the best way to reduce body fat is to work at full speed for as long as possible. Well, get this idea out of your head.
The fastest way to lose weight and fat is interval training, 60 seconds at a time. These were the results of a study done in the US by experts in exercise and sports medicine. They had men use interval training, where they alternated one minute working out at full speed with one minute at an average pace.
In ten weeks, the subjects who used interval training had a conspicuous loss of body fat when compared to the control group, who did their workouts in the traditional way, at full speed for as long as possible.
THE NEW „LAW“: The next time you go jogging, plan for a 20-minute session and use interval training. First, run for 60 seconds as fast as you can, followed by 60 seconds of jogging,
and repeat these intervals during your entire session.
„LAW“ 3: Frequency and duration are more important than intensity
Have you ever wondered why, despite very, very long workouts, you don’t reduce any fat? Well, it will just stay there if you train without intensity. The third new law states: Quality is more important than quantity. Regular, moderate training is much better for your body than marathon workout sessions.
In order to slim down, you must work harder. It not only puts your body under more intense pressure, during your workout period your energy will be totally focused on reducing fat. Dr. Craig Broder at East Tennessee State University did a study with men who were, on average, 20 years old. The higher the intensity, regardless of the frequency and duration of the workout, the more fat was burned.
THE NEW LAW: Increase the intensity of your cardio program by 60% of your maximum endurance You have reached that state when you’re breathing hard and regularly but still can manage to talk to other persons.. Keep that pace up for as long as you possibly can.
„LAW“ 4: Exercise doesn’t help chronic pain conditions.
It’s pretty much considered to be an unwritten law that those with migraine, or with lower back pain, should never exercise. False! It has been found that endurance training increases pain threshold; and, therefore, pain tolerance.
“This effect has been experimentally studied and has been found to be therapeutic for pain patients,” says Dr. Karl Detlev Reimers of the Neurological Clinic at Saechsichen Krankenhaus Arnsdorf. In the study, people reacted positively to pain stimulation through both electrical stimulus as well as strong manual pressure, and reported less pain if they had, beforehand, exercised on either a stationary bike or a treadmill. Reimers said, “The positive effect was very obvious; the pain relieving effects of cardio training for patients with migraine or with lower back pain are clear.”
THE NEW LAW: Rowing, swimming, or biking: when you participate in any of these endurance sports, you will soon be able to put your pain behind you.
„LAW“ 5: Endurance training burns more fat.
In order to slim down, one must engage in endurance training. This law seemed to be carved in stone. Therefore, most men will run or bike to try to maintain their weight. However, weight training is actually more effective. It strengthens and grows muscles and bones, stimulates energy, and burns calories better than endurance training.
A study at University of Wisconsin found that the effects of weight training, specifically an increase in metabolism and in energy level, lasted 48 hours after the workout. However, the same effects achieved through a cardio workout lasted for only a half hour.
THE NEW LAW: Weight training, with short pauses between sets, is better than endurance training. When you have burned the amount of fat desired and have reached your target body fat level, then you should continue to lift weights for strength and target specific muscle groups in order to develop them. Such exercises might include knee bends and lunges with weights; lifting barbells; and bench presses.
„LAW“ 6: Biking is better than walking.
Experts have debated for many years which training method is the best for conditioning heart health and energy. Most would cast their vote for biking, because it is easier on the joints than jogging. Not necessarily so!
What recent studies have found is that walking is just as effective as biking. Recent studies done at Florida State University, which have been widely discussed, had students work very hard on both treadmills and on stationary bikes. The subjects needed to provide, based on their subjective findings after giving their very best effort and expending as much energy as possible, which method was better. Results?
Those who had worked out on the bikes felt biking was better than walking; and vice versa.
However, the actual result of the training study found that the energy expended was equal on both the treadmill and on the bike.
Conclusion: Walking and biking make muscles at the same rate. It’s perfectly OK to alternate between the treadmill and the bike, even at lower intensities. When you run instead of walk, the effects are even greater.
THE NEW LAW: Whether you walk on a treadmill, ride a bike, or jump rope, they are equally effective and can be done in place of running.