Monday, 13 February 2012 06:02

How long should your workouts last for

In a previous life, I used to share "cubicle space" with a guy that was into bodybuilding big time. And I mean big time - this guy used to talk about three to four hour workouts as the norm, and "even longer" on Saturdays/Sundays/holidays/whenever he could find the time. He was one of those guys who trained every body part and muscle seperately "to achieve the correct look" (in his words) - so his workout would be endless sets and type of curls for the biceps, then extensions and other things for triceps, and so forth for every body. And that pretty much made up the three to hour hours.

Now if this is what someone wants to do - I have no problem with it whatsoever. It'll entail living in the gym, and oding nothing other than eating and exercising (and not necessarily causing much benefit to your body) but again, if thats what someone wants to do with his life, well, you'll find no objections from my end. To each his own, is what I say.

But - think about the workout times he mentioned. THREE to FOUR HOURS - and remember this was his daily routine - he'd do more on the days he could. And he wouldn't rest - not even for ONE SINGLE day in the week. Now I don't know about you - but I know I need some rest time at least. And I know I have other things to do with my life than sit around in the gym all day.

The sad thing is, this type of thinking is more common place than you'd think. Folks tend to think of exercising "an hour a day" as being imporant - but neglect to think about what exactly they are doing in that one hour. Kids grow up looking at the muscle heads on TV, and the "six packs" on show, and end up thinking they need to go on crazy diets and spend their lives in the gym to get good results. And guess what - in most cases, they DON'T get good results from overloading their bodies to that degree. Remember yesterday's email mentioning the folks in the park? Well, the same logic applies here as well.

Anyway, reminds me of a day when this guy had done a "super grip" workout the other day, and wanted to check out how his strength had improved as compared to mine. Now, I had done my normal workout the day before - nothing different. We grasped each other mitts - he attempted to crush  my fingers for a while - and then when he saw he wasn't having any success, he suddenly muttered something about not feeling well, released my paw, and retreated to the water cooler. So much for that one and a half hour "grip blast" that he did.

As for me, you know what I do. I emphasize brief workouts - that are TOUGH - and that get you working at a much higher level of intensity than you would normally. And they get you supremely strong and fit as a fiddle - and this without having to spend all day exercising. My own workouts don't generally last beyond 30 minutes at most - the only exception to this if I'm doing some new movements or learning a super tough exercise - other than that, I don't go beyond 30 minutes at most. In fact, on some days I'll only do TEN minutes - and thats more than sufficient as well.

So, always remember that your workouts need not last the entire day. Fiften to thirty minutes a day is really all you need - in fact, if do things correctly, you won't be able to do anything else after that. Exercise the way I teach you in Fast and Furious Fitness - get your workout done in a short amount of time - and then proceed with the rest of your day, while feeling on top of the world - and getting BETTER results than those that are spending their lives in the gyms.

Well, my friend, thats it for today. Gotta head over to the good old Post Office to ship out some copies of Fast and Furious Fitness.

Best regards,

Rahul

PS: Always remember - Exercise hard and regularly - but do so in a SENSIBLE manner!

PS#2: Be on the lookout for a special offer coming your way within the next few hours!