"Surge" is the name given to an exercise method characterized by short, intense bursts of activity followed by a brief pause. It is also referred to as "burst" exercise for this reason. The goal of a surge workout is to push your body quickly to its limits, thereby forcing it to use stored resources, mainly fat, more immediately. A surge workout regimen can lead to weight loss and muscle growth.
Trap Bar Deadlift
According to Nick Nilsson, a well-known advocate of the surge workout program, the "trap bar deadlift" is a favorite surge exercise. Nilsson's approach to surge workout focuses on intense muscle strain over a short duration. The trap bar deadlift is a test of sheer muscle strength. First, you attach a significant amount of weight to a lifting bar while it is at rest on the floor. Bend forward over the bar with your feet approximately shoulder-width apart. Then, you simply pull the bar off the ground. A single-lift method allows you to add as much weight as possible for only a single lift. Test yourself to see how much weight you can add and still lift the bar off the ground once. The exercise will exhaust the muscles quickly. Nilsson also adjusts the weight at other times to the most you can repetitively endure over 30 lifts.
Lockout Partial Squats
Another favorite surge workout exercise of Nilsson's is the "lockout partial squat." Similar to the trap bar deadlift, the goal is to maximize the amount of weight you can push up in a single intense squat. This exercise uses the upper body around the shoulders. The bar is locked on the machine at just below your shoulder height. Add as much weight as possible to the bar so you can lift it up a few inches, using your whole body. You may be able to double your maximum lifting weight of the trap bar deadlift in the lockout partial squat.
Standard Exercises
Many gym-goers are familiar with basic cardiovascular exercises on a treadmill, exercise bike or elliptical machine. According to Dr. Dan Pompa, a chiropractor, you may use any of these exercises in a surge workout strategy. His advice in a September 2008 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article points out that it is not so much the exercise as it is the muscle intensity that accelerates weight loss. One to two minutes of exhausting exercise that leads to quickly being out of breath is necessary to achieve a surge workout goal. Then rest for two to three minutes before repeating the exercise at the same intensity three more times with a brief rest between each repetition. The recovery time is typically 24 to 36 hours, so this surge training is best repeated only two or three times per week at most.
References
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Surge training promises to work off the weight Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08261/912613-114.stm#ixzz0rsNjX5hm
- Maximized Living: Surge Training Exercise Program
- Empowered Nutrition: Metabolic Surge Program Interview with Nick Nilsson
- Exrx.net: Trap Bar Deadlift
- MuscleNet.com: Partial Rep Training
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