Depending upon what you’re looking to get from your workout program, there are certain exercise regimens that have proven to be more effective than others. Whether you need to lose weight, build muscle or increase your heart health, there is a workout plan out there for you. Be sure to consult your doctor before starting a new workout regimen, just to be safe.
Weight Loss
When it comes to weight loss, interval training may offer superior results compared to other workouts. High intensity interval training, or HIIT, is a type of training regimen commonly used by college and professional athletes to help build strength, endurance and speed and burn fat. This training regimen requires only 20 to 30 minutes of time per day, three to five days per week. Interval training seems to stimulate the fat burning process in the body unlike moderate aerobic activity, which doesn’t offer the same level of fat loss. A typical HIIT regimen consists of a 30 to 60 second jog followed by a 30 to 60 second sprint. This cycle is then repeated five to 10 times consecutively. According to a 2007 “New York Times” article, doctors believe that interval training stimulates mitochondria to burn fat as fuel rather than carbohydrates or protein, which is the reason fat is burned so efficiently with HIIT.
Weight Lifting
There are enough good weight lifting workouts out there that it’s hard to choose a top workout program in this category. Still, the best all-around approach to building muscle through resistance training is one that offers maximum muscle gains in the shortest amount of time possible. Since most people have busy schedules and can’t spend 10 to 20 hours per week at a gym trying to get big, a three-day weight lifting schedule is the best choice. Lifting Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays offers a day of rest in between each session, essential for optimal muscle growth. Exercise each major muscle group once per week using primarily compound exercises, such as bench press, squats, shoulder presses and rows. Target two to three different muscles per lift, and do a total of five to six sets of 10 to 12 repetitions per muscle. For instance, do three sets of 10 on the bench press, followed by three sets of dumbbell butterflies for a grand total of six sets targeting the chest muscles. Assuming that you’re eating a healthy diet, you should see significant muscle gains within three to four weeks of starting this simple and effective weight lifting regimen.
Heart Health
Improving heart health should be a priority for everyone, considering heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, according to statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. The best way adults can minimize their risk of developing heart disease, reports the CDC, is by exercising on a daily basis for a minimum of 2-1/2 hrs. per week. The CDC actually recommends increasing this amount to five hours per week for even greater benefits. The type of exercise you should focus on is moderate aerobic activity, such as walking briskly, jogging, biking, in-line skating, kayaking and other similar activities. Your goal should be to increase your heart rate to about double its resting rate for at least 30 minutes per exercise session. In addition to aerobic activity, the CDC recommends resistance training two days a week. This may include simple resistance exercises—push-ups, crunches, pull-ups, squats—or lifting weights.
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