"The Cardio-Free Diet," a book by ABC News correspondent and celebrity trainer Jim Karas, holds that traditional cardio exercises such as using a treadmill, bicycle or elliptical increase your appetite while not providing the weight-loss help you are seeking. Instead, this diet uses strength training, consisting of a 10 exercise full-body circuit, as the preferred exercise. You do not rest in between exercises. Depending on which phase you are in, your exercises will vary. For all exercises, do 10 reps.
Chest and Shoulders
This part of the circuit, part of a phase involving dumbbells, focuses on your chest and shoulder muscles. The first exercise is a simple dumbbell press. Lay on the floor on your back with the dumbbells in your hands. With your forearms sticking straight up, push the dumbbells up until your arms are fully extended. Perform dumbbell raises next. Stand straight up and hold your arms at your sides. Raise your arms straight out until they are parallel with the ground and then lower them to the starting position. To try a second type of dumbbell raise, sart in the same position and instead of raising your arms straight out, raise them out to the side until your arms are parallel with the ground. Lower back to the starting position and repeat.
Back
For the back exercise, hold one dumbbell at a time. Put your hand and knee opposite of the hand holding the dumbbell on a bench. Your torso should be parallel with the ground. Raise the dumbbell straight up until you touch your chest. Lower it back down and repeat. After the set with one arm, switch sides and repeat with the other. For the shoulder shrug, stand straight up and hold both dumbbells. Without bending your arms, shrug your shoulders to raise the dumbbells. Lower and repeat.
Legs
Stand up straight and hold the dumbbells at your sides to perform a lunge. Take a big step with your right leg until your left leg is near full extension. Then bring your left leg up to where your right leg is and stand back up in the process. Repeat by taking a big step with your left leg. This is one rep. Follow with a side lunge. Instead of moving forward with the lunges, you want to move directly to your right, then directly left for one rep. Finish with a calf raise. You do not need the dumbbells for this. Stand on a platform that allows your heels to hang off. You can hold on to something to keep balance. Raise your body as high as you can by standing up on your toes. Lower back down and repeat.
Arms
For biceps, sit in a chair with back support. With your elbows tucked in at your sides and without moving your shoulders, curl your arms up until the dumbbells are near the top of your chest. Lower and repeat. For triceps, stand and hold one dumbbell with both hands behind your neck. Raise the dumbbell by lifting your forearms until your elbows are fully extended without being locked. Lower and repeat.
References
- "Personal Fitness Training & Theory"; Mary A. York; 2007
- That's Fit: Cardio Free Diet At A Glance
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