Last week in our Dad Bod Health Playbook Series we covered the 3rd core pillar of health which is nutrition.
To review, the 4 core pillars of health are sleep, stress management, nutrition and fitness.
If you missed part 1, 2, 3 and 4 you should go back and check those out.
Today we are covering fitness for guys.
There are a ton of different ways to work out.
And for any guy who is just getting started and who has not been working out for a while, I recommend starting slow.
Remember, walking is one of the best exercises there are and walking 3 times per week for 15 minutes can lead to 5 times per week for 30 minutes very quickly.
But once you’re ready to move on to some more intense workouts you’ll want a plan that will keep your workouts short and your results big!
Avoid these 3 mistakes for real results:
Stop Avoiding The Weight Room
Going to the gym and spending 45 minutes on an elliptical or treadmill is great for heart health and you’ll certainly burn some calories.
But in terms of weight loss it probably won’t get you very far despite what anyone tells you.
I’ve been seeing the same two guys at my gym for 3 years now on the same ellipticals for 45 minutes each time and they look exactly the same.
Cardio by itself won’t serve you much in terms of weight loss unless it is extremely consistent and fairly high in intensity.
Break this cycle and get in the weight room if you want to see real results.
The science is there to show us how much of an impact weight training has on our metabolism and impacts fitness for guys.
I suggest you take note and start lifting immediately. You don’t have to want to be a bodybuilder. But stepping outside of your comfort zone a little so you can get real results seems like a win to me.
Changing it up every once in a while never hurt anybody either.
Weights First Then Cardio
If you’re already doing some weight training you need to be doing your cardio after you lift.
Most men do their cardio first and then their weights.
Don’t be like most men.
When you perform your weight training first you get into fat burning mode much quicker and the time you spend doing
cardio will help you burn more fat.
Our body’s first source of fuel is called glycogen.
In order to get into fat burning mode we must burn through all of the glycogen first.
Science shows that heavy weight training is a much more efficient way of burning through glycogen stores.
Another advantage of doing weight training first is you’ll have more energy to perform your lifts.
This means you can lift heavier and clear out those glycogen stores quicker so you can get into fat burning mode.
The idea here is you’ll be burning more fat during the time you spend doing your cardio.
Doesn’t that sound appealing?!
Mix It Up With Some HIIT
Stop doing long, steady-state cardio sessions all the time and start incorporating some interval training.
Personally, I work out 4-5 times per week and never spend more than 20 minutes on any cardio equipment.
2-3 of my cardio sessions each week are HIIT (high intensity interval training) sessions.
These are an absolute game changer.
Here is the formula to follow.
After you do your weight training you’re already warmed up so as soon as you get on the cardio equipment of choice
you will crank up the resistance.
I use the bike or elliptical and keep my hands on the heart monitor handles.
You’ll push as hard as you can for 30 seconds and then turn the resistance down and pedal as slow as you can without the machine shutting off for the next 2.5-3 minutes before going again.
You’ll repeat this for 5 total cycles.
The key here is to get your heart rate as high as you can get it during the working period and then as low as you can get it during the resting period before going again.
This workout structure is exactly what we use for our clients who want to be in and out of the gym as quickly as possible yet still want real results.
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