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Home » Health Articles » The Short Cut To Rapid Results From Your Workouts

The Short Cut To Rapid Results From Your Workouts

You can slice it however you like but if you are taking it easy in the gym, results will be slow or worse, nonexistent. The shortcut to seeing rapid fat loss and increased muscular definition is intensity.

Let's look at some of the ways you can same time in the gym and start seeing quicker results by going over a few intensity techniques that I love to use with my personal training clients. After that, I will show you how you can fit them into a simple schedule that will still give you a life outside the gym.

Failure - Lifting the weight until no more full repetitions can be carried on in good form.

Drop sets - Hitting failure and then dropping the pin in the stack to a lighter weight to continue on working.

Strip sets - The same as drop sets but usually used for free weight exercises where the "strip" refers to taking a plate off in order to continue.

Super sets - Combining two exercises to increase intensity, usually a compound movement followed immediately with an isolation movement for the same muscle group or vice versa. An example would be hitting failure on the bench press and then continuing on with a flye movement. Super set can refer to two separate body parts like combining bench press for chest with chins for back.

Running the rack - Can be done up or down the rack (dumbbell holder) but usually down. This is almost the same as a drop set where you use a set of dumbbells to failure and then select a lighter pair to continue on. You can continue on down the rack as far as you want but three drops is most common.

Forced reps - Having reached failure, your partner will add just enough assistance to allow you to carry on for one or two more reps.

21's - Dividing the movement into three parts. The top, bottom and whole movement. Most commonly done on curls where 7 tops are done then 7 bottoms and then 7 full reps. Any combination of tops and bottoms can be used however. I prefer to do the seven full first that way the partials are only done when the full movement has already been trained to failure.

10 to 1 - Several different variations on this one. You can start heavy and do one rep, strip some weight and then do two reps and carry on this way until you hit 10. Another is to start at 10 take a couple seconds rest and then do 9 and carry on till you get to one using the same weight. The last is to keep the same weight on all sets but hold the contracted position for 10 seconds, lower and then hold 9 seconds and so on till your done.

Rest/pause - Performing a rep then taking a couple seconds rest and then doing another rep thus delaying the build up of waste products allowing you to use heavier weight and extend the set past the reps that you would usually hit failure at.

Now that is a lot of stuff to remember! So how do you fit all these different systems and ways of working out with intensity techniques into your regular lifestyle and still have a life?

Lets look at a couple days in the life of a personal trainer, me!

Saturday Leg Workout:

8 x 8 Squats, 30 seconds rest between sets, same weight on all sets. This is intense because of the volume of weight moved in such a short period of time. You don't need cardio on a day like this.

3 x Triple drop (strip set with three drops) leg press calf raises.

Sunday: Nothing

Monday AM:

5 x 5 chins 55LBS (intensity through weight).

Triple drop Seated cables rows (intensity through volume moved over time).

Hand Stand Pushups - Triple drop sets moving to dumbbell shoulder presses on failure (intensity through a compound movement and multiple stimulation paths when we go to dumbbells as well as the strip.)

Monday PM: Commando Cardio (This could even be bumped to Tuesday)

The Bear: 35LBS Dumbbells (DB) DB Deadlifts DB Cleans DB Push press DB Squats then 15 pushups for a "rest".

Each exercise for 5 reps and do seven non-stop circuits. (It even sounds intense doesn't it?)

Finish it off with 8 x 8 Burpees. After each set of Burpees, your active rest is to do 8 jumping knee tucks and then right back into the Burpees. No separate cardio needed on this day either! This IS cardio, just with the benefit of resistance.

Tuesday: snowboarding for the afternoon.

None of these workouts take over 45 minutes and they are intense enough that you will KNOW you are causing changes to your body. Routines like this burn lots of calories leading to fat loss but the intensity of the routines actually build muscle at the same time! Why would you waste time doing sub personal best performance workouts when you can just go as intense as your personal level will allow and then go do other things?

With the example above you can see that the body is worked with heavy weights and cardio through small rest times. Muscular endurance is worked also and we even have time to go snowboarding which is a "hidden" workout in itself.

This is how you fit fitness into your life and see results. Short, quick intense workouts with extra healthy activities on the side that you enjoy. Take your body to the next level and give some of these ideas a try. The pay off will be faster results and less time spent in the gym.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

What to do When You receive a Bad Check

As a small business operator, personal checks may be one method to receive payment for your goods or services. As a way to receive payment, a personal check is actually better than credit cards because the fees are less and there can be no charge back.

Fortunately, most people are honest and studious in taking care of their checking account. But sooner or later every small business operator will receive a bad check. The first thing to do is politely contact the individual and give them an opportunity to make the check good.

Most times you'll find that the customer has simply been careless with their checking account or finances. They will probably be embarrassed about the incident and will immediately replace the check with a good one. Unfortunately, there are rare occasions when the individual who gave you the bad check decides to make themselves scarce.

Note: If a personal check is for more than a few dollars, it's best to let the check clear before delivering the product or service. Say, for example, that someone wants to buy your car with a personal check for twice what the car's worth. Remember, a check is just a piece of paper until after it clears. They can return to pick up the car after the check clears, or you can offer to drive with the individual to their bank to get the cash.

There are three reasons why a personal check may not clear: "insufficient funds", "account closed", or "stop payment". The proper action to take depends upon why the check didn't clear. If the check is returned for "insufficient funds", and you can't locate the individual who wrote the check, file a crime report at your local police station. If a police investigator can locate the individual who passed the bad check, that individual will be required to pay you and/or spend some time behind bars.

If the check was returned "account closed", you may have a criminal case depending upon when the account was closed. If the account was closed before the date the check was written, you definitely have a criminal case. If the account was closed afer the check was written, the court may determine that you didn't present the check for payment in a timely manner. In that case, you have a civil matter, not a criminal complaint.

If the check was returned because of a "stop payment", you have a civil matter. Some people try to save time and work by filing a crime report for ANY check that doesn't clear. This can result in the individual who gave you the check being arrested. They may miss work and encounter a host of other problems as a result of your FALSE crime report.

I said FALSE crime report, because an individual who puts a stop payment order on a check almost always does so because of dissatisfaction with a product or service. The accused individual is now in a position to countersue for the problems caused as a result of your FALSE crime report. This could end up costing you a lot more than the value of the check.

Sooner or later every small business operator will receive a bad check. The first thing to do is politely contact the individual and give them the opportunity to make the check good. If that doesn't work, many people try to save time and work by filing a crime report regardless of why the check didn't clear. It's very important to determine why a check didn't clear before deciding on a course of action.

Disclaimer: Stephen Bucaro is not engaged in rendering medical, legal, accounting or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

Copyright(C) Bucaro TecHelp.

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