“I didn't get to the gym this morning,” my friend said, exasperatingly flagging our server for a coffee refill.
She proceeded to tick off a series of completely valid excuses why she couldn't go. Her daughter had a fever, she needed to wait on an important client's phone call, and her Golden retriever chewed up her favorite slippers. No jury on the planet would convict her with those obstacles.
People sometimes assume I spend hours at the gym. “You must put in a lot of bicep curls to get those arms,” someone recently joked. Not at all. In fact, I probably spend less time working out than many people spend making excuses not to work out.
Burst training is my secret weapon to get an efficient, effective, kick-butt workout in just minutes a day. Burst training could even fit within my friend's hellish morning.
The dirty little secret in the fitness industry is you needn't spend hours on treadmills, classes, and running to be the best fat burner and get all of exercise's other benefits.
In fact, too much exercise – especially endurance training – can work against you. We have copious science to prove that burst training beats endurance training.
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I've written a lot about burst training because it's that important, especially for time-crunched busy folks who juggle a family, job, and social life. They don't have hours to spend at the gym, and even if they did, they have more interesting things to do.
I've called burst training the best exercise for fat loss and fast metabolism. You can learn more about why it's so great and get an eight-minute workout in this blog.
One of my favorite ways to do burst training is the Xiser, a portable, built-to-last stepper that can give you a killer workout in just minutes a day. You can learn how to use the Xiser in this video.
But you don't need any special equipment to do burst training. Some of my favorite ways include:
- jumping rope
- jumping jacks
- stepping up and down on a bench
- high knee lifts – sprinting
- burpees
- turkish get-ups
You will alternate 30 – 60 seconds of these exercises where you go all out (you want to feel the burn) with easy side stepping or marching in place.
The stairwell also makes the perfect way for burst training. Most home stairs aren't long enough, but apartment buildings, offices, and hospitals usually have several flights of stairs that make burst training ideal.
I recommend combining burst training with weight resistance for a fast, effective workout. I've combined 25 step-by-step workout videos that incorporate high-intensity interval training and resistance training in The Fast Fitness Online Program. You can learn more about the program here.
The views in this blog by JJ Virgin should never be used as a substitute for professional medical advice. Please work with a healthcare practitioner concerning any medical problem or concern. The information here is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or condition. Statements contained here have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
