Once again, I'm shocked at how much great trainers think alike.
In fact, we're all working with the same principles.
Our expressions of those principles may appear to be different on a superaficial level.
But the principles of really effective fat loss are always the same.
Even though they may be exactly the opposite of what you are reading about in magazines or heard from your friends – these are the tricks of the trade of personal trainers who produce actual results in the real world.
This intensity is the "engine" that powers the bootcamp workouts in my book The Stubborn Seven Pounds and the fighter workouts in Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss.
It's the same principle as in the "300 workout". It's the same principle that Jasan Statham talked about his new trainers are using. Charles Staley's system Escalating Density Training is probably the best descripion of it. The US Secret Service's Kettlebell Snatch Test is one of the coolest sports performance uses of it.
What's interesting just reading that list is that there are tons of people doing it for men's fat loss and for sports performance, I'm the first to bring it specifically to women's fat loss.
If you've read any of my e-books, you know that intensity = fat loss.
That's true both in weight training and in cardio.
Really, even cardio.
By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds
Josh is one of the five fat loss experts in The Ultimate Fat Loss Answers
Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and personal trainer in Denver, Colorado. Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.
Josh is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES), and currently studying the Corective Exercise Specialist (NASM-CES) course.
For information about kettlebell classes in Denver, click here:
www.denver-kettlebell-bootcamp.com
© Joshua Hillis 2007
Intensity also can lead to injury. The question is, where is the fine line between the two, and how does a trainer determine where it is for any client? Merry Christmas.
That’s a great question!
For sure intensity can lead to injury. But so can any form of progressive overload. And without some form of progressive overload, you are spinning your wheels.
That being said:
If form breaks, you’re going to get injured.
If you are compensating (using the wrong muscles to get the work done) you’re going to get hurt.
Neither of those scenarios need to occur when you are increasing intensity.
A workout at 90% of your ability can be more intense (more work done in the same time) than the same workout a month earlier.
Increasing intensity (more work) does not mean all out balls to the wall puking, bad form, compensating and hurting yourself.
At least not for my clients.
More is just more.
For example –
Last workout I did 8
This workout I can do 12 and get hurt.
Or this workout I can do 10 with good form and be healthy happy and fit.
Then in this example, 10 is more intense than 8, but it’s not so intense that I get hurt.
Hi Josh,
Remember my post about having to slog through this 1/2 marathon I promised my friend I’d do? Well I have another running-related question (I actually have hundreds…) Well the race is next Sunday. A funny thing has been happening. Typically, I have HATED the long runs. But today when I was doing my 8 miler, and last week’s 10, I was really in the zone and feeling good, and later when I uploaded my Garmin stats I found out I’d done a 9:12 pace. When I started the training a few months back, I was at just under 11:00 pace. This makes me feel pretty good! Then I started thinking – and this is where it ties in with the intensity=fat loss – what if I trained for another 1/2 marathon and tried to come in under 2 hours? Then under 1:50? OR what if I trained to smoke just a 5K or 10K? Are 20 minute interval-style workouts still better? Or is any cardio “worthy” as long as you are working intensely? It’s true that I can’t wait to get off this training schedule and start up a nice kettlebell workout and some cardio intervals, but at the same time, part of me would love to have the bragging rights of some kick-ass race times. Along those lines is also the concept of periodization. Train to kick butt in a race in the nice weather, and then spend the winter with the S7 program. So many workouts, so little time!
thanks,
Candice