Have you ever been working out and notice while you were doing your exercises that you could feel what I would describe as a "burning" sensation in the muscle? Nothing indicative of injury, but just felt the muscle working outside of it's usual comfort zone?
This is a good thing!
This is called training to failure and I do it in 85% of my training with clients. I usually do not have clients stop a set until they cannot move the weight another inch. If that takes them past the rep range they are supposed to be working in on that exercise for that day, then I make an increase in the weight for their next workout.
This one technique is the core principle of progressive resistance training and it holds the key to continued progress in building muscle and burning off large amounts of body fat all at the same time.
Study after study has shown it's a fact that how much heart or intensity you put into your training is much more important than how long you train. This is great on two fronts. First, if you are short on time you don't have to worry because a quick intense workout will get you better results anyway! Second, it makes life easier. Who wants to own a great body if it takes hours every day to get and then maintain it?
If you want to see visual changes to your body on a daily basis, you must put everything you have into quick, intense cardio and weight training sessions.
When you combine intense (for your level) training sessions with proper nutrition that contains foods that will prime your metabolism, you'll see and feel changes to your body very quickly!
A lot of people think that it takes months to burn fat, build muscle and get stronger. This just isn't true! When you combine the proper training program, with a great nutrition plan you will get immediate feedback.
If you have been training on a regular basis and not seeing the results you deserve from all that time spent dieting and working out, maybe you need to take a hard look at your fitness program. Something is wrong. Maybe you have been putting in long hours at the gym at 50% of what you are capable of. Maybe you have been cutting your food back too much and have shut down your metabolism.
There are only three variables that you can play with. These are resistance training, nutrition and cardio. Train quickly and intensely with big compound exercises. Eat the proper foods in the right amounts and burn off some extra calories with cardio done in the most productive ranges for the level of fitness you are at.
If you get these three factors lined up with each other, everyone sees quick and rapid results on the scale and in the mirror. No exceptions unless it's medical.
Regardless of your genetics, time constraints or finances, you can transform your body so you feel great about the skin you're in.
The first thing I would do is give your training a kick in the rear, bump up the intensity and get out of that gym faster! You'll be able to fit your workouts into your day and still have energy left over to do some other fun things in life!
