Making The Most Of Your Workout
Doing hours of cardio a week is no guarantee that you will lose those few extra pesky pounds that keep hanging on. According to several fitness experts, what's most important is maximizing your workout.
Celebrity trainer Chris Robinson, author of "The Core Connection" and Oprah's former personal core trainer, stopped by The Early Show on Monday to explain how to correct workout mistakes and maximize your time in the gym.
One myth is that working out every day is enough to take the weight off and keep it off? Robinson explains "it depends on how you workout and what your eating. You want to maximize your workout time by working out effectively by connecting the entire body."
Robinson says one mistake is that the body is not connecting when you do cardio. You are letting your stomach hang out and you're not connecting with your butt muscles.
The right way is to activate your stomach so that you are initiating your movement with your stomach so what moves you is your butt muscle driving the machine. It's about the person's position on the machine at any speed or angle and you. It more than doubles the workout.
Speaking about diet and workouts, Robinson says, "You want to have a lean and clean diet, not high in fat and sugar. Ideally eat smaller meals throughout the day so you are not hungry and your body does not slow down. Three big meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and in the middle of breakfast and lunch have a healthy snack. Nuts are good."
Another mistake is that people waste too much time in between weight training. They lift weights and stop in between their sets to talk, read or rest.
"The average person should keep working the body, but work the opposite part of the body. If you do one set of weights working the chest, the next set should work the back. That way you are resting the chest but you never stop moving. So you are alternating the parts you are working. You rest when you finish working out. You maximize the time in the gym," Robinson explains.
A big no-no is doing the exercise each time. "The body is smart, it will adapt to the workout and become easy. The first time it's challenging but the body will learn the routine. Clients fool themselves when they think doing the same routine over and over is working the body," Robinson says.
The right way is to mix up the routines so you are fooling the body and teaching muscles new routines.
Robinson says be consistent with your workout. "It should be like brushing your teeth - you just do it. Exercise at least four times a week. If you can do an hour each time that's great, to do weight training, stretching and cardio."
The final mistake? People don't get enough rest. "You should try and get at least eight hours rest. Some days you can work out back to back but the most part you should vary the work out."
Click here to learn more about Chris Robinson.