The answer to reaching your fitness goals and doubling your results in half the time is right in your fist!
No, I’m not talking about cardio kickboxing or taking up mixed martial arts.
The fist that I am referring to stands for: Functional Interval Strength Training (F.I.S.T).
This type of training is similar to metabolic training but with a focus on building strength and it burns up to NINE TIMES MORE FAT IN HALF THE TIME.
The key to this type of training is that you will combine high intensity functional strength movements, such as kettlebell swings, battle rope slams, sandbag training or medicine ball throws for only 15 to 30 seconds.
Then without rest, you perform a second, low or moderate intensity movement for an additional 15 to 30 seconds like calisthenics, jump rope, body weight & suspension type training so that your heart rate and oxygen consumption (breathing) will be reduced but still stay elevated. This is a form of active rest and will help to maintain an elevated heart rate while keeping you in the maximum fat burning zone.
An option for less conditioned people for the second movement would be to hold a posture like a plank or yoga downward dog pose or even stand on stability discs or a BOSU while holding a medicine ball.
This workout, depending on your conditioning level, should take between 10 to 30 minutes including a brief warm up.
This type of functional-cardio-strength training condenses three workouts into one super effective hybrid workout.
Key Benefits
- Build more lean muscle (more muscle = less fat)
- Increase strength
- Improve mobility & flexibility
- Increase bone density
- Increase stamina & cardiovascular conditioning
- Rev up your metabolism
- Have better balance
- Strengthen your core
- Have a better shape & build
A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (September 2008) showed that a workout that alternates heavy weight training with cardiovascular bursts burned nine times more fat than if you split your weight workout from your cardio workout.
After Burn Effect
The real benefits continue to come 16 to 48 hours after the workout is over. This is called the after-burn or technically known as EPOC, (Excess Post- Exercise Oxygen Consumption). When you burst or spike your heart rate to a max level for 15 to 30 seconds over multiple series of exercises you are training in an anaerobic or without oxygen zone, which is the opposite of aerobic. This type of interval training where your heart rate is spiking then lowering mimics real life. When your heart rate & breathing lowers with the active rest movements you are now in the aerobic or with oxygen zone.
You might have heard it said that life is an endurance race and not a sprint. Based on my experience, life is actually a series of sprints with rests between.
Our bodies have been designed to put out a high amount of effort then to rest, recuperate and repeat. There is a saying that goes “you can work hard or you can work long but, you can’t do both at the same time”.
How Most People Workout (Ineffectively)
Here is the problem with the way that most people currently exercise.
The majority of people looking to lose weight start their workout with a 30 to 60 minute cardio session 3 to 5 times per week. This is called steady state cardio and the problem is that it burns ONLY SUGAR INSTEAD OF FAT for up to 20 to 30 minutes before kicking into fat burning mode. Why is this? The body’s primary fuel for energy is sugar or glycogen which is stored in the muscles and we have up to 30 minutes of this fuel to use first before the body will burn stored fat as fuel.
So what this means is that in a 30 minute cardio session you will have burned somewhere between 0 – 10 minutes of fat. (One way to increase the amount of fat burned is to do your cardio first thing in the morning before you eat when your blood sugar is naturally low).
Note: This should not be done with weight training! Sugar is your primary fuel.
But even doing your cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach will not match the fat burning & muscle building of a F.I.S.T workout.
Plus, as soon as you’re done with your cardio session your metabolism comes back down within a few hours to normal or slow burning mode.
Also during this type of cardio your heart rate increases along with your need for oxygen which causes you to burn calories. The problem is, the more cardio you do the more fit you become which in turn uses less oxygen & less energy thereby burning less calories each session. This is why most people have to increase the duration of their cardio sessions to one hour 4 to 5 times a week. Some people actually do two sessions of cardio a day. As Susan Powter used to say STOP THE INSANITY.
The second element that’s missing from most people’s workout is proper strength training. Most women are afraid of working out with heavy weights because they think they will get big muscles. A toned strong muscle takes up half the amount of space or circumference that fat does. Think of a pound of muscle as the size of your fist. Also women don’t have the testosterone that men have so building muscle is not as easy for them. Heck, even with more testosterone most men can’t build big muscles. If it was easy every guy would have big arms and a big chest.
Most men go to the gym or workout at home and do a 1 – 1.5 hour workout using moderate weights with long rests (low intensity) and will skip the hardest & most productive exercises like squats, deadlift, overhead presses, pull ups & body weight dips. After this they might do 15 to 30 minutes of slow steady state cardio. But even after their two hour workout two to three times a week they will still have high body fat and lack in functionality (good movement), flexibility & true fitness.
So the answer for BOTH men and women is to combine your weights with your cardio and start doing functional interval strength training and see your results sore!
Hey, FIST bumps all around!