Fat Loss Lie #12

You Can Lose weight in just minutes each day (or week!)

3 MINUTE ABS

8 MINUTES IN THE MORNING!

THE ONE WORKOUT A WEEK FITNESS REVOLUTION!

CHANGE YOUR BODY IN 30 MINUTES A WEEK

I'd like to caution you about the mindset of trying to get more results in less time. You should always, (of course), look for ways get the most benefit from every minute you spend in the gym and improve the efficiency of your workouts. What I’m referring to when I speak of the “more for less” mindset is the error of looking for better results in the form of a “secret” training program, short cut, miracle pill, or easy, “overnight” cure without putting in any effort.

There’s a fine line between training enough to stimulate growth and overtraining. We are warned continually not to over train or we’ll hold back our strength and muscle gains. We are also cautioned not to do too much aerobics or we’ll lose the muscle we already have.

It’s true that many people are overtraining – maybe even most people. But just as there’s fine a line between optimal training and overtraining, there’s also a fine line between optimal training and under training.

The minimalist “less is more” approach is highly appealing because it represents the ultimate “lazy man (or woman's)” approach. (And it SELLS!)

The promoters are basically saying, "Hey pal, you're spending too much time in the gym and it's holding back your gains. Buy my secret miracle training program from Bulgaria, and you only have to train once or twice a week for a few minutes and you'll double your results."

If you believe that, then I have some swampland in Florida and a Bridge in Brooklyn I’d like to sell you. Call 1-800-YOU’VE-BEEN-HAD for details.

Briefer and less frequent workouts are only good to the extent to which they prevent you from overtraining and they optimize hormonal response to training. Minimalism as a marketing appeal is a completely different story. Make sure you recognize the difference between the two.

I thought 8 minutes in the morning was ridiculous (but brilliant from a marketing perspective), now someone just wrote a book called 3-minute abs. What's next? 30-second abs? Massive muscles in five minutes? The one rep muscle revolution? Gimme a break! Just get your butt in the gym and train for forty-five minutes to an hour three to five days a week – or however much it takes for you to get the results you desire.

Your body is begging for exercise – it’s an amazing machine that was designed to be used – often and vigorously.

When the promoters of a program tell you that “ten minutes a day” or “once or twice a week” will get you a body like a bodybuilder or a fitness model, and you believe that, and you end up disappointed with your meager results, then I have no sympathy for you and the money you wasted. That's just plain naïve.

You can get health benefits from very small amounts of exercise. Even walking to work or class, or raking the leaves in your yard can have health benefits. But you get even greater health benefits from larger amounts of exercise. Training for basic health benefits and training for maximum fat loss and muscle growth are not the same thing. To get maximum changes in body composition, you need a much higher frequency, duration and intensity.

You can get a "training effect” (muscle growth and strength increase) in as little as two thirty-minute workouts per week - that is true - but to become super lean and extremely muscular - forget it! If that were the case, then all champion bodybuilders would be doing it. Here’s what it all boils down to: The rewards you take out will always come in direct proportion to the work you put in.

“The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
- Vince Lombardi.