Burn Off Holiday Indulgence with Aerobic Variety
By Garrett J. Braunreiter, CSCS, The Energy Coach

No doubt many of us did our share of holiday eating this last weekend. That is why this article is devoted to getting you back on track toward your fitness goals IMMEDIATELY.

But first, let's get back to the basics of effective aerobic conditioning.

However, not all aerobic activities are the same. Some programs are better than others, especially for weight control. The general recommendation for aerobic fitness (NOT weight loss) is 20-40 minutes of moderate activity 3-5 times a week.

If you're talking weight loss, you're looking at a different picture. People who have lost weight - and kept it off - exercise more than that. To burn off one pound of fat, you need to have a 3500 calorie deficit between exercise and diet (MOST of the calories are to come from exercise) during the course of a week. So you're looking at reducing your calories by a little over a hundred calories a day, and the rest from exercise.

Whoa!!!

"That's a lot of calories burned from exercise, Gar. That means I'm going to have to practically LIVE in the gym! Who has time for that?"

Effective, calorie-burning aerobic programs blend a variety of intensity levels with a variety of activities. Not only do they burn extra calories, but the variety helps you to stick with it.

So you're going to divide your aerobic workout into 15 minutes spent on 3-4 different exercises for a great alternative to doing the same darn thing on ONE machine every time you work out.

I've taken the four most popular machines and mixed and matched them and created 45-60 minute, no-boredom-allowed, serious-calorie-burning workouts. BUT, you'll be the creative person you are and mix and match to come up with YOUR favorite combinations.

* How To Mix And Match *

Each time your work out you should change the kind of workout you do with each exercise. In other words, if you are doing intervals one day, the next day see how much distance you can cover in the same 15 minutes. Also, start each workout with a different activity, like treadmill one day, stair stepper the next.

Choose 3 activities and intensities for a great 45-minute workout, or do all four for a real calorie-busting aerobic session.

* Activities *

1. Stair stepper (or climbing your own stairs)
2. Treadmill
3. Recumbent/Upright Stationary Bike
4. Elliptical Trainer (or X-Country Skier)

* Intensity Types *

1. Up and Down the Ladder
Do a moderate pace for 1 minute, then 15 seconds hard/15 seconds moderate. Increase each hard segment by 15 seconds with 15 seconds of moderate in between until you are working hard for 60 seconds. Then start working your way back down until you're back at 15 seconds of hard work. Go up-and- down 3 times total.

2. Intervals
You can either walk at different speeds or combine walking with running.

Enter a 15 minute manual program on your treadmill's display panel. You're going to walk easy for 1 minute, then fast walk/run for 1 minute, and alternate for the whole 15 minutes.

3. Same Pace
This intensity emphasizes endurance. Warm up first, then during the workout, keep your pace CONSTANT, even when you're climbing hills, elevating inclines, or increasing resistance levels. If you have the capability on your machine, program a 15-minute "Hill" workout. The point here is to never break your pace.

4. More Distance, Same Time
If you can, program a 15-minute manual workout on the machine set at a moderate to low-intensity level - one that you can stay at for the majority of the 15 minutes. How much distance did you walk/run, bike, or climb? Record the miles you ran/walked/biked and the stairs you climbed for each workout. Check back on your notes to see how much you're improving for each activity.

* Sample Combos *

*Day One

1. Treadmill - Up And Down The Ladder
2. Bike - Interval
3. Elliptical Trainer - Same Pace
4. Stair Stepper - More Distance, Same Time

*Day Two

1. Stair Stepper - Interval
2. Treadmill - More Distance, Same Time
3. Bike - Same Pace
4. Elliptical - Up And Down The Ladder

Again, use your creativity to come up with your own combinations to design your calorie-blasting workout.

Intense workouts like these should be limited to 3 times a week, supplemented with your normal aerobic activity on the other days. DON'T FORGET ABOUT METABOLISM-BOOSTING STRENGTH TRAINING!

Just to give you some numbers, you could burn over 2500 calories a week just from exercise alone, and, when combined with reducing your calorie intake by about 800 calories a week, that's a PERMANENT weight loss of 1 lb. a week.

(This workout not only will get you back on track this week, but it will also SAVE you from this New Year's week.)

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