Many people tell me that they simply don’t have the time to exercise. My response is you don’t have the time not to exercise. By properly taking care of yourself you will feel better and be more energetic so you will actually get time back in your day.

If you are effective with your exercise time you can get great results with just 3 hours a week. This of course depends on your goals, your diet and where you are right now. But if you are consistent with your diet and exercise this program will get you into the best shape of your life.

When it come to resistance training and cardio timing is everything!

The benefits of resistance training (lifting weights) and cardio vascular training are undeniable, yet much confusion surrounds it. Should you do each on the same day? Do you lift weights first or do cardio first? Do you do short high intensity cardio or longer slower sessions? I am sure you get the point.

We all know the key to being fit is proper nutrition and exercise. I want to lay out the most effective way for you to incorporate resistance training and cardio vascular training into your already busy life. The key to a successful fitness program is consistency and in order to be consistent it needs to work with and enhance your already busy lifestyle.

If you are doing weight training and cardio in the same session then hit the weights first. It takes 20 to 30 minutes of activity before your body uses fat for fuel before that your body utilizes glycogen (blood sugar) for fuel. If you do your weight training first you will get into fat burning much faster once you start doing cardio hence making this the most time efficient and productive way to train.

Glycogen is the preferred energy source when you are lifting weights so if you do cardio first you will have no energy for your workout. Do your weight training first, then your cardio and you will make the best use of your work out time and get the results you are after.

Turn your body into a fat burning inferno!
So many people do cardio only because they want to burn unwanted fat but this is unproductive. The most productive thing to do is to reeve your metabolism so your body is burning fat even at rest. Yes you can burn fat even when your not working out. Muscle burns fat even at rest so build your muscles and ignite your metabolism. This will give you the lean, sexy toned body you are after.

Cardio does have it’s place in a well rounded fitness routine. The two most productive times to do cardio are first thing in the morning and directly after you work out with weights. If you wake up in the morning and do cardio you will be burning fat much faster because you have been fasting all night and your glycogen is low so you will burn fat for energy sooner. The next best time is directly after lifting weights for the very same reason. In fact at AIHF Wellness we tell many of our clients to just start off with an early morning walk to kick start their metabolism and to get into the habit of exercising. Also cardio has many other health benefits for your lungs, circulatory system, blood lipid profile, etc. so it shouldn’t be over looked.

So you need both forms of exercise in your routine and the way you schedule it is up to you. You could lift weights three times a week and then do your cardio directly after lifting weights and get into fantastic shape. In fact I did this with a group of ten people all way out of shape and had them work out three days a week for one hour and within a few months they where all in great shape and within six months they all had abs.

The basis of the routine was simple. They would do ten minutes of abdominal training as a warm up, then lift weights for 30 minutes and then do 20 minutes of cardio. On Monday they did Chest, Shoulders and Triceps, Wednesday was Legs and Friday was Back and Biceps. I did change it around every month or so to make it interesting but that was the basic routine that they used go get into incredible shape.

Now I am going to lay out a very effective three day routine. You can do abs as a warm up or after your weight training, it is up to you. Also depending on how much body fat you want to loose will depend on how much cardio you do. If you want to loose the fat faster you may want to do cardio after your weight work out and on your off days. But if you eat well and do this three days a week you can and will get into fantastic shape. But keep in mind, the more effort you put in the better the results you will get out.

You can do this work out on Monday, Wendsday and Fridays or Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays. It is a good idea to have a day in between each work out. If that isn’t possible don’t use it as an excuse, simply work out on the days you can.

The Routine

Mondays (Chest, Shoulder, Triceps and Abs.)
Chest Press 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Incline Chest Press 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Shoulder Press 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Lateral Raise 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Triceps Press Down 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Lying Triceps Extension 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Crunch 3 sets of 10 – 20+ reps
Reverse Crunch 3 sets of 10 – 20+ reps

Wednesday (Legs and Abs.)
Leg Extension 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Leg Press 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Lunges 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Leg Curls 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Standing Calf Raises 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps s
Seated Calf Raises 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps s
Crunch 3 sets of 10 – 20+ reps
Reverse Crunch 3 sets of 10 – 20+ reps

Friday (Back, Biceps and Abs.)
Pulldowns 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Close Grip Pulldowns 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Seated Rows 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Curls 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Preacher Curls 3 sets of 8 – 12 reps
Crunch 3 sets of 10 – 20+ reps
Reverse Crunch 3 sets of 10 – 20+ reps

Now you have a good solid work out that you can do in 3 hours a week. This isn’t a magic plan, no plan is a magic plan. The whole key is putting together a plan that will work with your lifestyle and to be consistent. This is just one option for getting into great shape in the least amount of time.

Let me know how you do!!

If you invest three hours a week in yourself you will have so much more energy that you will not only have the time to do the things you have to do but you will have the energy to do the things you want to do! You are your greatest asset… take the time to invest in yourself!