I've been meaning to write this email for a long time. Today I'm going to give you the story of how I solved the problem of getting an efficient and effective fat loss program finished in 45 minutes.
Essentially, how I stumbled across the best fat burning workout ever.
And then I'll end with a sample workout for you...
But first, let's take a trip down memory lane to the winter of 98-99. I was but a lowly grad student, studying the effects of androstenedione (the supplement taken by the might Mark McGwire during his record-breaking home run quest in '98).
In my study (which was published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology for any science nerds like myself out there), we had guys use the supplement and go through a couple of weight training sessions. By February of '99 I was stuck in the lab, analyzing the blood samples using some fancy radio-active isotopes.
And when I say stuck in the lab, I mean STUCK. I'd get there at 7am, and record my last data point at 11pm. Sixteen hours of mad science. And if I wasn't there, I was downstairs in the medical library, studying papers on testosterone and training.
Now coming from a very athletic background, this sedentary lifestyle didn't sit well with me. But there I was, studying for a degree in Exercise Physiology and left with no time for exercise. Or so I thought.
Fortunately, I actually had a 50 minute window once per day of "down-time" while the lab's gamma-counter analyzed blood samples.
That left me 50 minutes to get to the gym (5 minutes across campus) and get a workout in the remaining 40 or so minutes. I knew that if I applied my studies to the workout, I could get maximum results in minimum time.
As a former athlete, I knew that I had to find a way to stay fit and to avoid the fat gain that comes with working long hours in a sedentary environment. And I also had to stay true to the high-school bodybuilder I once was, so there was no way I was willing to sacrifice my muscle to one of those long-cardio, low protein fat-loss plans that were popular at the time.
Instead, I had to draw on my academic studies and my experiences working with athletes as the school's Strength & Conditioning Coach.
I knew that sprint intervals were associated with more fat loss than slow cardio, and I knew that you could also increase aerobic fitness by doing sprints (but you can't increase sprint performance by doing aerobic training).
So clearly, intervals were (and ARE!) superior to long slow cardio.
I had seen first hand the incredible results of sprint intervals in the summer and fall, as the athletes made huge fitness improvements and shed winter fat in a short time using my interval programs. I knew that intervals had to be the next step in the evolution of cardio.
The biggest benefit of intervals? A lot of results in a short amount of time. I knew that I only had 40 minutes to train, and therefore I could only spend 15-20 minutes doing intervals.
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