Gravity Fx Fitness

Saturday I used only sandbags in my workout and burned 641 calories according to my HR monitor. In one exercise I used a slight assist from a TRX, but the workout took 45 minutes and worked every muscle in my body.

The TRX suspension trainers are supposed to be “all core all the time” because your core is activated to some degree in every exercise.  Same thing with sandbags – you’re always working your abs, low back and hips during an exercise.

Cardio strength training (interval training) is a great way to build lean muscle tissue and burn fat at the same time.  For example, my average heart rate for this workout was 78% of my max, with the peak HR reaching 98%  (pretty intense).

So a 45 minute workout at 78% will obviously burn some calories.  By doing more intense interval training you go into oxygen debt, where you are breathing heavily.  Research has shown that this can elevate your metabolism for 24 hours or more AFTER you have stopped exercising!

That’s one of the things I like about sandbags – improved fat burning efficiency while improving your coordination in different movement patterns.  The exercises train multiple muscles to work together at the same time.

I did step ups, overhead presses, high pulls, partial rotation deadlifts and an overhead rotational lift that is often done with a medicine ball.  I kept the rest periods between exercises minimal which keeps your heart rate up and stimulates your fat burning hormones.

One of the reasons you’re metabolism stays elevated after this workout is because of the fast twitch muscles that are worked with the exercises that focus on either strength or power.  More muscles used equals more calories burned but you also have the “afterburn” effect going on as these muscles are being repaired after the workout.

These workouts can take a lot out of you and need to be progressed gradually.  I have my baby boomer clients doing most of these same exercises and it allows them to get in a fast, efficient workout – letting them spend more time with family and friends.

I really could feel it in deep in my abs the next day, particularly from the overhead rotational lift with the sandbag.  I have taught those 15 minute ab workouts before at a healthclub and would never feel it in my abs like I do with the sandbags, or even the TRX.

Here is a video from coach Josh Henkin that shows a few examples of sandbag training.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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To burn fat you need to turn up the heat – dial up the intensity of your workouts!  One of my clients has lost 14 pounds in a month, while spending less time exercising.

Previously, she was walking on a treadmill 5 days a week and 4 months later had lost only 6 pounds.  She’s made more progress by making dietary changes and doing burst-type training.

She is still walking, but now she alternates her pace, going back and forth with periods of higher intensity walking – kinda similar to how your car burns more gas during stop and go driving in the city.

She is doing similar exercise in the studio with dumbbells.  Multi-joint movements that involve multiple muscles to burn more calories, alternating between two exercises with little rest in between.

This causes you to release more of your body’s fat burning hormones naturally.  This gets your metabolism elevated without spending hours exercising.  She can feel the warmth in her muscles as she sweats more, helping the body get rid of toxins that can build up.

I showed her a routine that she can do at home with dumbbells and bodyweight when she isn’t working with me in person.  Its great to get results while exercising less.

Research studies have shown that walking on a treadmill without doing any resistance training doesn’t always lead to much weight loss.  If you’re like most people and short on time, interval strength training and interval cardio are the way to go.

Yeah, triathletes and marathoners are usually pretty lean, but they often spend 10 hours or more per week on their training.  Unless you are training for competition, there are more efficient ways to stay in shape.

Yesterday, I did some interval cardio using the Ropes Gone Wild training ropes.  I did 15 minutes of various diagonal, circular and vertical patterns (beatdowns) with the ropes, elevating my heart rate in a short amount of time, going into oxygen debt.

I had my HR monitor on to see what my body was doing and also to see how many calories I burned.  In the 15 minutes I burned 230 calories according to the monitor, which isn’t all that much…..until you read the rest of the story.

I turned the monitor back on as I did some kettlebell presses, before packing it in for the night, leaving the HR monitor running.  An hour and a half later I stopped it and looked at how many calories I burned.

It said 490 calories in that hour and a half after the interval rope training, for a total of 720 overall!  Got your attention now?!  Let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that the number is a little high.  Knock off 100 calories and that’s still a LOT of calories burned in less than half an hour of exercise.

The point should be clear – intense exercise keeps your metabolism elevated after you have stopped exercising.  So if short on time, turn up the flame to burn more total fat.  Its fine to mix in longer walks, bike rides or runs with your interval resistance training.  By the way, the monitor is a Polar F6.

If you’re looking for a simple program you can do at home, you might check out Turbulence Training.

Get moving!

Brian Morgan

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Yesterday was the “official” start of my own personal fat loss journey.  It was also the first workout with my new HR monitor.

After being in decent shape for a 40-something, I’ve decided to reduce my bodyfat level to the lowest its been in over twenty years.  I’m going to do it without going to the gym and I’ll be using tools like sandbags, ropes, resistance bands, and a few kettlebells.

Another interesting note, almost all the workouts will be 30-60 minutes, with an “occasional” bike ride that goes longer than an hour.  I want to make a couple points through my progress – A, it doesn’t take long workouts to lose fat and B, intensity is key to getting the best results.

After some frustrating business and financial situations, I’m not currently working with anyone in person and want to use this transformation to help inspire others to get in shape, as well as get me back in the position of helping people.

So I used my new HR monitor to keep my intensity levels high yesterday.  The workout was short and fairly simple.  The actual training lasted 23 minutes, with a total of about 30 minutes including  warmup and cooldown.

If that seems short, you should know that at one point my heart rate was at 99% of my maximum!  and the average HR for the 23 minutes was about 93%.  The monitor (Polar F6) said that I burned 442 calories in that brief, but intense session.

Now, you definitely don’t want to start out that intense, but I have been exercising regularly and am used to these kinds of sessions.  I switched back and forth between sandbag exercises and rope training, obviously, keeping my rest periods very short.

I did some military presses, walking lunges, and explosive lifts with a medium sandbag and did some grappler’s throws and front waves with the rope.  Several times my heart rate got to 97 or 98% of its max (theoretical).

So in 30 minutes I got my cardio and strength endurance work done at the same time, getting a lot of core work in, too.  Doing full body workouts are the way to go if you have limited time to exercise.  The previous two days I did some walking to enjoy the weather and burn a few calories, though definitely not 442!

So if interested, stay with me as I blog about getting my abs back as Summer fast approaches.

Get moving!

Brian

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