Burn Fat–IN JUST 3 MINUTES A DAY: Burst Training

 Many of you have heard us talk about “Burst Training,” a new way of working out that we have found to be very effective in burning fat and retaining lean muscle (maybe it’s not so new—just new to us!).  We were introduced to Burst Training by Dr. Joshua Axe (www.joshaxe.com), and Dr. Matthew McAlees and have been faithfully doing it for a year now.  Both of these men are highly respected for their intelligence and understanding of the human body. We have been extremely pleased with the results.

  

We decided to take up a new challenge to change the way we have always worked out to see if we noticed a difference.  I know its sounds pretty far fetched that 3-4 minutes of exercise can actually do the trick, but it does! This is coming from someone who has worked out since the third grade and had it drilled in my head that long runs and hours at the gym were the only way to be fit and lean. You can use this method whether you are doing weights, abs, running, biking, or any other exercise.  You don’t even have to go to a gym to do this! Below is an explanation of some of the science behind Burst Trianing.  It’s so easy, even our kids do it!

 

 

HOW DID WE USED TO WORK OUT?

 

There are three main types of working out: Weight/Resistance and Cardio/Aerobic and Burst Trianing. All movement is good. We are not here to say exercise in any form is ever bad!  We have are just wanting to make sure that themwe are putting in is as effective in the long run for our bodies as it can possibly be.  There are pros and cons of both resistance and cardio training. I will not go into detail about all of that. However, it is important to not that there are no negatieves with Burst Training, which is an anaerobic workout that combines both resistance and cardio into one short, intense workout. 

 

I (Jenni) played Division I soccer in college, as well as basketball in high school.  My husband Nathan has always been an athlete as well, excelling in football and basketball.  We both love to run and work out and are always trying to stay current on the most effective ways to stay fit. Nathan is a Certified Personal Trainer but knew that he didn’t want to train people with the conventional way that most people are trained in a gym.  Like many others, our exercise regimen has predominantly consisted of Long Duration, Low Intensity (or Endurance) exercise.  Defined, this is going for long runs or walks, time spent on treadmills, bikes, or rollerblades, aerobics classes—basically, all exercises where we spend a long period of time (30 – 60+ minutes) keeping our heart rate at an even, steady pace.         

 

There are both positive and negatives to endurance training. 

  

Positives:

• Helps your cardiovascular system – heart, blood vessels and lungs
• Creates circulation to your brain
• Good for blood pressure and cholesterol

 Negatives:

• Your hormones work against you
• Cortisol levels (a stress hormone) go up because it causes long standing stress on your body; as a result, the body stores more fat and breaks down more muscle
• Your appetite is stimulated
• Recover slower from exercise 

I love endurance training so much that I have run, on two different occasions, a half marathon while 7 months pregnant! 

 

I loved the challenge of seeing how far and how long I could run.  However, if I were honest with myself, I would have to admit that while it was fun in the moment, my body paid for it later.  These long, steady runs began to take a toll on my body a few years ago.  The same was true of Nathan. 

I started to notice I was not recovering as quickly from a workout, I was having trouble staying in the kind of shape I wanted even though I felt like I was “kicking my butt,” and my joints and feet were constantly in pain.  But I knew no other way to do it!  Then along came Burst Training.

 

 

  

  

A MORE EFFECTIVE WAY

 

Short Duration, High Intensity exercise, also defined as “Surge” or “Burst” Training is where you perform a short surge in exercise, followed by a period of rest – then you repeat. A lot of Olympic athletes work out this way. 

 

Experts have not really found any negatives to burst training.  Here are the benefits:

 

Positives:

• Hormones work in your favor
• Your body continues to burn fat and build muscle long after you workout (36+ hours)
• Pushing the body to its maximum ability, not beyond it (so as not to produce cortisol)
• Testosterone and growth hormone increase (which helps build lean muscle)
• Endorphin boost (helps fight depression and anxiety) 

Here’s the bottom line: Your body will always burn, after the workout, the opposite of what you burned during your workout. When you do endurance training, you are in the fat burning zone of low intensity long duration working out. So it seems great that you burn fat for the 30-60+ min of exercise.  However, for the next 36 hours or so, you will burn the opposite–mainly sugar, while storing the fat.  In conclusion, if you burn fat during your workout, you will burn sugar later. 

 

This is where the negetives to long distance endurance training come into play. Sugar is stored in the muscles.  After your body has burned up all available sugars from your food it will then begin to burn up sugars stored as glycogen in your muscles. thus breaking down your muscles rather building muscle after your workout.  The less muscle mass you have, the slower your metabolism is, which in turn, affects your body’s ability to burn fat. 

 

If you look at a marathoner vs. a sprinter, it is easy to see this philosophy at work.  The marathoner is counteracting all of his hard work and his body is actually “eating” away at its own muscle, whereas a sprinter is constantly building lean muscle mass because he is burning fat even AFTER his workout is over.

 

 Therefore, the goal is to burn sugar during the workout, which will make your body burn fat, rather than sugar (i.e. muscle) during your recovery time.  It’s great to burn fat for 30-60+ min, but it’s even better to burn it for 36-48 hours!  And hormonally, it exchanges the high production of cortisol that is produced during endurance training for growth hormone (a muscle building hormone).

   

This video, by Maximized living chiropractor, Dr. Pompa, explains in greater detail what happens when we burst train.

 

 

 

HOW DO YOU BURST TRAIN?

 

You will find that there are several different ways to do it, but the principles are the same.  You do high intensity workouts with rest periods in between. The rest periods are important because this is where your body gets a chance to respond to the shock/burst you just gave it.  Below is how Nathan and I do Burst Training. Again, you can take the concept and tweak it to be your own.

 

Pick an exercise, say Squat Thrusts, and do a Burst at your maximum intensity for as long as you can go (this is typically 20 sec, give or take), with an equal rest time afterwards. Repeat 2 more times. One the thrid time rest for 2 whole minutes to fully recover. Repeat the 3 short bursts with equal rests again, followed by a 2 minutes recovery. Repeat again and you are done! Again, substitute any of your favorite exercises in the blanks below to make a personalized workout. 

 

1. Jumping Pull-Ups
2. Shadow Boxing
3. Monkey Jumps 

When I say 20 +/- sec, the most important thing is not the time you are working out. You really want to be focusing on pushing your body as hard and as fast as you can until you feel it dropping below 90-100%of your max output.  When you start to slow down as you do reps or if you are sprinting, just stop and then rest for the equal amount of time

ROUND 1

Jumping Pull-Ups - approx. 20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/-  

            Jumping Pull-Ups - approx. 20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/-      

            Jumping Pull-Ups - approx.20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/- 

       

REST FOR 2-3 MINUTES

 

            ROUND 2

Shadow Boxing - approx. 20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/-  

            Shadow Boxing - approx.  20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/-      

            Shadow Boxing - approx. 20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/- 

           

REST FOR 2-3 MINUTES

 

            ROUND 3

Monkey Jumps - approx. 20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/-  

            Monkey Jumps - approx.20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/-      

            Monkey Jumps - approx.20 sec +/-   then Rest 20 sec +/- 

               

REST FOR 2-3 MINUTES

**You’ve just done 3 minutes of actual work and you should be exhausted!

 

**You can do the same exercise all the way through, or you can do three different things.  You can Burst Train later in the day as well since it only takes 3 minutes. Throughout the year I have continues to see results by changing things up every now and then–increasing intensity, weight, or duration, picking different exercises, etc. 

 

The best time to burst train is in the morning before you eat. You can do jumping jacks, high knees, squats, jumps, push-ups, sprints, or anything else you can think of. Add in any size weights for the resistance. Be creative and be amazed!

 

 

 

(some people get really creative!)

 

In conclusion, Nathan and I decided to give it a try, to see if we could “reprogram” our bodies from being sugar burners to fat burners.  We’ve been doing burst training for a year now and have been extremely pleased with the results.  As a result, my aches and pains have also all but disappeared. However, it still amazes me that I can get so sore after only 3 minutes of exercise!  I’ve really had to change my overall mentality of working out!  Why don’t you give it a try for 30 days and see what happens?

 

And if you have kids, get them to burst train with you!

Remember, your body does not care about the quantity, but the quality. 

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