Ah ha!

I've got it! The secret to my success. And I've had it all along.

I remembered a book I bought eons ago by a man named Mike Geary. It's called "The Truth About 6 Pack Abs". I took it out yesterday to read from it again, not because I want a 6 pack. I'm lean enough to where I have visible abs (unless I eat too much pasta or something else that bloats me), but because I needed a fresh new look at my workouts.

I don't like having to sit down and meticulously plan every workout because it just takes up too much of my time. So I like to have an effective plan already laid out that I can follow. Boy had I forgotten about this gem!

The information in this book is so useful and everyone can benefit from it. I love his theory that you need shorter more intense workouts that work multiple muscle groups at a time versus the long slow going kind.

Now I may be a tad biased about this but I LOVE his philosophy on weight training versus long steady state cardio. I blatantly say on my blog side bar that I am anti long boring cardio and pro weights. And it's not because I can't handle it, but because I don't want to do it (been there, done that...yuk). I've educated myself enough to know it isn't the answer to fat loss and a lean sculpted body. Also, I have WAY too much to do every day, I don't have time to spin around in that hamster wheel. If you're cool with hopping on that elliptical or treadmill (or whatever your cardio machine of choice is) for an hour, then by all means, do it! It's still exercise! But if you aren't just in it for the exercise, or the mental therapy, or the me-time, or because you don't know what else to do with all that extra time you find you have, and you want to change your body, read on.

"Studies have shown that intense weight training workouts stressing large muscle groups result in increased RMR (resting metabolic rate) for up to 1-2 DAYS following the workout (potentially even greater than 48 hours), whereas a steady pace cardio workout only elevates your RMR for 1-2 HOURS following your workout."

Days vs. hours....hmmmm, that's a tough one, but I think I'll go with DAYS!

He goes on to say:

"To get the best results you should focus most of your time training with exercises that you can move greater amounts of weight for larger distances. This burns the most calories and works most of the muscle groups in your body all at once, creating a metabolic environment that stimulates change."

Who wants change? Ooooh, I do, I do!! Or are you satisfied with what you are doing now and how you look. You're hot enough, right? "uh huh, I workouuuuuut" - you're sexy and you know it.

"Weight training builds lean muscle mass and therefore increases your RMR. Excessive cardio training actually can cause a loss of lean muscle mass, therefore decreasing your RMR. And the lower your RMR, the harder it's going to be to lose any more body fat AND it's easier to store body fat if you  happen to overeat. The result is people who use primarily cardio-based workouts and also have a poor diet frequently acquire that "skinny-fat" appearance where they have very little muscle definition coupled with excess body fat."

Another misconception is that you need to workout for HOURS on end every day. It makes sense, right? The more I workout the more I lose. Wrong! Studies show that training sessions over an hour promote higher levels of cortisol which can lead to excessive muscle protein breakdown. It also increases free radical production in the body. EEK!

"Once again, many people falsely believe they must train for 2-3 hours each day in order to get lean. But there are very few people who can train this way without over-training and doing more harm than good. It's very hard for the body to fully recover once you've over-trained. Think of it as taking two steps back, but only one step forward."

Give your poor central nervous system a break, sheesh!

I workout. I workout long. I workout hard. Some days I workout twice. And coincidentally, I'm not as lean as I'd like to be. So do I think what he is saying makes sense? Absolutely! I'm living proof!

And of course there is a whole large section of the book that talks about your diet. Let's just put it this way: you're poor diet habits are most likely the sole reason you've never obtained you're goal body.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Who cares, right? I want to eat cake. And I'm gonna eat that cake, darn it! I don't care if I have to workout 3 hours a day and go nowhere with my body goals. I want cake!! People think I'm skinny enough. Oh wait, nevermind, I forgot I don't want to be skinny-fat.

Now that I have TONS of get-lean weapons from inside this awesome book, I'll be ready for summer. I started one of the workouts today. It was great. It was intense and short and I sweat and felt like I worked. And tomorrow, I plan on doing one of the "secret" workouts that will guarantee me a leaner body within weeks! That's the way, uh huh uh huh, I like it, uh huh uh huh!!

Are YOU ready to say good bye to skinny-fat or just fat? I know I am!

Click here if you want to change too.