Fat Burning Methods That Doesn't Always Include Sprinting

Although Sprint Training (Especially Hill Sprints) is the fastest method possible to burn off fat and build lean muscle mass, sprints may not always be an option and when you need ideas you can use what could you do? For the most part, it's really how fast you move during certain exercises or using greater explosiveness to really hit that heart rate up quick that feels like you're huffing and puffing in a matter of seconds to a minute. You can do swim sprints, you can do explosive kettlebell work, bodyweight exercises or weights. It's a matter of how fast can you get out of breath.

If you're not ready to do Sprints yet but want to add something to your walking; do a brisk pace and than for 10-30 seconds, powerwalk as fast as you can and than slow down and repeat. This can be done around a neighborhood or at a park/field. On those days where the weather is crappy or it's so windy it feels like a hurricane is roaming, you can do some indoor training like the workouts Darebee provides. These are really more of a 1-2x a week type of workout and they can be extremely tough so work with what you can. Some are pretty easy but others could take down very conditioned people so recovery is a big thing to utilize when it comes to these workouts. Just pick one for the day and do the best levels you can. They can range from 3 minutes to 35 minutes and if you need a longer rest between circuits, take it.

Burpees are a hell of a workout you can do just about anywhere and they can turn you into a fitness machine. I would say they're the closest to a method of a fat burning method next to Sprint Training. They're quick, explosive, get your out of breath fast and generate a killer level of natural HGH. A great routine that can be done in a total of 16 minutes is doing Burpees for 30 seconds as many as you can (without flopping around and using good form as much as possible) and resting for 90 seconds. 8 Rounds of this 30/90 protocol is all you'll do. You can do this with other exercises like Push-ups or Squats but Burpees will do the best job. 

If you can't sprint up hills yet, just walk them up and down, they're a hell of a start for a beginner. Just do a few up and downs and you'll be huffing and puffing in no time. When I would go for a hike, I would wear my weight vest and just go for about an hour or so. Lost a good few pounds doing that. Doing this 3x a week is more than enough. Weighted walking has a lot of benefits and has similar calorie burning effects as a run. You can also rope skip for ten minutes a day (they've been studied to be the equivalent to a 30 min run) 

Work with what you can do but nothing will kick your ass more than a solid set of Hill Sprints for 10-15 seconds a shot. These are ideas if you're not into Sprinting yet and just want to try something that doesn't require running. When you do get the opportunity to do Hill Sprints, make the most of them and imagine becoming a fat burning mega star like NFL Legends Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Mike Singletary, Ladanian Tomlinson & Marcus Allen. Feel as if you can eat like the Flash and burn it off fast like nobody's business. You'd be able to burn calories hours after a workout (studies call this the Afterburn Effect) and change your body composition within a few workouts. 

Training During Commercials & Video Games

Many of us have a favorite show, movie or video game we like to play. Kick back and enjoy some of the cool scenes, graphics, storylines and get immersed into the drama, action or comedic antics of characters but there's always a time to take a pause or do something in the middle of those pests we call commercials. Let's face it, the only commercials worth watching is either a movie trailer or the crazy stuff that happens during the Super Bowl; other than that, 99% of the commercials are trash and have no value to watch. 

What can you do in the meantime? You can do some Push-Ups, Squats, Burpees, Sit-Ups or whatever you can think of. Most commercials last from 15-35 seconds and two minutes before the next set of scenes of a show come on so there's plenty of time to get a little exercise in. You still rest longer as you watch the show so what's the harm? Many big time athletes have used this method to get some kick ass training in over the period of a half hour to an hour of a show. Guys like Ray Lewis & Rickey Henderson took full of advantage of this. At times I would watch a Giants game and between innings would knock out some Burpees or do random exercises using an app from Darebee called FitTap. 

What about Video Games or Movies? Well, I have written ideas about exercising while playing video games especially if you play Sports Games such as Baseball or Football. Do exercises after getting struck out or if someone scores on you, make a game out of a game so to speak. For movies, it can be doing something when you pause the movie for a minute or two every 20 minutes, it can also be a fun challenge to do exercises that a character does consistently like a line, a gesture, a bold move or antic for example: For Indiana Jones; do a set of push-ups every time he uses the whip. For a TV show like Supernatural; do 5 Push-ups every time Dean makes a smart ass comment or do a set of Squats every time Sam uses "his powers." Some people play drinking games when it comes to movies but for the sake of health and saving a liver, let's try something a little different. 

Movement is life and life is movement. It's good to take a breather and enjoy kicking back but we also don't want to be doing that too much so this is a way to use our brains and our bodies to get the most out of our time. Get the blood pumping, don't just sit and twiddle your thumbs or just kick back on the couch or recliner the whole time. Use your time wisely and have fun with it. Training is an adventure and building discipline. 

"You Too, Can Have A Body Like Mine."

Slogans and certain phrases are some of the basic principles in how you get people to buy a product period. A product in and of itself is just a tool, no more, no less but it's the idea to make it look like a million bucks that gives it life or death. We've all seen ads about building the perfect physique since the days of the early muscle magazines and pamphlets from mail-order giants like Bernarr MacFadden, Charles Atlas, Maxick & George Jowett.

When it comes to how even a product works vs. the reality of the end results aren't always congruent together. Sure there are products and programs that do work for many but there's no such thing as the "one size fits all" ideal construct. Back in the early days, like say 100 years ago; there were no scientific principles on macros, steroids were non-existent and supplements were not a major thing or if at all from today's standards. The products back then did work to an extent especially from MacFadden who was an advocate of healthy living, bodyweight/Self Resistance oriented style training and other things. 

Building a powerful physique takes time, patience and dedication. However; you have to remember, some of the greatest physiques back in the day were more than just show, they were a marvel of pure, unadulterated strength and vitality. Even more so, many of those who had an awesome body weren't that big either. The average weight of a man with a great physique back then was about 145-185 lbs. Only a fraction compared to today were bigger guys like Saxon, Hackenshmidt, Groener and a few others. Today, small guys with a physique that look like they were carved out of granite are considered weaker than those who on average range from 215-275 or in the 300+ lb range that look like Comic Book characters are believed to be considered strong. It can be confusing but it's what social media, news, ads and magazines are telling us what is considered strong "looking" and what is considered weak "looking."

In reality, when you develop your own physique, you're not going to have the exact physique of an Arnold or Ferrigno, hell even a Coleman or Cutler. Why would you want to? What purpose is it really to have a body that looks like a billion bucks but end up with $2 strength? I'm not saying you shouldn't build a body that looks awesome, what I 'am saying is, when you put yourself on a program and follow it to a "T", your results are going to be what you put into it and sometimes your genetic make-up will factor in and what happens when you're not doing it. The sad thing is, you're also being duped into believing that a lot of influencers these days that they build their physiques just by what they preach in their ads when in reality, there are things going on you're not aware of and outside the commercial spectrum, chances are very likely, they're on other things or have photoshopped themselves to make you be even more gullible to believe in their product. Where do you go from there and how can you trust what they're trying to present to you?

 A body will only last so long for so many years no matter how dedicated you are but what you consistently do to make your life as best as possible and being as strong physically and mentally, will have you go further into your years than just a cool looking body. It's important to develop and maintain the vitality and quality of our training and not always rely on how we look. Looks have their place and merit but it is the progressive and wisdom of developing realistic strength and condition that factors in our lives. We all have different strengths & weaknesses, some people have greater realistic strength and live longer than those who go to great lengths to build a body that will win them some mini statue of a dead physical culturist. Just because you have the body of a comic book character, doesn't mean you'll live a long and healthy life. 

Get strong and develop a body that is resilient and powerful regardless if you're big or small, whether you want to lose weight or gain weight, natural and realistic strength comes first, the body will come and the results again are what you put into it.  

Recovery While Sprint Training

 There are things we are taught especially in sports where we have to go hard every single day in order to become successful in what we want to do. The truth is, only a fraction of athletes ever truly become successful if you looked at things from a perspective. We were taught to give 110% and to not show weakness, be a robot that doesn't show emotions; in a nutshell you're not meant to act human. I'm all for giving it the best you can, but doing too much that your body can't handle it could kill you. 

What about the average person just trying to better themselves and develop things little by little? Most of us are not some world-class athlete who have trainers at our beckon call and we certainly don't have the luxury of having a nutritionist telling us what we can or can't eat to make our performance better. For the most part, we must learn to rely on ourselves to make the most of what we can. We have to be our own nutritionist, coach, trainer or what have you. There are people in our lives that can guide us but it's up to us as individuals to put in the work.

Ever since I got into Physical Culture and studying different methods, being taught by various people and reading up on some of the best conditioning and strength programs on the planet, I end up really being my own guide. I have been given advice which I still use to this day from people I admire and have learned from but at the same time, when you're on your own, you learn things about yourself.

That's when I get into things like Sprint Training or better yet; Hill Sprints, I rely on my own instincts and take in things from various sources. For instance: The act of recovery as you perform Sprints 3x a week at max. In the past, I would do my sprint days near my home and do the typical lollygagging down the hill after a hard sprint and give myself an opportunity to catch my breath and than repeat for however many sprints. On my off days, there were times where I felt I had to be just as hardcore or slightly less than my sprint training and would do hammer workouts, circuit training, animal movements, deck of cards workouts or whatever and within a few weeks to a month or more I quit cold turkey and don't do it again until almost a year. I became my own worst enemy when it came to recovery.

Recovery is not an enemy, it's an ally and the older we get, the more recovery becomes our biggest asset. When you're in your teens and 20's, there are things you can get away with and believe me, I got away with stuff in my own training in my 20's but now since I'll be a couple years shy of 40, training will be different and although I love doing crazy stuff, still need to be wise enough to find the right tools to perform at my best. When I need a recovery day or just something to get my energy levels going, doing little things seem to be easier than just going balls out in one shot. Isometric Exercises here and there, some reps of bodyweight or cable work and maybe some weight vest walking or hiking. The most important thing to take care of on recovery days is definitely your joints, next to that is rest. Anything else will fall into place with the right mindset.

Most people can drive to a hill (if there's one in their area) but mine is a 20 min walk, that's my warm up. I get to the hill, do some Joint Loosening and than go for it doing as many bursts that I want to do that day and than walk 20 minutes back home. Overall takes about an hour door to door and it knocks my ass out cold at times. Maybe that's a good thing because I listen to my body and recover as much as I need to and than go about my day. Your body is the only one you have, get the most out of it but also have the wisdom and knowledge to keep it maintained and keeping things in gear.

There are people who don't always have the luxury of sleeping it off after a hard sprint day and it is understandable. The point is, is if you're doing any sort of hard training whether it be Sprints, Weight Training, Sports Conditioning or whatever and it doesn't matter if you're average joe or freaking Lebron James, if you can find some sort of time to recover, take it for as long as you can and it may be 5 minutes or when the kids are taking a nap or out playing, make the time for you when you can. 

Recovery is letting the body take care of itself and it varies from different people how well they can recover. Too much of it however, can hinder your progress but too little can get you hurt and you'd be useless to people who may need you. Just like the Three Bears, there is something there that is just right; you just need to discover it and take advantage of it. 

Train hard, recover as best as you can and be your own success. You got this and you are amazingly awesome. 

Cheetah....What...Cheetah...What...It's Yo Ass

Most people in this generation would not even remotely get the title mentioned above and I think very few today can even reference it. So let's have a little fun with this one shall we? I grew up on Stand Up Comedy from George Carlin to Robin Williams, Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay & Eddie Murphy but the one that took them all was the legendary Richard Pryor. The title above is actually a line from what I call Pryor's Magnum Opus when he performed in Long Beach, California way back in 1979. If you ever need a laugh, this is about as epically awesome as it gets. This line is part of a bit he does about a trip to Africa or something of that sorts. 

Now why in the blue hell would I be referencing Stand Up Comedy when it's supposed to be about fitness? Well, for one, that comedy show is one of the funniest you'll ever hear and it's the one show that made Richard not just a legend, but a mega star in the comedy world. Now onto number two...It's pretty damn funny the way he expresses the idea of being chased by the fastest cat in all the land. Ok, I've had my fun and I hope you did too.

The cheetah is the ultimate symbol for Sprint Training. Think about how lean yet explosive this wildcat is and what it has to do to catch its prey. If you ever watched one in slow motion, it almost looks like it's flying because if you slow it down enough, you may find when it gets to top speed at 70 miles an hour, it spends actually more time in the air than on its feet. That's really freaking incredible to watch. Plus, unless you know how to outsmart it, if you're chased down by a cheetah, it really is your ass that's going down. 

Now how long does a cheetah run to catch food? Even at the highest speeds it can go, it's no more than a few seconds and most likely it'll be the only time of the day it'll go that hard because even in the Serengeti, it can get pretty damn hot and an overheating wildcat can be fatal, even deadly. So it ends up either eating or going hungry and sleeping about 80-90% of the day, maybe even more.

Sprint Training is hard whether you wish to believe it or not. You're literally taking off at the fastest your body can manage and you have to have incredible balance and coordination not to mention some crazy strong tendons and ligaments because without those things, you would be falling on your face and getting some nasty bruises, scrapes and scars. When it comes to Hill Sprints, you're not going to get as fast as you would on flat land but it also becomes something just like resistance training. You're not just being explosive, you're targeting every muscle in your body and when you're huffing and puffing, you're also generating greater levels of natural HGH than you would in a typical training session.

Whether on land or on a hill, when you run hard, run as if you're going after a gazelle or if you need to run for your life to live and fight another day. When you rest, you can lollygag for a bit just walking back or going down the hill but once you reach that starting point again, take off like the Flash man. Be like the cheetah and visualize taking something down with a vengeance. There's no mercy in this Dojo. 

How many do you do and how long? For the most part, you don't need to do more than 10 for 10-15 seconds for a full on sprint. If you're reaching 20 seconds to a minute, you're going to start slowing down to the point where it'll feel like a jog more than a sprint. Your top speed whether you're a Usain Bolt or just the average guy, 10-15 seconds will most likely be the peak. When you start out, depending on your fitness level, 4-5 should be more than enough for a few weeks and than you can add one for another few weeks and so on and so forth. Sometimes just climbing the hill is something you can start with if you can't sprint yet, build up to it. Remember, a cheetah cub isn't born racing out of its mother like Michael Johnson at the '96 Olympics. It learns and mimics and even play in order to understand what it takes to survive.