The Fitness Experts

While exercise should be fun, jogging along on the treadmill, while you catch up on the weekend’s gossip with your mates, is not going to reap real results. So, whether you want to lose weight, get fitter or tone up, it’s time to get down to business

If you’re pottering along to the gym two or three times a week, but don’t feel you’re seeing real results, the answer may be simple. The workouts you’re doing may not be very effective, or you may not be working hard enough! But don’t worry, if you think you’re guilty of taking your foot off the gas, there is a better more effective way to exercise… Basingstoke Bootcamps….

Here are some of the reasons why Our Bootcamp sessions are so much more effective than your normal gym session, and also a couple of tips for you to bear in mind when you are in a bootcamp session to make them even more effective

Up the intensity
While a 30-minute steady-state run has long been the fall back of many a fitness fan, research is now stacking up to show that these sorts of workouts are considerably less effective than those of a higher intensity and shorter length.

Doing short high intensity intervals of exercise just like we do at Bootcamp with short rest periods inbetween, three times a week, is more effective than many hours of conventional long-term cardio according to research conducted by scientists at McMaster University in Canada. So ditching your slow and steady sessions on the treadmill, cross trainer or pavement for a few Bootcamp sessions a week should help you see results in no time.

Working with a personal trainer
We’re all guilty of giving ourselves an easy ride now and again, so getting a personal trainer could be your route to the body you’ve always wanted. The Personal Trainers at Basingstoke Bootcamps keep you motivated and push you harder than you would normally work on your own (knowing when it is safe to do so of course)

Sometimes we simply underestimate our own physical ability and it can take an outside with an objective viewpoint to make us see what we’re capable of. Our personal trainers will mix up your routine with a variety of exercises and challenge your body in new ways, which should kick-start your metabolism. Having someone else pushing you to achieve will also increase the intensity of your workout, helping you to overcome the plateau.

Lift heavier weights
There’s a common misconception that if women use heavy weights they will end up looking bulky, but doing fewer reps with a heavier weight could actually be the key to seeing real results from your workouts, particularly for weight loss.

Lifting heavy weights will not make you huge! You simply don’t have the testosterone levels in your body to build big muscles! this is one of things we have most difficulty getting female clients to understand.

Lifting light weights will not get you nearly as toned as lifting heavy weights and there is no such thing as toned or un-toned muscle, muscle is muscle. It can be big or small, but not “toned”. The best way to appear lean or “toned” is to have as much muscle as possible, while having the lowest body-fat percentage possible.

If you’re doing lots of reps with light weights, it’s time to change up your game plan. Are you guilty of going too light? If you are completing 15 reps or more you almost certainly are, as this won’t be heavy enough to split the muscle fibres! And you won’t see the same kind of fat loss you would if you increased your weight!

And having more muscle will burn more fat. A pound of muscle burns about 20 calories a day while a pound of fat burns less than five calories. Therefore the more muscle you build, the more fat you burn!

If that sounds appealing to you, put down the light dumbbells, swap them for a weight that will really challenge you and take the number of reps you’re doing right down. Take your rep range down to between six or 10 reps per set and increase your weight so the last two reps are almost impossible to get out (while keeping good form)!

So next time your in a Bootcamp session, try the slightly heavier dumbells or kettlebell and go for fewer reps to fasttrack your results.