Killing Your Legs One Exercise At a Time

Tonight I killed my legs in 20 minutes flat.  A lot of people believe a workout has to be 40 minutes or an hour to be a difference-maker...this is not the case.  I only had 30 minutes to go through a workout (warm up for 5, workout for 20, stretch and cool down for 5).

To kill my legs in the small amount of time I had, I opted to alternate between quad and hamstring exercises, mix in some calfs, and not rest for a second.  Here is what a personal trainer killer leg workout looks like tonight!

Killer Leg Workout Exercise Group #1

Weighted wall squats with swiss ball-holding 12K kettlebells in each hand, I lowered into a wall squat, with a swiss ball supporting my back...knees at a 90 degree angle.  I held this position for 30 seconds (holds are great for any muscle group because they stimulate every type of muscle fiber we have!), rested in a standing position for 10 seconds, then back down for another 30 second squat.  After three 30-second squats, I went onto...

One-legged lying leg curls with swiss ball-lying on my back with my right foot on top of the swiss ball and my butt off the ground, I curld the ball toward my body by using my hamstrings.  15 per leg. Ouch, these hurt.  After 15 per leg, I went to...

Killer Leg Workout Exercise Group #2

Weighted Bosu Ball Squats-standing on the black side of a BOSU ball, my feet shoulder-width apart, I squated while holding 12K kettlebells.  After 15 slow and steady reps, I did...

Leaning Leg Curls-Kneeling on my knees with my arms crossed and hands on my shoulders (with partner holding down my heels), I leaned forward while keeping my back straight, and used my hamstrings to curl back into an upright kneeling position.  5 reps of these was enough before I went onto..

Killer Leg Workout Exercise Group #3

Running Stairs in Place-I climb the lowest stair fast for 15 seconds, rest for 5 seconds, and climb the second-lowest stair for 15 seconds, rest for 5 seconds, and repeat one more time before I do...

Quick Jumps Over Resistance Band-With a band laying in a straight line on the floor, I jumped with both feet from left-to-right and back for 15 seconds (as fast as I could), rested for 5 seconds, jumped forward to back with both feet for 15 seconds, rested for 5 seconds, jumped left-to-right on my right foot for 15 seconds, rest for 5, then left-to-right with my right foot.

And then I repeated this circuit two more times through!!!  Talk about a tired, sweaty, legs-killed mess.

If you are looking for workouts like this, contact me about "The Little E-Book on Fat Loss and Weight Loss", which you can pre-order today for 40% off!!!  Send an email to adam@keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about "The Little Ebook on Fat Loss and Weight Loss!"

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer (with a nutrition background) who travels the world working with people who want to experience fat loss and weight loss in record-time. He currently resides in Minneapolis, MN and loves to train with people whose health does not match their lifestyle. Adam works closely in the Eden Prairie, Wayzata, Excelsior, Minnetonka, and Edina communities.  Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work.

Fat Loss Must Be Fed

One of the greatest sources of confusion for my weight loss and fat loss clients is how to conceptualize fat loss. Many of my clients say, "I don't want to gain muscle, I just want to burn fat." That's like saying, "I don't want to make money, I just want to pay off debt." Good luck with that.

The reality is that gaining muscle and losing fat are two sides of the same coin. Most of the time our body is either burning fat to supply energy or burning muscle to supply energy. And breaking down muscle (also called being in the "catabolic state") is the energy source of choice for our body.

Here is the cool thing about our body: we cannot grow muscle and burn muscle at the same time. Another way to say this is, "If we are growing muscle we are forcing our body to burn fat." Ah ha! As long as we concentrate on muscle growth, our body will be forced to respond with fat loss (except in extreme cases of low body fat %, rare diabetes cases, etc.).

Here are three sure-fire ways to grow more muscle....I mean burn more fat...by concentrating on gaining muscle.

Burning Fat and Gaining Muscle Tip #1: Sprinkle Protein Throughout Your Day

Protein intake and digestion triggers a muscle tissue repair process in our body. The quicker the absortion of protein (whey protein is fastest, for example), the quicker muscles are fed and repaired. By consuming protein throughout the day (a whey protein shake here, a serving of cottage cheese there, a few handfuls of almonds now, a casein protein shake later), we constantly feed our muscles, which keeps them from being broken down for energy, which increases the body's fat burning mechanism to supply energy.

Burning Fat and Gaining Muscle Tip #2: Focus Workouts to Optimize Muscle Gain

Most "fat loss" workouts are long (40 minutes on treadmill, yikes!) with a weight-training focus on high repititions (you're killing me, Smalls!). There are several factors to implement for optimizing muscle gain (and hence fat loss). First, read my previous blog titled How to Burn Fat: 3 Key Ideas to Fat-Based Weight Loss and apply fat loss tip#1 regarding the 10 sec/15 sec cardio interval (and hard-core interval cardio, as it turns out, majorly helps on the hormone side of fat loss/muscle gain...stick with me ladies and gentlemen...I'll get you where you want to go!). Second, stick mostly to 10 rep / 3 sets when weight training...and have the 10 be heavy. Third, fit your workouts into 40 minutes to optimize growth hormone (natural GH made by your body, that is). If you apply these three ideas to your workouts, you wil set yourself up for more muscle gain and a lot more fat loss!

Burning Fat and Gaining Muscle Tip #3: Do Anything and Everything to Fight Off Stress

When our minds are stressed our bodies are stressed. The more effectively you can handle stress, the more effectivley you will handle the fat-causing, stress-induced hormone called cortisol. I can't dive deeply into all of these stress fighting strategies right now, but here are some important ones: deep breathing at a 1:3:2 ratio (inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 15, exhale for 10...any 1:3:2 ratio), laughing as much as possible, getting a workout in during a stressful day, consuming a B-vitamin complex (time-released, preferably), get 8 quality hours of sleep, eat slowly, and be in control of your time (don't run late!).

If losing fat is your goal, make sure to focus on ways to gain muscle. If you focus on gaining muscle, I can guarantee your body will respond by burning fat.

Adam Erwin is a personal trainer who travels the world working with people who want to change their body now! Adam follows good weather, which means he is currently training clients in Minnesota…anywhere within a 10 mile radius of Wayzata, MN. When fall and winter arrive, Adam will be headed toward Florida, Arizona, Australia, Malaysia, and other warm climates. Visit www.keepyourbetterhalf.com to learn more about his work and how he can help you lose fat, keep muscle, and keep your better half.