Most of us know we have to exercise more. Yet finding the time to work out is usually easier said than done. For most, the one time we’ve to exercise is on the weekends.
The excellent news is that so-called “weekend warriors” (individuals who only work out two days per week) can still appreciate the health advantages that come from regular exercise, even when their workouts are only crammed in on the weekend. But it’s vital to be sure you’re doing the correct variety of exercises to get essentially the most advantages from these training sessions.
Cardio or resistance exercise?
There are two most important sorts of exercise everyone should aim to do.
The first is cardio, which after all refers to aerobic exercises – reminiscent of walking, jogging or cycling. Cardio is great for stopping and even treating various chronic health conditionsreminiscent of hypertension, type 2 diabetes and heart problems.
The second is resistance exercise, which involves any activity where the body or a selected muscle group is required to act against an external force – reminiscent of weightlifting or pilates. Resistance exercise is nice for bone healthand might improve muscle strength, size or endurance. It also slows the speed of bone and muscle loss during ageing. Resistance exercise will also be great for controlling body weight, blood pressure and kind 2 diabetes.
Since each of a majority of these exercise have different advantages, it’s vital to do a mixture of each for good health and fitness. But with only a lot time on the weekend, the concept of compacting each in can seem a bit daunting.
For cardio exercise, HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is especially well suited to weekend warrior exercisers. HIIT produces similar advantages to cardiovascular health as a 30-minute jog – but in a much shorter time. Studies have shown doing 4 to seven bouts of intense exercise for one minute, followed by 60-75 seconds of rest, can improve fitness and wellbeing. So in theory, as little as eight minutes of HIIT could possibly be useful to your cardiovascular health.
But to get essentially the most profit out of your session, it’s vital to perform your HIIT alongside resistance exercise.
There are a two most important sorts of resistance exercises. The first type are multi-joint exercises (reminiscent of squats or a bench press), that are effective for increasing strength. Single-joint exercises (reminiscent of a bicep curl) are simpler when attempting to increase the scale of a selected muscle group.
The exercises you do will largely rely on your goals. If fat loss is your aim, then multi-joint exercises could also be best as they burn more calories because they use more muscles.
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Similarly, exercise order is essential. If increasing muscle size is your goal, then performing single-joint exercises prior to multi-joint exercises which use similar muscle groups could hamper your progress. If you ought to construct strength, the order of your exercises doesn’t appear to matter.
For general health and fitness, combining upper and lower body exercises targeting the key muscle groups (chest, shoulders, back, hips, legs, arms and core) is best. For each muscle group, aim to do eight to 12 repetitions of an exercise for between one and three sets, resting for 2 to 3 minutes between sets and exercises. You should aim to be lifting a weight that’s difficult (but not too difficult) for the goal repetition range.
If you ought to save much more time within the gym, try “supersets”. Perform a selected exercise for eight to 12 repetitions, then go straight into your second exercise. Rest for one to 2 minutes after, before repeating to your remaining sets. This method works best when the 2 exercises goal different muscle groups.
Designing your workout
How you structure your weekend workouts will largely come all the way down to your preference, your goals and the way much time you have got. Regardless of what you do, be sure to incorporate a good dynamic warm-up to avoid injury.
If your focus is to enhance or maintain your general health and fitness, then mix it up. You might want to incorporate HIIT training for cardio followed by a mix of resistance exercises specializing in the upper body in your first day. The next day you could wish to start with some low-impact continuous cardio (reminiscent of a motorcycle ride) followed by some lower body resistance exercises. Each week attempt to introduce some recent exercises or swap the exercises each week – reminiscent of using different variations of a squat (reminiscent of barbell squats one week then sumo squats the following).
If you discover it hard to suit every thing into one session then spread it out over the day. Try going for a walk, jog or bike ride within the morning then give attention to resistance exercises later within the day. It’s vital to search out something that works for you and suits in along with your lifestyle with a view to make these workouts turn into a lifelong habit.
For losing fat, HIIT has been suggested because the magic bullet. But keep in mind that increasing your muscle mass results in a better resting metabolic rate, meaning you burn more calories at rest. So remember to include large multi-joint exercises which goal more muscle, reminiscent of the squat or bench press to boost fat loss.
Of course, the more exercise you may squeeze in throughout your week, the more health advantages you’re more likely to see. Just be sure that once you do your workouts, you simply do as much as your body can handle to avoid injuries – and be sure you warm up sufficiently.
