Staggering

Yesterday during my errands and waiting for Lola(my dog) to get finished grooming, I made a stop into GNC. I was initially just browsing, but then I got curious and asked about pre-workout supplements, namely nitric oxide boosters. I have been eating a few pickled beets before some workouts, and I'm not sure if this really helped, but the nitrates in beets can help boost your nitric oxide levels and deliver more oxygen to your muscles and get the blood pumping through your veins. I mentioned this, and actually, this guy told me that it does help to drink a glass of beet juice per day, but for pre-workouts, he recommended some products. I decided to go with his recommendation of "Muscleprime", a supplement designed to increase your energy, boost your nitric oxide levels, and help you get more work done in your workouts. In addition to my purchase, he gave me a copy of "Musle & Body" magazine, a GNC in-house publication loaded with ads but definitely featuring some good articles.

I read some of this magazine last night, and an article about staggered cardio caught my eye. Currently, I have been experimenting with pre and post workout exhaustion techniques, and I do this by combining P90X workouts with Insanity workouts, so I benefit from extreme strength and muscle endurance routines combined with MAX Interval cardio training. The article advised that instead of running for a half hour to an hour at a slow and steady pace, you should run (or do other cardio)for 10 minutes at 80-90% of your max hr, then do 20 minutes of strength training, then 10 more minutes of intense cardio, another 20 minutes of strength training, and finish up with 10 minutes of intense cardio. This was intriguing because I hadn't tried this, so I decided to customize my routine by flip-flopping back and forth with the Insanity 10-minute warmup which got my hr up, stretched out, did half of the P90X Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps workout, a 10-minute interval circuit, the last half of the P90X workout, and I finished up with the final 10-minute interval of the Insanity Strentgth and Resistance workout, stretched it out, and I was done. Wow, it was awesome! Apparently, working out this way will help you burn more calories from fat than a single, long cardio workout will. I definitely suggest this if you are ready to take your fitness to the next level, and please click on the title of this blog to go to my coach page and contact me if you want to hear more about this technique and/or home fitness programs that I work with. Thanks for reading everyone, and have a great day!