Structuring an Effective Workout

“Effective” is only an accurate term if it fulfills the intended purpose of a workout. If a person’s intention is to build muscle, then long distance running or steady state walking is not the most effective approach.

In turn, if a person’s goal is to have fun and enjoys dancing or a class environment, then a traditional bodybuilding plan with a strict “split” working specific muscle groups on machines probably isn’t effective either. So define your terms, and let’s go. This might take a minute, so pause and think about what you want to fulfill as a result of your time and effort:

Faster half marathon/ marathon times
Increased muscle tone/ body composition
Fat Loss/weight loss
Endurace
Improved energy, confidence
Flexibility
Athletic Performance/ Agility
Enjoyment/ social community
Strength/ Personal Records

Those are just a few that came to mind, but at the end of it all I hope that your exercise is enjoyable and is effective towards your intended result. I’ve spoken to a lot of women who are under the impression that they are putting in the effort (sometimes SO MUCH EFFORT) and seeing marginal improvements. So, being the competitive, determined women that we are-- do we change things? Maybe, but chances are we just do more, eat less, grasp a little tighter at those goals and impose a little more will-power.

But to what end? Are you happy? Do you look forward to your workouts? Do you sleep well at night? Do you stress about food and try to piece together a little here and there from every source you hear? And I don’t ask those questions to be dramatic, but because I get e-mails and DM’s daily with these kinds of stories. And it makes me want to sit each person down and try to debunk the myths and most of all let them know that fitness and nutrition is not an end in and of itself. Unfortunately, I can’t do that for each one, but at least consider this:

EXERCISE: WHY ARE YOU SO CRAZY ABOUT CIRCUITS?

I'm going to let them speak for themselves, they are fun--challenging--effective--and they'll give you the lean/toned physique you are probably looking for, but not finding on the treadmill or your 5th half marathon

Workouts in the MSS Guide are new every day and implement a variety of training techniques including: time under tension, low weight/high rep, pre-exhaust, burnouts, and AMRAP (as many rounds as possible). All are highly effective, but you don't have to come up with a single one--just follow the easy to read guide and get all the benefits.

Not everyone is looking for the same results from their training, but I’m here to advocate circuit training--strategic, muscle building, fat burning, heart-pumping, mind-engaging circuits:

When people ask about the MOVE SWEAT SHRED Workout Guide, I try to get the point across that these workouts are challenging in different ways for different people, but probably like nothing you have done before.

If you have done strictly body weight HIIT Plans like BBG, you’ll recognize a few similarities, but these workouts also requires to you to CREATE change by pushing some heavier weights. Building muscle is KEY to building metabolic rate, a tight and compact physique, and is a major component of each workout. However, if you’re like me, you want to feel that you are working and usually that means sweating. I want my heart to pump, I want to feel out of breath, but I DON’T want to spin my wheels in a cardio circle that forces me into a plateau because it lacks the STRATEGY to accompany my muscle-building goals.

Plyometric (explosive movements or fast-paced bursts of intensity) is cardio in disguise and is also a major component of the MSS Workout Guide. After you have challenged the quadricep muscle by isolating it in an “elevated heel single leg lunge” you are going to activate fast twitch muscle fibers, elevate your heart rate and burn calories by performing "alternating jump lunges" as part of the circuit. You are challenging that muscle in two ways and maximizing your time and results by compounding the intensity in an intentional way.

Runners who are “strong runners” finish a MSS workout and feel humbled because it causes them to work and fatigue in a whole new way. They come back again and again because it has the elements of cardio that they love, but also an element of strength that challenges them. Girls who have predominately followed a “body building” type workout plan are also humbled by the addition of athletic movements like burpees and box jumps, but come back because it’s an empowering feeling to finish.

This training technique marries two elements of training that are synergistic even though most people never bridge the gap. There is so much inner strength to be gained from the discipline of exercise, but there is also tremendous frustration when a person’s efforts seem futile in the results they are hoping to see outwardly as a result of the inner strength.

Try a circuit, create your own, mix and match and learn to love the sweat, the shaking muscles, the pounding heart. I promise you will be back for more.The beauty of them is that you make them completely your own. Take the MSS guide and push it in ways, pull back in others, modify based on your equipment, or follow it rep for rep. I promise you will push your boundaries as I push mine and together we will learn new things about those self-imposed limits that are just waiting to be proven wrong.