Dear Health Conscious Reader,
Here’s some great news… for me anyway. I’ve just been asked to be on the panel of judges for this year’s Ms. Fitness USA competition at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, NV. Unlike bodybuilder competitions, these are pretty, physically fit young women.
It turns out Ms. Fitness editor Greta Blackburn uses my PACE® program. In fact, she featured it on the cover of the current issue. This is especially rewarding because the editors recognize that PACE® is a perfect way for women to get in shape—for life.
The secret to PACE®’s ease and convenience lies in a basic principle: You transform your body when you gradually increase the intensityof the physical demand, not the duration.
In other words, spending more time doing the same thing won’t get you real results. Working a little harder each time gets you real results.
This is what I call “progressivity”—gradually ramping up the intensity of your chosen exercise every time you do it, while limiting the amount of time it takes.
That’s why you won’t ever have to waste hours a week getting in shape with PACE®. Even my most hardcore clients don’t exert themselves more than 20 minutes.
Another reason PACE® beats conventional exercise: Rest is just as important as exertion. With PACE®, you push yourself hard for a brief period, then stop.
These are the keys to getting the body you want and
the strength you need for everyday living.In fact, a recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology1 put a group of women on a fitness program using short bursts of powerful exercise followed by rest. After only two weeks, they’d revved up their natural fat-burning engines by a whopping 36 percent. Their hearts also got stronger, their muscles became more efficient… and they shed the pounds.
So if you want to start cutting inches from your waistline without the hours of wasted effort, PACE® is for you.
Here’s a simple routine I came up with for one of my readers out in Chicago. She uses the stairs in her apartment building, but you can do any exercise you like. “Exertion” is the amount of time she goes up the stairs:
|
Warm-Up |
Set 1 |
Set 2 |
Set 3 |
|||
|
Exertion |
Recovery |
Exertion |
Recovery |
Exertion |
Recovery |
|
|
2 min |
3 |
3 min |
4 |
4 min |
5 min |
4 min |
|
Set 4 |
Set 5 |
||
|
Exertion |
Recovery |
Exertion |
Recovery |
|
4 min |
3 min |
2 min |
Done |
As you can see, your total exertion time is less than 20 minutes.
Treat this as a simple framework. Tailor each set to your particular level of conditioning, or drop a set as you see fit.
The key is to listen to your body. You should be panting at the end of each exertion period. You should not be taxed and exhausted through the whole workout.
It’s that simple.
If you want to learn more, get the latest issue of Ms. Fitness at the newsstand. Or click HERE.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
- Talanian et al. “Two weeks of high-intensity aerobic interval training increases the capacity for fat oxidation during exercise in women.” 2007. Journal of Applied Physiology. 102:1439-1447.