You are going to the gym faithfully, day in, day out, and not seeing the results you want. It is frustrating, I know, but there are very simple changes you can make that will help you achieve the results you want. Luckily, none of them involve more time in the gym! Here goes… 5 Reasons your current workout isn’t working…

1) The time spent doing cardio training is always on the same machine, and for the same length of time.

Vary the cardio: If you run on a treadmill, try the cycle or swim; if you do step aerobics (does anyone do this anymore?), hop on the elliptical for a change.

Vary the time: If 30 mins is your standard workout time, shoot for 40 mins. If you are working out longer than 45 mins, try moving around the gym: 15 on the cycle, 15 on the treadmill, 15 on the elliptical.

Vary the intensity: Intervals burn calories like lighter fluid! Do them…period! 1:2 or 1:3 ratio is good for starters. For example, up the intensity for 2 mins (i.e, after two mins, you NEED to slow down), then ease up for 4-6 mins, then repeat. Work up to a 1:1 ratio (2 mins “on”, 2 mins “off” (not really, off, but easing up the intensity until you can hit it hard again 2 mins later).

2) You aren’t strength training. Strength training 2-3 times per week will change your body. Aim for 8-10 exercises that work multiple muscle groups (lunge with lateral rotation, bicep curl with a squat), 10 reps. Use a weight that challenges you also. Too often, we pick weights that are too light because they are easier. Make that 10th rep count!

3) You aren’t getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation wreaks havoc on workouts. To give it your all, every workout, you need sleep. 8-9 hours — make it a priority!

4) You aren’t eating the right foods. High-sugar foods, simple carbohydrates (bread, potatoes), condiments, and other empty calories send blood sugar sky high and leave you feeling depleted and tired. Fruit, veggies, grains, beans, lean meats, and the like, eaten in small portions all day long will keep blood glucose in check and fuel your workouts!

5) You aren’t building in a recovery day or two each week. Muscles need time to adapt to a workout. This is why you are sore when you change your routine, but, don’t become addicted to that sore feeling…let your muscles rest. If you’re in the habit of hitting the gym 6-7 days per week and you’ve hit a plateau, try a day of rest between your hardest workouts, or go for a simple walk or swim. The rest will do the body good.

The mysterious “fat burning zone” continues to confuse many gym-goers. The theory goes something like this: working out in a “zone” of intensity that is less intense for at least 20 minutes will burn more fat calories than calories from carbohydrate. Is this true? Yes and no, but mostly no. You actually burn more calories from fat right now, sitting still, reading this post, than you do on the treadmill. That is because in the resting state, the body burns a higher percentage of fat calories. As you crank up the exercise intensity, you burn a little less fat per calorie. However, it really comes down to the total number of calories you burn per exercise session — if you want to lose weight.

Here is an example:

Let’s pretend for a moment that you decide power walk for 40 mins on the treadmill. This would burn approx. 5 to 6 calories per minute. After 40 mins, you will have burned 200 to 240 calories. Not bad. Percentage-wise, about 50% of these calories will come from fat, so about 100 to 120 calories.

Now, let’s say you decide to add running intervals to your power walk at a 1:1 ratio, meaning that for every bout of less intense cardio, you do an equal-length interval that is more intense. After 40 mins of this type of intense activity, you will likely have burned between 400 to 450 calories. A bit less fat is burned during intense activity, BUT, you burned more total calories. So, if 40% of those calories come from fat, you will have burned 160 to 180 fat calories!

This was a simple example of how interval training can turn up the calorie-burn. Try adding intervals to your current cardio routine if you want to 1) burn more total calories and 2) burn more fat!

I’m going off-topic today and will get back to the “Back” theme tomorrow. I have received so many questions about converting calories to fat  loss, converting Mets to relative VO2 (you guys are serious about your fitness, aren’t you?!), and how to figure out accurate calories burned per workout session, that I thought it would be a good time to finally address this for the masses.

I know many of you are addicted to your heart rate monitors, and if you have your height, weight, and age  plugged in to your watch, you will get a fairly accurate calorie count for your workouts. If you’d rather do this old school and learn a little exercise physiology along the way, go grab a sheet of paper and a pencil and let’s get busy with some math!

METABOLIC CALCULATIONS

Alrighty, let’s pretend you are working out on a stationary cycle that is older and therefore isn’t set up for heart rate tracking and calorie counting, and you don’t have a heart rate monitor, AND you desperately want to know how many calories you will burn during your 30-minute sweat fest…where do you begin?

• Begin with Mets (this is a setting on the machine)
• Multiply Mets by 3.5 to get your Relative VO2 max
• Mulitply Relative VO2 by your body weight in kg to get your Absolute VO2 (ml/min)
• Divide this number by 1000 to convert VO2 to L/min
• Multiply this number by 5 to get Kcal/minute
• Multiply this number by the total number of minutes you exercised to get the Total Kcal burned
• Divide this number by 3500 to get the amount of fat burned (remember, 3500 Kcal = 1 lb of fat)

Fortunately, most machines will do this math for you and also take into account your age. Some even account for sex (the kind you are, not the kind you do). A good heart rate monitor, as you can see, is handy, in that you never have to worry about whether the machine you are on is doing the right math, or even calibrated correctly. A HR monitor also calculates your calories all day long (as long as you wear it all day), so you can figure out how many calories you burn doing strength training, chasing your kids around, or sitting on the couch eating bon bons You will find you don’t burn many calories while sitting , but you already know that: 60 minutes of sitting x 2!  My 6 yr olds could do that math in their heads.

The interesting thing about calculating calories burned using Mets and VO2 is that you sort of get an idea how VO2 affects the body’s ability to burn fat. Read up on the important role VO2 plays in calorie burning: Target Heart Rate Training: A Formula For Success and why I scream and holler about maintaining your cardiovascular fitness: (Don’t stop now! 5 Reasons to stick with your exercise program