The Right Intensity

Hey folk’s today we talk about intensity. So, if you think you’re not getting that much out of your workout, then increase your intensity, or if your feeling muscle soreness then decrease the intensity.

Depending how you feel the day after your workout, you can make adjustments to intensity. Keep in mind to use proper form to prevent injury. If you missed the discussion on quantity vs. quality then jump back to part 5.

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Scott: This person kind of had a question about cravings. They’re trying to limit their grains in order to lose weight.

I find that occasionally I get ravenously hungry for grains, like chips, popcorn, etcetera, then I pig out on them, especially late in the day. Or if I try to avoid sugar, particularly ice cream, that makes me  want it more and eventually pig out on it, often at night. How can I deal with these cravings?

Craig: Well, that’s honestly a tough question. You’re going to have to take a look at the triggers, what triggers you to eat these foods. Is there stuff that you can do in place of, whether it’s going for a walk, whether it’s calling someone on the phone and talking to someone instead of eating? Do you do this only when you watch TV? Maybe there’s something you can do instead of watching TV.

Going back to the grain’s stuff, if you’re stopping yourself from eating things like high fiber bread, and you end up binging on chips, the best thing to do is just allow yourself the high fiber bread. It makes more sense to do that than not to eat the high fiber bread during the day and then eat the chips at night.

You can also take a look at trying to get alternatives to the ice cream stuff. You can get protein powder, chocolate protein powder like Prograde and then mix it with vanilla yogurt and hopefully that will help satisfy somebody’s sweet tooth. Obviously, you’ll be looking at half the calories if you do that. It’s clearly not ice cream, but it’s a whole lot better than if you eat ice cream.

There’s stuff like that you can do that should be able to replace the problem foods, but you really have to go back and see if there’s something that you can replace the problem foods with something that is a calorie free, like the walking or talking to someone on the phone, chewing gum, anything that will help you get through that.

Scott: Craig, let’s finish with this question. It’s somebody who hit a plateau.

I’m an active 33 year old mom of five very energetic children. I don’t have the means or time to go to a gym, but we are always doing something, three mile bike rides every other day. Three miles walk on the other days, etcetera. I’m trying to do 100 jumping jacks daily and some planks, but I can’t really get rid of my belly fat.

I eat very sensibly, salads, vegetables, lean meats, if at all, beans, fruits, low fat milk, tons of water. I will do extreme yoga once a month as well.

My question is. Why is the fat no going away? I’m to the point that I feel like starving myself just to lose the weight.

Craig: Well, I think that there’s just a lack of proper training intensity. It’s great that they’re active, but if you’re not training with the intensity that you find in my programs. What probably is even better than my program for her is Holly Rigsby’s program and the DVDs that she can get that she can do at home just by following along with Holly at her own intensity.

I understand that she’s doing jumping jacks and planks, but those are obvious not working because she needs to jack up the intensity. Again, going back to what somebody else asked me before, if you’re looking for advanced results you must take advanced measures. I don’t want her to take the advanced measure of starving herself, but if she can go back and do what we talked about before with the nutrition stuff, find out how much she’s eating, see if she can improve the quality of it, and if it’s above 1,500 calories she can probably cut back on her calories a bit.

Then from there she needs to add in Holly’s workouts, higher intensity workouts she can do at home in 10 to 15 or 20 minutes a couple of times per week, and she’s going to get the results there. So, she really does need to increase the intensity, because a three mile walk and a three mile bike ride are not going to do it.

Scott: Yes, I agree. It sounds like she’s not putting enough strength training in her workouts, and that’s so important. That should be kind of the staple of your workouts is to get that strength training in order to help you with muscle growth and to lose more fat calories even when you’re not working out.

It’s great that with both your programs and Holly’s she won’t have to go to a gym, because you can do those types of workouts at home. So, I would recommend to her, like you were saying, get that intensity and make sure you get the strength training in.

A lot of people say they eat sensibly. They eat pretty healthy. That is kind of some terms that they use, maybe like you suggested with somebody at the beginning of a program to keep that food log for three, five, or seven days. Sometimes it’s an enlightening experience, because you don’t really realize what you’re putting in your body.

Sometimes what you think is sensible eating, like with cereals and frozen dinners, aren’t really sensible. So, maybe examine that, keep a food log and really examine the diet as well. I think that would help.

Craig: Great point, Scott.

Scott: Very cool. Craig, I just want to thank you once more for being here and being a guest on this fundraiser teleseminar series. Again, it means a lot to me to have you as a guest. I know you’re really busy, but to share your knowledge freely. I really appreciate it.

If you go to www.TurbulenceTraining.com or TTMembers.com you can find out more information about Craig’s work out programs.

Craig: Great stuff, Scott, thank you.

Scott: You’re welcome. Thanks everybody. Have a good one.