My Favorite Way to Work Out: MRT Made Simple

I will admit, I have been slacking lately when it comes to really doing some comprehensive fitness work outs. That is because I only have 22 days left until I am running a marathon in DC, and have been focusing on keeping my legs healthy and doing a LOT of running. I do like to remind myself that it is not all running and that my favorite way to do cardio is actually with weights. Ever heard of metabolic resistance training? I had not until last year, and now I love it, and unless science drops a bomb on us, I think we have found the perfect way to work out.

MRT involves a few components that currently make it the best overall and targeted fitness routine available.period. The components are complex muscle exercises, circuits, and moderate cardio pace. You can really do it with or without weights, but resistance is good and should be used occasionally.

Muscle complexes, mentioned above as one of the components, are compound exercises that involve a couple of different muscle groups. You can divide muscle groups into upper and lower body, push or pull, fine control or course control, or any way you like. There is a lot of science behind how you should group your muscles for complexes but that is not the point of this post. Group a couple of muscles together, come up with an exercise, and add it to your routine.

Circuits are another component used in MRT. Once you have 2-3 muscle complexes and exercises you are well on your way to creating a circuit. Put 3-4 of your exercises together, doing 2-4 sets of each exercise, 8-15 reps per set and you have it. So one circuit = exercise 1--> exercise 2 --> exercise 3 --> rest --> exercise 1 --> exercise 2... you get the idea. The next step is to put together a couple more circuits and then do 2 or 3 circuits in a workout. The whole workout should take between 30-45 minutes. Yes, that is right, you are going to be totally smoked in just 30-45 minutes. No more spending 2 + hours at the gym, and you will get better results.

All of the exercises should be done at a moderate cardio pace, fast enough to challenge yourself and get your heart rate up, but slow enough so that you keep good form and are not reckless with weights.

MRT is so variable, customizable, that you will never get bored with it, and you will always have a challenge. I would encourage anyone who works out (or doesn't) to learn more about MRT. There are a lot of things I did not cover, however, like: how long should you rest in between sets? How much weight resistance should you use? How should I warm up? How should I cool down? Can I use the exercises I currently do in this? What are some good complexes? And many more. I will definitely be exploring this more, and admittedly have so much to learn about it, but will continue to post more pertinent information...later.

Don't forget to do some meditation when you are done with your workout to decrease stress hormones and free radical production (they cause FAT and AGING, yuck). WWW.ZENPHITNESS.COM