Exercise Swap Ins & Swap Outs

Avoid Prolonged Rest Between Exercise Sets

Many of us workout and stay active between hectic work schedules. Aren’t we entitled to benefit maximum from the fitness classes with the minimum time we invest? For every individual who desires to maximize fat loss, weight loss, strength and overall performance, swapping out a few exercises and bringing in few other exercises helps maximize output.
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Swap Out Crunching Exercises
Although every fitness-minded person advises doing abdominal crunches for belly fat reduction, these crunches do very little in terms of burning calories and fat. These exercises help improve strength and muscle tone of rectus abdominis but do very little to reduce fat. For fat reduction, one needs to perform few other cardiovascular exercises and follow a specific diet. Also, as the crunching position almost replicates the ‘hunched’ sitting position that is the root cause for lower back pain problems in many people, it is better to avoid it.

Bring in Planks & A Wholesome Diet
Before entering the gym, enter your kitchen to modify and correct your diet plan. Eat light, eat often, limit sugar and processed foods, eat more greens and lean protein and drink water. Such lifestyle changes store minimal fats and maximal abs.

Plank is a good way to strengthen abs and integrate core muscles. You can also rely on exercises such as chops and carries to strengthen the trunk muscles without causing harm to the lower back.

Swap Out Single-joint Exercises
Single-joint exercises apply pressure on a single joint and muscle through their postures and devices. Bicep curls, triceps extensions, crunches, shoulder raise and leg extensions are examples of this. It does not mean that you need to stop performing these exercises. It only means that performing such exercises is not full-fledged time utilization as only a small portion of the muscle is targeted while performing these exercises and fat loss is impossible in such cases.

Bring in Multiple-joint Compound Exercises
Exercises such as squats, push-ups, lunges, deadlifts and pull-ups integrate multiple muscle groups and joints that pave way for increased muscle growth and fat loss.

Cut Down Increased Resting Time Between Sets
For some programs, excessive rest between sets is mandatory while for some other programs where time is restricted, resting for more than 60 seconds between sets is not needed. If you feel that you are able to perform an exercise with less than 30 seconds of resting periods, increase the difficulty level of the exercise. Minimize time spent fidgeting with your phone, looking at yourself in the mirror or chatting with your workout groupies between exercise sets as these prevent you from reaping maximum advantage from your physical activity performance.
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Bring in Supersets
Supersets are exercise sets that focus on opposite muscle groups performed successively with little-to-no rest in between. A set of 10 push-ups and 10 pull-ups are called supersets. Such exercises help utilize your time to the maximum extent possible and bring about maximum fat burning and muscle building within the given time.

Swap Out Low-intensity Cardiovascular Exercises
Walking slowly on a treadmill for an hour at a low heart rate is not going to benefit you in any way. We exercise at 50-70% of our heart rate max when we perform low-to-medium intensity cardiovascular exercises which is good for amateur exercisers, endurance athletes and those with certain physiological conditions. It takes more than 30-60 minutes of training each day to see results in such exercise forms.

Bring in High-intensity Cardiovascular Exercises
Try running as fast as you can for 1 minute followed by walking for 1 minute repeating this cycle for the maximum time your body permits you to do it. High-intensity cardiovascular training follows this policy of exercising rapidly followed by mild exercise. These result in 80% and above heart rates and help to burn more fat in less time. High-intensity exercises change the cells, muscle and metabolism in limited time compared to low-intensity or moderate-intensity exercises.

Utilize your precious time involving yourself in exercises that give your rapid, safe and maximized results. Practice these exercise swaps to optimize your workout time benefits to the maximum extent possible. Along with your workout, it is essential to maintain a healthy well-balanced diet for ultimate fitness. Get in touch with acclaimed nutritionists and dietitians at www.firsteatright.com to get in shape and stay fit.