When it comes to fitness and your overall wellbeing, you really get out what you put in. However, if you think that means hours on the treadmill or double spin classes, think again. According to wellness expert Nicole Catanese, and celebrity trainer David Kirsch, quality over quantity is the missing link to reaching your get-fit goals. So long as you follow their pointers, you can shorten your workouts and still get in amazing shape.
1. Setting Your Goals: Kirsch, who is the founder of David Kirsch Wellness and the Madison Square Club in New York City, argues, ‘First and foremost you need to identify a reasonable realistic goal. Are you a newbie, someone who was fit and just took the holiday off? Where are you starting?’ Catanese explains, ‘Once you come to terms with and acknowledge where you’re starting, you can then decide where you can get to and when.’
2. Getting It Done Quick: ‘The best news,’ says Catanese. ‘Research proves that once you jump on (or back on) the workout bandwagon, you don’t have to stay on it for hours on end to see results… Because the truth is, if you do it right (translation: give it your all and get super uncomfortable the entire time), you shouldn’t really be able to do more than, say, thirty minutes of a fully body intensive workout. Because if you can do an hour, you probably aren’t working hard enough.’
Kirsch notes, ‘For me, the way I go about training all of my clients is by using short bursts of interval training—it’s the most effective for burning calories as well as for cardiovascular health and making you stronger. There’s less time to be bored and distracted and it gives you more access to working out—you can fit in snippets throughout the day. You aren’t resting in between, checking your phone or chatting. The point of workouts are no longer to do double 60-minute sessions or go to classes five times a week. You don’t want to burn out and beat your body up.’
3. Mixing It Up: Catanese advises, ‘What is crucial is that you do a hybrid of moves that incorporate strengthening and cardio to max out the toning and fat-burning results.’ In fact, one of Kirsch’s go-to basic circuits includes a back-to-back sequence of push-ups, planks, squats, shadow boxing and crunches, followed by a 15-minute cardio blast using the treadmill, elliptical or rowing machine. ‘This circuit is very intense because you are doing each to exhaustion—completing as many as you can for as fast you can—resting for 30 to 60 seconds max in between and then moving on to the next and repeating the entire thing three times,’ Kirsch notes. For each, push it until you can’t move. [This leads to] a full body weight-baring workout that is also cardio intensive, so you get toned and burn fat. Even if you just did part one it would be very effective, the second part is like extra credit.’
4. Working Out All Over: ‘The point is to hit various parts of the body,’ Kirsch asserts. ‘Not just one or two like many workouts do… It will lead to a more visually pleasing aesthetic.’ Catanese adds, ‘Not only will you multi-task during your workout, but you’ll notice better results and faster, too. Instead of building a lot of muscle in one spot, you get leaner all over, and therefore, you’ll look leaner all over as well.’
5. Fitting it In: ‘I have clients who travel all the time so getting in a 45 or 60 minute workout is not realistic for them,’ says Kirsch, who, for this reason created his signature YouTube Look Fit: 5-minute quickies. ‘You need to stick to a workout that fits into your lifestyle, targets your body issues but also correlates to your objectives, whether you’re at home, on vacation, in the office, or on the road…that is what is going to motivate you to stick to it.’
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