A Workout Trick to Look Good Naked
The length of the rest periods between sets can drastically affect the total amount of energy you burn during a workout. In this tip, Get-Fit Guy explains an easy workout trick to help you look good naked.
Ben Greenfield
Let’s face it: Exercising for our general health and fitness is great, but we also want to gain as much aesthetic benefit as possible from our tough workouts. Fortunately, a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research looked at the relationship between total energy expenditure and fat burned during a workout to give us some insight about how to burn as much fat as possible, and therefore look great naked.
The study manipulated just one variable during a workout that consisted of squats and bench press: the rest periods. Researchers had participants use either 1, 2, or 3 minutes of rest between each exercise set. The amount of energy the study participants expended on the bench press and squat was much, much higher when 1-minute rest periods were used — specifically 36% higher for squats and 18% higher for bench presses.
This is an enormously significant difference in energy expenditure, and although the group that rested for a shorter period of time actually burned more carbohydrates than fat – this ultimately doesn’t matter, as you learned in episode “Does Running or Walking Burn More Calories.” All that really matters for fat loss is total energy expenditure.
So are you prone to read magazines or chat with friends between exercise sets? You may want to instead minimize your rest period and get as much exercise done in as short a period of time as possible, and save any socializing and reading for some other time. Your body (and mirror) will thank you!
Do you have more questions about this workout trick to look good naked? Leave your thoughts over at https://www.Facebook.com/GetFitGuy.
Women squatting image courtesy of Shutterstock
About the Author
Ben Greenfield received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from University of Idaho in sports science and exercise physiology; personal training and strength and conditioning certifications from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA); a sports nutrition certification from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), an advanced bicycle fitting certification from Serotta. He has over 11 years’ experience in coaching professional, collegiate, and recreational athletes from all sports, and as helped hundreds of clients achieve weight loss and fitness success.