8 Things To Do Before And After A Workout To Get Better Results

The real magic happens before and after your sweat.

When it comes to your fitness routine, the time you spend sweating it out in the gym tends to get all the credit—but it shouldn’t.

“The workout is actually the easiest part of a fitness routine,” says Jay Cardiello, celebrity trainer and Gold’s Gym Fitness Institute member. “Whether you walk, jog, lift weights, or do CrossFit, an hour is only four percent of your day, and you can’t [make that more important than] the 23 other hours.”

Things like good nutrition and quality sleep matter too, and smart pre- and post-workout rituals can ensure you’re recovering properly, fueling your efforts, and crushing it in every single workout. Here are the eight things that should definitely be a part of your fitness routine if you want to maximize your results.

Before your workout:

1. Get enough zzz’s.

“The most imperative thing in any fitness program starts the minute you go to sleep—that’s where all the magic happens,” says Cardiello. Being well-rested not only energizes you through every burpee or sprint, but it also keeps your hunger hormones in check, so you’re not undoing your efforts in the gym by overeating the rest of the day.

“Whoever I work out with, they don’t show up to the gym unless they’re getting seven hours of sleep,” says Cardiello. “I tell them to go home.” (Whoa.) If you can’t do seven, at least try for six and a half hours, he says—he recommends his clients set boundaries with their electronics before bed so the light doesn’t keep them awake. A good sleep is also super important after a workout, too—that’s when muscles really get to recover.

2. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

You already know that drinking your H20 is crucial to overall health, but it plays an especially important role in a fitness routine—when you’re sweating it out, you need to make sure your body is properly hydrated since you’re losing water. Plus, being hydrated will make sure your energy levels are where they need to be, says Cardiello.

“Just look at the parallels between oil in a car and water in a body—a car can’t run without car, a body can’t run without water,” says Cardiello. You should be sipping it before, during, and after a workout.

Although exact water needs vary from person to person, he recommends aiming for half of your bodyweight in ounces per day (so, if you weight 150 pounds, try to get in 75 ounces). If your urine is dark, it probably means you’re not hydrated enough. Here are 12 easy ways to drink more of it.

3. Grab a small snack.

If you’re really not feeling a pre-workout snack, there’s no need to force food down ahead of time, but don’t ignore your body if you feel like you need some fuel. “If there’s no food in, there’s no energy out,” says Cardiello. He suggests a piece of Ezekiel toast with a bit of almond butter to get you going (here are five other great pre-workout snacks that are all around 150 calories). The sweet spot? “I don’t want you to be starving, but I don’t want you to be feeling full either.”

4. Consider wearing red for an extra boost of ~power~.

Strange, but true. “Red is a very empowering color—it increases prowess, confidence, and has been shown to increase performance a bit,” says Cardiello. “If you’re ever tired or just want to dominate the gym, red is the best choice. Blue and green are more calming, so it depends on what your workout.” Orange and yellow are also heightening colors, he says.

5. Work in a dynamic warm-up.

Skipping your warm-up is a definite no-no—even if your workout is only 10 minutes long. “[The warm-up] is meant to give your body the opportunity to raise your body temperature, increase range of motion, and prepare yourself for what you’re about to do,” says Cardiello. It also helps decrease your chance of injury when you ease into your workout, rather than jumping straight from a resting state to the hard work.

Increasing your range of motion can help you make the most of your workout, because you’ll be able to recruit more muscles during an exercise (for example, getting deeper into a spot means putting more muscles to work). This is done through adynamic warm-up, which essentially means moving through stretches that aren’t held in place. (Here’s a five-minute dynamic warm-up to try).

After your workout:

6. Stretch it out.

“A cool-down brings your body back to a resting position—the way you walked into the gym is the way you want to leave,” says Cardiello. “To increase your range of motion, decrease soreness, and help expedite your recovery process, you need to implement isometric stretching,” he adds. This is the opposite of the stretches you do in a warm-up—after a workout, you should hold your stretches for at least 15 seconds each, says Cardiello. (Here are some cool-down stretches to try.) And because muscles are best stretched when they’re warm, you definitely don’t want to go straight from your workout to a seated position, like at a desk or in a car.

7. Refuel with post-workout nutrition.

A pre-workout snack is more optional than a post-workout one—giving your body the fuel it needs to recover after a tough sweat is essential. There’s something called the anabolic window, says Cardiello, which lasts about 30 to 45 minutes after the workout. During this time, your body looks for carbohydrates and protein to help replenish glycogen stores and rebuild muscle, respectively, so getting your body the nutrition it needs to recover in a timely manner is important.

Plus, not eating after a workout can leave you feeling ravenous later on—and, chances are, you’re not going to reach for a salad, says Cardiello. To make it easy on yourself, pack one of these post-workout snacks in your bag. Or, if your gym offers this, “pre-order your shake and pay for it ahead of time, so when you’re walking out to your car or the street they can just hand it to you.”

8. Take a cool shower.

Taking a cool shower helps decrease the inflammation after a workout and expedites the healing process, says Cardiello. “By decreasing inflammation, you decrease your chances of soreness. That’s what athletes do, and it’s how they’re able to perform day-in and day-out, because they’re focused on recovery.” You don’t have to jump in an ice bath like the pros, but you should turn the shower temperature down lower than you usually do. This makes it less likely that soreness will get in the way of your workout the next day.

By making sure your body’s been warmed up, worked out, and cooled down properly, you can maximize the results you’re working towards. Cheesy as it may sound, fitness really is a lifestyle, and one that doesn’t begin and end with your actual workout.

reprinted from self.com

5 Amazing Benefits of Kickboxing for Women

BY MELISSA GREER

With women's boxing now a sport in the Summer Olympics, more and more women are getting into the ring. Find out what makes kickboxing such an amazing workout for women

1. Melt fat, fast

Combining martial arts techniques and heart-pumping cardio, kickboxing is a high-energy workout that is guaranteed to burn calories and fat.

“It’s an incredibly efficient workout. Kickboxing alone burns about 750 calories in an hour,” says Sammie Kennedy, CEO and creator of Femme Fitale, Ontario’s newest women’s-only kickboxing and mixed martial arts program (MMA). “Add in jump rope and conditioning drills, and you could burn anywhere from 750 to 900 calories in an hour.”

The cardio-conditioning element of kickboxing is one of the most effective ways to burn fat—especially that stubborn belly fat that’s associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer. A study published in the American Journal of Physiology found aerobic exercise to be better at reducing belly fat than resistance training, by burning an average of 67 percent more calories.

2. Tone your entire body

A typical Femme Fitale class combines kickboxing and MMA drills with jump rope, circuit training and core strengthening exercises.

“There’s a large toning component to kickboxing because it forces you to engage all the muscle groups in your body,” says Kennedy.

By using kickboxing pads, as opposed to simply air boxing, you’ll burn even more calories. “You’ll also work your back and trim your waist because each move requires a lot of core power behind it,” she says.

Engaging your core will also ultimately improve co-ordination, while the constant movement in kickboxing improves flexibility and reflexes.

3. Learn valuable self-defense moves

While the majority of women are turning to kickboxing for the physical workout, the self-defense aspect is a perk for many people, says Kennedy. “We teach it with an emphasis on ‘this is why you’re learning this,’ ‘this is what you would use this for.’ It’s important for people to know why they’re doing certain moves and engaging certain parts of their body,” she says.

Having the ability to protect yourself is a valuable asset and it’s empowering to know that if you were in a dangerous situation, you have the knowledge to help get yourself out of it safely.

4. Take out stress and aggression

Sometimes the best way to release stress after a hard day at work is not a cold beer, but some intense physical activity. Kickboxing offers a healthy way to get out some of the day’s frustrations out of your system, which will also help you get a better night’s sleep and improve mental clarity.

“It’s an excellent release to be able to beat up your boss on the pads,” says Kennedy. “Boxing also increases the release of endorphins, which can diminish with stress.”

The group atmosphere of kickboxing is even more effective in releasing endorphins. While any type of vigorous activity will release these feel-good chemicals, group exercise enhances their impact, according to researchers from the Institute of Cognitive and Evolutionary Anthropology in Oxford, England.

5. Feel confident

There’s nothing better than being able to kick some butt, and look great doing it. The intensity of kickboxing means you’ll see improvements and results quickly. Femme Fitale’s sessions run for eight-weeks with twice weekly classes.

“When you’re putting yourself through a program that does really challenge you and you finish it—that alone boosts confidence dramatically because you’ve accomplished something and that’s something to be proud of,” says Kennedy.

reprinted from besthealthmag.ca

How Exercise Shapes You, Far Beyond the Gym

By Bradley Stulberg

When I first started training for marathons a little over ten years ago, my coach told me something I’ve never forgotten: that I would need to learn how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. I didn’t know it at the time, but that skill, cultivated through running, would help me as much, if not more, off the road as it would on it.

It’s not just me, and it’s not just running. Ask anyone whose day regularly includes a hard bike ride, sprints in the pool, a complex problem on the climbing wall, or a progressive powerlifting circuit, and they’ll likely tell you the same: A difficult conversation just doesn’t seem so difficult anymore. A tight deadline not so intimidating. Relationship problems not so problematic.

Maybe it’s that if you’re regularly working out, you’re simply too tired to care. But that’s probably not the case. Research shows that, if anything, physical activity boosts short-term brain function and heightens awareness. And even on days they don’t train — which rules out fatigue as a factor — those who habitually push their bodies tend to confront daily stressors with a stoic demeanor. While the traditional benefits of vigorous exercise — like prevention and treatment of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and osteoporosis — are well known and often reported, the most powerful benefit might be the lesson that my coach imparted to me: In a world where comfort is king, arduous physical activity provides a rare opportunity to practice suffering.

Few hone this skill better than professional endurance and adventure athletes, who make a living withstanding conditions others cannot. For my column with Outside Magazine, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing the world’s top endurance and adventure athletes on the practices underlying their success. Regardless of sport, the most resounding theme, by far, is that they’ve all learned how to embrace uncomfortable situations:

• Olympic marathoner Des Linden told me that at mile 20 of 26.2, when the inevitable suffering kicks in, through years of practice she’s learned to stay relaxed and in the moment. She repeats the mantra: “calm, calm, calm; relax, relax, relax.”

• World-champion big-wave surfer Nic Lamb says being uncomfortable, and even afraid, is a prerequisite to riding four-story waves. But he also knows it’s “the path to personal development.” He’s learned that while you can pull back, you can almost always push through. “Pushing through is courage. Pulling back is regret,” he says.

• Free-soloist Alex Honnold explains that, “The only way to deal with [pain] is practice. [I] get used to it during training so that when it happens on big climbs, it feels normal.”

• Evelyn Stevens, the women’s record holder for most miles cycled in an hour (29.81 – yes, that’s nuts), says that during her hardest training intervals, “instead of thinking I want these to be over, I try to feel and sit with the pain. Heck, I even try to embrace it.”

• Big-mountain climber Jimmy Chin, the first American to climb up — and then ski down — Mt. Everest’s South Pillar Route, told me an element of fear is there in everything he does, but he’s learned how to manage it: “It’s about sorting out perceived risk from real risk, and then being as rational as possible with what’s left.”

But you don’t need to scale massive vertical pitches or run five-minute miles to reap the benefits. Simply training for your first half marathon or CrossFit competition can also yield huge dividends that carry over into other areas of life. In the words of Kelly Starrett, one of the founding fathers of the CrossFit movement, “Anyone can benefit from cultivating a physical practice.” Science backs him up.

A study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that college students who went from not exercising at all to even a modest program (just two to three gym visits per week) reported a decrease in stress, smoking, alcohol and caffeine consumption, an increase in healthy eating and maintenance of household chores, and better spending and study habits. In addition to these real-life improvements, after two months of regular exercise, the students also performed better on laboratory tests of self-control. This led the researchers to speculate that exercise had a powerful impact on the students’ “capacity for self-regulation.” In laypeople’s terms, pushing through the discomfort associated with exercise — saying “yes” when their bodies and minds were telling them to say “no” — taught the students to stay cool, calm, and collected in the face of difficulty, whether that meant better managing stress, drinking less, or studying more.

For this reason, the author Charles Duhigg, in his 2012 bestseller The Power of Habit, calls exercise a “keystone habit,” or a change in one area life that brings about positive effects in other areas. Duhigg says keystone habits are powerful because “they change our sense of self and our sense of what is possible.” This explains why the charity Back on My Feet uses running to help individuals who are experiencing homelessness improve their situations. Since launching in 2009, Back on My Feet has had over 5,500 runners, 40 percent of whom have gained employment after starting to run with the group and 25 percent of whom have found permanent housing. This is also likely why it’s so common to hear about people who started training for a marathon to help them get over a divorce or even the death of a loved one.

Another study, this one published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, evaluated how exercise changes our physiological response to stress. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, in Germany, divided students into two groups at the beginning of the semester and instructed half to run twice a week for 20 weeks. At the end of the 20 weeks, which coincided with a particularly stressful time for the students — exams — the researchers had the students wear heart-rate monitors to measure their heart-rate variability, which is a common indicator of physiological stress (the more variability, the less stress). As you might guess by now, the students who were enrolled in the running program showed significantly greater heart-rate variability. Their bodies literally were not as stressed during exams: They were more comfortable during a generally uncomfortable time.

What’s remarkable and encouraging about these studies is that the subjects weren’t exercising at heroic intensities or volumes. They were simply doing something that was physically challenging for them – going from no exercise to some exercise; one need not be an elite athlete or fitness nerd to reap the bulletproofing benefits of exercise.

Why does any of this matter? For one, articles that claim prioritizing big fitness goals is a waste of time (exhibit A: “Don’t Run a Marathon”) are downright wrong. But far more important than internet banter, perhaps a broader reframing of exercise is in order. Exercise isn’t just about helping out your health down the road, and it’s certainly not just about vanity. What you do in the gym (or on the roads, in the ocean, etc.) makes you a better, higher-performing person outside of it. The truth, cliché as it may sound, is this: When you develop physical fitness, you’re developing life fitness, too.

Reprinted from nymag.com Brad Stulberg is a columnist for Outside Magazine, where he writes about health and the science of human performance. Follow him on Twitter@Bstulberg.

6 Healthy Popsicle Recipes That Put Your Neighborhood Ice Cream Truck To Shame

In the sweltering summer heat, ain’t nothing like a popsicle to cool you down.

We have yet to meet a popsicle we didn’t like. Refreshing as they are, most of the icy
treats on the market are loaded with sugar and dyes that can leave your lips a Cookie
Monster blue. Not to mention, an average box can cost over on buck per — we can’t
help it — pop.

These six incredible homemade recipes below will put your neighborhood ice cream
truck to shame. You’re in control of the ingredients, which means you can adjust the
sugar count to your liking. With a few tools and a serving of patience for your mix to
solidify in the freezer, you’re on your way to homemade popsicle heaven. Sorry (kind of)
to put you out, ice cream man.

Vegan Black Bean Fudge Pops

Photo: Flickr/thecraftykitty These are not your momma’s Fudgesicles. Rather than a sticky
mixture of empty, chocolatey calories, these pops boast a healthful amount of fiber. The
recipe, which comes from Kathy Hester’s “The Great Vegan Bean Book,” is soy-free,
gluten-free oil-free all thanks to it’s main ingredient, which is — you guessed it — black
beans. Find the recipe here.

Dark Chocolate Frozen Kiwi Pops

Photo: Bare Feet In The Kitchen These are beautiful, smart and healthy. A dream date, if you will.
This recipe from Bare Feet In The Kitchen calls for three simple ingredients: Kiwi, dark
chocolate and coconut oil. Find the whole recipe here.

Pickle Pops

Photo: Amy Bayliss Don’t have a sweet tooth but want in on the frozen fun? We can’t
possibly blame you. These colorful concoctions are made fuss-free with everyone’s
favorite sandwich accouterment. Some athletes choose pickle juice over sugary,
electrolyte-surged beverages to refuel after a tough workout. There’s no reason you can’t
take a tip from the pros and enjoy one of these post-sweat session. Find the recipe here.

Strawberry Smoothie Popsicles

Photo: Chocolate Covered Katie These sweet things have a secret ingredient we can’t help but
reveal: Kale! Thanks to everyone’s favorite leafy green, these delights serve up a healthy
dose of vitamin C. Find how to make your own, here.

Strawberry Shortcake Greek Yogurt Popsicles

Photo: The Kitchen Paper Here’s something else to do with all that yogurt you’ve been buying.
These beautiful creations boast a protein punch that’ll satisfy your hunger as well as your
craving for something sweet and creamy. Find the recipe here.

Frozen Fruit Pops

Photo: SkinnyTaste These tie-dye little numbers require just two elements: fruit (whatever
kind your heart desires) and juice. Find the step-by-step recipe from SkinnyTaste here.

Reprinted from Huffington Post

7 Mistakes You Might be Making in Indoor Cycling Class

By Amy Roberts  |  Women's Health

The calorie-torching qualities of indoor cycling are hard to beat—that is, if you're making the most out of your session. Avoid these all-too-common speed bumps for the ultimate—and injury-free—ride.

Holding on Too Tight
While it sometimes might feel like it, we swear the bike isn't going to derail and shoot across the room. So try not to cling to the handlebars with the grip of a champion rock climber. "No white knuckles!" says Jessica Bashelor, owner of The Handle Bar indoor cycling studios in Boston, MA. "It's waste of energy as well as the beginning of a greater problem—supporting body weight on your hands and wrists." If yours are sore after a ride, that's a sure sign. Next time, direct that energy toward tightening your core and balancing your weight over your midsection, glutes, and quads.

Tensing Up 
Another spot riders tend to clench, especially when the class gets difficult, is their upper body. You can picture it: The shoulders scrunched up around the ears, like they're doing their best turtle impression. "The more you loosen your shoulders, relax the bend in your elbow, and keep your neck nice and long, the more you can focus your energy on your lower body and getting the most out of your ride," says Bashelor.

Slacking on Resistance
Sometimes, with those endless "add another quarter turn's," it can feel like your legs might just stop turning entirely, or spin right off your body in protest. While most good instructors will tell you that your ride is what you make of it, it's actually unsafe to zip along, hips bouncing all over the place, with no resistance at all. "This mistake can lead to hip and knee problems," Bashelor explains. "Not to mention the instructor notices this 'cheating' from a mile away." Her advice: Don't show up for a ride just to let the bike do the work.

Pushing Too Hard Without PullingThe pedals have those toe cages for a reason, and clip-in shoes make it even more clear. The rotation in your legs isn't just about how hard you can hammer through the balls of your feet, but also the power you can exert as you bring each foot back up and around. "If you focus on eliminating the pause at the bottom of your pedal stroke and really drive your knee up and out to complete your rotation, you'll find more power as well as a better hamstring workout," says Bashelor.

Attacking a Climb Right from the Start
When you approach a hill on a regular bicycle, your body position often shifts forward and backward a bit. Take this same tack on your indoor ride. Begin a climb with hands on the lower outside of the handlebars (position 2) with a decent bend at the hips. When it's really starting to feel like a slog, move your hands to the straight part of the bars right in front of you (position 1), which raises the torso and increases your hip angle. You'll notice an energy boost in your legs by the subtle change in your torso, says Bashelor.

Doing Your Own ThingIt's one thing to short-shift a tension increase a teeny tiny bit, but quite another to stand and accelerate when the instructor (and the rest of the class) are seated and slowly climbing a hill. Believe it or not, there's a rhyme and reason to the ebbs and flows an instructor puts into her lesson plan—and it's not just to match Beyoncé's beat—both in terms of calorie burn and muscle use. "You may think going harder for longer than everyone else will give you a better workout," says Cassie Piasecki, an indoor cycling instructor in Orange County, CA. "But it won't. You are burning out your muscles and disrupting the class."

Not Stretching After
You know how your hip flexors feel a wee bit cranky when you disembark your bike? Or maybe it's your calves that are whimpering for a reprieve. Or your shoulders, despite your best efforts to keep 'em calm, are a bit peaked. And, of course, there are your quads, glutes, and hams—done-zo. So do them all a favor and give 'em a good stretch (ideally, even longer than the two-minute break you get inside the classroom). Your future self will be grateful.

Reprinted from Women's Health

5 Reasons You Should Prep Your Meals

by Brently Rousset | fitnessrxformen.com

Failing to eat clean consistently is of the main reasons people fail to reach their goals. Some believe they can outwork a bad diet, but that’s just not possible for most. if you really want to lose those few extra pounds before beach season begins, you need to get your diet in check.

One of the simplest, most effective ways you to do that is to prepare your meals ahead of time. Here are 5 reasons to meal prep and help you get in the shape you want.

#1 Time Management

One of the most common excuses is not having enough time. Not enough time to exercise, not enough time to handle all the tasks throughout your day, not enough time to eat healthy. We’ve all been there. and sometimes the easiest, quickest option becomes a fat-packed, high caloric fast food meal because we don’t have the time.

By preparing your meals for the week and having quality, healthy food options within your grasp, you won’t have to go out of your way to get food, saving yourself both time and some serious calories. Better management of your meals will allow you to better manage your time throughout the day.

#2 Staying on Track

Whether you are trying to lose or gain weight, you should have a plan regarding how much food you should be eating daily or weekly. By having your meals prepared and divided into their specific portions you will be more likely to stay on track with a healthy eating lifestyle.

#3 Save Money

One of the most common misconceptions about buying food is the notion that eating fast food is cheaper than purchasing food from the grocery store and cooking it yourself. If you are still thinking that’s the case, then it’s time to squash that thought.

Preparing your food ahead of time is going to save you both time and money. Let’s use a popular, fast, healthy food option from Chipotle to provide an example of how much money you can save by preparing your own meal.

Chipotle Chicken Bowl

• 1 Cup Rice
• ½ Cup Black Beans
• Double Chicken – 8 oz.
• ¼ Cup Shredded Cheese
• 1 Cup Chopped Lettuce

Price: $9.56

Home Made Chicken Bowl

• 1 Cup Rice = $0.17
• ½ Cup Black Beans = $0.20
• 8 oz. Chicken = $1.50
• ¼ cup Shredded Cheese = $0.37
• 1 Cup Chopped Lettuce = $0.10

Price: $2.34

#4 Portion Control

Preparing your meals allows you be precise in the amount of calories, carbohydrates, fat, and protein you are consuming. Unless you are bringing a pocket food scale with you go when you eat out, unfortunately you won’t really know the different between 1 cup of pasta and 1 ½ cups of pasta just by looking at it. This lack of precision meal after meal could will lead to you eating hundreds of more calories throughout the day and will put you well over your desired amount. Sometimes it’s not all about WHAT you are eating, but HOW MUCH of it you are eating.

#5 Winning the Mental Game

If you want to be the best in anything you do, you need to focus on winning the mental game. If you’re not mentally prepared to get in the gym and lift some heavy weight, you’ve already lost the battle with yourself. By preparing your nutritional intake for the entire week through a couple hours of meal prepping, you are mentally preparing yourself for the week. By conquering the mental aspect of your nutrition plan you can steer your mental focus towards your workouts each day and stand victorious each day, knowing you are winning the mental battle.

Reprinted from fitnessrxformen.com

What Matters More in Spin Class: Speed or Resistance?

Going fast and building muscle are both important facets of indoor cycling—but here's what to do if something has to give.

By Cassie Shortsleeve

It's a common conundrum in indoor cycling: You hit a hard hill and realize you can't maintain your speed. So do you lower your resistance or slow down?

"I always tell people torque (resistance) is completely negotiable and RPMs (speed) is non-negotiable," says Victor Self, a master instructor at Flywheel. "Because we are doing high-intensity interval training, we always ask you to add torque or speed—but if you're not already going the speed we've requested, the interval won't be as effective."

So if you're struggling on a hill, drop the resistance and keep your RPMs where they should be. "This is how the pros do it," says Michele Olson, Ph.D., professor of exercise science at Auburn University Montgomery.

However, you don't want to cut the resistance excessively. The faster you can do a heavier amount of work, the greater your explosive power will be in your core and leg muscles, she says. Turning it up will get you the most bang for your buck, in terms of upping your aerobic andanaerobic power, she says.

Anaerobic training—which consists of shorter, more intense bursts—is important for everyday life (whether you're lifting heavy boxes or jumping over a curb), Olson explains. Aerobic power—which you build through working at moderate intensities for a longer amount of time (think: runs)—helps heart health and increases your ability to use oxygen effectively, she says.

Original research from Dr. Izumi Tabata found that when participants rode at a maximum effort for very short bouts—about 20-second sprints—they increased their aerobic power by about 12 percent and their anaerobic power by about 25, Olson says.

Why is that so important? When you're working both your anaerobic and aerobic systems (something that happens big time when you turn up the resistance), you burn both carbs and fat, speeding up weight loss, Olson says. "The afterburn from this type of exercise can last up to 24 hours and burn an extra 150 calories after heavy sprinting."

In the long run, the more power you put out per class, the more calories you torch, she says.

The bottom line: Master the basics at a lower resistance, then work toward keeping that resistance high to improve your fitness, says Olson.

reprinted from fitnessmagazine.com