Please Don’t Make These New Year’s Resolutions . . .

I hope you will listen to me, so I can help you avoid making three common mistakes with your upcoming New Year’s health resolutions. A lot of your friends, neighbors, and business associates will make these mistakes. But you won’t – if you read this brief article. So, please, don’t resolve the following:

“I’m going to do more cardio.” This sounds like a good idea, but it’s not – unless you’re someone who never gets off the couch. There are health benefits to cardio routines, but it is not effective for burning calories and killing fat.

For example, the benefits you receive running on a treadmill pretty much end the moment you step off the treadmill. But with strength training, those benefits continue long after your set is complete. Strength training causes your muscles to burn calories during the recovery period, even while you sleep. But that doesn’t mean you should resolve to do this.

“I’m going to do more strength training.” Yes, that seems logical after what I just told you. But the key to strength training is to make a deep inroad into your muscles. Then you let your body take over and rest. That’s when the muscle building and fat burning process is greatest.

Doing too much strength training deprives your body of that recovery period. It’s so easy to get sucked into the myth that you need to workout 3, 4, 5, 6 times a week. You don’t.  Twice a week is better. Train all your major muscle groups and give your body plenty of time to recover. Recovery is the most critical component to achieving great results.

At X-Force Body, our personal coaches work with our participants to ensure maximum inroads into the muscles being trained is achieved. When muscles reach a level of failure during a routine where one more repetition is physically impossible, those muscles are ready for the recovery process.

That’s why, with X-Force Body, you only need to work out once or twice a week. Trust me, you won’t feel like doing more (and that’s a good thing.)

And that brings me to the third mistake I want you to avoid:

“I’m going to go on a low carb/no carb diet.” The truth is, you can eat carbs and still lose weight. And the scientific fact is, YOU SHOULD eat carbohydrate-rich meals. Approximately 50 percent of your calories should come from carbs, 25 percent from fats, and 25 percent from proteins. Carbohydrates should be emphasized, not neglected, because they help you lose fat.

Now, if you want to make some good resolutions for the New Year, I suggest you resolve to avoid too much sugar . . . avoid drinking too much alcohol . . . and vow to drink more water. It would do my heart good (and yours) if you tell me you read this article and resolved to drink more good old-fashioned cold water this year.

That’s always a good idea, and it’s never a mistake. Your body will thank you for it.

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