What is the best type of workout? Which workout will get you the body of your dreams with the least effort in the shortest amount of time?
Ok, as cringeworthy as that first paragraph was, it had to be done. It’s a trick question obviously and today’s blog is hopefully going to help you think a little more about the training you do, why you do it, and where you’re going right or wrong for what you want to achieve.
There is no best workout for everyone. Yes, ok so I said it. There is no best workout for everyone!
The steroid junkies jaws have dropped, the crossfitters are crying, the pilates pros are pissed off and the Yogies need to rebalance their Chakra’s.
Each workout style has different pros and cons for different body types, ages, health status and most importantly goals. Remember, without a goal you can never call your exercise ‘training’, you are only ever exercising. A goal gives exercise purpose and allows you to use the type (s) of exercise to help you achieve the goal.
Training is exercising with a purpose and it is the key to getting you the best results for your body, mind, and lifestyle.
Eating low carb, clean, zone, vegetarian, low fat, keto, can help and have helped millions of people get short term results too.
The key to not only getting results but keeping them is matching your training and nutrition to your needs.
Regardless if its diet or nutrition the answer is never ‘what is the best’, it always comes down to ‘what is the best for you’ and ‘what are your current goals’.
So, to repeat, there is NO best exercise. Only what’s best for you, based on the outcome (goal) you have.
DIET AND EXERCISE AND YOUR GOAL
As we know when it comes to body fat, while training really makes a big difference to the stimulation we put on muscles, it is nutrition that has the biggest influence on how much muscle we will build and how much fat we will store or burn.
Because of this your training regime really needs to support your lifestyle too…
If you’re up at 5am doing HIIT sessions everyday and then tired, exhausted, sore and hungry you will most probably overcompensate with food. For many people HIIT training combined with their lifestyle causes an increase in inflammation and weight.
If you’ve got 5 weeks to a wedding and you’re focused on diet and need a training style to assist in burning the most amount of calories then HIIT is a great choice. It will build muscle at the same time as burning large amounts of energy too.
Again, there is NO best exercise for all people. There is a best exercise and dietary combination for each person based on their goals, needs, and bio-individuality.
BUILD LARGE AMOUNTS OF LEAN MUSCLE
If this is your goal then regardless of your genetics, weights will give you the best results. But if you’re not consuming enough protein or energy to supply your body with the nutrients you need to grow new lean muscle the muscle won’t grow. It’s the right combination that matters most.
LEAN, TONED BODY
Muscle tone is simply low body fat over muscle. The more muscle and less body fat you have the more tone or definition you will have.
For this reason any training option can provide tone as we know the biggest factor will be how your training regime affects your eating and recovery habits.
A combination of all 4 may be your best bet or even combining weights/yoga or HIIT/pilates could help.
FLEXIBLE, LEAN, LOOSE MUSCLES
While a well prescribed weights program can do this, most people who sit on gym machines perform limited range, open chain exercises that have very little functionality. When it comes to aging, lean muscle has shown to be the most important factor, but when functionality decreases so does quality of life. Combining weights with pilates or Yoga may give you better overall results than weights alone. A diet full of high inflammatory, low nutrient foods will limit your ability to feel loose and flexibile regardless of the activity you do.
A BALANCED APPROACH
The ‘Balance by Ashy Bines’ App and program is all about helping you create the perfect balance in your lifestyle for the goals you want to achieve.
Want a 20 minute upper body weights session with no equipment?
A 60 minute lower body HIIT session with full gym equipment
A 20 minute Yoga session to release the lower body
A 40 minute pilates core session
You can search and find these in a matter of seconds.
So, from now on when it comes to your diet or exercise stop thinking about whats the BEST.
Instead start setting goals and considering what’s BEST COMBO of diet and exercise not only for your short term goal, but for your long term focus too.