Get the Timing Right

By Team Beachbody

If you're considering a crash diet, you can instead time your workouts to drop weight fast. Generally, it's better to exercise when you feel best during the day rather than at a certain time. However, if short-term weight loss is all you're after, then when you workout during the day becomes important as well.

First, do a workout as soon as you wake up. Elevating your heart rate for 20-30 minutes first thing in the morning will give your metabolism a boost that lasts all day. From then on you will burn more calories no matter what you do. The down side to this is that your body has no blood sugar in the morning and exercise can feel more difficult. Do not expect to be setting personal records, just get it done. If you are getting better workouts than normal, it's a sign that something is wrong with your regular program because the body should respond better when it has had proper nutrition. However, things that kick in later in the day, like stress, can affect your workouts just as much as lack of blood sugar.

Next, in this environment, two short workouts are better than one long one. Again, this is not always true. You won't be able to keep the intensity as high so your workouts aren't as good. However, since you're looking for fast results, you are only looking to use calories, not to get as fit as you can (which is the goal of a program like Power 90^®™).

An afternoon workout will burn up those carbs that you've ingested. Your protein for dinner will help your muscles recover and you'll be using stored body fat for energy the rest of the night.

Of note here is that your energy won't be increasing during this time, such as it may when you're training properly. You are in a negative calorie phase and you might feel a bit run down. However, this should end as soon as you go back to normal routines. Just look at it as an exercise phase for quicker weight loss.