As the saying goes: a new you and for those who are striving be healthier and in better shape in 2017 it鈥檚 important to get the most out of your new year鈥檚 workouts.
CTVNews.ca spoke to personal trainer Craig Gallienne to find out the five exercises you can stop wasting your time on and what you should do instead.
1. Sit-ups and bicep curls
鈥淭hey have the least benefit as far as calorie burns and muscles being used goes,鈥� Gallienne said, from Toronto鈥檚 Boulevard Club, where he works as a trainer.
In other words, you鈥檙e wasting your time if you want to see results.
He suggested making your body off balance, such as doing exercises where you only use one side of your body. According to Gallienne exercises such as or automatically make your core work harder, meaning you don鈥檛 need to worry about sit-ups.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e working your core in a different, more natural way,鈥� he said.
Gallienne added that sit-ups can also be a recipe for back injuries.
2. Jogging
鈥淚t鈥檚 great for mental health and as an activity, if you enjoy doing it,鈥� he said.
But as Gallienne explained, jogging isn鈥檛 strenuous enough to create the temporary shortage of oxygen in your cells, otherwise known as an oxygen deficit, which is needed to burn calories.
He suggested interval running 鈥� short sprints for a couple of minutes 鈥� instead of a moderately paced run around the block.
3. Using light weights
鈥淚f you can lift a weight 45 times, you鈥檙e not getting very much out of it,鈥� he said.
鈥淲hereas, if you crank the weight way up and challenge yourself, you鈥檒l start to see some muscular changes.鈥�
Gallienne also told CTVNews.ca that people shouldn鈥檛 worry about 鈥済etting big鈥� from lifting heavy weights.
鈥淵ou need to be very genetically gifted to get big when it comes to weight training.鈥�
4. Fad exercises
When it comes to workouts with a cult-like following, Gallienne doesn鈥檛 think they鈥檙e effective for most people.
鈥淭here is a percentage of the population, although very small, that can get away with doing that stuff and not run into any injuries. When it comes down to it, the basics are the better way to go,鈥� he said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing more de-motivating than getting hurt in the first two weeks and then not being able to go back to the gym.鈥�
Instead, he suggested focusing on simpler exercises that won鈥檛 leave you injured.
Although he added that if that鈥檚 the only way someone is going to work out then that fad exercise might be for them.
5. 鈥楳arathon鈥� workouts
鈥淢arathon鈥� workout doesn鈥檛 mean training for a marathon, although he鈥檚 not a huge fan of those either. What he is referring to is going to the gym and training for a long time.
鈥淚f you go to the gym and train for two hours you can鈥檛 hit the same levels you would hit if you were here for 45 minutes. You run out of energy,鈥� he explained.
鈥淚t鈥檚 better to lift heavier and lift faster,鈥� he said, mentioning that it reduces the amount of time your body needs to recover, which means you can train more frequently and therefore see results faster.
Even 15 minutes at the right intensity level can make a difference, Gallienne said.
As for what you should focus your attention on, if your goal is to lose weight, Gallienne believes in the basics: lunges, squats, push-ups and dead lifts with some high-intensity cardio thrown into the mix.
鈥淚f you want to see the most fat loss as quickly as possible train from your waist down, rather than your waist up,鈥� he told CTVNews.ca.
鈥淚t鈥檚 better to be doing bigger multi-joint movements so you incorporate more muscles and brings up the intensity level,鈥� he said, citing exercises such as squats and lunges, which work your butt, thighs, calves and your core.
According to Gallienne, using more muscle groups at once also helps you burn calories throughout the day.
鈥淚t changes how much oxygen your body requires for the rest of the day and that means you鈥檙e more efficient at calorie burning, so you benefit all day rather than for part of the day.鈥�
He also told CTVNews.ca that it鈥檚 important to workout both slow-twitch and fast-twitch fibres in the body. Slow-twitch fibres are the ones used for walking and other leisurely activities. Whereas fast-twitch fibres are activated with movements such as jumping and they鈥檙e the ones that give you strong muscle definition.
But, as Gallienne pointed out, about 80 per cent comes down to diet and genetics, so it鈥檚 critical to find a workout routine that works for you.
