Fitness Origins – Elite Strength & Conditioning

Fitness Origins has changed the site format slightly and we wish to point out those changes to help with the transition. As you can see, there is no longer a breakdown of Black Group//Red Group. Instead, the scaling of the individual workouts is now left up to you, the individual athlete. This will ultimately give you more control over your workout and hopefully empower you to push harder. To see how scaling works you have two options:

1. Check out the newly updated “How to Use this Site” Page on the main board.
2. Check back through old workouts in the archives.
Both of these options should help you find a great balace in your workouts.

The second change in program design is the highlighting of workout goal adaptation. Every workout should have a focus and therefore be a part of a progressive approach to fitness. We wish to make that progressive approach our priority. This focal shift brings more unity to the workouts and helps seperate Fitness Origins from the slapdash nature of overly generalized high intense programs. The workouts will be registered under one of the following “categories”:

1. General Fitness- Interval based blend of anaerobically taxed functional strength and cardio. 

2. Strength- For our sake we are calling it “Strength”, though all days will build strength.  This day however, is a heavier lifting day. High Loads, Low Reps. Some Plyo-Metric power stations may be included.

3. Endurance/Stamina- These are strictly high cardio-centric sets. Either high intense intervals or distance repeats.

4. Active Recovery- One of two distinctions. Either a slower monostructural focus–i.e 5k run. Or a moderate lifting day with scaled reps/sets/ and longer rests.

We thank you for your patience and hope you like the changes!

First of all, we need to understand what the terms “aerobic” and “anaerobic” mean. Basically it comes down to oxygen. And in terms of fat loss, the effectiveness of the type of exercise you perform comes down to intensity and energy expenditure.

Aerobic Activity

Aerobic means simply, “in the presence of oxygen”. These activities include walking, running, biking, and/or any activity performed at a low to moderate intensity for more than 90 seconds is usually considered aerobic. At this level of intensity, or stress introduced to the body, oxygen releases the energy needed through metabolism.

The Benefits of Aerobic Activity are…

* Increased Cardiovascular Function
* Decrease in Body Fat

The Negatives of Aerobic Activity are…

* Decreased Muscle Mass
* Decreased Strength
* Decreased Power
* Decreased Speed
* Decreased Anaerobic Capacity

Most people looking to burn fat, and ultimately lose weight, will choose aerobic activity as their main system of exercise. Most fat loss workouts are designed for long durations spent in a certain heart rate zone, however they fail to mention all the negatives of focusing only on aerobic activity for fat loss. In fact, the loss of muscle mass will actually inhibit your fat loss and thus take longer to reach your goal. Also, in regard to time, we must look at the duration needs of aerobic only workouts for fat loss. The demand seems to be ever increasing. Why is that?, Because your body is amazing at adapting. Over time the body adapts and becomes more efficient at burning fat for fuel. The result… you burn LESS fat when performing the same activity. This usually leads not to changing the type of activity that you are doing or the level or intensity that you are performing that activity with, but rather the DURATION of the aerobic activity in hopes to burn more fat. Therefore, your 15 minute run becomes a 25 minute run, which becomes an hour run, and on and on as your body just keeps adapting to the one stimulus thrown at it. It’s frustrating, time consuming, and can be avoided by introducing some anaerobic balance to your workout.

Anaerobic Activity

Anaerobic simply means, “in the absence of oxygen”. Activities are performed at a medium to high intensity for less than 2 minutes and include circuit training, interval training, sprinting and plyo-metrics, and weightlifting to name a few. To be clear about intensity it is to be added slowly over time. Reducing time between sets, increasing the weight you use, adding more variety to the work out are all ways to ramp up the intensity.

The Benefits of Anaerobic Activity are…

* Increased Cardiovascular Function
* Decrease in Body Fat
* Increased Muscle Mass
* Improved Strength
* Improved Power
* Improved Speed
* Increased Aerobic Capacity

There is also another advantage of anaerobic activities. Working at a high rate of intensity increases your metabolism long after the exercise is completed. Since anaerobic exercise is more demanding on the body, it requires more energy to recover. So, more fat burned in less time and an increased metabolism for hours combine to help you reach your goal faster.

The Negatives of Anaerobic Activity are…

Anaerobic activity requires an aerobic foundation and should be introduced slowly and progressively. Anaerobic workouts will also require more rest, stretching , and recovery due to the higher demands on the body. Any new programming will stress your body differently so take it slow and steady and you will see amazing results.

The truth is, there is no such thing as “Aerobic Versus Anaerobic”. Your fat loss workout should be a combination of both. (Honestly, it is impossible to work at a strictly anaerobic capacity). But you need a workout that uses anaerobic training if you want to see lasting fat loss results and build the athletic looking body you want.

Rest Day