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are using too much weight. You want to fail at around 8 - 10 repetitions but that means with good technique. The back exercises above all need completely accuracy of performance, a low speed and definitely no jerking. Now, if I can do more repetitions then I add more weight. Now the intensity of this exercise routine does require that you take plenty of rest. The idea of weight training everyday is crazy. Your body needs time to recover. Essentially you are breaking the muscle down and then allowing the body time to heal, repair and make stronger.I am now starting to do this routine only twice a week. Monday and then Thursday. that then gives me extra rest before Monday comes around again.

Now I would like to point out that the goal here was not for me to become the next Mr. Universe. Very simply, I wanted to remain lean and yet strong. There is no point in loosing weight if you just end up weak. This routine helps me shed pounds, keeps my metabolism running and keeps me strong.

Now between routines I also walk. I love to walk. In fact being a freelance writer, I walk a lot believe it or not. I like to write in a coffee shop downtown Birmingham UK. It is about a three mile walk from my house. So each day I take my laptop and walk in to town and write. Walking is one of the best exercises you can do. It keeps you supple and again gets your metabolism active.

So I weight train twice a week and walk everyday. the walking is the easy part and the weight training takes me about fifteen minutes a week!

Diet for me is very simple. I avoid sugar and very rarely take in simple carbohydrates such as white bread. I drink about 2 litres of water a day and I like my fibre! The problem with dieting can be that you either put yourself on a regime that you can not follow for your entire life or you starve yourself which does nothing more than lower your metabolism. This then puts the body into starvation mode and fat is held onto more aggressively when you do eat. I personally like to eat regularly, but just in small quantities. This keeps my metabolism going. The great thing about weight training is that no matter how little the amount of new muscle you acquire what you are doing is in fact raising your base metabolic rate. This means that you are naturally burning more calories than you used to.

I know that the way this exercise system works for I can eat sugary things once in a while; and I do on occasion. I avoid sugar because I do not like the way that it sits with me afterwards. I feel sluggish; the same with things like white bread or biscuits. So for me the mainstay of my diet is vegetables, fibre, good quality lean meat, pulses and water. This then becomes an eating style; not a diet. My protein requirements are more than adequately met with the meat and the pulses such as lentils or kidney beans. I haven't purchased "protein powder" since I was a teenager!

So there you have it. 15 minutes a week of weight training, walking on average 6 days a week, and an eating style that includes vegetables, pulses, good lean meat and water. It takes you about 12 weeks to form a habit. If you can cut out the foods that you know are bad for you then the body will stop missing them. If I have a piece of cheesecake now it is like a sugar overload. I had a plum the other day and it was so sweet it was like having a candy bar. Well, almost! I do have one vice though. A dark secret that I still indulge in. Something I love and think about as I walk to where I can get some! Oh yes, I love a good latte.

So try the system if you wish, but above all stay safe, healthy and happy.

Learn more about this author, John Hewitt.
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