Anthony Johnson | The Dream Lounge

I believe the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” rings quite true in this instance. In the above left picture, I was…

• exercising 10 or more hours per week (for months on end at that point)
• engaging in such things as”group exercise”, lots of running, aerobics, “cardio”
• eating better than the average bear
• about 167 pounds
• had a body fat % of about 13 percent
• Age 19

In the above right picture…

• I am 20 years old
• I havent participated in group exercise, “cardio”, jogging, “power lifting”,  in over 5 months
• my training consists of about a once per week 10 minute session of proper exercise as seen in this post.
  
• I weigh about 177 pounds, and my body fat is about 10%  as measured via skin fold at the University of Central Florida’s Rec and Wellness Center

This is …

One of the (if not most) common questions I’ve recieved regarding high intensity training- aka proper exercise- is how to beat the angst to over train that most “fitness fanatics” are so accustomed to- myself included up until January of 2009.

For anyone new to the blog, I spent years training high volume in the gym, and then spent the most recent 2 years doing 10+ hours of “cardio” per week on top of that. In January of 2009 I abruptly kicked this habit and began exercising once per week for 10-15 minutes, mostly on resistance machines. My results quickly sky rockted from the drastic reduction in volume, frequency, and increase in intensity.

So, how exactly did I make the shift from working out every day, to about once per week, and what can you apply from my successful experience? Let’s find out…

1. I was still in the gym reguarily due to my job teaching group exercise at the Univeristy of Central Florida. I focused on doing as little as possible during my classes, all the while…

For those that don’t know about my exercise background, I worked out every day for nearly 2 years. I did this under the false belief that all exercise is beneficial and healthy.

In January of 2009 a friend recommended a new book called “Body by Science“.

Reluctantly, I began reading the book. Less than 2 days later I finished it- before even buying it (I read it IN the Barnes and Noble). The book was incredible, and seemed to fill in the “cracks” left in my mind from conventional exercise lore (and my progressively worse results from doing more and more of it).

Body by Science is essentially an introduction to proper exercise- also known as high intensity training, which you can read about on my old blog here.

In that post I also detail my experience and results up to that point with the training- which was limited to once per week 15 minute or less sessions.

You might think I gained body fat from working out only 15 minutes a week (I ate the…