Time to dig deeper

BY ALBERT KRAMBERGER

editor@transcontinental.ca

(Part three of a seven week fitness series)

So, after my second week of training with Steve Frischman at The Power Co. Fitness Centre, I've shed a few pounds and built up my strength.

The key to a good workout, he told me last Friday, is the intensity, not the time.

"How far do people really push themselves to their maximum capability (in one hour)?" he asked. "Working out my way, for example, what we do in 30 or 40 minutes, depending on how well you can let yourself be pushed, is more than what people do on their own."

"In the interval training we do, we're going from abs to shoulders to hitting the bag, we're doing all sorts of athletic stuff that would lend itself to a more realistic activity than a very sterilized situation in a gym where you're sitting on a machine or grabbing a weight," he continued.

It seems the key to improving workouts is to keep pushing past the comfort zone and try to do the extra squat or push up when your legs or arms feel like they're about to give.

To summarize my training so far, the first week at Power introduced my body to exercises that it wasn't used to (and to deal with the resulting pain and soreness). The second week was about adaptation, my body coming to terms with the physical activities. During the third week, my body will become accustomed to it and I will be able to perform at (or close) to my maximum capacity and my energy level will go up and recovery time after each exercise will be shortened.

Going into weeks four and five, I should be able to accomplish a lot more in a shorter period of time, according to Frischman. "Your cardiovascular is going to vastly improve."

I think I can live with that forecast.

— Albert Kramberger, the editor of The Chronicle, is taking a six-week challenge to become fit as a fiddle with Steve Frischman at The Power Co. Fitness Centre located in Pointe Claire Plaza.