We both have the same philosophy when it comes to fitness—that it’s dependent more on intensity than time—and she was telling me how challenging it is to design a class around a structured one hour time frame.

People just assume that you need to workout for at least an hour (or more) to get good results.  Can’t blame them though…most people have been brain-washed into thinking that’s the case…I mean when was the last time you took a class (or even worked out yourself) that was less than an hour?

What’s interesting is that people come up to my friend before and after classes and comment on her great physique and asks what she does to stay in such great shape?  And she tells them (point blank) that she does short intense workouts that are only 30 minutes or less…but people don’t believe her.  They just can’t get their head around the fact that more is not always better, and that less is more…if you workout right!

So if you’ve been putting in your best effort and haven’t seen the kind of results you want and you (still) believe that doing more gets you better results faster…you’re setting yourself up for longer term disappointment.  For most people this approach won’t work at all, and for a few that does, it won’t last…you’ll eventually burn yourself out.  It’s simply not sustainable

Now let’s be honest, getting strong, fit and lean isn’t going to happen instantly.  Too many people go to extremes to try and achieve their goals…ASAP.

Remember nothing worth while ever happens overnight!

Understanding that this is a process that takes a little time and that working out smarter is going to get you much further in the long run…is half the battle.

Here’s the key—your fitness is not time dependent but rather intensity dependent and that means you don’t need to workout endlessly counting calories and you certainly don’t need to spend an entire hour in the gym!

Working out at the right intensity combined with eating the proper combination of natural whole foods, will enable your body to produce the right hormones and allow your body to optimize it’s lean muscle growth and fat burning potential!

Here are 9 simple and effective tips that can help optimize your lean muscle building and fat burning process:

Keep your workouts short and sweet:

(1) When working out, pay attention to how your body feels.  Push it only as far as you’re comfortable.  If you haven’t worked out at higher intensities before, listen to your body it’s your best barometer!

(2) If you push yourself beyond exertion, you won’t be able to recover quickly or adequately enough.  A good sign is how you feel after the workout is over.  If you’re still   tired and dragging yourself hours after the workout, you probably over did it.

(3) Keep you workouts short, preferably less than 30 minutes.

(4) Stick to doing compound movements like squats, lunges, push ups and pull ups.  Remember the more muscles you can stimulate at one time the more calories you’ll burn and better the results!

Eat to stoke your body’s fat burning furnace:

(5) Cut out all refined/processed foods…that includes all the so-called “healthy” bars and snacks!  Stick to whole foods that you’re body was meant to eat.

(6) Make sure that you’re eating the right combination of macronutrients, which are your proteins, carbs and fats.  Most people tend to eat way too much carbs!  Remember just because it’s healthy, doesn’t mean that it’s not going add fat on your body!

(7) Consume enough protein, about 0.7 - 1 gram of protein for each pound of lean body weight is a good estimate.  Protein helps keep you satisfied longer and it’s the only food type that actually burns calories while you eat it!  How’s that for an added incentive.

(8) Keep your eye on how much carbs you’re eating.  A sweet spot for many people trying to lose weight and get lean is about 100 grams of carbs a day.  And that means fruit as well!  Yes…fruits are good for you, but most of them are also quite high in sugar (fructose).  So keep your fruit intake moderate and if possible to stick to fruits with lower net sugar contents like berries.

(9) Don’t stay away from fats…especially good fats.  Eating ample amounts of good fat will help you stay healthy and actually accelerate your body’s own fat burning process!

Implement these 9 simple tips and let your body work for you and not against you so you can finally start getting rid of your stubborn fat!

P.S.  If you want to find out more about how to workout and eat to maximize your fitness and burn fat check out my MAX Workouts program: