Don't use time as an excuse.

But almost everyone does.

Workouts have a reputation for being these long, drawn-out, and grueling episodes that go on for long, sweaty, torturous hours.

Fresh out of high school, and before I knew any better (and when I had all the free time I could ever want) I would workout for 5 sometimes 6 days per week, at up to 2 and a half hours a pop.

Like I said, before I knew any better.

If you workout for 2 and a half hours, you can't possibly be pushing yourself to the maximum the whole time, which was exactly the case for me.

I would do a set, then walk around and 'gather my energy' for 5 minutes before my next set.

But of course I didn't really have anything better to do with my time.

After going through university and being constantly under the gun for reports, and projects, and studying, I was forced to change this routine.

In fact, this morning's workout took me no more than 35 minutes INCLUDING cardio.

There is a simple rule that I tell all of my clients.

"You can have intensity, or you can have volume, but you can't have both"

What this means is that if you don't have time for long workouts, then you can make up for this by increasing the intensity of your workouts (less rest time, heavier weights, faster speed on the treadmill etc).

On the other hand, if you can't put in high intensity for certain reasons like illness or injury, then you can get away with longer workouts, but at a much easier and lighter pace.

When working with client's who are incredibly pressed for time, an intense workout is always the best option.

I have worked with law enforcement officers that would sometimes have to leave right in the middle of a session if they got called out to an incident, so we would go through each workout like we only had 15 minutes to spare.

Now those were intense workouts.

Yours in health,

RD

Are detoxes a good idea?

Q: Rylan, I have seen (insert favorite infomercial here) talking about this new detox plan with herbal supplements. Do you think that it's a good idea? I've been feeling a little sluggish and 'toxic' lately and have been considering doing a week long detox plan.

A: In my humble opinion, 99.9% of these products are simply a total waste of time and effort. A quick search on google for 'detox' will yield you countless results for everything from grapefruit detox, to herbal detox, to god knows what else.

We are a toxic society. We live and breath toxins, and I don't blame you for being concerned, but you have to pick your battles.

You don't need to go on some expensive and fancy detox plan to see fantastic improvements in your health and well-being. Your body wants to do this naturally.

But only if you stop loading it up with crap!

When a heroin addict stops their habit, they go through incredibly traumatic withdrawal symptoms as their body detoxes from the poison. They don't need to go on a detox plan to help their body out, they just need to stop filling it with garbage and let the body do it's work.

Your body will detox naturally, and safely, if given the opportunity.

Stop loading yourself with refined sugars, alcohol, refined flour products, and caffeine, and your body will gladly detox naturally on its own.

In fact, if you add certain herbal detoxifying supplements into your diet at the same time you are eliminating all the nutrition problems, you will probably feel really, really crappy, as your body is flooded with more garbage than it can handle.

This is where the headaches, shakes, and nausea set in.

Instead of worrying about whether your toothpaste is all natural or not, getting rid of that glass of wine or martini with dinner will go much farther in your quest to live a healthier life.

Make sure you drink plenty of water so your body has a way to eliminate the toxins freely, and get plenty of rest and exercise to help it along its way.

You will be so much more comfortable as you detox, it won't cost you a thing, and you will be amazed how how good you will feel in a few weeks.

RD

Time to hit the panic button...

Yes, it's official. In less than two months, summer will be here.

Are you ready?

Have you lost the weight you said you were going to lose on New Years Eve?

Have you trimmed the inches off your waist?

Is your body bathing suit ready?

If you don't want to waste another summer hiding under oversized clothes and wearing t-shirts over top of your swimwear, then you don't have any more time to waste.

The good news is, you can accomplish a lot in two months.

You could drop 15-25 pounds or more

You could reduce your body fat by up to 5%

You could turn your soft tummy into hard abs

You could lose your man boobs (gentleman)

You could lose your bat-wings (ladies)

You could drop clothing sizes

You could be happy with your body for once.

So what are you waiting for?