Workout: 5 Tips for Intense Physical Training

Don't plug away at the elliptical machine or treadmill for 60 minutes. Don't do the same lifting routine for weeks on end with little progress.
Utilize these 5 tips for intense physical training to ignite your bodies growth cycle and infuse some variety into your stale workout.
These tips are drawn from tried and true methods including High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), the Tabata Method, and military style training.

Photo by Cronfield (flickr.com/photos/haurum)

Keep In Mind

Your body requires training variety to sustain growth and development. So, it is important to constantly change your work outs to keep your body guessing.
High intensity training, like all things, should be done in moderation. You don't want to end up over training or getting injured.

Intense training can save you time. Instead of doing 60 minutes of cardio you can do 20 minutes at a higher intensity level to achieve the same, or even better, results.

Photo by PFC David Thompson (flickr.com/photos/dvids) 

The 5 Tips

TIP #1: Jump rope before, during and after you workout.
To warm up do three sets of 30-seconds with 30-seconds of rest between sets. Then jump rope for 15-seconds between each set of your weight lifting routine. After you are done with your workout finish off with three sets of 30-seconds just like the warmup.

TIP #2: Use the Tabata Method.
Pick at least one exercise, or even one workout day, and utilize the Tabata Method. We'll use bench press as our example, but you can use it with any exercise. Pick a weight you can lift continuously for 30-seconds. Meaning you're doing as many reps as possible in 30-seconds.

The sets are as follows: 30-second intervals, followed by 20-seconds of rest. Repeat for a total of 8 cycles.

TIP #3: Sprint intervals on treadmill or track.
After warming up for about 5-10 minutes, sprint for 15-30 seconds followed by a 2-minute light jog to recover. Repeat this 5 times.

TIP #4: Learn to crawl.
Mark off two points, perhaps 10 yards on a football field or two lines on a basketball court. Then crab walk from point A to point B and bear crawl from B to A.

TIP #5: Incorporate plyometrics.
Explosive movements are preferred, things like squat jumps, clap push-ups, box jumps, split squat jumps are a few examples. Do these in timed intervals - 30-seconds with 45-seconds rest.