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Got rhythm?

From time to time I will get someone who asks, “what do I do to continue working out?” There are many tools and tricks I use, but the staple of my routine is a technique I created called Rhythmic Intensive Training. R.I.T. is simply adding “rhythm” to your repetitions at various tempos … slow, mid and up-tempo, but the biggest benefit of R.I.T. is it teaches/reminds you to breathe rhythmically eliminating the terrible habit of holding your breath causing some people to get light headed.

I have been a frequent visitor to the gym for over 20 years, so you can imagine boredom can creep up very fast. Consistently trying to navigate through my plateaus of boredom, I decided to combine two worlds — rhythm and strength training. In the group exercise format, rhythm has been a staple; however, in the area of strength training it has not been maximized to its fullest potential. Using this technique will change the foundation of how you workout forever if you use it consistently and play around with your speed and range of motion. For example, if you’re doing a bicep curl, try to “get the squeeze” at the top of the movement in sync with the beat of the music. If you combine this rhythm with your breathing pattern, you will feel your workouts begin to flow seamlessly without sacrificing intensity. Matter of fact, the intensity and quality of your workouts will increase.

How many times have you been performing an exercise focused on hitting your reps or burning those calories and when you finish your set, you feel as if you’re going to pass out? A variety of factors come into play with that scenario: lack of sleep or food, but most of the time the light-headed feeling is a direct result of performing a strenuous exercise while holding your breath.

Rhythmic Intensive Training is not designed to make you the next James Brown, it’s simply designed to force you to keep pace with the music being played which will raise your heart rate, burns calories and make your workouts more efficient and fun. Nothing is set in stone when exercising, so feel free to play around with your repetition tempos and breathing but always focus on proper form and listen to the feedback your body is giving you. Take this tool and make it your own but Do someTHIN!

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