20 Minutes to a new you..Look at what this guy was able to accomplish!

This weekend's challenge- NEW Peak Fitness Program

1. Read the article at Dr. Mercola's site: http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/06/26/10-minutes-of-exercise-yields-hourlong-effects.aspx
2. Perform a Peak workout.

or for those who never read directions, a condensed primer (Excerpt from Dr. Mercola)
"     Once or twice a week you do peak exercises, in which you raise your heart rate up to your anaerobic threshold for 20 to 30 seconds, and then you recover for 90 seconds.You would repeat this cycle for a total of eight repetitions. These cycles are preceded by a three minute warm up and two minute cool down so the total time investment is about 20 minutes."

"     First of all, please remember that you can perform this with any type of exercise. While having access to a gym or exercise equipment will provide you with a larger variety of options, you don't require either. You can easily perform this by walking or running on flat ground.

     You will certainly want to work your way up to this point, but ultimately you want to exercise vigorously enough so you reach your anaerobic threshold as this is where the "magic" happens that will trigger your growth hormone release.
     Whatever activity you choose, by the end of your 30 second period you will want to reach these markers:
•It will be relatively hard to breathe and talk because you are in oxygen debt
•You will start to sweat profusely. Typically this occurs in the second or third repetition unless you have a thyroid issue and don't sweat much normally.
•Your body temperature will rise
•Lactic acid increases and you will feel a muscle "burn"

     If you are using cardio equipment like an elliptical or bike, you don't need to reach any "magical" speed. It's highly individual, based on your current level of fitness. But you know you're doing it right when you're exerting yourself to the point of typically gasping for breath, after a short burst of activity.
     An added boon is that you'll save a tremendous amount of time because peak fitness will cut your hour-long cardio workout down to a total of 20 minutes or so, including your recovery time, warm-up and cool down.

The actual sprinting totals only 4 minutes!

Here's what a typical peak fitness routine might look like using a recumbent bike:
1.Warm up for three minutes
2.Exercise as hard and fast as you can for 30 seconds. You should feel like you couldn't possibly go on another few seconds
3.Recover for 90 seconds
4.Repeat the high intensity exercise and recovery 7 more times
Be mindful of your current fitness level and don't overdo it when you first start out.

If you are not in great shape and just starting this you may want to start with just two or three repetitions, and work your way up to eight, which is where the magic really starts to happen. You may need to start with just walking and when you do your 30 second bursts your legs would be moving as fast as possible without running - and your arms would be pumping hard and fast.
If you can do a peak fitness workout twice a week, and follow the dietary recommendations I'll go over next, you will increase your production of growth hormone. "