How to lose your paunch: the 4-minute workout for men

By Dr Michael Mosley
Every man comes to dread the paunch, that protrusion of the belly that seems to appear from nowhere as middle age approaches. Before I discovered Fast Exercise, I found myself in that position, with a middle that had expanded by noticeable inches over the years. Then last year a paper published in the American College of Sports Medicines Health and Fitness Journal caught my eye. Its authors, from the Human Performance Institute at Orlando, Florida, outlined what they claimed to be the ultimate abbreviated strengthening and toning workout. Performing the series of 12 moves, in quick succession, in a total of seven minutes, would produce results comparable to a run and weights session combined. What these scientists called HICT (High-Intensity Circuit Training) became the basis of Fast Strength, a series of workouts that aim to improve all-over body tone and to get rid of the lumps and bumps that plague us as we get older. The concept is refreshingly simple. Fast Strength workouts use hardly any equipment for the most part your body weight provides all the resistance you need and relies on exercises that require good old-fashioned brute effort. And all the exercises are performed with only a short breather to recover. Of course, the real beauty is that its over in a fraction of the time it takes to do a regular gym class, yet really can transform your body (and health) for the better. Because the sort of exercises included in Fast Strength circuits recruit multiple large muscle groups, they elicit a significant metabolism-boosting effect that can last for up to 72 hours. The circuits are tough but, because they are bite-sized, they are manageable. And even when muscles are quivering, you can remind yourself that the discomfort is temporary. From being a virtual non-exerciser a year ago, my paunch has all but disappeared and I have rediscovered abdominal muscles I have not seen for years. Its not yet a six-pack, but its getting there. Now its your turn.

Fast Exercise

Tuesday January 7 2014

Tomorrow The 5-minute workout for women

None of the workouts in this routine involve more than four minutes of total flat-out effort. However, it is important to warm up and cool down for a few minutes before each session and to take the relevant recovery breathers. See next pages for how to do each exercise

Four-minute fitness the programme

Day 1
Week

Day 2
10 x abdominal crunches; 10 x oblique knee turns, 30 sec plank. Repeat as many times as you can in 4 min Bear crawl for 20 sec; 10 x reverse curl, 10 x oblique abdominal crunches. Repeat as many times as you can in 4 min Warm up, bound up and walk down stairs for 4 min. Cool down

Day 3
REST

Day 4
Walk slowly for 1 min, then 1 min fast. Repeat 4 times

Day 5
10 x reverse curls, 10 x V-sits, 10 x side plank raises. Repeat as many times as you can in 4 min 10 x plank with leg raise; 10 x side plank raises; 10 x abdominal crunches. Repeat as many times as you can in 4 min Warm up and perform four 30 sec sprints up a hill or four 30 sec sprints on a bike. Take 3-4 min recovery between each burst.

Day 6
Warm up for 2 min. Sprint upstairs (and walk down) as many times as you can in 2 min. Cool down for 4 min

Day 7
REST

Walk at a moderate pace for 2 min, then quickly for 2 min. Repeat

Week

Gently jog or cycle for 2 min. Then perform two 20-sec flat-out sprints with 2 min gentle recovery. Cool down for 2 min

10 x press-ups, 10 x pec fly; 10 x press-up with rotation. Repeat as many times as you can in 4 min

REST

Walk fast for 4 min up an 8-10 per cent gradient.

30 sec each of bear crawls, oblique knee turuns, V-sits and plank with a 10-sec breather between the exercises. Repeat REST

Week

REST

30 sec each of side plank raise, abdominal crunch, reverse curl and pec fly with a 10-sec breather between each. Repeat

Gently jog or cycle for 2 min. Then perform two 20-sec flat-out sprints with a 2-min gentle recovery. Cool down for 2 min 30 sec each of abdominal crunches, press-ups with rotation, bear crawl, reverse curl, plank, plank with leg raise, side plank raise, oblique knee turns, V-sits and oblique ab crunches. 10-sec break between each.

15 sec of bear crawl, ab crunches, rotation press-ups, reverse curl, plank, plank with leg raise, side plank raise, oblique knee turns, V-sits, oblique ab crunches. 10-sec break between exercises. Repeat 30 sec each of pec fly, bear crawl, press-ups, with a 10 sec breather. Repeat

Week

2-min warm-up; four 60-second bursts of sprinting, cycling or walking with 90 sec rest. Cool down 2 min

15 x pec fly, press-ups, press-ups with rotation and oblique knee turns. Repeat as many times as you can in 4 min

REST

Warm up and do one 4-min run at 90 per cent of your maximum pace.

30 sec of abdominal crunches, press-ups with rotation, bear crawl, reverse curls, plank, plank with leg raise, side plank raise, oblique knee turns, V-sits and oblique ab crunches. 10 sec breather between exercises.