Five Factor Fitness. Part. 1.

Part.1 . The Greatest Fitness-and-Food Program Ever Invented.

1. The Plan.

five simple steps to achieving a celebrity body by working out less and eating more.

I work with people who are motivated by the fact that their livelihoods hinge on how attractive they are. In fact, it’s their calling card. I’m no different: I wouldn’t be in very much demand as a fitness trainer if I didn’t look extra-fit.

But while money and professional success are powerful motivators, so are many of the other good things that we want in life: love (a big motivator)., approval, status, good health, boundless physical energy, strength, and the satisfaction of overcoming challenges.

Regardless of what is motivating you to change how you eat and exercise, I’m positive that you want to do it efficiently and painlessly. That’s why I’m so excited to bring the 5 Factor to you.

This is the simple plan that has kept Hollywood’s A-List in shape for years.

I’m going to tell you right now exactly what you need to do over the course of the next five weeks to achieve the body you’ve always wanted. There are no hidden secrets. This is the same program that some of Hollywood’s biggest stars use to stay in shape and look their best. Here is what you need to do: • Eat five meals a day to boost your metabolism and reduce body fat.

Follow the five criteria for each meal—(1). low-fat quality protein (2). lowto moderateglycemic index carbohy drate (3). fiber (4). healthy fat, and (5). sugar-free beverage—that will satisfy your appetite, deliver balanced nutrition, and keep your blood-sugar levels stable (pre venting insulin spikes and subsequent fat storage).. These criteria allow you to eat “normal” foods and “normal” amounts, yet also pave the way for significant fat loss and lean tissue preservation.

Spend only five minutes preparing each meal, which re quires only five easy-to-find ingredients.

Work out twenty-five minutes, five days a week, for five weeks to get your body to lose fat, gain lean muscle, and increase energy in less time than any other program.

Indulge in your weekly cheat day. That’s right, one day a week indulge your cravings and eat the foods you love.

That’s it. That is the simple program that has worked for countless people. No carbohydrate counting; no calorie counting; no measuring food; no long or complicated exercise routines; no major time commitment. This is what Hollywood insiders have known for years. Anyone can look like a celebrity; maybe you can’t look like a specific celebrity, but, without question, you can look as though you are a star about to shoot a film, go on a record tour, or tape a music video.

You are reading this, so your interest is clearly piqued. But please don’t leave it there—put it to use. The pleasure that you’ll earn is a hundred times greater than the anxiety you may feel now, while wondering if you can pull it off. You can. You will.

2.The 5 Factor Difference.

Why You’ve Failed Before.

Why does someone abandon a fitness or diet program? Simply because the severity of that program outweighs the benefits that it provides. The truth is, almost every weight-loss diet is doomed to failure.

Usually it is severely restrictive in some respect: either by limiting you to so few calories, fat, or carbohydrate grams a day that going to a restaurant or eating at a friend’s house becomes very difficult. Also, it requires extensive planning and diplomacy, and demands that you master complicated techniques and rules for meal preparation.

Or, because you are miserably hungry the entire time, it leaves you itching for the diet to end, so you can resume your normal life.

Hence, strict diets are extremely tough to sustain week in and week out. The dropout rates of such diets are astonishingly high.

What’s more, the temptation to sabotage an onerous regimen is just too hard to resist. Many of my clients had tried numerous fitnessand-diet routines before mine; some had success with these routines, yet they often felt that the workouts were “hellish” and the diets “harsh.” As a result, these plans were short-term fixes at best, but soon after the film or athletic season they had prepared for was over, they were back on the open road looking for something better. They found it with 5 Factor .

The 5 Factor is different—very different—from all of the programs you’ve tried before. The 5 Factor helps you instantly make big changes—losing fat, getting more lean muscle (and better body shape), and boosting your energy level—without turning your life upside down. In fact, it’s easily incorporated into your busy life, because the workout takes only twenty-five minutes a day, five days a week. You don’t have to go to a gym or see a trainer. And the meal plan is easy to follow. You’ll be eating more often, while not carb or calorie counting.

Let’s face it, we live in a land of excess in every respect but one: time. Have you ever been deterred from trying to gain control over your appearance and fitness by the thought of shoehorning a oneor two-hour workout into your already packed day? Has the thought that you might need to alter the way you and your family eat, perhaps by spending hours a week shopping for unfamiliar foods, plus devoting hours a day preparing complicated meals, stopped you from trying to get matters in hand? Have you hesitated to try making more nutritious, healthy meals, either because it will take tons of time and effort or because it might isolate you from others, by making you adopt an extreme eating style? You won’t encounter any of that with the 5 Factor . Here are the five reasons why other plans don’t work and why the 5 Factor does:

1. They require too much time or equipment—5 Factor workouts only last twenty-five minutes and require only a bench and some dumbbells.

2. They are boring—5 Factor workouts keep you engaged because you’ll change the rep ranges, exercises, sequences, and muscle combinations continually.

3. They are difficult to comprehend and follow—5 Factor exercises are simple and easy to master.

4. They are built on outmoded principles, rather than on the latest scientific breakthroughs—the 5 Factor methodology I’ve used is backed by new, state-of-the-art research and findings.

5. They require adherence to a dull, restrictive, or complicated diet—the 5 Factor diet you’ll follow is one that is simple, balanced, and easily obtained, anywhere you are likely to go.

Why the 5 Factor Will Work for You?

I’ve noticed that when someone says to me, “I’m too busy to work out,” or “I don’t believe in all these diet plans; they all contradict one another,” or “I’m not an athlete, nor do I want to be one, so there’s no way I can sustain an exercise program,” those declarations are actually questions in disguise.

Here are those disguised questions: “How much time will it take?” “How and what should I eat?” “Is working out going to be too hard for me? Can I really do it?” Yes, you can.

“I don’t have time to work out”—you can carve out twentyfive minutes in your day.

“I don’t want to join a gym”—you don’t have to.

“I don’t have a place to exercise”—all you need is a bench and a set of dumbbells.

“I don’t know anything about exercise”—there are only three exercises per workout.

“I can’t eat in a deprived, freakish manner”—you won’t be deprived (five meals per day), and you won’t have to cut out any food groups.

All the above concerns are those that I’ve heard from my own clients and in my years of training, studying, and talking to others.

Probably you have at least a few of these yourself. I believe that these concerns, doubts, and fears stem from the fact that, until now, your relationship to exercise hasn’t worked. Fortunately, you’re in good hands, for the 5 Factor is the most revolutionary workout plan ever invented.

That’s a bold statement that is backed up with scientific reasoning and straightforward facts. If you’ve never worked out before, then you got lucky your first time out. If you have trained before, you will appreciate this workout more than any other routine you’ve tried—for both its cutting-edge method as well as its extraordinary results.

When it comes to choosing a fitness plan, we all want the same thing: results, delivered to our bodies as quickly as possible. That’s called efficiency. We, however, also need efficacy: in other words, a program that is not only effective right out of the gate, but that will create positive changes with your body—less fat, more lean muscle, more energy—continually, for as long as you use the program.

What’s the end result? How does losing at least 5 pounds of fat (and often more) while changing the shape of your body in five weeks sound? It may represent the final stage of where you want your body to be or, more likely, will be the first major step toward the body shape you’ve coveted for so long.

I’m confident that 5 Factor Fitness works because it’s produced these exact results for my clients—clients who are actors and actresses who hire me before they begin filming a movie or go on a photo shoot. Five weeks is all it takes.

Real Results.

Halle Berry , 36 , Actress.

One of my favorite clients is Halle, who I first trained for a film called Gothika. She was known around the world for her beautiful body, to say nothing of her beautiful face. In her hometown of Los Angeles, she worked out hard and got results, yet some of her training had unduly stressed her joints.

On top of some painful, nagging injuries, many sustained as a childhood gymnast, her physique was slightly unbalanced.

While some of these problems were the result of improper training, many, in fact, emanated from overtraining.

After my third session with her, Halle had become so enamored with the 5 Factor that she asked me if I could come back with her to L.A. to train her for the movie Catwoman. I accepted.

Catwoman required her to be in tip-top physical condition.

We wanted to develop better body balance, while becoming injury-free and sexier along the way. First, we redistributed some of her weight by getting more definition in her upper body. She had a flat stomach, but we made it stronger and leaner while keeping it sexy. Like many women, she had very powerful quadriceps but relatively weak and tight hamstrings; they were being overpowered and made her vulnerable to potential knee and lower-back injuries. So we worked to make the back of her legs and her butt more balanced as well as firmer. The most key exercises to her body improvement were the stiff-legged deadlifts for her hamstrings and the lunges for her butt.

Cardio was also a challenge because Halle, like many of us, hates to do it. Getting her to do long bouts of cardio was tough, but she knew she wanted to get leaner. So for a few weeks, we extended the fifth stage of the workout to thirty minutes. Doing that five times a week, plus the twenty minutes of stages 1 through 4, worked magic. Shooting began five weeks later and her body was in peak shape. At that point, we dropped the fifth stage back to five minutes.

With 5 Factor , Halle’s body keeps progressing. Even though we almost never go beyond the twenty-five-minute workout, Halle keeps getting stronger and stronger—two full years after we began her 5 Factor journey.

Part. 2. 5 Factor Fitness.

3.The Science and Sense Behind 5 Factor Fitness.

The 5 Factor Fitness portion asks for just twenty-five minutes five days a week, and each workout consists of only three exercises and ten minutes of cardio. For many of you, this is welcome news, though you may wonder in the back of your mind how it’s possible to make substantial changes with such little time expenditure. Others may immediately declare that this workout can’t be enough to meet their goals of fat reduction and lean muscle increases.

I’m here to ease and eradicate those fears. You will reap more gains from this routine than any previous one you’ve tried. Or if you’ve never really given any fitness program a try, you’ve chosen wisely. Why? It’s simple. The 5 Factor optimizes efficiency, in terms of time and results.

The great results will come because of how the 5 Factor uses the mighty principles of variety and intensity. If you’re worried that the program won’t match your current fitness level (from out of shape to very fit), I’ve carefully designed two 5 Factor workouts.

levels I and II. Level I includes a one-week preparation phase for those new to exercise and/or those who have been sedentary for a long time.

The 5 Factor is the only kind of workout that you can still do when you’re sick, or feel a cold coming on. Research shows that short, intense workouts can assist immune-system function, while longer workouts may overtax the immune system.

How the 5 Factor Was Born.

I first developed a passion for the subjects of fitness, health, and diet as a teen hockey player in Canada. In order to get stronger and more powerful on the ice, I began lifting weights (thanks, in part, to my mom, who first introduced me to the gym). Weight lifting became a lifelong habit when I witnessed the tremendous effect that it had on my body, psychology, and social life.

The ensuing years that I spent as an amateur bodybuilder, graduate student, and fitness trainer did nothing to diminish my enthusiasm. In fact, I became driven by the idea that there had to be an optimal way to train and eat, and that I was the guy who could and would find it.

I knew that the sheer volume of writings, videos, and magazine articles on these subjects testified to their universal appeal, but they remained rather mysterious to most people. I was consumed by the notion that there might be a key to solving the fitness-and-diet riddle, and that if I searched for it, I could find it.

My search continued during the first eight of my eleven years training others, until, four years ago, I found it. I discovered the elusive “holy grail” itself: an absolutely effective, safe, and efficient way to exercise and eat that was easily put into practice, with as minimal a time investment as possible.

What do I mean by “an absolutely effective, safe, and efficient way”? During my years of study and training, I’d found that there are dozens of possible ways to exercise and eat in order to lose fat and build lean muscle: strength training, intense cardiovascular activity, various sports, yoga, etc. The problem, of course, was that all of these methods required massive time commitments, with varying results. What I wanted was a program that would be extremely time-effective and easy to follow, and would deliver immediate results.

The Science.

I began my quest for the perfect system in graduate school, when I was given the unique opportunity to conduct research with the Defense and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine. I joined a group of scientists who were trying to examine the effects of nutritional supplements on physical performance, i.e., strength and endurance.

Fortunately, the pattern of the 5 Factor began to emerge early on.

One particular study, assessing the effects of consumed nutritional supplements on muscular strength and endurance, used doubleblind lab tests with exercises. After the subjects ingested capsules (real or placebo), they performed two exercises (a Smith-machine bench press and a 45-degree leg press), one immediately after the other without rest to exhaustion, three times. As the study progressed and with each weekly trial, the subjects grew stronger: in fact, their bodies became noticeably more muscular and fit. This was astounding, given that each exercise trial took only ten minutes. How could ten minutes of intense exercise once a week effect such a transformation? Next, I examined the world-class Bulgarian powerlifting team, which produced Olympic champions yet trained only ten minutes at a time; their sports scientists discovered that higher levels of testosterone and growth hormone—the two principal hormones responsible for building muscle and burning fat—were secreted by the body during short, intense workouts rather than longer, moretempered sessions. Next, I studied the training system developed by professional bodybuilder Mike Mentzer, the only competitor ever to earn a perfect score in a Mr. Universe competition—meaning that he had developed an absolutely perfectly balanced physique.

He, too, believed that intensity was a far more significant exercise factor than duration in achieving body transformation.

I was able to refine my understanding of the concept of intensity by examining, next, the work of the Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye, Ph.D., who devised, and then won a Nobel Prize for, a theory called the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). This theory led me to the discovery that variation was as essential as intensity—in the form of manipulating rep ranges and exercise sets (each set represents a group of reps) as well as weight loads—for the perfectly efficient workout. For example, if you keep exposing the same stress to the body, at some point we stop reacting to it. Do ten push-ups after not having done any exercise in months and you’ll be sore the next day; start doing ten push-ups every day, however, and you not only won’t be sore anymore, the push-ups will barely do you any good. Your body has adapted—and unlike the professional athletes who want their bodies to adapt to the rigors of their sport, you have a completely different goal in your training. You want to keep your body off-balance as much as possible.

When I viewed this idea in light of my own work—particularly the military field study—I realized that the enormous benefits of intensity and variation would best be realized if the program revolved around short, frequent workouts.

If you’re a woman, the beautiful, shapely silhouette of the ballet dancer or the long muscular shape of the rower probably captures the kind of body you want. For the man, the powerful, athletic, and muscular sprinter’s physique might fit the image you want.

What do these vocations have in common? They all utilize what is, in effect, an intense, very high-rep range. The ballet dancer springs across the floor dozens of times, the sprinter rockets down the track for forty strides, and the rower cranks the oars through the water hundreds of times. However, while you always have the option of taking up ballet, sprinting, or rowing, you’ll have to spend hours practicing almost every day of the week—which is exactly what these folks do. Instead, with 5 Factor you will derive similar results from similarly intense high-rep ranges.

Varying the number of reps and sets constantly shocks the body, which includes your muscles (making you leaner and stronger), hormones (stimulating your metabolism), bones (protecting you against osteoporosis), and connective tissue (preventing repetitive stress and other injuries). Your “muscle potential” is simply not reached with short-rep ranges. You won’t get the muscle shaping, calorie burn, and higher energy level—three attributes that all of us seek—in other programs that consistently keep the rep ranges under 15, and/or rarely vary the rep ranges from week to week.

Twenty-five minutes, five days per week, is all you need. I’ve designed the program to address the need for exercise variety. Our bodies are designed to strive toward reaching a “set point,” where changes stop occurring—it’s actually a survival mechanism. Consequently, during each week of the 5 Factor , you’ll complete a different number of repetitions. Continue to demand new things from your muscles, and you will continue honing your physique.

The Five Training Variables of 5 Factor .

One primary reason why the 5 Factor works so well is how it uses variety. As with everything, variety is the spice of life; it awakens you, whether it involves your route to work, the food you eat, or your sex life. The same goes with exercise, as your body responds more quickly and consistently when you use the variety principle.

In particular, for every week out of the five weeks, these five training variables (below) are shifted in order to ensure that your body never stops progressing.

1. Type of exercise (for strength training, cardiovascular, and core movements).

2. Repetitions.

3. Sets.

4. Resistance level.

5. Rest periods.

The Number “5”.

The number “5” in 5 Factor was not chosen at random. It’s actually integral to why this program works so well. After extensive research and further experimentation with myself and my client base, I found that five phases in a single workout represent the optimal training stimulus for beginner to advanced exercisers: a cardio warm-up, followed by two phases of strength training to develop lean muscle and boost your metabolism, one phase to work your crucial midsection, then ending with cardio to burn additional fat and cool your body down. The last cardio phase can be lengthened for the advanced exerciser. Because the workout is broken into five chunks of intense exercise that work your body differently, the 5 Factor workout is extremely doable—and you will be surprisingly refreshed for each workout.

For high-level fat burning, lean muscle gains, and metabolic boosting, five short workouts is optimal. More than five may push you into overtraining mode, straining your muscles, and fewer won’t be enough to see significant results. Because your metabolism is elevated for up to forty-eight hours after a strength workout, it makes sense to create that benefit as often as possible. Additionally, I found that five-week cycles were sustainable and effective. Each participant lost at least 5 pounds of fat in those first five weeks (and beyond, if they were carrying excess fat) and gained more lean muscle.

Divide in Order to Conquer.

The 5 Factor works your muscles in a revolutionary way. Most resistance-training programs split your body into different muscle groups to be trained and then designate these groups to different days of the week; others simply split the body in two, such as upper body and lower body; some even work the entire body in one workout. All of these have inherent problems—ranging from being ineffective, working only for a time, to overtraining—because they don’t take three important matters into account.

First, the time you spend working a certain muscle should be proportional to the size of the muscle. Too often, I see men spend 75 percent of all their workout time on their chest and biceps, when these two muscles represent less than 20 percent of the body’s muscle mass. Women are guilty, too. Many women spend most of their time working their butts and their front and inner thighs. In doing so they not only neglect the rest of their body, they also are creating dangerous muscle imbalances. The worst part of doing this is, they end up shortchanging their efforts to look like they’ve got slimmer thighs, because their underdeveloped shoulders, arms, and torsos contribute so much to that “thunder thigh” appearance.

Second, balance is more than merely an aesthetic concern: by training certain body parts too much and other parts not enough, you may be compromising your posture and putting yourself at risk for injury. By working opposing muscle groups equally—such as the hamstrings to the quadriceps, the rear shoulder to the chest/ front shoulder—you will maintain a proper muscle balance and flexibility, thus reducing your susceptibility to injuries.

Third, when deciding what muscle groups to train together, it’s imperative that you pay attention to the psychological factor. Our desire, or lack thereof, to work on a certain muscle group will directly affect the intensity with which we will train. Generally speaking, smaller muscles are much easier to train than larger muscles; as a result, many people dread training their legs. This huge muscle group represents more than half of all our muscle and causes our heart rate to soar and our muscles to burn. On the other hand, our arms and abs are much smaller muscles and do not create as much overall fatigue or high-calorie burn. The result, of course, is that many people look forward to training their arms and abs because they are easier to work. Less sweat, less pain. And when it comes to training the legs, for example, they either skip the workout or train them inadequately.

For this reason, I designed the 5 Factor to avoid the typical upper body/lower body split used by so many. I separate the work for the legs as well as for the main torso muscles. Because I don’t expect you to get bogged down by exercise science, I want to highlight how significant this “separation” is: each of the five workouts is manageable for any level of ability or fitness.

The 5 Factor works the larger muscle groups (chest, quadriceps, back, and hamstrings) twice a week, while the smaller muscles (biceps, triceps, and shoulders) are worked once a week. The reason for that is simple: as a result of training our chest and back, we actually train our shoulder and arm muscles indirectly. For example, the chest-press exercise involves the shoulder and triceps muscles, while the back exercises involve the biceps and posterior shoulder. Because of their “part-time” job on the chest and back days, I actually consider working the shoulders and arms more than once per week to be overtraining.

Meanwhile, it’s a very good idea to work the large muscles of the body twice a week and not just once. Why? First, because these muscles take up more mass than our smaller muscles and require more work. Second, these muscles literally “carry much of the load” when we move our bodies around during the week, so such a workout is very “functional.” Third, to thoroughly train these large muscle groups, often two exercises that target different parts of the muscle group are necessary.

Putting It All Together (Intensity + Variety equal 5 Factor ).

In my experience as a trainer with my clients and as a scientist in a laboratory, the principles of intensity and variety were repeatedly found to be critical for producing the best kind of workout; moreover, these principles had to be instituted in a precise, well-designed program to be optimally effective as well as sustainable by anyone who wants to get in better shape.

By “intensity,” I don’t mean working out every muscle in your body every day. Doing so would neither be particularly effective nor be a program that you could stick with, year in and year out— or even for five weeks. Meanwhile, “variety” in the form of using multiple exercises in one workout, or doing something different every time you work out, is also not what I’m talking about. Both of these strategies may be effective but can also lead to overtraining or confusion.

Instead, with the 5 Factor , I’ve taken out all the guesswork for you by using intensity and variety in the most scientific yet simple way possible.

ten minutes of strength training a day boosts your body in five ways.

The benefits of strength training are huge, and the 5 Factor yields them in only ten minutes per training day: 1. It revs up your metabolism and, as a result, helps you burn fat between workouts. Studies have shown that weight training for ten minutes puts your body in a state of recovery and boosts your metabolism for a full forty-eight hours after strength training versus only forty minutes if you do thirty minutes of cardio.

2. It prompts your body to release the right hormones to increase lean muscle tissue while burning fat stores.

3. It increases bone density. In fact, numerous studies show that osteoporosis can be prevented if you use a regular strengthtraining program.

4. It develops lean muscle. Recent clinical studies show that you can build muscle well into your nineties.

5. It builds balance. By using dumbbells in the 5 Factor program, you improve your balance, which will guard against injury and improve your coordination and dexterity in all your activities.

Real Results.

Carmen Ingelstein , 74 , University Professor One of the most amazing women I’ve had the good fortune to know, Carmen has published numerous books and spoken in more than forty countries around the world. Referred to me by her psychiatrist, she is a widow who suffered from depression and was also overweight and arthritic. She ate infrequently and barely exercised at all, falsely believing that she was too old.

The first time she came to my studio, she struggled to get up the stairs. Within days on the 5 Factor , however, she began to change dramatically. Once completely sedentary, she began riding her bike to my studio, would practically leap out of her chair, actually loved opportunities to carry heavy grocery bags, and went on to climb Mount Kilimanjaro and go on European bike trips. She also went off antidepressants, and her psychiatrist called to say she was in a better mental state than ever before. Out of all my clients, she is the one I am the most proud of.

4 • Getting Ready what you need to know before you work out.

If this represents your first real effort to exercise in quite some time, consider the 5 Factor the beginning of great changes that your body will make. First, by doing very high repetitions in week 1 and gradually decreasing the number of reps and increasing the weight over the following weeks, you are going to create a giant warm-up. You are priming your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and chemistry for more challenging workouts ahead.

If the 5 Factor is taking over from other workouts that you’ve recently used, I urge you to completely abandon those previous workouts. The 5 Factor is so comprehensive that carrying over any elements from others could result in overtraining.

Optimizing Your Workout.

Best time to train.

You’ve probably heard it before, but a great time to exercise is in the morning because the day doesn’t get in the way. It sets the right tone for the day, and you don’t have to find time or energy later in the day. Because the 5 Factor only takes twenty-five minutes, it’s also simple to work out before your workday begins.

If the morning time does not suit you, then anchor your workout slot to some other daily routine, such as coming home from work (stopping by the gym, or hitting the weights the moment you walk in your front door) or over your lunch hour. (Both workouts, of course, presuppose that you’ve had a good, 5 Factor snack.) The key point is this: any time can work, as long as you have natural energy at that time. Maybe nighttime is what fits you.

The equipment you need.

Here it gets very easy. All you need are dumbbells and a bench, even if you belong to a fancy gym.

If you will work out at home, I can suggest many places to find dumbbells and a weight bench. You can go to your local sporting goods shop, including those that carry used equipment, all of which you can find through your Yellow Pages. You can also check the Internet and search under “gym equipment,” “weight bench,” and/or “dumbbells.” In terms of specific dumbbells, there are the all-in-one varieties, such as Powerblock, which offers two 5 to 50-pound dumbbells in which you use a pin to separate the weights. They cost several hundred dollars, however, so you may choose the more standard individual dumbbell, which can be everything from sand weights, to rubber-coated, hexagonal, and on up. The cheapest option of all is buying two small dumbbell bars, made up of plastic or steel, to which you add weight plates (buying four 2.5-, 5-, and 10-pound plates each gives you 5-, 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, 30-, and 35-pound dumbbells).

For most women, two individual dumbbells at 3, 5, 8, 10, and 12 pounds will get you started. Men should get 10-, 15-, 20-, 25-, and 30-pound dumbbells. If you realize that you need heavier weights, all you have to do is go out and buy some additional dumbbells; it can be a reward for your improving shape.

There is also a cardio component to the workout, of course.

While you can go for a power walk or jog outside, you may prefer to work out in the privacy of your own home, especially if the outside environment isn’t always conducive to exercise. Not too many places can accommodate jumping rope, so I’d recommend that you use a cardio machine (there are many designed for the home user), such as a treadmill, elliptical machine, stationary bike, stepper, rowing machine, etc. I find that treadmills encourage the most exercise retention simply because walking is the most natural cardio activity of all, so you don’t mind doing it every day. However, because the cardio portion is minimally five minutes, you will be able to stick with almost any kind of cardio machine.

The five reasons why dumbbells are better for you than exercise machines.

1. Dumbbells, your own body resistance, and a bench thoroughly work your targeted muscle plus the “stabilizer” muscles that surround the targeted area. Machines, on the other hand, work neither the muscles you’re trying to target nor the surrounding muscles adequately.

2. They “fit” anyone, regardless of size or age, whereas machines are designed to fit an arbitrary “average” body standard.

3. Dumbbells allow your joints and muscles to follow a motion that is natural for your body, while machines force your joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles to follow a “prescribed” motion that not only doesn’t work the surrounding muscle but also may be unnatural for you (potentially creating problems with certain joints, such as the knee, hip, shoulder, and elbow).

4. They allow you to train isolaterally, which means you can train each side of your body separately and thus avoid muscle imbalances. Machines worsen any strength discrepancy (such as imbalanced strength with the legs, chest, back, or shoulders) that you may have now (a common problem).

5. They give you a minimum of 250 exercises, but most gym machines will only give you 1, and the “home gyms” sold on TV might give you a maximum of 20; because they’re machines, they are still inadequate exercises compared to dumbbell exercises.

Your workout space.

If you plan to work out at home, then create a place free of distractions. Maybe this place will be in your bedroom, the garage, or the basement; maybe it can be the start of your very own home gym.

Music.

Okay, it’s not exactly fitness equipment, but it can boost anyone’s workout. It can help raise your intensity level as well as make you look forward to working out. Whether it’s the Beatles, Beyoncé, or Beethoven, choose music that gets your blood pumping. Usually, the more aggressive, upbeat, and fast tempo the beat, the more intense the workouts.

The amount of weight you lift.

The amount of weight you use is determined by the number of repetitions required for each set. This means a lighter weight for higher repetitions and a heavier weight for fewer repetitions. Select a weight that allows you to just barely complete the prescribed number of repetitions while maintaining proper technique.

For example, if you are supposed to do twenty repetitions and you are unable to complete the set, or if you must use poor technique to reach twenty reps, lower the weight. If, on the other hand, you find that you were not fully challenged and could probably have done more than twenty reps, make it slightly heavier next set.

After the first set of your first workout per body part, you will get a sense of what weights you should use for future sets and workouts.

Along those lines, I strongly recommend that you write down how much weight you use each workout. It will help inform your decision of how much weight to use the next week when you do fewer reps, and thus more weight (varying anywhere from 2.5 to 10 pounds more).

To give you a rough guideline for how much weight you should use in your first week of workouts in which you do very high reps, I suggest that you go as low as 3-pound dumbbells to no more than 20-pounders, even if you’re as strong as an ox. You can always up the weight for the next set.

Pace yourself. Remember, you’re doing either more reps or more sets or both than what you’re used to. So don’t jack up the weight for one ultimate set and have nothing left. Stay true to the rest times by using the appropriate weight loads.

Proper exercise form.

It’s very important to use good form not only to prevent any possible injury but also to get maximum benefit from an exercise. Follow the exercise descriptions and pictures very carefully.

If you’re unfamiliar with a move, use very light weights in the beginning during the preparation phase so you get the motion down. At no point is it worth it to “cheat” and use poor form to complete a rep. For the 1 percent advantage you can gain, it’s not worth it if you injure yourself. I always chuckle when people tell me they use the “cheating principle” with their biceps (using leverage or momentum to get in a few extra reps), for example. The only thing you’re cheating by using momentum is your biceps themselves. Instead, simply take your muscle to failure the right way.

Real results.

Steve , 45 , Producer A busy Los Angeles film producer, Steve is always producing two or three films at the same time, which means he has little time to work out. In addition, years of running excessively and lifting weights improperly had damaged his knees and shoulders. He also had developed high blood pressure and was carrying too much fat, weighing about 235 pounds.

Using the twenty-five-minute 5 Factor workout only and following the 5 Factor food plan, he went down to 181 pounds while his strength went up over the course of five months. The training helped remove both his knee and rotator cuff problems. His blood pressure normalized. And perhaps most amazing of all, we were able to squeeze in every workout into his hectic day, principally because they last for only twenty-five minutes.

Finish What You Start.

Fatigue can often be mental as well as physical. The first couple of weeks may be especially challenging because you will feel general fatigue over your entire body rather than just your one muscle group. If your fatigue is mostly local, you can push through to the end of the set, if you’re significantly motivated.

If you’re huffing and puffing, stop halfway through the set, take a brief rest, and then resume the set to finish. Try to finish the recommended sets and reps, even if you have to lower the weights to almost nothing. Remind yourself that the strength-training portion is only ten minutes long. You can do it. (If you get dizzy or feel faint, however, please stop and wait until your doctor has given you clearance before resuming.) In any case, be aware that there’s a big difference between being sore and getting injured. If you’ve injured yourself and feel pain, then stop. If you feel light pain that goes away immediately when you stop exercising (this is much more common than injury, which is rare and almost entirely avoidable, thank goodness), then your muscles are simply tired.

Weeks 1 and 2: The Foundation Stage.

The first two weeks focus on extremely high repetitions, meaning you will use relatively light weights and few sets of each exercise.

This is what I call the foundation stage. Like building a house, you will be laying the physiological foundations upon which you will build a leaner and healthier body. For those new to exercise or who are coming off a long layoff, I recommend beginning with the Preparation Week before going to week 1.

In my experience, high reps are tough for most people because their bodies aren’t used to it. Men, in particular, may struggle with the high reps not because they can’t do it, but because their egos get in the way and they insist on using heavier weights. To complete the high-rep sets and stick to the rest times, you have to use smaller dumbbells than in your average workout. Trust me when I tell you, nobody cares how much you are lifting, unless you are a professional athlete.

Due to the high number of repetitions per set, you will experience something called general fatigue, which is an overall fatigue rather than just referring to a single muscle group. The high repetitions will cause the heart rate to soar, leading to greater caloric expenditure. Unlike local fatigue, in which the muscle being worked fatigues and becomes the limiting factor of the workout, your body will tire before any one muscle or muscle group does.

Weeks 3 and 4: The Framing Stage.

We have the foundation laid, including good technique and a solid fitness base gained from the first ten workouts. As a result, we can kick it up a notch. In short, we need to frame the house, so we lower the number of repetitions (and make the weights significantly heavier) from week 1 and also add an extra set of each exercise.

We will experience more local fatigue, which is specific fatigue of a certain muscle group. Unlike the foundation stage, our muscles will now fatigue before our bodies do. We may also experience a bit more muscle soreness after these workouts.

Week 5: The Finishing Stage.

I liken this stage to drywalling and painting the house. With only ten repetitions per set, and with two more sets per workout than weeks 1 and 2, you use much more resistance than any of the previous weeks.

As you enter the finishing stage, you have already done high reps with low weight, moderate reps with moderate weight, and now you will further challenge your body with more weight and more sets.

6. The 25-Minute Workout.

The workout consists of five phases, each of which will take roughly five minutes to complete. The last phase, “cardio,” can be extended past the five minutes if you choose.

Use this workout five days a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. As you will see, this is a precisely planned workout, and each of these training days uses different strength training and “core” exercises, so follow exactly as written. Wednesday and Sunday are considered “off ” days, but you can do additional cardio on one of those two days; this can be any form of cardiovascular exercise for 15 to 30 minutes in length or a recreational activity you may enjoy; i.e., swimming, tennis, or dance. I do recommend that you take at least one of these two days off to give your body better recovery.

If you’re worried that this workout will be too challenging or not challenging enough, don’t be. First, for phases 1 and 5 (the cardio phases), go at your own pace. Second, for phases 2 through 4, I’ve designed two different levels of workouts, including a “preparation week” for those who have little to no training experience.

Minutes 0:00 to 4:59.

1: Cardio Warm-Up (75 Cal).

Do some form of cardio exercise for five minutes, gradually increasing your speed and/or resistance level. The purpose of the initial cardio phase is threefold. First, the cardio warm-up acts to do just that: to warm your body up. Your heart will start pumping more blood to your body, which will help warm your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints. This will reduce your chance of injury significantly. In fact, a good warm-up is far more effective for injury prevention than stretching.

The intensity of your warm-up cardio session should be moderate to low at first. After a couple of minutes, increase the intensity slightly by either going faster or increasing the resistance level.

This may require you to walk, cycle, or step faster. Or you can increase the incline on the treadmill or raise the resistance level on the stationary bike or elliptical machine.

The second purpose of your warm-up is to get your heart in the “fat-burning zone,” also referred to as the “target heart rate zone,” which is 65 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Your warmup should be challenging enough that by the end you are in your target heart rate zone.

To calculate your zone, use the following formula.

(220 minus age) multiple by (0.65 to 0.85) equal to target heart rate zone (in beats per minute).

How do you find your heart rate when you exercise? No, you don’t need a heart rate monitor, though they can be helpful, of course. Get a timepiece with a second hand or a digital clock, then use two fingers (your first and second) to gently press on either your carotid artery or your radial artery. Your carotid artery is located on both sides of the front of your neck, on either side of your windpipe; your radial artery is just above your palm in a straight line down from your thumb. Once you have found either one of these pulse sites, count how many beats there are in ten seconds.

Multiply this number by six, and, voilà, you have your heart rate.

The chart below shows you where you want your heart rate to be when you do cardiovascular exercise.

By elevating your heart rate at the beginning of your workout, you will stay in the fat-burning mode throughout the strength and core component of the workout.

The third purpose of the cardio warm-up is to mentally prepare you for the rest of your workout. It is the “buffer” that separates the stresses of daily living from your stress-releasing, body-sculpting daily workout. Think of it as the appetizer before the main course.

As long as you do your cardio, I’m happy no matter what type you choose. However, I want to pass on some recommendations.

A few years ago, I attended a conference in San Francisco and opted to walk the fifteen blocks to the conference center from my hotel and back, several times a day. This was San Francisco, so this walk was very hilly and was more enjoyable and effective than any cardio I’d done before. Call it the “San Francisco Effect.” Then and now, I consider uphill-walking the greatest cardio exercise of all (either outside or at the highest incline on a treadmill). Not only does it take pressure off the knees, but it helps strengthen the back of the knee, a common weak spot for many people. It also tones the thigh, butt, hamstring, and calf areas better than most cardio exercises because of the inclined walking surface. And because it’s “walking,” it seems easier to do than many other cardio options.

Two other top cardio exercises are stair-walking (with real stairs in a building, outside at a stadium, or on a step machine) and jumping rope, for similar reasons.

Because it’s the most challenging cardio exercise of all, jumping rope burns more calories per minute than most other activities, and is low-impact compared to the second-most calorie-burning activity, running.

Other good cardio options include the elliptical machine, biking (stationary, recumbent, or mobile), rowing machine, and crosscountry-skiing (not an easy option, but a great one if you have it).

Meanwhile, many kinds of sports can deliver an excellent cardio workout, especially basketball, soccer, and tennis.

Doing different kinds of cardio, aka cross training, during one session or each time you work out, is an oft-recommended technique to raise the calorie burn and get in shape more quickly, but I find that it delivers these advantages simply because it allows you to exercise harder and for a longer duration than with your “pet” cardio activities.

Rather, the best reasons why you might use cross training are to avoid repetitive stress injuries and to keep things exciting for your brain (as well as your body). The hill-walker may want to get on a bike, or the rower use the elliptical machine. Or it may be as simple as changing the route that you take on your shoes, bike, or Roller Blades.

One type of cardio conspicuously absent from the above list is running. I discourage it for several reasons. The impact of running is two-and-a-half times your body weight for every stride and can lead to injuries to your feet, ankles, shins, knees, hips, and back.

For women, running may also cause the breasts to permanently sag, even if you use the best sports bra available. The suspensatory ligaments that hold the breasts up stretch a little bit each time your breasts bounce up and down when you run. Women also have wider hips relative to men, and this causes several problems, including an increased hip-to-knee ratio that makes women more vulnerable to knee injuries.

If you love the running action and the huge number of calories it burns, consider sprinting. It’s actually much better for you than jogging because all your force is propelled forward rather than up and down. Whether on a treadmill or on grass, a set of ten sprints is a fast, effective workout for people who are already in moderate shape and aren’t carrying too much fat on their frame.

If you consider yourself to be out of shape, begin with the most natural movement of all: the walk. Work to increase your walking speed to over four miles per hour on level ground and eventually add an incline, at which point your walking speed will naturally decrease because of the added intensity.

Minutes 5:00 to 14:59.

2 and 3: strength training.

For these two phases in each workout, there are two exercises, each working a different muscle group. Do them in the order suggested, and do the second exercise immediately after completing the set of the first exercise, which is called a superset. Then rest the suggested length before beginning the next superset. Follow this sequence for the recommended number of supersets.

In addition, if you go just under or just over the recommended number of reps, that’s fine as long as you continue until you can physically no longer complete a rep with good exercise form. In order to get the maximum benefit of each exercise and stay injuryfree, use good form by following the exercise descriptions and pictures carefully.

Note that each week as the total number of reps go down, your rest time also goes down but the weight you lift should go up. This will assure that the intensity level remains consistent.

Before I list all the exercise specifics, please heed this advice: the 5 Factor is a program I not only want you to try but also to complete. So stick to the rest times and rep ranges as well as you can, but if occasionally you need the extra rest or can’t finish out a set, don’t punish yourself by quitting. Take a breather and come back stronger. Remind yourself: only two exercises. Only ten minutes. I can do it! During minutes 5:00 through 14:59, your week looks like this.

Day 1: Chest and Quads.

Day 2: Back and Hams.

Day 3: Off.

Day 4: Chest and Quads.

Day 5: Shoulders and.

Back.

Day 6: Biceps and Triceps.

Day 7: off.

Level 1, strength Training.

Recommended for relative newcomers to strength training Preparation Week.

2 sets of 15 reps of each exercise, with 90 seconds rest after doing the superset of 2 exercises back-to-back.

Week 1: 2 sets of 25 reps of each exercise, with 80 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 2: 3 sets of 20 reps of each exercise, with 70 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 3: 3 sets of 15 reps of each exercise, with 60 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 4: 4 sets of 12 reps of each exercise, with 50 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 5: 4 sets of 10 reps of each exercise, with 40 seconds rest after each superset.

Level 2 Strength Training: Week 1: 3 sets of 30 reps, with 90 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 2: 3 sets of 25 reps, with 70 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 3: 4 sets of 20 reps, with 50 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 4: 4 sets of 15 reps, with 40 seconds rest after each superset.

Week 5: 5 sets of 10 reps, with 30 seconds rest after each superset.