It’s hard to believe that working out for only eight to 16 minutes will deliver the same weight-loss results as running for upwards of an hour on a treadmill. But what makes Elev8d Fitness uniquely effective in such a short amount of time is that it is designed for efficiency. How? It leverages functional movements specifically designed to activate more muscles—and the right muscles—to burn more calories not just during your short workout, but also for the rest of the day.
What’s So Great About Functional Movements?
Functional movements are not exclusive to Elev8d. “There are basic movement patterns that most of us as humans need to be able to do—squat, lunge, push, pull, rotate,” says Jason Machowsky, RD, CSCS, an exercise physiologist and sports performance specialist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. These patterns are typically multi-joint, which means they recruit more muscles, explains Machowsky, who is not affiliated with the Elev8d program. When you engage more muscles, you increase your effort, resulting in greater metabolic and caloric demand, he adds. In other words, these natural movements inherently ask more from your body in a very efficient way.
How Elev8d Works 100% of Your Muscles
Elev8d workouts are designed around these basic movements. “But what makes the programming really unique is that the movements demand proper form,” says Brian Bradley, fitness director for Elev8d.
You probably know proper form is necessary to reduce the risk of injury, but it’s also crucial to streamline your workout so you get 100 percent out of every move instead of 30 percent.
Look at the plank, one of the best core exercises out there. Some people are able to hold it for a minute, two minutes, even three minutes. But if you look at their form, Bradley says, their backs are often rounded and all the tension is going into their shoulders and forearms. If you asked them to pinch their shoulder blades together to transfer all the work to their core, that two-minute hold would drop down to 20 seconds.
“Most people exercise without even working out the muscles they’re intending to,” Bradley adds.
Now, you’ve probably heard that high-intensity interval training, better known as HIIT, is ideal for burning the most calories in the least amount of time. And it does give you a great burn—but it also asks you to move through the motions so quickly that most people unintentionally compensate with bad posture because they get fatigued.
Take burpees for example. “Usually, people go through the movement so fast that they become shoulder and arm dominant and they’re no longer using their hips to drive themselves up or back,” Bradley explains.
If you slow it down into a deliberate burpee instead of a fast burpee, your shoulders will be in the correct position so your spine aligns with your hips better. Then your hips are driving the motion, which gives you more power and a better burn, Bradley says.
In fact, a 2015 study in the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine found that when untrained people were put on an exercise program three times a week, 20 minutes of steady movement was just as effective as HIIT in boosting their fitness capabilities. Plus, the participants reported the steady workout was also far more enjoyable than the short bursts of super intense exercise.
“You can do high-intensity work and be working 100 muscles, and, yes, they’re going to burn. But usually you’re going so fast that you’re not working the deep spine muscles, the abdominal muscles, and the major shoulder muscles,” Bradley explains. “Moving slower and more deliberately while targeting these major stabilizers allows you to use all the muscles in your body instead of just some. And you recruit the right musculature.”
Activating Major Stabilizers Is Crucial
While HIIT will boost your metabolism because it thrusts your systems into overdrive, lower-intensity interval training like Elev8d boosts your metabolism simply by making sure your body is working more efficiently every time you move the rest of the day.
Machowsky confirms that tapping into the major muscle groups to increase strength and mobility can help put your body into proper alignment. And that activation will carry over into daily activities, like walking over your lunch break.
Bradley puts it this way: “You could go all-out for 45 minutes doing a super intense workout, revving up your stress hormones and putting your body in dysfunction. Or you could do a short Elev8d workout that activates all your muscles and sets your body into alignment. Then when you’re walking to work or to lunch later, you’re driving from your hips. That allows your heel strike to hit the floor in a more efficient way, so your body rolls over your foot naturally, and you’re utilizing more muscles during the other 23 hours and 52 minutes of your day.”
Ready to see for yourself? Try these fast and effective workouts from Elev8d Fitness:
8-Minute Sculpted Butt and Hips
The 8-Minute Strength Workout Series
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