- Reduce stress
- Improve sleep quality
- Increase memory
- Increase cognitive function
- Prevent heart attacks
- Prevent strokes
- Reverse pre-diabetes and obesity
- Improve balance
- Steady walking gait
- More autonomy without walkers in nursing home residents
- *however, these are not medical claims, only what has happened to people and gleaned from research papers
Not from a drug or the latest miracle supplement.
NO way! How?
‘NO’ Revealed
‘NO’ is actually the chemical shorthand for a molecule called nitric oxide, a single nitrogen with a single oxygen. It became popular some years ago when it won the Nobel Prize.
Well, the molecule didn’t win the prize, though it deserved it because of all the wonderful things it does, but those who discovered it did.
Nitric Oxide, NO, is made in the endothelial lining of all of our blood vessels – which service our whole bodies – and is made in some places within our brains.
NO functions as a potent anti-inflammatory as well as a powerful dilator of blood vessels. This translates into nitric oxide’s ability to reverse cardiovascular disease for heart attacks and cerebrovascular disease for strokes.
It even reverses insulin resistance which is associated with pre-diabetes and obesity. And has been shown to improve sleep, memory and thinking ability.
Getting to NO
Nitric oxide is released in demand for more oxygen as your muscles run out of it during exercise.
The blood vessel linings make and release NO, so that the blood vessels themselves dilate for more blood flow, resulting in more oxygen and nutrient delivery to the muscles.
Yes, when your muscles start aching from exercise, a sign that you are going into anerobic metabolism, this Nitric Oxide cascade is happening to bring more oxygen and fuel to your muscles. This also leads to muscle growth.
Very interesting . . .
The intriguing thing is that we only have a 90 second reservoir of nitric oxide in any given muscle body.
Pfft! What are we doing working out in the gym for an hour, when we get these benefits in minutes? That’s right, our blood vessels actually only store an amount of Nitric Oxide which is released in 90 seconds before they need to manufacture more.
Therefore, Dr. Zach Bush invented the 4-Minute Workout, which can be repeated three times a day (12 minutes total!) to give you the most efficient way to tone and build muscles.
Yes, working each major muscle group out for 90 seconds to an anerobic capacity produces all the benefits listed at the beginning of this article.
NO way!!!
What is the 4-Minute Workout?
It is free, easy, and effective – the best way I know to start toning all body systems including the brain.
This repeated sequence of 4 body movements exercises the 16 largest muscle groups in your body. In four minutes, you can release your entire reservoir of Nitric Oxide to open blood vessels and neutralize free radicals for hours.
Then you naturally build it back up again in a few to four hours, when you can dump this miracle molecule NO again by repeating the workout for all its benefits. The best results come with doing it three times a day.
Let’s see it!
Watch this video of me performing this 4-Minute Workout and find out how to adapt the movements if you have particular limitations.
In general, we are doing a series of squats then 3 sets of arm movements: up and down in front, to the sides, and above the head. The four movements are repeated in sequence 3 times each to fill up the 4 minutes.
I know that is confusing: 4,3,4 – watch the video and read the full blog!
Fine tuning
When beginning, we do 8 or 10 repetitions of each, at which point you should start to feel your muscles get tired.
After repeating this day after day, we find you can increase gradually to about 20 repetitions before your muscles get tired.
However, it is a waste of time to go longer than 4 minutes total because the nitric oxide release has already happened within the first 90 seconds of moving each muscle.
Feel the benefits
Magic happens at the end of those four minutes.
Take a moment and relax, letting your arms drop to your sides. Go ahead and close your eyes to tune into what is happening in your body.
Feel it! Do you feel tingling in your fingers?
Tingling in your face? Perhaps a smile?
Feeling it down to your toes, which are also tingling?
That is the Nitric Oxide increasing blood flow, delivering oxygen and vitality all over your body. You don’t need someone telling you this is working; you can feel it.
Do this 4-Minute Workout as preparation
This 4- Minute Workout is also the perfect start of other types of exercise, because you are relaxed as your blood vessels are open and fuel is flowing into muscles.
The relaxation allows for less restrictions, so you are less likely to injure yourself in resistance training.
It is a perfect start to aerobic training because your body is flooded with this natural antioxidant! Go ahead and run that mountain trail or swim across the lake. Or just take a leisurely nature hike.
It is even perfect before you sit down at the computer, because it activates your brain for more alertness and creativity. (I know firsthand!)
Try it – you’ll like it!
This new concept of exercise in order to release NO to build muscle goes against common beliefs that you need to lift weights in the gym plus workout aerobically in order to build muscle and be fit.
Doing this 4-Minute Workout can enhance any other workout. But don’t skip it! Try it to see how many of the benefits listed above you can tick off!
Imagine . . . your body getting nitric oxide 21 times a week . . .
How good can you feel?
What is your capacity to regenerate?
