12 Minute Makeover is a workout developed by Dr. Ben Lerner based on Surges or Bursts of energy followed by periods of rest in your workout. Its name was derived from the ability to perform this workout in 12 minutes a week (4 3-minute workouts a week) and still get beneficial results following your workout. This is only a component of a life management program which includes good nutrition, understanding how to manage your stress and most importantly how your central nervous system. They all play a key part in being healthy, fit and well.

The concept behind 12 Minute Makeover is to be able to maximize your workout time in just a few minutes a week and get your body’s hormones working for you, not against you – this is also where cortisol plays an important part in your workout.

12 Minute Makeover may also be referred to as short duration, high intensity workouts or even a form of interval training. All of this is just “surges” of energy, followed by periods of rest to recover and then “surging” again. Each time you do a surge your testosterone and growth hormone increase, allowing your body to keep on burning fat and building muscle long after your workout. Your endorphins also increase, allowing your body to fight things such as depression and anxiety.

One of the greatest benefits to the 12 Minute Makeover is the ability to exercise anywhere - home, on the road, at the gym or outside, lifting your groceries at the grocery store...anything is possible!

Resistance training is a popular way to involve your 3 minutes a day to help build lean muscle, that helps your body metabolize at a faster rate. The basic routine follows a pattern using any form of repetitve exercise, such as calf raises, wrist rolls, arm curls/lifts, etc.

Here is the pattern:

• 10-30 seconds of high intensity movement
• 10-30 seconds of recovery/rest or low intensity movement (The duration of the recovery is equal to the duration of the movement).
• Repeat the above 3 times
• 2 minutes of recovery or low intensity movement

While it may not seem like a lot, keep in mind that this will be intense movement that you have to sustain. Repeat this cycle 3 times and do it 3 times a week, which equals 12 minutes of exercise a week.