Three weeks of 12 are in the books on my fitness journey at Greer Athletic Club. The rewards so far are tangible in the way my clothes fit. The scale hasn’t budged much, but I’m not worried. The muscle I’m building will eventually burn more of my fat. That’s the point of the program I’m using: Afterburn.

Afterburn is a series of movements that involve the entire body. Whether I am doing my personal workout alone or in a group class, the pace is swift and intense. Moving through a circuit of specific exercises set up by the trainers, the goal is always to give maximum effort throughout.

On some days, we work for increments of 20 seconds on with 10 seconds of rest for a total of five minutes. Between stations, there is one minute of rest. Other days we work for 30 seconds on, 15 seconds rest for five minutes. This past week, the goal was endurance so we completed eight stations working for one minute on, 30 seconds rest for two rounds. The exercises vary too. We may use only our body weight for some exercises or we may use kettle bell weights or dumbbells for others.

The best part is there is no time to think. The clock keeps ticking so there is always something to get ready to do. The hardest part for me is remembering to breathe through the entire timed circuit. I’m concentrating on completing the task with good form and forget to multitask and take a breath while I’m at it.

As my co-workers can see when I come back from the gym after my afternoon workouts, Afterburn keeps my body working long after I have showered and left the gym. I “glisten” the rest of the day and lifting my hands much higher than the keyboard can be a problem. I can feel that the work I did in an hour at the gym is still lighting me up on the inside. But I don’t stay tired. I actually have more energy and I’m sleeping better at night. Well, that is if getting up at 4:20 two mornings a week counts as sleeping through the night.

I’ve done many different types of workouts through the years. There is always something new that comes along that promises bigger and better. Afterburn is a new approach that is working. It reaches into the crux of my middle-aged problem: low metabolism. I need to surprise my body into submission and sneak up on the aging process. I think I am on the right track.