These days, exercise has been relegated to forcing yourself to hop on a treadmill for 30-60 minutes a day or engage in rigorous weight lifting as a means for losing weight and getting stronger. But what if you could get the benefits of cardiovascular exercise AND resistance training in just 15-20 minutes a WEEK? That's precisely what New York slow lifting fitness expert Fred Hahn prescribes for his clients and what he has outlined in his outstanding book entitled  co-written with Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades. He's also written a follow-up book for teaching children the benefits of proper strength training called . This week's topic is "All Things Slow Lifting (Slow Burn 101)." Have you ever wanted to know why lifting at a slower pace less frequently is preferred over traditional weight lifting at a faster speed and more often? Fred Hahn is the man to answer YOUR questions about it!

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Here are some of the questions we addressed in this podcast:

WILLIAM ASKS:I have been doing Slow Burn-style lifting since June 2012. I feel that I have been going to failure and then adding 10 seconds. I always feel spent after a workout of 5-8 different exercises. I started out doing 2 workouts per week and have now decreased to 1 workout weekly. My problem is I am not seeing the gains I would like to see in either my strength or appearance. I don't think anyone can tell I've been working out out based on my appearance. I still have a fair amount of body fat but even in the areas where there is little body fat I don't see great improvements. I am currently following a low-carb diet and have lost over 100 pounds. I still need to lose another 75 pounds to be at goal weight. What's going on here?

I noticed something and I wanted to ask Fred about it. I know that Ken Hutchins said that the range of time for lifting can be between 6-15 seconds and that 10 seconds is just a good round number. But I have noticed that when I decrease my time to around 6-7 seconds both positive and negative I enjoy lifting so much more. This is purely subjective but there is something about making myself go to 10 seconds that takes the "fun" out of lifting and makes it more like work. Have you heard of this before and is there a good explanation for why I do better at the shorter times than the longer ones?

PHILIS ASKS:What is Fred's personal exercise regimen per week? Surely he does more than one 15-20 minute resistance training session a week. And why does he not like the power plate for muscle building exercises?

FORTUNE ASKS:I've been lifting slow for just about a year and I really enjoy it--certainly much more than I thought I would. Being really out of shape at the beginning, I could barely leg press 95 pounds. Now I've been doing 300 pounds for the past month. But I feel like I'm stuck at 300 and want to know what I need to do to break through 300. I've set a personal mini-goal of 320 pounds for myself and would like to get there soon. What's the best way to do it? My trainer says to just be patient, but is it going to take a while to build up the strength?

RICHARD ASKS:I am in the Navy and I am looking for suggestions for a Slow Burn approach to getting ready for an upcoming Navy fitness test. For the past four months I have been doing the Big 5 workout from the Body By Science program and I have been seeing terrific results in my strength. My upcoming test is about 8 weeks away and will require me to do as many sit-ups as I can in two minutes followed by as many pushups as I can in two minutes followed by 12 minutes of maximum effort on a stationary bike. I am having a hard time balancing my current strength program with preparing specifically for this test and still getting enough rest days to maximize recovery. I am considering putting the Body By Science program I've been doing on hold until after the test and instead working on pushups and sit-ups in a super slow manner and the bike test full out about once per week. Does this sound like a good approach or do you have any other suggestions?

My wife has also been doing a High Intensity, Super Slow workout program for the last few months. Recently we found out she is pregnant. We have read that this is a good routine for someone who is with child, but do you have any specific recommendations both for how to approach her workout now and as the weeks go on? And are there any things we should be concerned about or things we should watch out for to make sure she and the baby are safe?

PETER ASKS:I'm a 41-year-old pretty skinny dude who is 6 feet tall. How do I put more meat on my bones? I've never done any kind of weight training before and I don't have access to a gym.

DEANNA ASKS:Would the slow lifting technique work for someone who is brand new to exercise? And what kind of results have you seen with women?

LISA ASKS:I do Slow Burn at the gym two days a week during my lunch hour. Many of my colleagues do not eat before they workout but I always have part of my lunch before engaging in exercise. I think part of it is my fear of being weak and hungry reminding me of my pre-low-carb days but I think the other part is that I feel stronger. However, after a workout I am a bit shaky for about 30 minutes and not hungry until about an hour later when I'm able to finish the rest of my lunch. Do you think I should eat my entire lunch before my workout? What is your favorite pre- and post-workout snack or meal?

SCOTT ASKS:Fred, I know you're an opponent of kettlebell training. I'd love to hear what your arguments are for this. Is it strictly because there are better ways to get similar results or due to a high-level of perceived injury risk? I think the former is very subjective and anecdotal, but I'd like to hear your thoughts. As for the injury risk, what if you're someone with vast experience in kettlebell training or someone working with an RKC certified instructor? I tend to think kettlebell training is something, when done right and with the appropriate weight and periodization, is something people really enjoy and can get legitimate results from. What are your thoughts?

AMBERLY ASKS:I have four kids under the age of 7 and my time is really tight. I can either drive my son to school or take 30 minutes to walk with him. If I HAD to choose, which would be a better use of my time for me and my family: walking my child to school or doing the resistance training? I know I should do both, but what if I can ONLY do one?

JONATHAN ASKS:How do you figure out the level of your starting weight on a Slow Burn lifting routine? I read a recommendation of 80% of maximum in Body by Science, but I have no clue what my maximum is so that doesn't really help me.

KIM ASKS:I'd like to know the best way to get going again with lifting weights. I personally have muscular/skeletal issues from sitting at a desk all day and I get easily tired and sore.

DAVID ASKS:Can you ask Fred to touch on why a person should do the concentric and eccentric portion of the exercise as opposed to doing each one only. There seems to be proponents of doing only the eccentric portion, so what gives? Also, how would you go about learning how to become certified in your Slow Burn technique to help train others?

JUNE ASKS:After listening to previous interviews with you about Slow Burn, I've decided to change to weight training using one very slow set of 10-12 reps for each lift. It takes me about 20 minutes to complete my upper body. Do you dedicate the next day for lower body then following day to repeat the upper body? I still walk in the pool to get full step motion and to do back, chest, and neck stretches but I have cut my time in the pool down from 1 hour to 30 minutes which has helped me get more done in my day.

CHARLES ASKS:I have been doing slow lifting one set to failure a la Doug McGuff's Body By Science for about 3-4 weeks now. It's experimental for me to see if I can make muscle gains with this way of lifting. Currently I'm doing one day of slow lifting, one day of sprints, one day of body weight exercises including pushups, pull-ups, air squats and planks, and one day I run a mile with the goal of getting my mile time down to around 7:30, then add distance until I can comfortably run a 5k. I am a 25 year old, 5'10" and about 150 pound man with around 12-15% body fat looking to get to single digits. I eat strict Paleo and have recently cut out fruits opting instead for eating meats and veggies to keep my total sugar intake down. My primary goal is to lean out and then gain 15-20 pounds of muscle in the next year or so. I'm wondering whether these are realistic goals with that type of training protocol? How do you compare slow lifting one set to failure to something like Wendler's 5/3/1 program? And which would you say is better for long-term strength gains?