If you've been playing the weight loss game for a while now, you've likely come across the words 'interval training'. Whether you've decided to give this a go for yourself or you've just read about it, thinking that maybe one day you'll start it up, now is the time to make it a part of your regular workouts.
If you're still confused over exactly what you should be doing with your interval training, check out Craig Ballantyne's video on exactly what you need to do.
By doing these two times a week, you should notice significant improvements in the weight loss you see, while helping to maintain your lean muscle mass.
To read about Craig Ballantyne's fat burning workouts that take a non-traditional approach to boring sessions in the gym, see his website.
- Fast Diet Tips For Better Weight Loss
- Don't Think Weight Training Is The Only Way To Lose Fat
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Burn Fat Faster With Interval Training
The Top Mistakes People Make With Fat Loss Workouts
One of the big portion of the fat loss equation is going to be exercise. While a fat loss diet definitely does account for well over half the results you’re going to see with your results, the workout takes things to a whole new level.
Studies have demonstrated that those who aim to workout while trying to lose fat both do better at the diet itself, and also show better results in terms of long-term weight maintenance.
Essentially, having the right weight loss diet is going to be more important to getting you to where you want to be, but having the right exercise program will then be most important when trying to maintain that weight loss.
That said, here are the top mistakes that people make when doing their fat loss workouts.
Relying Too Much On Cardio
The first big mistake is relying too heavily on cardio training. While cardio will help burn off calories, it doesn’t do much in terms of reshaping the body and leaving you looking better.
Sprinting will definitely be better than moderate state cardio, but still, when it comes to really changing your body and losing weight, weight lifting is the way to go.
Not Taking Enough Rest
The next fat loss workout mistake people make is not taking nearly enough rest. They figure they’ll go into the gym day in and day out, trying to melt the pounds off.
Little do they know that there comes a point when you’re doing so much exercise that rather than stripping off the fat, the body actually hangs on to it.
Not good.
Exercise in moderation is what will produce the best fat loss results.
You should have at least one day off a week, coupled with a few easier sessions added in.
Doing More Reps But Decreasing Intensity
Think the best way to go about your weight lifting program in order to see the most effective results is boosting the number of reps you do and decreasing the weight?
You might want to think again.
This is actually one of the worst things you could be doing, so avoid it all costs.
Instead, keep the weight as heavy as possible, and stay within the 6-8 rep range. Your muscle tissue will thank you.
Skipping Pre or Post- Workout Meals
Finally, the last big mistake that many people make with their weight loss workouts is skipping their pre or post-workout meals.
They figure that by doing so, they body will keep burning calories at an accelerated pace.
By doing so, they are doing themselves a huge disservice.
The thing is that it is at this time that the body is most likely to use the calories you feed it to build new muscle tissue - not add additional body fat.
So if there is one time during the day that you do want to be eating - it’s around the workout.
Skipping your workout meals is essentially like skipping results.
Just don’t do it.
So be sure you keep these points in mind when creating your fat loss workout.
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Top Fat Loss Secrets
When it comes to fat loss, most people are always keeping an eye out for a quick fix.
Face it, we as a bunch do not like dieting. Who would?
Restricted food intake.
Hours spent exercising.
Limited supply of energy.
Doesn't sound like good times. Luckily, if you're on a well thought out program, all three of these points will not be an issue, but most people don't find themselves lucky enough to be on such a program.
Therefore, the search for quick-fixes continues.
While I do firmly believe there are no quick-fixes, I do believe that there are some keys that need to be present for fat loss to really take place.
Here's a video I came across by Vince DelMonte discussing what he finds to be the top secret to fat loss. By the looks of things, he does have it figured out fairly well.
For more on Vince's program, click here.
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Choosing Out Of All The Weight Loss Systems
If you’re in the market to shed some fat, there’s no doubt you’re overwhelmed by the number of weight loss systems out there. From diets you go at alone to complete weight loss systems that offer you support on a weekly basis, whatever your preference, at least you know there are options.
The bad news about all these weight loss systems though is that many of them aren’t going to be all that successful. While they may look great on paper, when you put them into real life, it’s a whole other ball game.
In other cases, the weight loss system relies upon you only eating foods that that company offers, hence you’re basically ‘hooked for life’ if you want to continue eating in that manner.
Often this is extremely problematic because once you finish up with the weight loss system and are forced to make meal choices that are not based on those prepared meals, you just regain all the weight back.
This all said, here are some things you must consider when choosing an appropriate weight loss system.
Exercise Considerations
The very first thing you need to decide when choosing your weight loss system is whether you will be exercising throughout the process. Since exercise will demand more calories are eaten - and more carbs to support intense exercise, the diet must be adjusted accordingly.
If you fail to make these adjustments, you’re definitely going to run into problems about two weeks into the program when you find you just don’t have the stamina to work out any longer.
Protein Intake
The next thing you must evaluate on any of the weight loss systems you’re considering is the total protein intake. Protein is the most essential macronutrient to be consuming when dieting because it is what will safeguard your lean muscle mass, otherwise known as the calorie-burning
powerhouse in your body.
Without your lean muscle mass helping you burn more calories, you’re going to have a harder time seeing results.
Nutritional Evaluation
Regardless of how badly you want to lose weight, it’s still important that you’re paying attention to the total nutrition you’re receiving. If you are not eating optimally and reaching your daily targeted intake for vitamins and minerals, you could wind up facing negative consequences in the long run.
Make sure the weight loss systems you consider do include plenty of vegetables as part of the plan, as well as preferably keeping dairy products included.
Many people think you need to cut dairy out of the diet program in order to successfully lose weight, but this is definitely not the case.
In fact, many studies have proven that dairy in itself can actually help increase the rate of fat loss you experience.
Total Calorie Intake
Finally, the last important thing to consider when looking at weight loss systems will be your total calorie intake.
While you certainly should reduce back on total calories, if you reduce back too far, you’re going to wind up damaging the metabolism, which will put a halt to any weight loss that’s taking place.
As a general rule, never go under 10 multiplied by your body weight pounds as a calorie value per day.
So, for example, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should consume no fewer than 1500 calories a day.
This will safeguard your metabolism so it doesn’t get so low you stop experiencing weight loss.
Making sure you keep these tips in mind as your hunt through the various weight loss systems continues will help ensure that you find yourself making progress towards your goals.
- Don't Think Weight Training Is The Only Way To Lose Fat
- Questioning The Weight Loss Advice You Read in Fitness Magazines
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Fast Diet Tips
If you're trying to lose weight, finding some fast diet tips that help speed the process is probably a top priority for you.
While 'fast diet quick-fix's' typically will not deliver any type of fat loss results, by taking a smart approach to your diet program and applying many fast diet tips that are proven to get results, you can achieve the type of weight loss you're looking for.
Speaking more about fat loss is Vince DelMonte, where he shares his advice on those common 'starvation' diets you so often hear about.
For more from Vince DelMonte, please see his Six Pack Ab Program.
- For Fat Loss and Muscle Building - Short Intense Workouts
- Cardio Before Or After Lifting For Weight Loss
- Vince DelMonte Interviews A Fitness Model
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Fast Diet Tips For Better Weight Loss
If you’re like most people looking to lose weight, you’re looking for some fast diet tips that will deliver top notch results.
Let’s face it - we do not like dieting. Feeling deprived of foods we really want, feeling a lack of energy due to a decreased calorie intake, and having to dedicate more time out of our day to spent at the gym, trying to perform the fat loss workouts we commit to doing every day.
Luckily, if you’re smart with your approach and incorporate in some of these fast diet tips, you should find that weight loss isn’t quite as hard as you once thought.
Fill Your Plate Half Full With Vegetables
If you’re tired of feeling like you’re a walking calorie-counter, one way to experience a good rate of weight loss without having to meticulously track your calorie intake is to simply fill your plate half full with vegetables at each meal.
This is a great fast diet tip because vegetables are so low in calories but yet high in volume. This means you’ll experience less hunger while on your diet and take in fewer calories overall.
It is this combination that will lead to real weight loss results as that calorie deficit is what is need to get fat loss moving.
Furthermore, vegetables are filled with minerals and vitamins, all of which are really important when dieting because it becomes harder to meet your needs when you’re on a limited intake of calories.
Drink Warm Liquids
The next fast diet tip to keep in mind is to try and drink more warm liquids throughout the day.
This works well because warm liquids tend to create a feeling of fullness in the body, and also keep us warm - obviously.
Dieting in itself tends to make you feel cold, which is also unpleasant, so essentially you’re killing two birds with one stone here.
Just be sure that you don’t add in a great deal of sugar of other high calorie syrups or creams to your warm beverage as that will definitely disrupt the rate of results you get with your weight loss diet.
Allow Indulgence Every Once In A While
Finally, the last fast diet tip you should definitely work on incorporating in is allowing yourself to stray from your diet every once in a while.
Why?
Because as soon as you put a food ‘off-limit’s’, let’s face it, you’re going to obsess over it all day long.
But, if you allow yourself to eat this food every once in a while, you will not obsess and sticking with your diet will be that much easier.
So, give in - just not too often. If you allow for a ‘cheat meal’ every two weeks for instance, this will not hinder your weight loss results and will keep you much more psychologically sane during the whole weight loss diet process.
Be sure you keep these fast diet tips in mind when you find yourself struggling with your weight loss. Losing weight does not need to be impossible - and it can even be enjoyable, if you take the right approach.
- Sticking With A Fat Loss Exercise Program
- Night-time Snack and Weight Loss
- Weight Loss, Fruit, and Your Post-Workout Meal
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Three Musts For Weight Loss
For those of you who are looking to lose weight as quickly as possible, there are a few things you must be sure you are doing.
Failure to do these things could really sacrifice the results you see due to the physiological process that go on in the body when one goes on a very low calorie diet.
Since weight loss is a function of calories in versus calories out, it's important to be monitoring your calorie intake and bringing it low enough that you are in a deficit that will allow fat loss to take place.
That said, when you do have this deficit at quite a high amount, the chances of muscle mass loss are much higher as well.
In order to prevent muscle mass loss on a diet, three things are necessary.
1. Be sure you are taking in 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight per day.
2. Be sure you are not lifting weights more than four days a week for forty-five minutes each session.
3. Be sure you are not getting caught in the 'more-is-better' cardio mindset, where you quickly find yourself doing hours upon hours of cardio.
So, if you're reaching for fast fat loss, these are three factors you don't want to skimp on.
Obviously it's more complicated than this when trying to achieve optimal results, but this is a very good start and guideline to go by.
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How Much Muscle Can You Really Build?
With all the different workout programs and advice out there on the best way to go about building muscle mass, it can be easy to get wrapped up in it all and forget to be realistic at the same time.
If you hear a guy tell you he gained 10 pounds over the span of a month, you likely know either:
A. He's lying.
B. Much of what he gained was just water weight or muscle glycogen (if he had been dieting beforehand).
C. He's getting chemical help.
It's pretty much impossible to build ten pounds of solid muscle in one month - no I retrack that, it is impossible.
Naturally speaking, of course.
With more on this topic, here's Vince DelMonte who has authored a book on this exact topic, No-Nonsense Muscle Building.
For more from Vince, see his website where he offers a variety of programs to help you put on natural muscle as quickly as possible.
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Are You Really A Hardgainer? Gentics and Building Muscle
One of the common statements that someone makes after they’ve spent a good amount of time lifting weights but are not seeing the weight gain results they’re looking for is, “I must just have ‘skinny genes’.”
Individuals who really struggle to put on muscle mass are often termed ‘hardgainers’ because well, it’s hard for them to gain weight.
But, just how much of this is genetics and how much is simple training principles?
Here are some things to consider.
Look At The Workout Program
One mistake that many people make when they first start weight lifting is doing an overabundance of volume work.
They’re in that gym pounding away, set after set, rep after rep, and barely ever take any rest.
Okay, maybe on Sunday they’ll give the weights a break - but they’re going to do some cardio sprints - just because they have to do something.
If this is you, then you likely aren’t a hardgainer, you’re just not on a good program - at all.
The thing most people miss is that muscle growth happens when you rest. If you aren’t resting at all, just hammering the body with more weight, you aren’t growing.
As evident in this classic example.
So, if this is the type of program you’re on, the first step is to BACK OFF the weights. Steamline your workout into either a three day a week full body set-up, or else an upper/lower split that’s performed twice a week (upper twice, lower twice).
See how that helps things along.
More than likely, you’ll magically start growing like a week. Only it’s not magic. Just proper program planning.
In this case, you aren’t a genetic hardgainer, you just need to train better.
Look At Outside Movement
Likewise, another reason why some individuals will come to think they’re a hardgainer when really this isn’t the case, is because they are simply too damn fidgety.
This is your person who always has to have their foot shaking, who always needs to be walking around, or who finger taps like no tomorrow.
Even though these are such small movements, do them 18 hours a day and it’s really going to add up over time.
So, if you find yourself constantly in motion, you really need to try and relax. You’re burning away a good amount of calories on a daily basis by doing so, which could be just what’s limiting
the muscle gains you see.
True Hardgainers
Then you have the true hardgainers - the ones who have genetics to be built like a skinny person.
For them, gaining weight is hard. Sometimes it may even seem impossible.
In this case, these individuals will have to make some dramatic changes to their workout and diet program.
These are the steps they should follow.
1. Only perform core lifts in the workout, with maybe 1-2 isolated exercises, if that.
2. Ensure gym sessions are no longer than forty five minutes. If you can’t get it done in that
time frame, you’re not doing something right.
3. Limit cardio to simple walking - that will be enough for cardiovascular benefits.
4. Eat more food. When you’re full, eat just a little more for good measure.
5. Blend your vegetables - they have just too much volume and take up too much room in
the stomach.
6. Be sure you are getting 8 hours of sleep a night - this is when growth hormone is at its highest.
7. Avoid excess stress - cortisol is a killer of muscle building.
8. Be sure you are taking weeks off from the gym entirely - overtraining will stop muscle
building immediately.
9. Be patient - rome wasn’t built in a day, neither will your muscles be.
10. Stay focused - if you give up after only a month of training, you certainly aren’t going to see results. Accept it will be harder for you and strive to push yourself that much more.
So, next time you start thinking you’re genetically destined to be skinny, think again.
In most cases, it isn’t genetics at all.
In the cases it is, then you just need to follow the steps above and results will come in time.
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Sticking With A Fat Loss Exercise Program
Exercise. When many people hear this word, immediately they begin to think negative thoughts.
Not only does exercise make many people uncomfortable, but for some, it really gets their heart pumping - and not in a good way.
Being anxious about physical activity, particularly if your goal is weight loss, is not a good situation to find yourself in because making regular physical activity a part of your everyday life is not only going to make weight loss easier, but also make maintaining your weight loss ten times easier as well.
Therefore, it’s really important to find ways to make the process of exercise more enjoyable so that you do stick with it and aren’t as likely to drop off only to never return again.
Here are some things to consider.
Make Sure You Are Giving Yourself Enough Rest
Regardless of how much you enjoy the exercise, you still do need to make sure you are getting enough rest in between your sessions, particularly if your goal is weight loss.
When you are trying to lose weight, your body is going to have fewer reserves available to it for the recovery process, making this extremely critical.
Ideally you should have at least a couple of easy days built into your week with one day off altogether.
Try A Variety Of Activities
Instead of getting stuck performing the same type of workout over and over again, try new activities.
Many people adopt the mindset that they really need to do one certain type of workout in order to get the results they desire - but this is not the case.
There are a large variety of exercise methods that you can perform to get to where you want to be, so don’t be afraid to experiment with a few.
The more variety you can include, the better the chance you’ll work all the muscles in the body.
Join A Group Class
For many people, their workout always consists of solo activities. Running on the treadmill, lifting weights, practicing yoga on the stretching mats - whatever your case is, consider at least joining one other person.
Not only do you then get more social support, but you might make some great friends in the process.
Find Inner Reasons For Exercising
Finally, the last thing you should do to make exercise more enjoyable is find inner reasons for exercising. For many, exercise is something they are doing solely to change the way their body looks.
While this can certainly be a motivating factor, it’s not as likely to last.
First off, what will happen when you reach your body weight goals? Will you then drop right off the exercise program?
Secondly, those who are more in tune with higher benefits that exercise derives will also look forward to their exercise session more as they know what it’s doing to promote good health.
So, next time you find yourself less than motivated to keep up with your workouts, keep these points in mind.
- Night-time Snack and Weight Loss
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Night-time Snack and Weight Loss
If you’re currently on a diet program that is targeted towards maximum fat loss, you may be trying to remove any late night snacking from your day.
Many people struggle with late night snacking and more often than not, it’s not that they’re actually hungry during the evening hours, but rather that it’s a built in habit that they just want to eat - period.
You’ve likely experienced this at one point or another. Different people will succumb to late night snacking for different reasons, therefore it’s important to pinpoint that reason in your efforts to combat the late-night munchies.
Here are some common causes behind late night snacking.
Not Eating Enough During The Day
Potentially the biggest reason behind late night snacking is simply not eating enough food during the day. While you definitely do need to reduce your caloric intake in order to get fat loss moving, if you reduce this too far - and starve yourself all day to boot - you’re going to only be setting yourself up for a binge at night.
Instead, try and keep your hunger levels on a more even keel, eating when you reach about 3-4 on a hunger scale of 0-10 (10 being stuffed and 0 being so hungry you could eat the table).
Eating Refined Foods At Night
To further add to the problem of late night eating, we need to look at what most of us are choosing to eat during these late night hours.
Have a good look over your last week’s late-night food habits.
Were they refined carbs?
Chances are they were. These are the types of foods we naturally tend to gravitate to during the evening hours and unfortunately, are also the foods that cause us the most problems.
When you eat them, you’re going to cause a big swing in insulin levels, which then causes you to only want more.
More food eating means more calories taken in. This will then translate to weight gain over time.
Not the best thing for your diet.
Instead, try and only eat foods that are high in protein and moderate in fat during the evening hours.
This will be far better in terms of keeping you satisfied and keeping weight loss results coming.
Eating Out Of Boredom
Finally, the last big reason many of us find ourselves eating during the late night hours is because of boredom.
This can be a hard one to overcome as most of us do tend to adopt a more sedentary lifestyle during the evening, choosing to watch TV or surf the net.
For the next week, make a deal with yourself that you’ll do one chore before you choose to eat.
This might just help remove the craving altogether, and if not, than at least it may get you thinking about a healthier food choice you can make instead.
So, keep these tips in mind when on a weight loss program. Night-time eating is something that can be hard to get control over, but will definitely have a large impact on the weight loss results
you see.
- Vince DelMonte Interviews A Fitness Model
- Motivation Techniques To Keep Yourself On Track
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Top Six Reasons Why You Should Be Weight Lifting
If you aren’t including some form of weight lifting on your program whether your goal is fat loss or muscle building, you’re making a big mistake.
Weight lifting has shown to have a large number of positive benefits on both your health and fitness levels, and is a very cost effective activity to be performing.
As far as weight loss or weight gain is concerned, weight lifting is the preferable exercise as well.
Here are some of the big benefits this workout program has to offer you.
Increased Calorie Burning
Immediately following a weight lifting session, you’re going to see an increase in calories burned meaning you’ll continue to blast fat even after the workout is over.
If you had wondered over to the cardio session and performed a moderate paced cardio workout for a good thirty to sixty minutes, that calorie burn would be a great deal lower - in fact, you pretty much would only be burning calories while you were actually doing the exercise.
Increased Bone Health
Next up is an increase in bone health experienced. Any type of weight bearing exercise will have a positive effect on your bone health, but strength training in particular is really going to help with the bone remodeling process, helping them to grow stronger.
If you have any concerns over osteoporosis development, you’d be making a huge mistake not to include strength training as part of your regular workouts.
Increased Body Appearance
If you’re currently overweight and use cardio training as a means to lose weight, you’re just going to transform yourself into a smaller version of yourself.
But, if you lose that weight with strength training, then it’s a whole different story.
Those who strength train will completely reshape the way their body looks, so they not only lose the fat, but become more shapely and toned in the process.
Easy Time With Weight Maintenance
Because, as already stated, weight training helps with muscle retention, when you weight train you will help increase your metabolic rate over the long haul, making weight maintenance much easier into the future.
The more muscle you have, the more food you can eat without gaining weight. Sounds like a pretty good reason to strength train, right?
Reduction Of Injuries
Finally, the last reason why you should be strength training is because it will help to prevent injuries into the future.
The stronger your muscles and connecting tissues are, the less risk you run of them becoming torn when any given movement is made.
One thing to note though is that it’s critically important that you are using proper form when doing your strength training activities, otherwise you’re only going to b setting yourself up for injury from the strength training activity itself.
So, next time you’re wondering whether strength training is for you, don’t think twice about it.
The benefits are so clearly obvious that it would be a very careless mistake not to include it in with your regular workouts.
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Weight Loss, Fruit, and Your Post-Workout Meal
Many of you will already know by now that your post-workout meal is going to be critical to the results you get from your workout, regardless of whether your goal is fat loss or muscle building.
Essentially, that post-workout meal is going to serve to increase your recovery after the workout by replenishing the muscle glycogen stores (storage form of energy in the muscle tissue), and by providing the raw materials for the muscle tissues to repair themselves after you’ve broken them down during the session.
If you choose to skip this post-workout meal, particularly if your goal happens to be fat loss and you’re on a reduced calorie diet, you’re not only going to hinder your recovery, but you will also set yourself up to lose a higher amount of muscle mass.
Since your muscle tissue burns the highest number of calories minute by minute in the body, this is one type of tissue you definitely do not want to part with.
That said, there is a specific recipe for your post-workout meal that you need to be following.
Protein Intake and The Post Workout Meal
First up is protein intake. Protein is going to give your body amino acids - which then get used to form the building blocks of the new muscle tissue.
If you take two people performing the exact same workout programs, give one a sufficient supply of protein and one a non-sufficient supply, the person who’s getting enough protein will grow stronger and maintain their muscle mass, while the person who isn’t will lose muscle mass.
Protein. You must not do without it in the post-workout meal. Period.
Carbohydrates, Weight Loss, and The Post-Workout Meal
Next up is the carbohydrate portion of the post workout meal when your goal is fat loss.
Many people are tempted to reduce back considerably on their carbohydrate intake, thinking this will help them remove calories and lose fat faster than if they kept them in the meal.
Unfortunately, this a huge mistake.
The problem with eliminating carbohydrates completely is that it’s really going to stop the recovery process from taking place, meaning you will require a higher amount of time in between workout sessions, and even when you do get back into the gym, you may find that you’re not nearly as productive as you otherwise would be.
If you’re going to remove carbohydrates on your weight loss diet, remove them from other parts of your day - not from the post-workout meal.
Fruit As A Carbohydrate Form
Now, that said, what about having fruit post-workout?
Many people actually think they’re doing a really good thing by doing so. After all, fruit’s natural, right? It should be one of the better choices you could make.
Not quite.
The problem with fruit is that while it’s definitely a healthy addition to the weight loss diet, it’s also about 50% fructose and 50% glucose.
Fructose is handled by the body differently than glucose is and will not get delivered to the muscle cells.
For you, this means it’s really going to do nothing for you muscle glycogen levels and recovery.
So, first things first. Make sure you are getting in some protein and carbohydrates immediately after your workout.
Second, try and shoot to have your carbs all coming from starch, glucose, or dextrose, as these will all be sucked up into those muscle cells and readily stored as muscle glycogen.
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For Fat Loss and Muscle Building - Short Intense Workouts
If you have the goal of fat loss or muscle building, what you do with your workouts are definitely going to impact the results.
While getting on the right diet program is going to play a critical role in being able to lose fat or gain weight (depending on the diet, obviously), your workout will either enhance or distract from the whole process, reshaping your body into what you hopefully want it to be.
When it comes to workouts, many times you're going to find yourself short on time.
Not to worry though, as short but intense workouts can really be the key to getting results.
To discuss this topic more, here's a video by Craig Ballanytne, who writes programs for Men's Health, Oxygen magazine, and Shape. When it comes to fat loss, his programs are really top of the line.
To get started with one of Craig's fat loss workout programs, see his online website which features a variety of different options.
===========> Turbulence Training
The key to getting results is training smarter, not necessarily longer.
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Cardio Before Or After Lifting For Weight Loss
One aspect of their fat loss workout that many people often get confused over is whether or not cardio should be performed before or after their weight lifting takes place, and for how long.
Most people are now starting to realize that cardio-only is not the best way to lose body fat and instead, combining cardio with the weight lifting aspect of a fitness program is what will deliver top notch results.
Gone are the days where you spend hours on cardio machines in quest on a lean body, and now, sprint training is also starting to catch on. This means those hour long cardio sessions are now reduced to measly twenty minutes, granted it is an all-intensive effort.
Now, going back to our original problem, when should this cardio be performed?
Factors To Consider
It’s a good idea to consider a few factors when trying to make this decision on any weight loss program.
First, are you training for any type of endurance-related event? If so, you might want to put your cardio training first since this is when you will feel the freshest and be able to give a max
effort.
If you’re tiring yourself out with weight training beforehand, you likely will not make a whole lot of performance improvements when you go to do your cardio training, which is where you do want to see progress.
In this scenario, fat loss, in a way, takes a backseat to performance enhancement.
Note of course that performance gains will never be the same as they would be if you weren’t dieting, but still this allows you to make the most of the situation.
Now, if you aren’t focused on increasing your endurance or cardio performance, then your best bet will most definitely be to do weight training first.
Because weight training is an activity that can only use muscle glycogen stores as fuel (ATP), this means that if you deplete these stores with cardio first, you definitely will not be lifting optimally.
Since weight lifting is the form of exercise that has the most power to reshape your body so you actually look completely different when you do lose the weight and will also increase the metabolism to the greatest extent over the long run, you really want to be sure you’re doing whatever you can to put full energy into this lifting session.
This is hard to do when you’ve got 30 minutes of cardio to get to first.
The Ideal World
In an ideal world though, you would actually separate your cardio session from your weight lifting so you can be fresh for both and also reduce the chance of losing muscle mass as you train.
When in a calorie deficit, the body is really at risk for losing this muscle tissue, and the longer your workouts get, the greater the chances this will happen.
By having this break in between and fueling yourself between lifting sessions, you will really help to prevent this from happening.
Meals Before And After Your Session For Fat Loss
Finally, it must be stated, that even if your goal is fat loss, you still must be consuming both protein and carbohydrates (to some extent) before and after a weight lifting session and any type of sprint training.
If you are only doing a moderate paced cardio workout (and doing it separately from weight lifting), then you can likely get away with no meal, or even better, a small meal of protein (to further help prevent muscle mass loss).
So, be sure you keep these points in mind when trying to determine which area of the gym you should head to first when trying to lose weight.
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Shorter Rest Periods To Increase Growth Hormone
If you’re currently trying to build muscle and gain weight, growth hormone should be a concern for you. Essentially, growth hormone is one of the important hormones in the body that will serve to aid with the development of new muscle tissue and get you seeing the muscle gain results you’re after.
Growth hormone tends to be highest when we are in the puberty years, as this is when the most growing is taking place. Additionally, growth hormone is typically released in higher concentrations in males than females, which again is why you see teenage boys overpowering the girls in the height department (albeit sometimes slow to catch up).
Simply stated, growth hormone makes you grow.
Once you hit your early twenties onwards though, unfortunately, growth hormone concentrations that are released by the body start to dwindle. No longer are you growing inches in height a year and as such, the body simply sees no need to manufacture as much.
Since growth hormone does have an impact on not just height but your ability to build muscle though, this serves to be a hindering fact when it comes to gaining weight.
This is a big reason why now, if you’re trying to put on more muscle and are past the age of twenty, you need to be taking into consideration natural ways you might be able to boost your growth hormone so you can optimize the results you get.
The Role Of Rest Periods With Growth Hormone Release
In a study performed out of the University of Brasilia in Brazil, researchers looked at how varying rest period intervals would affect the growth hormone response during a weight lifting session.
The study took a group of twenty healthy weight-trained females and had them perform one of three different weight lifting protocols, over three different sessions.
Each workout they performed consisted of four lower body exercises with three sets performed for each exercise, using a 10-rep max as a guideline for weight lifted.
In the first workout, they took a rest interval of 30 seconds between sets, in the second interval, the rest interval was lengthened to 60 seconds, and in the final workout, the rest interval was set to 120 seconds (2 minutes).
After each workout was performed, blood samples were tested for serum growth hormone levels, as well as cortisol concentrations in the body. These readings were taken before the exercise session, immediately after it was finished, five minutes after, 15 minutes after, and then finally 30 minutes after.
The Results
The results demonstrated that while there were no differences in either cortisol or growth hormone before the exercise session began, after the workout was performed, regardless of rest interval, there was an increase in growth hormone experienced.
Further, the growth hormone release was highest in the workout that had a rest interval of 30 seconds, compared with the 60 and 120 second groups.
Therefore, from this we can see that strength training itself will enhance growth hormone output from the body, but even more importantly, shorter rest periods around the thirty second mark tend to create the greatest spike in this powerful muscle building hormone.
So, next workout session, keep this in mind. Obviously you do want to take a long enough rest period so that you can maintain a heavy weight and recover to a degree between sets, but allowing yourself extra time to just ‘hang around’ the gym between sets may not be in your best interests.
Reference:
Gentil, P. et al. (2007) Effects of rest duration between sets of resistance training on acute hormonal responses in trained women. J Sci Med Sport. Dec 17.
- Bodybuilding Vs. Muscle Building Programs
- 3 Mistakes People Make When Trying To Get Six Pack Abs
Vince DelMonte Interviews A Fitness Model
If you're on the hunt for a six pack, you've likely come across many, many different viewpoints on this goal.
Some people say cardio is the way to go. Others believe heavy weight training is key to getting ripped six pack abs, while others claim that the only way to get a tight midsection is through the food you eat.
Vince DelMonte recently interviewed one of the youngest up and coming fitness competitors on what he feels are key factors to getting six pack abs.
To learn more about Vince, his SixPack Ab Quest workout and diet program, and what you can do to get your own set of abs to show-off, please see his information website.
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Motivation Techniques To Keep Yourself On Track
Let’s face it, at times, motivation can be hard to come by. Whether you’re life’s just been all around hectic, there is something new that’s demanding more of your time than you’d like, or you were faced with an injury and now have lost all momentum to get yourself going again, motivation is something that we all struggle with at some point.
But, by learning simple things you can do to increase your motivational levels regularly, you can keep yourself focused on the path ahead and eventually reach that end point you’re after.
That said, here are six things you should start doing if you do in fact hope to accomplish your objectives.
Clearly Define Your Goals
An undefined goal is as good as gone. Unless you know exactly what it is you’re trying to accomplish - the specifics, the timeline, and the how-to’s to get there, your chances are going to significantly decrease.
If you don’t know the how-to’s, it’s time to go on a hunt to learn them.
Regardless of this though, you absolutely must set a clearly defined goal that you want to obtain before proceeding forwards.
Find A Mentor
Next up, try and find a mentor to follow throughout the process. Mentor’s will serve not only to instantly allow you to ‘see’ what you’re trying to accomplish, but also will provide a valuable learning tool.
Try, if possible, to speak with the mentor about your goals before starting, as this will open up more opportunities to go to them when you’re struggling - assuming, of course, that they are receptive to helping you.
Visualize Success
Next, try and visualize success as frequently as possible. By this, picture what it will look like when you’ve accomplished your goal, ‘feel’ how you think you’d feel once you’ve achieved the end point, and visual what will change in your world when you do.
Having that taste of success will go a long way to keeping your eyes on the prize.
Remove Negative Self-Talk
We all have bad days - this is only natural. The key thing though is to not let these bad days set your self-confidence back so far that you find yourself struggling to keep going.
If you catch yourself speaking in a negative tone towards yourself, stop immediately and replace it with something positive - something you have achieved to demonstrate to yourself that you are making progress.
Self-talk is an incredibly powerful thing - more powerful than most people realize.
Assess Any Fears Present
Next, you should be looking at any fears that many be at play in yourself. Often, we actually begin to self-sabotage ourselves because of fears we may have about actually achieving our goal.
Sounds silly but really think about this one for a second.
For example, many, many people use their excess weight as a shield that protects them from people getting to know the ‘real them’. Once this ‘shield’ is removed, then what?
They’re vulnerable.
Once this realization hits - that they are no longer going to be able to hide behind that excess weight, they may start to work less hard at achieving the goal they were once so determined to obtain.
So, have a good look at any fears that may be working in yourself. Chances are you will have to dig deep to find them, but the effort will be well worth it.
Continue To Learn
Finally, the last thing you must be doing is continuing to learn. Success breeds success, but most often, success is the result of increased knowledge.
Whatever your goal is, weight loss, muscle building, or general health improvement - research up on it so you understand what’s all involved with getting to the highest possible level you can.
Just having a better understanding of the process will increase the feelings of comfort you experience while striving to reach that goal.
So, be sure you keep these six tips in the back of your mind at all times, particularly when you find your motivation starting to lag.
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The Lifting To Failure Debate With Muscle Building Workout Programs
One common issue that’s debated frequently in the fitness and muscle building world is whether or not you should be lifting to failure with the exercise you perform in your weight gain workout.
Without a doubt, one of the necessary components to build muscle as quickly as possible is providing that overloading stimulus on the muscle tissues, thus causing damage that will need to be repaired.
When that repair process then takes place, this is when you will begin to grow stronger, and if enough building blocks are provided, larger in the process.
But, how much overloading stimulus is really necessary? Is it a requirement that you go to failure with each lift you perform? Or does going to 90% max effort accomplish enough that complete failure is not needed?
Why Lifting To Failure Is Good
So, the first camp to look at is those that think lifting to failure is a good thing.
The reasons for this - well, obviously, it’s going to push your body to the max, helping you really see what you’ve got.
If you go to the gym and are constantly challenging yourself and are seeing your ability to lift heavier and heavier weights during your weight training program go up, this in itself will likely be a huge motivation.
Similarly lifting to failure will really pump up the body in terms of boosting your metabolic rate and causing maximum tissue damage.
This than means that if you’re looking for pure strength gains and fat loss, this is a good way to go.
Why Lifting To Failure Is Problematic
Now, that said, there are some very good reasons why you shouldn’t lift to failure as well.
First off, lifting to failure is intense. You already knew this though. What you may not have known though is that each time you lift to failure, your CNS is going to take a very large hit.
The CNS, over time, can become extremely overtrained when constantly lifting to failure, meaning that you wind up out of the gym for a good few weeks at least.
Further, even if you don’t overtrain your CNS, realize that when lifting to failure, it’s going to take the body much longer after that session to recover completely from it than if you hadn’t.
For you, this means more downtime away from the gym.
Since numerous studies have demonstrated that muscles tend to grow best when stimulated at the highest frequency possible without sacrificing rest, too much down time is a hindrance.
The Solution
So, what’s the solution to this? Lift to failure - some of the time.
If you properly design your workout program, you should have some sessions that are not meant to go to failure, but rather work on developing more volume, and some sessions where you push yourself to the limits.
This will give you the best of both worlds and allow you to experience optimal muscle building results without feeling like you’re constantly fatigued and overworked.
So, be sure you keep this in mind. Lifting to failure isn’t necessary for the muscles to grow - an overloading stimulus, meaning more than the body is used to will suffice, but at times, lifting to failure can prove to be advantageous.
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Read more!CNS Versus Muscular Fatigue - Are You Planning Your Workouts Correctly?
More and more people are starting to really understand the concept of overtraining when it comes to their workout programs and are realizing that if they don’t give their muscles enough time to rest in between each workout session, they aren’t going to progress.
If you work a muscle hard in the gym, then proceed to go in there again before it’s had a chance to recover and hammer it again with heavy weights, rather than that muscle getting stronger, it’s going to get weaker.
You are literally breaking down muscle tissues when you are lifting weights, so if they are fully repaired and you lift again, they break down further and you get weaker. Definitely not what you’re going for.
So, for that reason, you’re now making sure that you have at least 48 hours of rest before you work each body part once again to ensure that you’re only getting stronger in the gym. That is, why you’re there, of course.
Now, one factor that many people overlook in all of this though is CNS fatigue.
CNS Fatigue
CNS fatigue can be just as detrimental to your results and muscular fatigue.
Essentially, each and every time you hoist a weight into the air, you are putting stress on your CNS. How much stress will be directly related to the intensity of the session - with weight lifting, total sets, total reps, and length of rest periods all being factored into the equation.
Some workouts will be incredibly demanding on the CNS while others won’t be nearly as so.
That said, big problems start to occur when you are putting demanding workouts back to back to back. Too many in a row and it’s not going to matter if you’ve had those 48 hours of rest in between your workout sessions, you aren’t going to feel strong and you certainly aren’t going to be making any personal bests.
This is one big reason why some individuals who choose to do body part splits (chest on Monday, legs on Tuesday, shoulders on Wednesday, and so on) aren’t seeing the process they should be.
Even though they are getting that 48 hours of rest between sessions for each muscle group, they are not allowing that CNS time to recover, hence they’re still in a state of overtraining.
Building muscle mass while you are overtrained is going to be virtually impossible.
Warning Signs
How can you tell if you’re overtraining or on the verge of overtraining your CNS?
Look out for these symptoms:
- decreased desire to train
- decreased libido
- change in appetite levels
- increased frequency of colds or other illnesses
- high injury rate
- difficulty concentrating
- lack of workout progress
- intolerance to high stress loads
- frequent headaches
- feeling ‘fuzzy brained
So, if you’re finding yourself experiencing any of these symptoms, it might be time to have a good look at your overall training plan. Are you allowing enough total rest (and by that I mean staying out of the gym entirely) in your program?
If not, it might be time you did. Always keep in mind that your making the most gains when you’re actually out of the gym - that’s when the body is rebuilding and growing stronger.
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Read more!Vince DelMonte Talks Six Pack Abs
One goal that almost every seems to have these days is getting a set of six pack abs.
For many of us though, this goal proves to elude us, either because we aren't using the right approach to getting six pack abs, or because we just aren't quite in the right mindset to stick with the program until results are seen.
The one thing that you must accept about getting six pack abs is that they're usually the last to come.
If you're currently trying to lose weight, you'll lose body fat every else first, and then finally start to lose it off your abs - at least this is the case for most people.
So, one big lesson when it comes to getting six pack abs is patience. This is almost equally as important as exercise as if you expect almost overnight results, you're going to fall off the workout before you get what you're looking for anyway.
Here's some more info on getting a six pack, from YourSixPack Quest author, Vince DelMonte.
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Bodybuilding Vs. Muscle Building Programs
While there definitely are a significant number of men - and a growing number of women, who covet the bodies that you see in the bodybuilding world, more often than not, most individuals tend to lean towards a more moderate look for what they’re trying to obtain, say something more like Matthew McConaughey or Jessica Alba.
They are toned, defined, and look like they’re in great shape. They don’t, however, have muscles rippling out left, right, and center. For many people, that’s simply not something they desire.
As such, it leads them to wonder what the best workout approach is for them.
Many of these individuals are under the impression that they should never follow a bodybuilding type of program because they’re gonna get huge - FAST.
Recently I had a reader send a question on this exact issue. He wasn’t overly muscular and wanted to add more mass to his frame, but was confused on which program would offer the best result for his goal.
Bodybuilding Versus Muscle Gaining Programs
The first thing you must realize is that bodybuilder’s - most of them anyway, were once normal looking guys. They didn’t have this volume of muscle mass; it’s something they had to work hard for over time.
Chances are good that they started working out, started gaining a decent amount of muscle, got to the stage of looking muscular, yet still streamlined (think Brad Pitt in Fight Club), but then decided they wanted to surpass this look and just kept on building muscle.
In order to surpass this stage, chances are they had to eat, and eat, and eat - and then eat some more.
The fact of the matter is that building that amount of muscle means massive eating. And once it is built, to maintain it requires, you guessed it, massive eating.
Most people are not eating nearly enough in their everyday diet to build or maintain this amount of muscle mass, so to get worried that lifting heavy like a bodybuilder is going to magically transform your body is really not practical.
Why Bodybuilding Principles Are Good
In fact, many of the principles that bodybuilders use are ideal for those looking to gain more muscle mass and create that muscular, yet lean body.
They lift hard - which is a necessity to add quality muscle.
They make sure they get enough rest - which is necessary for the repair process to take place and you to grow stronger.
They focus on core lifts - which helps to target as many muscle groups as possible.
They make sure they are taking in sufficient protein - which is necessary to provide the body with the raw materials needed for weight gain.
And the list goes on.
If you want to look muscular, my advice is to train in a similar manner to that of a bodybuilder, but, don’t take your diet to that extreme, and stop when you are satisfied with the amount of muscle mass you do have.
Sure, some bodybuilders at high levels do insane amounts of volume with their programs, but this is at the elite level.
Most, who are getting some of the best results, are only doing 4-6 different exercises per session, consisting of between 2-5 sets per exercise.
So, don’t be so quick to knock bodybuilding training if you don’t want to look like a bodybuilder.
Bodybuilding is more about what you eat, then how you train, if the truth be told.
Additionally, building that volume of muscle mass takes an insane amount of time, so you are always in control and can stop additional muscle growth whenever you feel necessary.
Read more!3 Mistakes People Make When Trying To Get Six Pack Abs
One goal on many people’s agenda is getting those elusive six-pack abs. When you’re sporting around a defined set of abs, it’s a clear indication that you’ve worked hard in the gym and you know exactly what you’re doing when it comes to fitness and weight loss.
Unfortunately, many people go about getting six pack abs in all the wrong ways - and this costs them - BIG.
Unless you understand the principles behind getting your abs to show, you are going to spend years on the six pack ab chase.
Here are the top three mistakes people are making when in search of a six pack.
Doing Endless Amounts of Ab Work
If you want to build your bicep’s bigger, you do bicep curls. If you want to develop quads of steel, you do squats till the cows come home.
It only makes sense then that if you want to see clearly defined abs, you should crunch, crunch, crunch, right?
Wrong.
While some ab work is good - it’ll help develop the ab muscles, the fact of the matter is that we all have ab muscles.
I have ab muscles, you have ab muscles, even that five year old running across the street has ab muscles.
The reason some of us have showing ab muscles is because we don’t have that cushiony, protective layer that keeps them in hiding.
So, if you really want to get six pack abs, you need to remove the padding. Plain and simple.
If there’s excess padding, you could have the biggest ab muscles in the world and they’re still not going to look defined.
Not Enough Time In The Kitchen
Okay, technically, maybe that should be too much time in the kitchen - but the point in clear, unless you’ve got yourself on a solid diet, don’t expect a solid set of abs.
The saying, ‘Abs are made in the kitchen’, is 100% true.
Going back to the above, you’ve got to remove excess body fat if you want your abdominal muscles to show, and the best way to do that is with a proper diet.
There is no excuse for not putting in a full effort when it comes to your diet if getting a six pack is your primary goal.
In fact, I’d almost go as far to say that if you had to choose between a good diet and never doing a single ab crunch, or a mediocre diet and doing a good 30 minutes of abs three times a week, I’d choose the former for best results.
Diet is THAT important.
Do not overlook this, ever.
Not Being Patient
Finally, the last mistake people make with their goal to get six pack abs is not being patient enough.
As much as you likely don’t want to hear this, fat in the abdominal region is typically the last fat you’re going to lose, so unless you’ve seen noticeable decreases in ‘padding’ around the rest of your body, don’t count on seeing changes in your abs.
Lowering your body fat is a whole body approach - there’s no such thing as spot training, so you’re just going to have to be patient and trust that with hard work, results will come.
Not to be cliché, but good things come to people who wait. Abs are no exception.
So, if you’ve got your mind set on a set of six pack abs, make sure you’re clear in that mind of yours about these common mistakes.
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Late Night Eating and Fat Loss
One hot topic when it comes to fat loss is late night eating.
How many times have you heard someone say, 'I always make sure I don't eat after 6 PM, since anything eaten after that point is more likely to turn to fat'?
Probably more times than you can count. But, how accurate is that statement, really?
Not accurate.
Do you think your body looks at the clock and thinks, '6:01', well, that food is just not needed now and we better convert this to body fat.'
Obviously not. While your body definitely does require more calories when you are more active during the day, which for most people is typically during the morning and afternoon hours, if you are working out in the evening or even if you just lead a fairly active lifestyle, it will actually hinder you if you don't eat late at night.
Further, the fact of the matter is that it's not eating late at night that causes you to gain weight. It's eating too many calories - which often occurs late at night (think about the types of foods you're typically eating later in the evening), that causes the problem.
If you want to eat something before you go to bed - eat it. I promise it won't harm your weight loss efforts as long as the following rules are being met:
1. The calories consumed during this snack are figured into your daily calorie intake, which is still in alignment with what's needed for you to see weight loss.
2. You are not starving all day only to binge at night (this is neither healthy or a good habit to get into).
3. The snack consists of some protein and preferably more fat than carbs (assuming you have not just finished a workout, then the opposite is true).
Point three isn't really necessary, it's just a good addition to prevent overnight blood sugar spikes that wake you up halfway through the night.
But, if those three conditions are there, I promise you, you can have a late night snack and not have problems with your weight loss results.
And, if you just happen to be more concerned at the moment with muscle building, then you damn well better be eating at night as the body needs those calories.
Late night eating. Don't fear it - just be smart about it.
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7 Weight Loss Transformation Secrets
Today's post is going to come complimentary of Craig Ballantyne, Men's Health Trainer and creater of the best selling, Turbulence Training workouts.
7 Weight Loss Transformation Secrets
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Millions of men and women want to lose weight because they are sick of their excess body fat and low energy levels. If that sounds like you, then you need to join the Turbulence Training weight loss transformation contest.
There's already been some powerful, emotional stories told in fitness magazines, and folks from all over the world are helping one another to finally change their bodies. Your weight loss transformation is going to bean amazing 12 weeks. So I thought this would be the best time to give you my Top 7 Transformation Tips to help you lose more weight in the next 12 weeks.
Here are my Top 7 Transformation Secrets that you can use to burn fat from all over your body with Turbulence Training.
Tip #1 Clean out the pantry
One of the biggest pitfalls in a weight loss program is added sugar and mindless snacking (especially between getting home from work and dinner).Get rid of the junk. Toss it. Better the garbage can eats it than you do.
Tip #2 Stop doing slow boring cardio
Increase the intensity of your workouts and switch to interval training. And yes, even beginners can do interval training when using the metabolism-boosting short, burst workout system.
Tip # 3 Use professionally designed, structured workouts such as my Turbulence Training Workouts that have been featured in Men's Health magazine.
You should be in and out of your short, burst workouts in less than 45 minutes, three times per week. On the other 4 days of the week, stay active, getting at least a 30-minute walk in each day.
Tip #4 Set up home gym with ball, bench, and adjustable dumbells
That's all you need. If you are feeling frisky, you can add a pull-up bar to your home gym.But to change your body, you only need a little bit of equipment at home. You don't need an expensive gym membership or one of those colossal home gyms, or even a pricey bowflex. Your body doesn't discriminate on price. It simply responds to the turbulence training you put on your body, and you can do that on the cheap.
Tip #5 Use short, burst Bodyweight Circuits at home instead of using cardio machines.
Choose 3 lower body exercises and 3 upper body exercises. Alternate between upper and lower body bodyweight exercises. Watch my youtube video on circuit training for more details.
Tip #6 Plan, shop, and prepare your food
Finding the right nutrition program is CRITICAL to success, and so is planning. You can't out-train a bad diet, but you can out-plan bad habits. So invest 2 hours on the weekend to prepare as many of your fat burning meals as possible for the week ahead.
Tip #7 Get Social Support
This is the most important Weight Loss Secret that no one pays attention to. But the bottom line is...you can't do this on your own. You need support from others to stick to your workouts, to make the right diet choices day-in and day-out and to have someone prop you up when you are feeling down and also to "call you out" when you are feeling like cutting corners.Get social support on your side today with help from Turbulence Training. Put these 7 Secrets to use today and you can lose 14-30 pounds in 12 weeks just like our past Transformation Contest Winners.
And please refer your friends to the contest. You'll be supporting them and helping them change their bodies & their lives.I can't wait to hear about your results in the Turbulence Training transformation contest.
About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit http://www.fatloss2day.com/
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Post-Workout Meals and Fat Oxidation Rates
Recently I was doing some research on post-workout meals and recovery from workouts and came across something interesting.
In a study performed out of the Virginia Commonwealth University titled "Effects of different macronutrient consumption following a resistance-training session on fat and carbohydrate metabolism", it was demonstrated that regardless of whether your post-workout meal consists of primarily carbohydrates or primarily fat, fat oxidation will stay the same.
It is still important to keep in mind though that only the carbohydrate meal will effect the blood insulin and glucose levels, which is what will really drive those amino acids into the muscle cells and help speed recovery.
Either way though, if you really struggle with carbohydrate sensitivity issues and struggle frequently with that post-workout meal blood sugar drop, you may consider removing some of the carbohdyrates.
This may not be optimal in terms of recovery, but if it helps prevent food binges in the hours after the workout and your primary aim is fat loss, it could be something to consider.
Either way you slice it though, getting in some form of protein after your post-workout meal will be critical.
Reference. Bosher, KJ. et al. (2004) Effects of different macronutrient consumption following a resistance-training session on fat and carbohydrate metabolism. J Strength Cond Res. May;18(2):212-9.
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Weight Loss Diet Red Flags
If you’re currently on a weight loss diet, there are some important things you need to be thinking about. While many fat loss diets will work quite nicely, there are some that throw up some major red flags. While the promises it offers you in terms of weight loss may be tempting, if the overall diet is lacking in certain requirements, the results you do experience are going to be short lived.
Here are the top weight loss diet red flags that you need to make yourself aware of and avoid at all costs.
Cutting Out All The Foods You Enjoy
First up, and this is a big one in terms of weight loss diet adherence, if you remove all the foods you enjoy, you aren’t going to be successful.
Let’s face it - deprivation sucks. Period. If you are not able to eat any of the foods you enjoy - or even find somewhat tasty, you are going to have a hard time following this diet as it’s laid out.
Either you will cheat on it from time to time or you will just go entirely off it and rebound back the weight you already were.
Unless that diet contains food that you will feel satisfied eating, you’re better off skipping it.
Diets That Remove Full Food Groups
Next up on our list of problems as far as your diet is concerned is a diet that removes full food groups.
This somewhat goes hand in hand with the above, but considers a more nutritional side of things.
Even though you are trying to lose weight, if your weight loss diet cuts out a whole food group, chances are high that you aren’t going to be getting the nutrition you
need.
While getting those five pounds off is obviously something you want to happen, if it’s at the long-term sacrifice of your health, you might want to rethink this.
Diets That Don’t Offer Sufficient Protein
Third, if you are not getting enough protein on your diet, your best to get off it immediately.
When we diet, we are at a much higher risk of losing precious muscle mass; muscle mass that’s going to cause your basic metabolic rate to increase, therefore allowing you to eat more calories every single day and still maintain your weight.
Ideally you should be taking in 1.5 grams of protein for each pound of lean body weight you carry, but at bare minimum I’d recommend one gram per pound. If you aren’t getting this, you’d better make some changes - fast.
Diets That Don’t Allow For ‘Life’
Finally, the last thing that needs to be in order for a diet to be effective is simply the allowance for some occasional indulgences. If you can never go out for a fancy meal with your significant other or have a piece of birthday cake at your best friend’s birthday, this really is not all that sound of a diet.
Sure, there will be people who choose not to and are perfectly fine with that - but any good diet will only require you to be ‘on’ 90% of the time, leaving the other 10%
of the time for ‘fun’ foods.
If you can’t get results without 100% adherence at all times, the diet is not formulated entirely correct.
So, have a look over your current diet, does it meet the bar?
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Reps and Sets to Build Muscle
One question many people wonder is how many reps and sets will be optimal in order to get results when it comes to building muscle.
While the overall workout program set-up needs to be there, if you aren't doing the correct number of reps tailored towards you're goal, it's unlikely that you're going to get the results you're seeking.
One other big mistake people make is never varying the reps they do. While certain ranges do definitely target different goals, shocking the body by introducing a new range is a good idea as well.
For more information on this topic, here's Vince DelMonte discussing what's optimal to build a maximum amount of muscle.
To get Vince's complete Muscle Building Workout program, please see his website.
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Low Carb Diets and Muscle Soreness
With low carb diets all the rage lately amongst the fat loss crowd, more and more people are jumping on the bandwagon. Unfortunately, while low carb diets can definitely offer a great deal in the way of being successful at stripping the body of that pesky fat that just seems to hang around no matter what you do, there are some drawbacks to low carb dieting that you need to be aware of.
One such drawback is your recovery from your workouts and muscle soreness. Because of the fact that the body can best recover from workouts when post-workout carbohydrates are eaten (as this is the point when muscle glycogen stores - what fuel the body during exercise - are refilled the fastest), if you skip these carbs, you’re essentially shorting your recovery.
That said here are some things to keep in mind.
Introduce More Carbs Immediately After
Obviously the easiest way around this problem is to simply eat more carbs right after your workout. This really will not hinder your weight loss progress at all, as long as the total calories on that low carb diet are still in line.
Many people also do not feel very well on extremely low carb diets (less than 100 grams a day), therefore this may be a better option for them anyway.
Start with 25-50 grams of carbs after the workout and adjust as necessary.
Decrease Volume
Next, another way to improve your recovery ability and reduce muscle soreness while on a low carb diet is to reduce the overall workout volume.
Since the more sets and reps you are performing the more muscle glycogen you’re going to deplete, the fewer you do, the fewer carbs you essentially need.
Couple this with the fact that high volume training while dieting is just a recipe for disaster and muscle loss and this proves to be a very viable option.
Never Forget To Stretch
Now, when it comes to pure muscle soreness after a workout, stretching is something that you can easily do that will help with that soreness, regardless of what you’re doing diet-wise.
For the most part, many of us forget to stretch entirely, so we’re really shorting ourselves here.
Take ten minutes after your workout and just do it. When you’re crawling out of bed the next morning you’ll be thankful you did.
Consider Heat Therapy
Finally, the last thing you can do non-diet-wise for muscle soreness is apply heat to the sore muscles. While if it’s actual pain that’s present ice is likely the better option right afterwards, if it’s just that tense, knotted feeling in the muscle, heat will help increase blood flow and loosen up the muscle - which is what you want to reduce that soreness.
Hot baths, hot pads, or anything else you can think of that will heat the region will all work great.
So, if you’re on a low carb diet, make sure you keep these points in mind.
"Six Pack Abs Are Made In The Kitchen"
You may have heard the following statement before:
"Six pack abs are made in the kitchen"
Just what does this statement really mean?
Here's Vince DelMonte, author of Your Sixpack Quest discussing what this statement means with relation to sixpack abs.
When people say diet is 80% of your results, this is no understatement.
To read more from Vince, please see his Six Pack Ab Program.
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