Fat Loss Work Out Articles

As I wrote about earlier, high intensity cardio is the most effective and efficient cardio method for fat loss. What better way to get a quick and powerful cardio workout is there than sprinting? Sprinting uphill!

Why choose hill sprints?

Not only do hill sprints increase the intensity of sprinting, but they also give you a chance to add variety to your workout.

When sprinting uphill, you're shifting the emphasis of work on the muscular system, increasing the demand on different muscles that normally wouldn't be emphasized.

Obviously the name of the game here is to lose weight (more specifically, fat). The biggest benefit, weight loss- wise from uphill sprinting is the increase in EPOC. continue reading

The 3 Foundations of Fat Loss (Part 2 of the 3 part series) By Michael Collins

.........................................................................................

Scrap everything you've heard about fat loss and start with the Foundations!

In the first part of the Foundations of Fat Loss Series, we explored the exercise portion of fat loss which builds in your natural fat burning furnace, resistance training. In the second part of the Foundations of Fat Loss series, we cover the other half of exercise- the extra calorie burner- Cardiovascular Training.

Cardiovascular Training. Cardiovascular training is another foundation of fat loss. Given that the majority of gyms have an abundance of cardio equipment- treadmills, bikes, Stair Master's and elliptical machines, cardio is the most popular fat loss modality.

But here's the catch- if you truly want to lose fat, it's not what machine you use, but how you use it.

The number one factor in using cardio for fat loss is intensity.

Whether you're sprinting around the park, riding the recumbent bike, or cranking out on the elliptical machine, the amount of fat you lose in in proportion to the intensity you put forth. Intensity can be increased in various ways, and can be applied to all forms of cardio exercise. continue reading

What role does heart rate (and using a heart rate monitor) play in doing cardio to lose weight?

......................................................................................

Some people say to keep heart rate around 120 bpm for fat loss, others say a heart rate monitor is useless.

A little history here: past studies indicated that we burn a higher percentage of fat calories with low intensity vs. high intensity training, with low intensity training falling into a range of 60-70% of your maximum heart rate (MHR). For many individuals, 120 bpm falls into that 60-70% “fat loss training zone,” hence the advice to keep your heart rate around 120 bpm for maximal fat loss.

The heart rate monitor was developed as a tool to let you easily track your heart rate – and, therefore, your level of exertion – during your training session. No better way to make sure you stay in the “fat burning zone,” right? or is there? continue reading

Warm Up for a Better Workout

....................................................................................

3 Reasons for a Proper Warm Up

We get a lot of questions on the proper way to warm up before a workout. The warm up is an important part of the workout- it can make the difference between a good workout and an awesome workout. It can also make a difference in protecting against injury.

Why Warm Up?

1) Increases the flexibility and elasticity of the muscles. Warming up increases your heart rate and gets the blood (carrying oxygen and nutrients) flowing into the muscles and connective tissues. This gradually prepares the body for greater activity and allows for more flexibility and elasticity of the muscles.

Have you ever got out of bad just after waking up on a cold morning? Your body might feel a little tight. You may need to take a deep breath and stretch. Maybe massage your face a bit. This loosens the muscles a bit and gets the oxygen flowing so you can carry on normal activity. This is the body coming out of sleep mode, and acclimating the body for the day ahead.

The body naturally adjusts to the work being done. Just as you come out of sleep mode and prepare for normal activity, you want to prepare the body to go from normal to intense activity.

On top of increasing flexibility and elasticity, you'll also release adrenaline into the blood stream thereby increasing the work/ pain threshold. continue reading

The 3 Foundations of Fat Loss

(Part 1 of the 3 part series)

..................................................................................

Scrap everything you've heard about fat loss and start with this article!

For the last 9 years myself and Eugene have been getting dirty, in the trenches, training clients. Over those 9 years, we've worked with thousands of clients. Everyone from supremely conditioned athletes to the elderly with special needs. As you can imagine, we've fielded questions about everything under the sun.

"Does water count towards my water intake?"

"Is mashed potatoes a carb?"

"Do I have to do legs? I just want to get big."

"I've been doing 20 sets of concentration curls how come my arms aren't getting any bigger?

"I've been doing crunches every day and I still can't see my abs. How come?"

Of course, the majority of questions stem from the desire to lose fat:

"What diet can I follow that will let me eat as much of whatever I want?"

"How come I'm not losing weight? I ate a salad yesterday"

In recent years, most questions have started with "I was reading on the internet that..." Uh Huh.

This is a problem. Although the internet is a fast way to access good information, some of it is out right crap. continue reading

The Beach Day Program: Lose 10- 20 pounds in 10 weeks

..........................................................................................

Here's a simple to use fat loss program you can use to get ready for the Summer...

Being that I'm in the gym a minimum of 5 days per week, I see the trends. I see how the masses come and go depending on the season. I get to see the highs and lows of motivation and I get to see the fluctuations in body composition.

The gym is relatively quiet from October through December. People are busy with family, the holiday's and eating.

And... taking a hiatus from the gym.

I'd estimate an average gain of 10 pounds of fat is put on during the winter hiatus.

Back to that in a minute... Continue Reading

Down and Dirty High Intensity Cardio Secrets Part I

...........................................................................

Oddly enough I'm going to start this series of articles off with the biggest paradox of fat loss- inefficiency.

I get tons of questions about cardio each day and I'm going to have a lot of people re- thinking their battle plans after reading this.

Sit tight and learn something.

There's a tendency us human beings gravitate towards. This tendency is not just prevalent in fitness, but it infiltrates every pore of our being.

Hell, it's an outright HUMAN NEED.

But...

If you allow this tendency to infiltrate your workouts, your calorie expenditure (and subsequent fat loss) will come to a grinding halt.

The tendency is comfortability.

Specifically comfortability in your cardio routine- getting attached to a favorite machine, a time frame of doing your cardio, a comfortable level of intensity. Continue Reading

Down and Dirty High Intensity

Cardio Secrets Part II

....................................................................................

"Getting your engine running hot for fast weight loss"

In the first article of the Down and Dirty Cardio Secrets Series I spoke about the biggest paradox of fat loss- inefficiency.

By avoiding the trap of falling into the "groove" during your cardio by constantly changing it up, we keep the body challenged by changing variables and exerting in ways it is unaccustomed to. This should be a staple in any weight loss program.

In this article I'm going to tackle the biggest key to cranking the dial up on your fat burning abilities by pushing your body into the "heat zone".

If you were to take a look at the dashboard of a car, you'd see many gauges. They are there to measure how much fuel is in the tank, how much oil you have, RPM's, and how hot the engine is running.

I want you to focus now on the temperature gauge- the one that tells you how hot the engine is running. What happens when you're driving around town, going stoplight to stoplight at a leisurely pace?

Not much, right?

The temperature gauge stays relatively low, RPM's stay low and not much fuel is used.

I equate this to long, slow cardio. You know, the stuff they tell you to do in the average fitness magazine- 40 minutes on the treadmill at a 2.9 speed. Continue Reading

Getting that Elusive "Six- Pack"

..............................................................................................................

My training partner says we should do abs every day. I'm doing 3 sets of 100 crunches every day, but I still can't see my abs. Should I aim for more reps?

You have a specific result you want. You want to see your abs. The "6- pack" look.

We can break this down to 2 factors.

1) You must have a relatively low amount of fat stored in the abdominal region.

2) You must build the muscle fiber of the abdominal muscles

Model: Eugene Thong, President of ETF Wellness

Check out his Personal Training Blog

There have been countless magazine articles on gaining the elusive 6- pack. There have been hundreds of infomercials pimping out products touting the latest gimmick to help you get "abdominized".

Most of them are a bunch of crap.

How to turn your body into a fat burning furnace: The Bodyweight Workout

.........................................................................................

Here's a quick sample body weight workout with

example's performed on the links to videos.

Read the prelude to this article:

How to turn your body into a fat burning furnace

Body Weight Squat x 15 reps
Flag Pushup x 10 reps
Burpees x 5 reps
Plank 30 seconds
Trunk Rotations x 5 reps
Split Squat x 10 reps

Rest interval for 1 minute.

Repeat for as many circuits as you can in time (12 minutes) or a minimum of 3 circuits.

Exercise descriptions:

How to turn your body into a fat burning furnace

.........................................................................................

I keep hearing about how I should add muscle if I want to lose weight. If I'm already overweight, why would I want to keep or build muscle?

First off, let’s start with this exercise. Let’s get that ugly image of the big, veiny, overly-muscular bodybuilder OUT of your head.

Now, replace that picture with the lean, toned body of your choosing - the one you aspire to achieve.

That's what will happen when we add muscle - more specifically, when we add muscle fiber, or their constituent parts, muscle filaments. Filaments are tiny strands, just like the filament in your average light bulb. In order to build a better body, I'm talking about maximizing the number of muscle fiber filaments.

Here’s why.

These tiny strands of muscle each carry a powerful calorie-burning furnace within them. Your body manufactures thousands of these filaments after each productive workout. Now imagine how fast fat would melt off your body if you were adding thousands of these fat burning furnaces each day.

That's exactly what you do when you train with intensity and resistance. (It's also one of the secrets of breaking the dreaded fat loss plateau)

Don’t worry about turning into the Incredible Hulk. These filaments are tiny, so you're not actually growing muscle at a rapid pace, you're just bolstering what's already there by increasing muscle density. Continue Reading

Bodyweight Squats

Form Checklist

Stand with your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Position your toes so that they are pointed out slightly. The angle should match that of your thighs, or the toes and knees should be pointed out to the same degree.
Cross your arms and place your hands on the opposite shoulder (or as seen in the pictures, arms in front of you)