Ask ten people what type of exercise they should be doing to burn fat, tighten your abs and fire up their metabolism and they’ll all probably tell you the same thing.  They’ll tell you that you need to do 30-40 minutes of moderately-paced aerobic exercise on a treadmill, elliptical machine, stair climber, etc. for 3-5 times per week.

They’ll probably also tell you that more is better…4 times per week would be better than 3, and 5 times per week would be even better.

People will tell you this because that’s been and continues to be the mainstream recommendation for fat burning by many fitness professionals.  Get in a certain target heart rate and stay at that heart rate for 30 minutes or so, several times per week.  I am here to tell you there is a better way.

Sure, you’ll burn some calories while you’re running to nowhere on a treadmill, but you won’t make a complete physique transformation with this type of exercise alone.

Before we go any further let me give you an example of a better way to burn fat and tighten your abs.

Fat Burning Mini Circuit Training Workout

) The Kettlebell Clean Squat and Press. Which really is a full body fat burning workout on it’s own.

2) Mountain Climbers. Another great and I think under appreciated exercise. Get your heart rate going (as if you need more after the clean squat and press) while working your abs.

 

3) Push – Ups Yep the old standby. But do you do push ups properly to get the most benefit. Work your chest, delts, triceps and your core and abs. Work your core and abs while doing push ups? Absolutly if you are doing them right.

Do the above workout circuit training style. Work up to do the circuit 4 - 6 times. Depending on your conditioning level you should be able to do this in no more than 30 minutes.

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Back To Running To Nowhere

In fact, this type of steady state cardio can actually be counterproductive to burning fat.  Here are just a couple of reasons:

Long duration, lower intensity aerobics calls upon your stored body fat for energy during the sessions.  While this may sound good, this can actually cause your body to create more body fat in reserve after the workout is over to have ready for your next workout.

Yikes!

What’s worse, this type of exercise when done frequently as typically suggested, trains your cardiovascular system to be efficient.  Again, while this sounds good, your heart and lungs can actually reduce their capacity for work as they are getting more efficient at doing easy work (your long duration, low intensity aerobic workouts), which reduces their ability to handle stress.

This can lead to a host of other problems including higher change of heart attack.  You are only working within your current aerobic capacity because you’re never challenging it to go beyond what it’s capable of.   And anything that is easy will not yield results even close to what’s challenging for the body to accomplish.

Instead, you should be challenging the body to increase its capacity, so that it is stronger and able to deal with stress more easily.  How is this done?

The fastest and most efficient way to rev up your metabolism, burn fat, tighten your abs and develop lifelong health and fitness is to add lean muscle to your body through resistance training – period. You want life changing results in the quickest possible time? Get stronger and build some muscle. When you add lean muscle to your body you’ll be literally turning your body into a fat burning machine!

Let’s say that you were eating the amount of calories that allow you to maintain your current bodyweight, but began to add lean muscle to your body through proper resistance training…you’ll need to use some of those calories you’re eating to feed the new muscle, creating a calorie deficit in your body.

In addition, when you stimulate your body with proper resistance training, the repair and growth process will call upon your stored body fat for energy.  This calorie deficit combined with the repair and growth process will allow you to burn fat all day long, every day.  You’ll even get these fat burning effects when you’re sitting around doing nothing at all.

Also, properly conducted resistance training actually increases your heart and lung’s capacity for work.  By placing intense demands on your body, it is forced into being ready for anything you throw at it.  This makes you more resistant to cardiovascular health problems that plague most people…even those that exercise with aerobics frequently.

And the beauty is I’ve discovered that you don’t have to spend much time working out to get the fat loss effects, and strength and muscle gains that will create this environment…you can actually get it done with 2 or 3 weekly workouts that last between 20 and 30 minutes, and even less time at an advanced level.

And it’s easy to make this type of exercise part of your life because of its efficiency…and it will help keep you lean and healthy for the rest of it…muscle is the stuff that fat burning furnaces are made of!  That I can promise you.

Related Articles:

 Fat Loss And Lean Muscle Workouts

Circuit Training Workouts For Women

A Fat Burning Workout Done In 12 Minutes

And Don't Forget The #1 Priority To Burn Fat And Tighten Your Abs

Top 55 Flat Belly Foods

3 Foods You Should Stop Eating

You here it all the time from busy moms, executives, students, “I just don’t have time to eat right and exercise!” No one seems to be able to find the time for healthy eating and weight loss.

With all of the responsibilities and events packed into our busy days how are we to keep ourselves healthy and maintain an optimal weight?

When people think weight loss, they think diet and exercise, both of which already sound time consuming.

Well after 10 years of seeing clients I will tell you with 100% certainty that if a client follows their nutrition plan without exercise they always lose weight but if they don’t follow their nutrition plan but are consistent with their workouts, there is no weight loss.

Anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight without changing to healthier eating alternatives knows this is true. Trust me, I’ll be the first one to tell you all the reasons why exercise is so important but following a healthy eating regimen must be priority number 1!

So if nothing else, the following easy adjustments in your nutrition plan will help to take off, at the very least, an initial 5-10 lbs to get you well on your way to health and weight loss:

1. Only drink water as your beverage (with the occasional unsweetened tea or black coffee).

Eliminating all sugar drinks, “diet” drinks and sodas will automatically cause a dramatic weight loss.

Studies have shown, when all else is kept constant, people lose up to 10lbs just by giving up diet coke.

But it has no calories you say?

Equal (Aspartame) and all other artificial sweeteners like Splenda and Sweet and Low are toxins to your body and cause weight gain, even more so than sugar!

Squeeze fresh lemon in your water or make flavored herbal teas and cool them to make ice tea to make water drinking much easier.

Always consume ½ of your body weight in ounces of water per day to experience adequate hydration and weight loss (ex. If you weigh 150lbs, you must drink 75 ounces of water each day).

2. Eliminate the 4 white devils

White Flour, Refined Salt, White Sugar, and Dairy.

If you just stay away from these 4 things, you will automatically see a drastic drop in weight and will instantly feel more energetic throughout the day.

 Most people are well aware of the harmful effects of flour, refined salt and sugar but dairy?

Doesn’t it do a body good? Definitely not!

Dairy is one of the number 1 reasons people have such a hard time losing weight.

It causes inflammation in the body, digestive problems, clogged arteries, and weight gain. Get your calcium from leafy greens and avoid dairy at all costs.

When moms bring in their children to see me with weight and health problems one of the first things I do is take them off dairy. The results are miraculous!

Chronically sick kids are now automatically better. And those who have had such a hard time losing weight experience automatic weight loss without dairy.

3. Know exactly where to find the healthy food!

It is honestly just as easy to run in to the local supermarket and get a bag of carrots and some almonds as it is to run into a Quickie-Mart and buy some harmful processed food.

You can go absolutely anywhere now and find healthy eating options but you must know what you are looking for.

Stay away from most packaged foods as the label indicates more of a science experiment than anything that would be close to food. No one needs all of those toxins in their body. Labels should have 2 – 3 items, at most. And the best foods don’t have labels.

Don’t let time be your excuse. If you stop to eat 2-3 times per day and snack in between it is just as easy to find something healthy as it is to find something harmful.

Don’t let your body come to a shrieking halt before you decide to do anything about your weight and your health.

You know what will be a huge impediment on your time? If you or a family member becomes ill due to poor nutrition and lifestyle habits. So tackle the problem now before it really does begin to affect your time and your life!

 You can replace cars, homes and all material items, but you only get one body! Take good care of it.

Be well on your way to achieving your own Fat Loss and Health Goals with this healthy eating and weight loss plan.

When it comes to fat loss, most people think cardio and dieting. Strength training is just an afterthought. Although hopefully you have been following my posts here and know better. But if you are skeptical.....

Strength training, can burn just as much, if not more, fat than cardio.

Why is it that people focus on cardio as they're primary fat burner?

For one thing cardio does shrink you down. But it does just that: it shrinks down both your fat and muscle. You end skinny and soft. But for a more athletic looking, lean and trim body we want to retain or gain lean muscle while burning fat.

Why?

A larger engine burns more fuel. Larger muscles burn more calories and more fat.

While cardio burns calories and fat when you're doing it, strength training has what is known as high EPOC or "Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption." This is a fancy term for saying how long your metabolism is elevated after exercise.

Studies show that a well-designed strength training program can elevate your EPOC or metabolism for up to 38 hours after your workout. In other words, you continue to burn calories long after strength training. Whereas once you stop cardio, the calorie burning stops as well.

Strength training coupled with diet and cardio burns fat far more than cardio and diet alone.

3 Points To Your Strength Training Workout

Superset between upper and lower body movements through "mini-circuits"

Focus on free weights, compound and multiple compound lifts, and use isolation movements only to bring up lagging parts

Train each body part 3 times a week, but lower the overall volume by spreading the sets and exercises throughout the week

Mini Circuits

This is where you alternate between an upper and lower body exercise.

Using mini-circuits gives you the powerful fat loss effect of circuit training but with the simplicity of using just 2 exercises.

A typical mini circuit uses a lower body exercise, such as the squat, coupled with pushups.

And as you should know we use compound movements (such as the power lifts) and multiple compound movements (such as the Olympic lifts), burn more calories.

The very fact that you have to use more muscles to stabilize the weight means that you stress and develop more muscle and burn more calories and fat as a result.

Below is a strength training/fat loss program that (coupled with diet and high intensity interval training) will get you leaner, more muscular and you'll be more energetic. Do this mini circuit workout 3 times a week.

Strength Training Fat Loss Mini Circuit Workouts

1A - Kettlebell Clean & Press

1B - Swings: 1 set, 20 reps, 60 seconds rest

2A - Hang Cleans

2B - Front Squats: 3 sets, 8-10 reps, 90 seconds rest

To perform this exercise, clean a barbell to your shoulders, perform a front squat, drop the bar to hang clean position and repeat till you achieve 8-10 reps

3A - Front Squats: 4 sets, 10-12 reps, no rest
3B - Pullups: 4 sets, as many reps as possible, 60-90 seconds rest

4A - Deadlifts: 3 sets, 10-12 reps, no rest
4B - Pushups: 3 sets, as many reps as possible, 60-90 seconds rest

These mini circuit training workouts are tough, but if you build a bigger engine, then you'll burn more fuel. Gain lean muscle burn more fat.

 

5 “Get Your Body Back After Baby” Training Tips

by Holly Rigsby

Yes, as Moms we ALL know what a miracle it is to bring a new life into this world. Our bodies have undergone some amazing changes to make this blessing possible. But now that your baby is here, the very next thing on your agenda is to get your body back!

Whether you’re a brand new mom dealing who is just getting cleared to train after delivery, or a mom who has been dealing with the rigors of parenthood and the time it absorbs for a while, I’ve got you covered—because at Fit Yummy Mummy, we help all moms. 

I know how it feels to be in the “post-preggers slow-mo” stage where it seems like the weight isn’t coming off.  And I also know what it’s like to chase my kids around and make sure they get to school and practices on time, leaving little time for me—especially for me to work out.

Moms are a special breed, because part of the job is that we constantly put our children and their needs ahead of ourselves, often neglecting our fitness and our bodies until we’re unhappy.

I want you to know that no matter what, you can have the body you want and become even better mom in the process, because you’ll have more energy, more focus, and a brighter mood.

5 Training Tips To Jump Start The Mother’s Day Fat Burning Workout.

1) WHEN TO START

Right Now!  If you’re a brand new mom, then as long as you did not experience complications or additional surgeries during delivery and are not under doctor’s orders to stay off your feet, you can get moving within the first week of giving birth.  

And if you’ve been a mom for a bit now, it’s time to start taking just a few minutes (as little as 15!) for yourself, and get in shape so you can have the energy to be the best mom you can be.

The “waiting game” is starting to fade out. This is especially true if you exercised throughout your pregnancy. Your body will actually CRAVE activity – I know mine did!

Even if your doctor gives you the standard “Do not exercise for six weeks” Rx, speak up! Show your doctor the list of exercises you want to do—and be specific!

Before you start however, here are some important safety tips.

• Listen to your Body. I cannot stress this enough. If at any time you feel discomfort, pain, light headedness, nausea or experience bleeding STOP immediately, do not try to push through it. Either take the time you need to recover and/or share this information with your Dr.
• Stay Hydrated. Drink plenty of water before, during and after you workout sessions, especially if you are breastfeeding
• Do not to overdo it. Doing too much too soon, jumping into rigorous activity, lifting heavy weights, will only lead to trouble. Your muscles and ligaments need time to recoup. They are overly flexible due to the hormones easily stretched so more prone to injury. Plus you risk burning yourself out. Chronic pain can result from premature sessions of running, stepping or weight lifting with misaligned posture and loose joints and ligaments.

 

2) WHAT YOU CAN DO

Pelvic floor and core activation exercises can be started as soon as possible after birth. Pelvic floor exercises such as Kegels should be started immediately, and can be done anywhere. 

These foundational exercises can hasten the restorative process, improve your posture, flatten your abdominal muscles, and prepare you to return to your favorite strength training routine. The sooner you start, the sooner your body responds.

Walking is a must and you can do this as soon as you feel comfortable to do so. I had Baby Alexander strapped to me in a carrier and was out the door one week after we came home from the hospital.

From here you will then ease into a full-body weight strength and intervals training program. As you regain strength and endurance and your body is responding positively to your workouts, you can then gradually begin to increase the intensity of your routine.

3) BATTLE OF THE ‘MOMMY BELLY’

The most common concern of new moms is how to get rid of the jelly belly! Many worry if a flatter, more toned tummy is even possible to achieve again.

 Yes it is.  As long as you follow an effective exercise program and a supportive nutrition plan, the process burning off the mommy belly fat is not as hard as you think.

If you consistently performed core strengthening exercises and worked out throughout your pregnancy, this process will be easier.

There are some great exercises you can do to bring your abdominal muscles back together, rebuild your core and help you regain a flat tummy…. just avoid jumping into intense exercise too soon, before your abdominal or pelvic floor muscles are ready.

As an additional tip only for new moms: avoid crunches! The traditional crunch is one of the worst exercises you can do after having a baby – especially if you have Diastasis Recti (abdominal separation). Crunches can actually increase the gap!

Plus crunches only target one of several ab muscles — primarily the Rectus Abdominus (your six pack muscles) which is one of the most overstretched muscle groups during pregnancy and your obliques.

These muscles easily overpower the weaker internal abdominal muscle (the Transverse Abdominus) during crunch-like exercises which can cause your abdominal wall to bulge out!

The secret to flattening your mommy belly after pregnancy is to train from the inside out. In addition to cleaning up what you eat, your focus must be on rebuilding strength and control of your Transverse Abdominus – your deepest core muscle.  This muscle compresses the abdominal wall, acts like a corset, draws the belly button closer to the spine and is the body’s most important core stabilizer.

Effective core exercises include…

The “drawing in” maneuver –  You can lie on your back, on your side or get on all fours – contract and hold your deep core muscles as you imagine drawing your belly button in toward your spine – and hold for count of 10 as you breathe.

Plank variations which are most effective when you perform sets of 10-second holds with a brief rest between sets instead of holding for 30-60+ seconds at a time.

 4) MAKE IT EASY TO EXERCISE

Okay, not easy…but make it convenient.  To make the most of your workout plan, set up a routine that you can stick to.

*** Consistency is KEY to your Success *** 

Make it easy on yourself and workout at home. Create a workout space in a convenient corner of your home. Have your equipment set up and ready to go, so whenever baby naps or is playing – you can grab a quick 10-15 minute workout.

Yes, 15 minutes is all you need when you are following an effective workout plan. As a busy mom – there’s just no time for hour long workouts; plus who has the energy!?

Thankfully, 15 minutes of the right type of exercise will make you feel amazing and give you more energy to get through the day no matter how exhausted you were to begin with.

 5) RESULTS

The final and most important tip when focusing on losing the post pregnancy weight….setting realistic goals. Believing that getting back to your pre-pregnancy shape will happen immediately is a surefire way to become frustrated, give up and settle for a “Mom Body”.

While many factors impact your results, including how much weight you gained, your diet before, during and after pregnancy, your exercise program and intensity, care available postpartum, etc. a realistic goal is about a pound a week.  

You may notice a huge difference in your body during the first two weeks after delivery, when you lose much of the accumulated pregnancy-related fluid.

After that, loss of fat stores is up to you which will gradually decrease over a period of four to six months as long as you follow through with consistency.

Putting it All Together

Now all that’s left is to tell you to get started! Waiting ….for the perfect time, when you have more energy, when you’ve lost some weight – all excuses. Putting off your workout plan now, makes it that much harder to get started later.

Easing back into your exercise routine will not only help get your body back—well for the women I work with, they get an even BETTER body back, doing so will only help to improve your mood and boost your energy levels.

No excuses! Here’s a special Fit Yummy Mummy workout to get you going today!

  Mother’s Day Fat Burning Workout

Your Fit Yummy Mummy workouts are performed super set style. This is an example of performing your workout 3 times through for each super set. (Note: You will complete each Super Set 1-4 times depending on your fitness and energy levels). You rotate between the two movements in each super set with little to no rest, allow a 60-90 second rest between each super set.

Be sure to include a warm up and cool down.

NOTE – The only equipment you need for this workout is a stability ball and a mat. The rest of your workout  will utilize your own body weight. If you do not have a stability ball you can perform the squat movement against the wall for support.

A1 Ball Wall Squat 10-12x
A2 Push Ups 6-8

B1 Prisoner Split Squat 6-8x each side
B2 Glute Raise March 8-10x each side

C1 Belly Blaster 10-12x
C2 Side Plank hold 30 sec each side

Get Going With The Fit Yummy Mummy Workouts

The Best Fat Burning Workout Program for Women

If you want to burn fat, lose cellulite, and shed inches of fat from your thighs, then you need to discover the fat burning resistance training and interval training secrets of the world's slimmest women. These fast fat loss workouts will help you get in and out of the gym whether it's your home gym or whether it's a commercial gym. You get your workout done in 45 minutes.

Each fat burning workout program starts with a body weight warm up and then we do strength training, whether it is body weight training or dumbbells. Or sometimes we use barbells but most women that I work with train at home so we just use dumbbells and body weight. Then we finish with 25 minutes of interval training.

Women must use the most efficient and effective training methods. The stuff that gets you the most results in the least amount of time. So we are not doing long, slow cardio sessions and we're not doing 5 or 6 day per week body building training programs.

When it comes to strength training it's a very important thing to include in a fat burning workout program. Even if you only did, had time to do one set of an exercise, it's not like you did 3 sets of an exercise you get 3 times the results. That one set done with proper intensity is going to give you a lot of results.

That's where a lot of women get upset and confused, because they think, "If I've only got twenty minutes to exercise what's the point of me doing strength training? I'll just go and do twenty minutes of slow cardio." But you're not really getting anywhere that way. That's not the best fat burning workout program for women.

On the other hand, resistance training and interval training apply a stimulus (which I call "turbulence") to the muscle and help you burn fat after the workouts. Consider this analogy about the turbulence in a fat burning workout program and in a flight on an airplane.

I thought of this analogy on an airplane, realizing that an airplane has to expend a lot of energy to return to its normal flight pattern after it goes through turbulence. That is basically what the body is doing. We put the body in turbulence with our training in fat burning workouts and our body has to expend a lot of energy to replace the energy burnt during exercise and repair the muscle damage.

Because your body wants to be in what's called homeostasis or basically a steady state, it doesn't like to get put out of its normal state and when it does, it has to expend this energy to get back into it. That's why turbulence helps you burn fat.

One of the big lessons I like to give women is to avoid getting hung up on that calorie counter on the cardio machine when choosing fat burning workout programs.

Calorie counters are not accurate. In fact, CBS News did a segment on the accuracy of cardio machine calorie counters and found they are not even that accurate.

Second of all it doesn't really matter how many calories you burn in a training session. What really matters is how many calories you burn in a 24 hour period. By burning calories in a short amount of workout time with a higher intensity workout, you end up burning more calories in a 24 hour period, even though you don't burn as many on a machine calorie counter during your actual workout.

In your life and in your fat burning workouts, you must look at the big picture. Look beyond what is happening in minute by minute increments. Looking at how many calories are burned in a workout is literally looking at the small picture. Looking at your 24 hour metabolism is looking at the big picture. That's where you're going to see the benefits of the fat burning workout programs.

Shaping And Toning Or Lean Muscle Building

We have talked about women and muscle building before, but it seems from some of the questions I get it's still a concern. As you have seen lately I have been posting a lot of lean muscle workouts. And with good reason.

To get the ultimate in fitness, fat loss, health and having the body of your dreams it all starts with gaining lean muscle.

But still the question from women often is.......

Should Women Do Shaping And Toning Exercises Or Lean Muscle Workouts?

Remember This:

*** Adding lean muscle is what gives you the toned lean look you’re after.

Muscle is what gives your body shape. You can lose all the fat you want but if you don’t have any muscle to show then you won’t have any real shape to show ***

Lean Muscle Building And Shaping And Toning Is The Same Thing

Okay that being said I am going to hand off the rest of today's post to Flavia Del Monte. It is my hope that hearing it from another women who does lean muscle workouts will convince you,

Women Should Do Lean Muscle Workouts

Expressing fear of building muscle and looking like a man by merely lifting some weights is like me saying "I don't want to play golf because I'm afraid I'll turn pro..." Nothing just happens – including building muscle!

If your body was destined to look like a man, than you would probably already know it! Genetics don’t change over night...

Unless you have a river of testosterone flowing in your blood, the fear of getting big is unfounded! Competitive female bodybuilders train at least three hours a day and perform 20-30 sets PER body part with their women fitness programs in hopes of getting a fraction of the size of their male counterparts.

GETTING BIG IS NO EASY TASK FOR A FEMALE... and if it were than you would see Jane swinging from the vines and swimming with the alligators, not Tarzan!

Simply put, this myth has no scientific backbone. It is very hard for most men to build muscle; let alone women.

I hear of men who are eating thousands of calories and lifting heavy weight but don’t put a pound of lean muscle mass on their bodies. Yet, females are afraid that lifting anything more than 8-lb dumbbells will make them look like a man!

Little-Known FACT Not only lifting weight, but lifting HEAVY weight will give you definition and that toned look that is desired from EVERY female all over the world.

 YOU CANNOT LOOK LIKE A MAN FROM LIFTING HEAVY WEIGHTS, UNLESS YOU TRY (REALLY HARD) TO DO SO, INJECT TESTOSTERONE INTO YOUR BUTT, OR ARE A GENETIC FREAK!

First off, men have 10 to 30 times higher levels of testosterone than females.

 Women do not have a large testosterone production in their body, making it impossible to build muscle at the same intensity as a male.

A male is made up of a lot more muscle than women. 23% of a women's weight is muscle, compared to 40% of a male’s weight. Women simply do not have the genetics to build muscle and the women that have done so, have done so by genetically altering their bodies.

I can take a guess that most women want a TONED look.

When your muscles look etched, it is because of a low percentage of fat around that muscle. Shaping and Toning and lean muscle building is one in the same!

There are 3 ways growth occurs in muscles:

* during resistance training (followed with precise nutrition)

* natural growth period (such as puberty)

* during pregnancy In order to build lean mass, you must have an excess of calories: *energy in is greater than energy out*

That said, in order build muscle, you MUST tailor your diet for muscle building.

And that applies to women who want to "TONE". You have to first BUILD the muscle in order to have a toned look.

Increase in CALORIES + lifting heavy = muscle mass There are three different body types:

* ectomorph (naturally thin)

* mesomorph (naturally muscular)

* endomorph (naturally broad and thick)

All three different body types need to eat and train a certain way in order to build muscle and lose fat.

The issue here is that there is only so much storage in a muscle. You need to lift heavy weight in order to increase the size of your muscle.

If the unlikely chance of too much muscle being built, all you would need to do is drop the weight, and take in less calories.

THE SKINNY Resistance training is essential to a balanced and effective training program. You need to lift heavy in order to build muscle.

You cannot change your genetics to the degree to look like a man if you are a women unless you are "trying" to do so by working out at least 2-3 hours a day and lifting 20-30 sets per body part.

I'm guessing you don't do that?

I didn't think so... so flush that fear down the toilet.

–Flavia Del Monte R.N., C.P.T., PN Certified

Here is the bottom line ladies:

*** If you want the body of your dreams it starts with heavy resistance training.

*** You will Not and can Not build big bulky muscles

*** Heavy resistance training and firm healthy eating plan mixing in interval training is the path to having that head turning body

Metabolic Resistance Training And Interval Training The Fastest Fat Loss

9 times faster fat loss? A bold claim for sure. And we hear these claims all the time the new wonder drug, fad diet whatever.

 But today we are going based on scientific studies done on the effects of resistance training cardio and interval training.

In my last post I talked to you about  slow cardio to lose body fat quickly and began to briefly talk about  the benefits of something much more effective – short duration, high intensity interval training exercise.

Simply put, if you are looking for the quickest way to lose body fat, high intensity exercise is a MUST.

Short duration, high intensity exercise comes in two major forms: metabolic resistance training (MRT) or resistance training cardio (as I like to call it) and interval training. Today, I want to take a DEEP look into the benefits of each.

1 -  Metabolic Resistance Training:

As mentioned in my previous post, metabolic resistance training is simply “cardio with weights” or as I call it resistance training cardio and when speaking of the most effective form of exercise for the fastest possible fat loss, this is it.

Before we really get crankin here is a quick example of a resitance training cardio example exercise.

 A couple of studies to support this that Alwyn Cosgrove dug up:

Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM.
Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.

In this study a 30-minute circuit style metabolic resistance training session was put to the test. The result was a 38 hour increase in metabolism – massive AFTERBURN.

Let’s put this in perspective: Say that you worked out at 8AM on Friday. By way of  resistance training cardio, you’d still be burning calories from that workout while out at the movies on Saturday night.

You want to burn calories by watching Wolverine? Now you can.

Here’s another:

Kramer, Volek et al.
Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight loss in men.
Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 1320-1329, 1999.

This study showed that those who added metabolic resistance training to a reduced calorie diet burned up to 44% more fat than those who dieted alone.

Don’t get me wrong, diet is the NUMBER ONE component of the fat loss puzzle, but once you’ve got that down, resistance training cardio or MRT can really take your results to a whole new level.

And here’s one more:

Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R.
Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.
J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.

This study compared “slow-go” aerobic exercise to resistance training cardio and found that the resistance group lost significantly more fat without losing ANY lean muscle even at an extremely low calorie intake (not so for the aerobic group).

In fact, believe it or not, while the aerobic group experienced a decrease in metabolism (and lost muscle), the resistance training group actually increased overall metabolic rate.

THAT’S the power of metabolic resistance training.

Convinced that metabolic resistance training cardio  WORKS? Good. 

 Interval Training:

Interval training is simply a form of high intensity cardio in which you alternate back and forth between periods of high effort and periods of active recovery.

Here is a short video demo of a beginners Interval training workout.

For example, you may run very hard for a period of one minute and then follow it up with walking for one minute, repeating 8-10 times for a less-than-20-minute workout.

Does it work?

Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.
Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8

You want to know what happened when this research group compared 20 weeks of endurance training vs. 15 weeks of interval training?

While the aerobic/endurance group actually managed to burn more total calories during exercise, the interval training group lost NINE TIMES more body fat. NINE TIMES.

Nine times more fat loss in half the time? The clear choice for fat loss is interval training.

And it all comes down to elevated metabolism after your workout is completed – the afterburn.

Are you experiencing the afterburn

Fat Burning Workouts

Circuit Training Workouts For The Busy Woman Burn Fat Gain Lean Muscle

First off let me say even though the title of this article is circuit training workouts for women these workouts are just as effective for men.

In yesterday’s article I gave you the rundown, benefits and misconceptions about circuit training workouts.

The purpose of circuit training is to keep you moving by only allowing you to take minimal breaks between exercises. If you absolutely must rest( this will be based on your conditioning level), you can take 30 seconds to walk around and then start again. Whatever you do, don’t stop moving.

Circuit training is completely different than traditional weight-training programs, but can provide a much greater boost to your metabolism (fat loss) than plain cardio. Circuit training, works because it causes you to keep pushing your body aerobically, while still challenging you anaerobically(lean muscle gains).

Full Body Circuit Training Workouts <=== Click Here To Read The Full Article

The Bodyweight 100 Circuit Training Workout Challenge

Craig Ballantyne is going to take us through the bodyweight 100 challenge workout. I think for someone just starting with circuit training workouts this is a good place to start. After the 100 we will take a look at the bodyweight 200 circuit training workout.

To start, you will perform 20 prisoner squats, maintaining good form by keeping your elbows back and shoulders blades together.

Immediately following the squats, go directly into 20 push ups. If you cannot do 20 repetitions straight, then you can break it up however you desire, or do as many as you can and take a rest.

Next, you will do 10 jumps.

After the jumps, you will complete 10 repetitions of the inverted row, using an overhand grip.

Then immediately go into 20 lunges, alternating sides.

Once you’ve done all the repetitions for the lunges, move on to 15 closed- grip push-ups. For this exercise you want to place your hands shoulder- width apart and your elbows tucked into your sides. Again, if you can’t do 15 in a row, then you might do 5, then 5, then 5.

To finish off you will do either 5 chin-ups or 5 more inverted rows for a total of 100 repetitions.

Now if you don’t make the cut-off time for the Bodyweight 100, then you will repeat this challenge the following week. However, if you do manage to beat the time, then the next week you will move up to the Bodyweight 200.

Exercise List For The Bodyweight 100 Circuit Training Workout For Women

20 Prisoner Squats
20 Push Ups
10 Jumps
10 Inverted Rows
20 Lunges (Alternating Sides)
15 Close Grip Push Ups
5 Chin Ups or 5 (More) Inverted Rows

Now Let’s Try The Bodyweight 200 Circuit Training Workout

Once again Craig Ballantyne from Turbulence Training shows us how to lose fat and gain muscle with the Bodyweight 200 challenge.

This circuit is obviously a little more challenging than the workout above.

If you passed the time requirement for the Bodyweight 100, then you’re ready to take on the Bodyweight 200.

To start out, you’ll do Prisoner Squats for 45 reps. So, place your hands behind your head and keep your elbows back. Next, push your hips back and squat down and then back up.

Move immediately into 30 Push-ups. Break these up into blocks if you need to, but make sure you get through them all before going on to the next exercise.

From there you will do 10 Jumps. Be sure to jump right back up as soon as you land.

After finishing all your jumps go into 10 stability ball Leg Curls. So, with your heels on the ball and your hips bridged up in the air, curl the ball in and then back out. Be sure to keep your body in a straight line and your hips bridged up at all times.

Once you’ve finished the leg curls, go immediately into 10 stability ball Jackknives. Place your elbows on a bench and your feet on a ball. Next, brace your abs and bring your knees into your chest and then back out. Make sure your body is in a straight line at all times.

Next up in this Bodyweight challenge is 20 Step-ups (10 per side). So, with one foot up on the bench, use your lead leg to drive up and then slowly lower back down. Be sure to keep your lead foot up on the bench at all times. Do all reps for one side and then switch sides.

Okay, back to the upper body, this time with 5 Pull-ups. With an overhand grip and slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, start from a dead hang position and pull your chest up to the bar and then slowly lower back down. If you need to do these one at a time in order to get through them all, that is finejust make sure you do all of them. (If you can’t do pull-ups, then you can do bodyweight rows instead)

Next up is 30 Forward Lunges, 15 per side, alternating sides, followed by 20 Close-Grip Push-ups.

After your push-ups, you’ll do 15 bodyweight Rows using an overhand grip that is slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Next, row your chest up to the bar, squeezing your shoulder blades together at the top position.

Once you’ve finished the rows go right into 15 bodyweight squats and then finish off with 5 Chin-ups. For the chin-ups, grab the bar with an underhand grip and from a dead hang position, pull your chest up to the bar and slowly lower down.

The 200 Circuit Training Workout For Women Exercise List

45 Prisoner Squats
30 Push Ups
10 Jumps
10 Stability Ball Leg Curls
10 Stability Ball Jackknives
20 Step Ups (10 per side)
5 Pull Ups
30 Forward Lunges (15 Per Side)
20 Close Grip Push Ups
15 Bodyweight Rows
15 Bodyweight Squats
5 Chin Ups

There you have 2 circuit training workouts that work just as well for men as they do for women. In the coming day’s we will take a look at more advanced circuit training workouts.

“What is Turbulence Training?” its the combination of resistance training and interval training used to boost your metabolism so that your body burns calories and fat between workouts. “Cardio doesn’t boost your metabolism after exercise. Only strength training and interval training do that – while you work, sleep, and eat – your body will be shedding fat.”

Lose fat and gain muscle without cardio. Discover the cardio free fat loss workouts using weight training exercise and interval training to burn fat, get rid of stubborn belly fat, and build muscle

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Barbell Circuit Training

Kettlebell Circuit Training Workouts

Are you ready for the Ultimate Ab Workout?

When I was a little kid I dreamed of having muscles as big as Arnold Schwarzenegger and I remember trying to do as many situps as I could to try and get there. The number wasn’t very impressive and I was still skinny as a rail but somewhere along the way I was imprinted with the notion situps were the only way to get a set of lean abs.

I wanted to show you some awesome new moves you can use to lose belly fat and tighten your abs.

Now we know better than to do thousands of situps a day to build a strong core and get lean abs. Whether you’re looking to flatten your stomach or get a set of ripped six pack abs it’s going to be necessary to throw all that old school bodybuilder stuff out the window.

With that being said there are many better ways to train your abs than just doing situps.

Training the deeper core muscles instead of just constantly working the sexy rectus abdominis over and over again until the end of time.

In this ultimate abs workout that I developed we’re going to go deeper than just doing a bunch of crunches by training the core in many different planes of motion using unconventional exercises.

I won’t be surprised if some of these core exercises wouldn’t even look as if they would train your abs but trust me when I say these are some of the best ab exercises out there.

I wouldn’t recommend doing this ultimate ab workout routine more than 2-3 times per week and I usually would do this on days that I don’t strength training but on days following my High Intensity Interval Training workouts.

Be sure to watch the video below for demonstrations and descriptions of all the core and ab exercises. I do use some equipment in this workout such as the Bosu, Valslides and the Swiss Ball

Click Here===> For Lean Tight Abs

Tri Sets Another Circuit Training Workout For Lean Muscle And Fat Burning

A couple of day’s ago I posted an article about using supersets to burn fat and lean muscle gains. Lean Muscle Workouts: Supersets Burn Fat Gain Muscle <==click here to read. Today we are going to use another training method by adding an exercise to our superset workouts.

Tri – Sets Upping The Fat Burning Intensity

As you may have guessed Tri Sets are doing 3 exercises with minimal or no rest in between. I actually touched on Tri Sets in a post a few months back you can read here===>Resistance Training Cardio Tri-Sets and Giant Sets. Both super sets and tri sets are high intensity forms of strength training.

As with superset I like doing my tri sets with antagonistic muscle groups where possible. Although with Tri’s there is going to be some crossover.

An Example of One Of My Tri – Sets

1A) Barbell Bent Over Rows

2B) Incline Dumbbell Presses

3C) Snatch Grip Deadlifts

I set my timer for 20 minutes and it’s time to get to work. Lift heavy reps 4-8.

Tri-sets workouts are a great tool to use for  lean muscle gains and fat burning. Tri-sets increase the intensity of your workouts, by forcing your muscle to do more work in less time. Which is great for muscle building.

Tri sets are basically a mini circuit training workout, Tri-sets are great for full body workouts and split body routines as well. Although you know I favor full body workouts. Which if you look at the example workout above I hit virtually every bodypart.

Another bonus of Tri Sets shorter workouts. I have mentioned the lean muscle gains but tri’s also work very well for fat loss.

When setting up a Tri Set workout generally, try to alternate a pushing exercise with a pulling exercise, or an upper body movement with a lower body one.

One of the least talked about aspects of training is workout density, which is the amount of work you do in a given time frame. The greater your density, the greater your caloric expenditure.

To that end, the simplest way to increase density is to shorten rest periods. So for your rest periods in between exercises as I said before keep them as short as possible 30 seconds and under. But it is based on your conditioning level so in the beginning if you need more take it next workout try and cut it down even if only a second or two.

So there you have it give the tri seis a shot. Add them to your lean muscle workouts and you’ll up your workout intensity, lose fat and increase your cardio capacity

The 10X20 Kettlebell And Bodyweight Workout

The beauty of this kettlebell workout is that you can do it in only a small amount of space because you will be using just your bodyweight and kettlebells. If you don’t have a kettlebell, then you can substitute it for a dumbbell. But get a kbell.

Secondly, this workout is also known as the 10 x 20, in that there are 10 exercises at 20 repetitions each. So, as you make your way through this circuit you will not take any breaks until you’ve completed all the exercises. Once there, take a minute or two to take a rest, and then repeat up to two more times.

The first exercise is a Kettlebell Squat. For this exercise, hold the KB at chest height in front of you, push your hips back, squat down, and then drive up. Repeat for 20 reps.

The next exercise is known as the Extended Push up. It will be a regular push up with a slight twist in that your hands will be in front of your head. This makes the push up exercise a bit more difficult, especially on your abdominals when you are at the bottom of the exercise. Each workout, try to extend a little bit more.

After all the reps are completed for the push ups, you’ll follow with 20 repetitions of Kettlebell Swings. Now, this exercise is not a squat, but instead more of an RDL type of movement. Take the KB back between your legs, push your hips back and really thrust them to drive the KB upward to shoulder height. In this exercise, you’re arms will not be doing any of the work; they are simply along for the ride. Be sure to keep your back flat.

Immediately from there, go into 20 repetitions per side of Walking Lunges. If you don’t have a lot of space, then you can just do the lunges in place, alternating sides.

Now it’s time to get into single arm exercise with the kettlebell. First up is the High Pull exercise for 10 reps per side. So, swing the KB down between your legs and then up to shoulder height.

Following that exercise you’ll go to the ground for a series of Mountain Climbers. Position yourself as if you were going to do a push up, next, bring your knee up to your chest and then back out. Make sure to keep your hips down and abs braced. Alternate sides.

Once you’ve finished with that exercise you’ll do the 1-Arm Kettlebell Swing. This exercise is very similar to the High Pull, but you will keep your arm straight throughout. Do 20 repetitions per side.

Next up, you’ll do 20 Close Grip Push ups. If you want to make this exercise a little bit harder, then put your feet up for decline Close Grip Push ups or conversely, kneeling if you want to make it easier. So, position your hands shoulder-width apart, and as you go down, tuck your elbows into your sides.

After the push ups, you’ll do a Kettlebell 1-Arm Row. So, with a staggered and strong stance, start with the KB straight down below you and palm facing your feet. Next, as you bring the KB up to your abdomen, rotate it toward your body.

To finish off the workout, you will do 20 Stability Ball Leg Curls. So, on the floor with your feet up on the ball, bridge your hips up and curl the ball in and out. Be sure to keep your hips up and in a straight line during this exercise.

“The 10 x 20 Kettlebell Workout Bodyweight Exercise Circuit”

1) Squat With Kettlebells – 20 reps
2) Pushups (Hands in Front) – 20 reps
3) Kettlebell Swings – 20 reps
4) Walking Lunges – 20 reps per side
5) Single Arm High Pulls – 10 reps per side
6) Mountain Climber – 20 reps
7) One Arm Kettlebell Swing – 10 reps per side
Close Grip Pushups – 20 reps
9) Kettlebell One Arm Row – 10 reps per side
10) Stability Ball Leg Curls – 20 reps

Rest 1-2 Minutes and then do it 2 more times

Thanks to Craig Ballantyne of The Turbulence Training Kettlebell Revolution for contributing this kettlebell and bodyweight workout to Womens Fitness Lifestyle where you can see this kettlebell and bodyweight video.

Today I have an article contributed by my colleague Rob Poulos. In it, Rob explains why so much mass confusion exists about fat burning, and how to avoid this and get yourself on the right path for lifelong fitness.

**The Mass Confusion That Dominates In Fat Loss & Fitness Today**

By Rob Poulos, Creator of the Fat-Burning Furnace System

People are confused more than ever about how to burn fat.  They are confused about the best way to go about achieving the body they want.  They are confused about what works and what doesn’t, and the reasons why. 

There are countless individuals slaving away in gyms and fitness centers around the country right now.  They are working tirelessly, almost every day, on the treadmill, stair-climber, elliptical, etc. to burn those calories and fat.  They also might be lifting weights several times a week for hours at a time to build some strength and muscle.  They might even join a few aerobics or spinning classes too.

They are probably also trying one of the latest diet strategies that promises miracle fat burning and weight loss.  They could also be spending a lot of money on the latest and greatest dietary supplements that could be that miracle pill that will aid in weight loss. 

They are also carefully watching the scale as their main judge of fat loss progress.  If it goes up a pound or two, they may behave rashly and maybe even change up their entire workout or diet program! And of course there are others are doing variations on that same theme. 

After all, this is the kind of stuff that many of the popular fitness and diet gurus typically recommend to burn fat.  But with so many different strategies and plans being pushed as the be all and end all, what happens is we tend to go overboard. 

And when that happens, we lose sight of what really matters in achieving lifelong fat burning, fitness and health…the principles than many people don’t know about, most people have forgotten, and only a select few put to use to achieve lifelong health and fitness.  These are the same principles I used to drop over 40 pounds of unwanted body fat, keep it off, and revitalize my life!

With any exercise or nutrition program, you’ll probably lose some fat initially, but far too often the progress doesn’t continue or doesn’t come as fast as the person would like because they’re using a temporary mindset. 

They’re only focused on the short term and one specific goal.  So they end up switching to something else, and the cycle continues until they’ve become consumed by this cycle of confusion. 

I believe that this is one of the biggest, if not the #1 reason for the lack of fat loss and fitness progress that is being experienced by the masses of exercisers and dieters in the world. 

They are jumping from one fad diet or exercise routine to another, while losing sight of what’s really important, and what really works.  Simply put, they are exercising far too much, not nearly intensely enough, and trying to adhere to unrealistic diet recommendations.

If instead they focused on a long term plan, a lifestyle as it’s often called, and didn’t worry about “losing 10 pounds by summer”, they would find it far easier to do the right things most of the time. 

And those right things include brief, progressive, and intense resistance training, eating a diet full of nutrient rich foods, drinking tons of water, and getting plenty of quality sleep and rest. 

The students of my Fat Burning Furnace method understand this and are reaping the life long health and fitness rewards because of it.  Are you?

Check out Rob’s Fat-Burning Furnace System:

Rob Poulos is an expert fitness author and the founder and CEO of Zero to Hero Fitness.  Rob created his “Fat Burning Furnace” system to help those looking to put an end to restrictive fad diets, long boring cardio workouts, and the need for super-human willpower for good