You know who is your worst enemy in the fight against fat?
Well-meaning, politically correct, fitness professionals
that don't want to make you feel bad for being lazy and
eating crap. That's who.
They write articles about how "diets are bad", how you can
lift soup cans and get fitness model arms, and how you
should exercise in the nice and easy "fat burning zone" to
get results.
Basically, they give you what want to hear - plenty of
excuses for avoiding hard exercise and strict nutrition
(the real keys to fat loss).
But I don't. You'll get no such excuses from me.
Here's the real deal on fat loss. You have to work hard in
your workouts and even harder on your nutrition if you want
results. Or you can take the politically-correct easy way
out and have the same body in 3, 6, and even 12 months from
now.
Love me or hate me, I promise you results. Let's take a
look at why the PC-solutions don't work...
Q: I've been told to exercise in my "fat burning zone".
What's the best cardio method for weight loss?
Answer: Cardio is not the only solution.
Clearly it adds to the energy deficit and overall calorie
balance that favors fat loss.
BUT it's not the "end all & be all" of fat loss success -
and that is anecdotally supported by the number of
overweight distance runners.
I almost never recommend long, slow cardio...simply because
no one I train or consult with has the time for this, and
it doesn't work any better than shorter, less frequent,
more intense interval training sessions.
Five or six days of 45-minute cardio sessions in my
fat-burning zone? Yeah right, like anyone has time for that.
If I told you that you could get the same results (or
better, as recent research suggests) in three 20-minute
interval sessions each week as you could from three or five
45-minute slower cardio sessions each week, which would you
choose?
Yes, intervals feel about 10x's harder than regular, slow,
boring cardio. And yes, you won't be able to read your
people magazine when doing intervals. And you might breath
a little heavy. So if you're worried about sweating, than
maybe fat loss isn't for you.
But if you don't mind going against the crowd, intervals
are worth every second for the superior results.
Q: Should men and women train differently for fat loss?
Answer: Nope. Next question.
Seriously, the answer is no, but just to add to that, men
and women don't have that many differences when it comes to
fat loss, so they both do well with the fat burning
interval-style workouts.
Now here's one reason why intervals may actually work
better for women than men...
More women tend to start interval training after having
spent months or years using slow cardio and light (if any)
weights.
And I could not be any happier - because when these
dedicated women start using the shorter, more intense
strength and interval sessions they make rapid progress and
make me look like a genius.
The accolades come pouring in...I have many testimonials
from women thanking me for saving them TIME while helping
them finally breakthrough stubborn fat loss plateaus (and
eliminating the pain from their overuse injuries that
occurred due to high volumes of cardio).
Their words make me feel like a million bucks because the
interval cardio workouts are making these women feel like a
million bucks.
That being said, I sometimes make small changes in the
resistance workouts to adapt to a woman's pre-conceived
notions about strength training.
Some women are very hesitant to lift weights. But you and I
know that is necessary for bodysculpting, fat loss, and
health benefits such as building bones.
So what I do is sub a few (not all!) of the weight
exercises out and replace them with equal intensity
bodyweight exercises. Some bodyweight exercises can be
classified as traditional strength exercises (i.e. for a
woman that can only do 5 full pushups, the pushup exercise
is almost a max strength exercise).
But women "mentally" deal with this type of strength
training better than putting a dumbbell in their hands.
On the other hand, some bodyweight exercises provide more
of an interval training effect (i.e. bodyweight squats).
Either way, bodyweight exercises can put turbulence (i.e.
"stress") on the muscle and boost metabolism and help
female clients get the results they want and deserve.
Q: What differentiates strength and interval training from
other programs?
Answer: That's a tough question to answer, as there are
other systems out there that give impressive results in an
acceptable time frame.
I will say this however, I am extremely dedicated to the
entire "fat loss" cause.
One of the factors behind my dedication is that I find the
general concept of fat loss to be so simple, and yet
millions and millions of people around the world have an
incredibly difficult time achieving their goals.
I want to give them every possible resource available to
them to help them succeed.
So I am constantly tinkering with new workouts, exercises,
and interval methods, and interviewing other trainers and
nutritional experts for every single little fat burning
advantage I can find.
I said in a past article that "Fat loss is easy, once you
realize how hard it is." You have to respect that it's not
something you put on "auto-pilot".
Taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator, parking
100 extra feet away from the door, and subbing 1% milk for
2% milk is not going to help you lose 13 pounds of fat in a
year like the politically correct articles suggest.
You need a politically-incorrect plan to eat right 90% of
the time (i.e. saying "no" when an office-mate brings in
doughnuts) and you have to have the best workout plan
available to you if you want to get the most results in the
least amount of time.
And then you still have to have a plan to help you stick to
those plans - and that should involve a social support
group. There are many tricks and tips to success, so you
always have to keep learning and trying to improve.
----------------------------------------------------
Discover the Dark Side of Cardio and why it's stopping you
from losing weight at http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com
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