Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
How Many Calories Do You Need to Burn for Fat Loss?
By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
http://bit.ly/8ASh80
If you depend on classic aerobic cardio for fat loss, you probably spend 30 minutes on a machine trying to burn a set number of calories.
But does that work?
Does burning 500 calories per day cause you to lose 1 pound of fat per week?
Well, according to science, it should. But if it did, you probably wouldn't still be reading this article.
Back in the day, I used to write a column on fat loss myths for Men's Fitness magazine. Here's a classic weight loss topic I covered.
Myth: I need to burn 500 calories each workout to lose fat.
Truth:
Possibly one of the worst inventions for fat loss was the calorie-counting monitor on treadmills, elliptical machines, and stairmasters.
Because of these, millions of men and women now obsess about the number of calories burned per session. You've probably even been one of those people, watching it creep up ever so slowly during a slow-cardio session. All the while knowing that you can wipe out a 30-minute, 300-calorie treadmill session with one fell swoop of the
Krispy Kreme hand.
Too many people are brainwashed into thinking that if they don't burn 300-500 calories per session, then they won't lose fat. After all, that is what you've been told time and time again in those fluffy fitness/fashion magazines.
The problems with this approach to fat loss are numerous. First off, it's difficult to say if the calorie counters are even accurate. A story on CBS news showed that cardio machines overestimate calorie burning by up to 20%.
Next, depending on slow cardio for advanced fat loss is relatively useless and at the very least, inefficient. It takes a long time for you to burn a lot of calories and one study showed that men who only used cardio training for weight loss ended up with a reduced resting metabolism. You are basically undoing the calorie burning by depending only on cardio. On the other hand, guys in the same study that used strength training didn't suffer a reduced metabolic rate.
So what is the solution to burning fat in a faster, more efficient method? The answer is to use strength and interval training to burn fewer calories in less exercise time, but with a more intense form of exercise.
Your body will burn more calories after exercise (when you use intervals) than it does after you do slow cardio and your metabolism will stay high. Some experts refer to this as the afterburn effect. How do you do intervals? Well, you could sprint for 30 seconds and rest for 90 seconds and repeat that for 6 sets - using the bike preferably or treadmill if you are experienced with it.
Within that short time frame the intervals will cause your muscles to go crazy with activity (I call it a metabolic turbulence). This crazy metabolism boost causes lots of calorie burning after exercise to get your body back to normal. The result is you would end up burning more fat and more calories in the post-exercise period as your body tries to get things under control.
Now there is one time where you'd want to count calories, but that is when you are counting up and determining how many calories you eat per day. Again, you can wipe out an entire workout's work in less than a minute simply by eating garbage. Without some structure and discipline to your nutrition, there is nothing that even my programs can do to help you lose fat.
So exercise nutrition control and interval training. These are the two anti-calorie counting methods that will help you lose fat and get lean.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Free Exercises to Flatten Stomach
Nice Abs - Best Abs Exercises For Getting Them Fast
Towards Flat Abs and Firm Abs through Abs Fat Reduction
Build Abs Fast Three Pointers to Keep in Mind
Is Milk Healthy?
The Truth about Milk and Fitness
I get e-mails all the time from people saying they are eating a
healthy diet, and then when I ask them to list out what they
eat in a day it is not healthy at all.
But, I have to say it's not their fault, as we have all been
and still are being fed a pack of lies about food.
This is the first in a series of articles, exposing the truth.
Got Propaganda?
We have all heard "milk does a body good", "milk is the perfect
health Food", "milk builds strong bones", "milk will help weight
loss", etc.
These just like "Got Milk?" are nothing more then advertising
slogans trying to get you to buy a product.
Read the full article here Is Milk Healthy? The Truth about Milk and Fitness
Also checkout The Muscle Experiment: Bodyweight Training For Mass
Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Shape Up. Sign up for our Free Weekly Bodybuilding,
Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Bodybuilding Supplements and other great prizes.
Stay informed, stay motivated, win free stuff, join today!
Click Here To Sign Up Free
Is Milk Healthy?
The Truth about Milk and Fitness
I get e-mails all the time from people saying they are eating a
healthy diet, and then when I ask them to list out what they
eat in a day it is not healthy at all.
But, I have to say it's not their fault, as we have all been
and still are being fed a pack of lies about food.
This is the first in a series of articles, exposing the truth.
Got Propaganda?
We have all heard "milk does a body good", "milk is the perfect
health Food", "milk builds strong bones", "milk will help weight
loss", etc.
These just like "Got Milk?" are nothing more then advertising
slogans trying to get you to buy a product.
Read the full article here Is Milk Healthy? The Truth about Milk and Fitness
Also checkout The Muscle Experiment: Bodyweight Training For Mass
Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Shape Up. Sign up for our Free Weekly Bodybuilding,
Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Bodybuilding Supplements and other great prizes.
Stay informed, stay motivated, win free stuff, join today!
Click Here To Sign Up Free
Monday, February 22, 2010
25 Bodyweight Exercise Ideas For Fat Burning
Alright, let's say you go into the gym and it's waaaaaaay too busy (or you are exercising at home with only one set of adjustable dumbbells) and you need some alternative exercises.
What can you do in place of dumbbell presses, dumbbell rows, split squats, etc.?
Well, here are 27 alternative exercises for you.
Situation #1 - You can't do dumbbell chest presses because all the benches are taken, so you can do...
- pushups
- close-grip pushups
- decline pushup
- elevated pushups
- off-set pushups
- pushups with your feet on the ball
- pushups with your hands on the ball
- spiderman pushups
- pike pushups
- or possibly the hardest two hand pushup of them all, decline close-grip spiderman pushups
Situation #2 - You're superset calls for dumbbell chest presses and dumbbell split squats, but you only have one set of dumbbells and you're set on doing the chest presses...what can you do for your legs?
- 1-leg lying hip extensions for beginners
- high-rep Bulgarian split squats for advanced
- high-rep split squats with your front foot elevated 4-6 inches
- 1-leg deadlifts
- 1-leg squats onto bench
- 1-leg squats standing on the bench
- deepstep-ups
- reaching lunges
Situation #3 - You're at the gym on a busy Monday night and your superset calls for dumbbell rows and stability ball leg curls, but all of the dumbbells are taken. What alternatives can you do using a pullup bar or smith machine?
Using the smith machine, you can do...
- inverted rows
- underhand inverted rows
- inverted rows with your feet on the ball
- inverted rows holding the ends of a towel hung over the bar
(advanced grip strength there!)
Using the pullup bar, you can do...
- eccentric pull-ups
- regular pull-ups
- sternum pull-ups
- chinups
- side to side pull-ups
Whew!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Well-tone abs
Good methods to Burn Fat And Get Good Abs - how to get Abs Fast?
Abs Exercise Program
Six Pack Abs Can Be Yours
Friday, February 19, 2010
Killer Abs: Top Gym Workouts
Abs Workout - Get Hot Abs Quick!
Hot Six Pack Abs Secrets Exposed!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
This weight training routine will give you a total body workout.
This routine can be done on Tuesday & Thursday. Do cardio and
abs on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. Or you can do the weight
routine on Monday Wednesday & Friday and do Cardio & abs on
Tuesday & Thursday.
The Best Total Body Workout Schedule For Beginners
Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, Shape Up. Sign up for our Free Weekly Bodybuilding,
Fitness and Health Tips Newsletter, and you will be automatically entered
in our monthly drawing to win Free Bodybuilding Supplements and other great prizes.
Stay informed, stay motivated, win free stuff, join today!
Click Here To Sign Up Free