By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.turbulencetraining.com
Let me solve your workout problem.
I know that you are:
- Eating well
- Exercising regularly
- and TICKED OFF that you aren't making progress.
I've answered dozens of emails from new readers that have said exactly that. And after I get more info from them, here are the 3 mistakes commonly made:
1) Your perception of your nutrition "success" doesn't match the
reality of what, when, and how often you are eating. To learn the rules of fat loss, you need to read (scratch that, you need to
STUDY), Dr. Chris Mohr's Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines.
2) There is no variety in your training.
3) You need to up the intensity of your training.
Let's face it. Human beings like to stick to a routine. We don't
like change. We like our comfort zone - some more than others.
But if there is no change in your workout from month to month, then your body will not change either.
That is why I insist on changing your workouts every 4 weeks as you do in the TT workouts.
You won't succeed by doing the same thing over and over again.
Would you get ahead at work by doing the same tasks you did as the first day on your job? No way. You have to take on more challenges.
With variety in your training, you will continue to apply
"turbulence" to the muscle, and making your body use lots of energy (i.e. calories and fat) during the recovery period to repair the muscle and replenish the energy used. That will "jack up" your metabolism.
If your body is used to the training, the exercises, the sets, and
the reps, it will give a "ho-hum" response and your metabolism will flatline.
And that's why you need to raise the intensity of the workout as
well.
Slow, boring cardio doesn't jack up the metabolism like intervals.
And research has shown that 8 reps boost your post-workout
metabolism more than 12 reps. So you have to safely add a little
weight (try using 5% more weight with perfect form, of course), and decreasing the number of reps per set by 2. That's a good place to start.
So if you've been doing a machine circuit, then stop, and give this sample free weight Turbulence Training workout a try.
Warmup with a bodyweight circuit. 8 reps per exercise, go through it twice.
Sample bodyweight circuit:
i) Bodyweight squat
ii) An easy pushup
iii) A bodyweight row if possible, if not, do stick-ups
Then do 20 minutes of total body strength training done in
supersets.
ie.
1a) DB Squat
1b) DB Press
Do each exercise with a weight that allows only 8 reps. Do not rest between the squat and press. Rest 1 minute after the press. Repeat the superset 2 more times.
Next superset:
2a) DB Split Squat
2b) DB Row
Same as above.
On to intervals:
5 minute warmup.
6 intervals of 60 seconds at a "harder than normal cardio pace"
with 60-90 seconds recovery (at the easiest pace possible).
5 minute cooldown.
Stretch tight muscles only.
Done.
We don't do slow cardio. It does nothing for the man or woman who is short on time.
And of course, always train safe and don't do anything you are not comfortable doing...but if you are fit and healthy, you can
increase the intensity, change the variables, and burst through
your fat loss plateaus.
Sincerely,
Craig Ballantyne,
Author, Turbulence Training
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
www.turbulencetraining.com
Jul 4, 2010
Jul 3, 2010
How does Sleep affect Fat Loss?
By Isabel De Los Rios
www.thedietsolutionprogram.com
Can being sleep deprived cause you to gain weight? Yes! Many people don’t realize the many health implications of sleep deprivation. It may even be hindering your fat loss efforts.
How does sleep (or sleep deprivation) affect your weight loss efforts?
Here are just a few reasons why sleeping may be the missing link to your weight loss efforts:
1. When you’re tired, it is so much harder to make healthy choices. I’m not sure if this is more about psychology or physiology or a combination of both. However, I know I have experienced it firsthand. When I get a good night’s sleep, sticking to my regular exercise and healthy eating routine is a cinch. But when I’m sleep deprived, I somehow think that chocolate and sugar will make me feel better. The truth is, it never does! It actually makes me feel worse. Much worse, because the blood sugar highs and lows makes me more tired and cranky than before I ate the sweets.
2. Now for some science. Researchers from several separate studies have found a link between sleep and the hormones that influence our eating behavior. Two specific hormones are involved. Ghrelin is responsible for feelings of hunger. Leptin tells the brain when it’s time to stop. When you’re sleep deprived, your ghrelin levels increase at the same time that your leptin levels decrease. The result is an increased craving for food and not feeling full (a hormone disaster as far as staying on track with a healthy eating plan). Nothing is worse than craving food and being hungry at the same time.
3. Many people don’t know this, but your body adjusts itself based on your circadian rhythms and the amount of sunlight outside. Without getting too deep into the science, these rhythms and light tell your body to physically recover approximately between the hours of 10pm-2am and to mentally recover approximately between 2am-6am. If you aren’t getting to bed until 12am, you are missing out on 2 crucial hours of physical repair. This can result in all sorts of aches and pains that do not get better, no matter what you try. I have seen clients relieve bad backs and aching joints by just getting to bed by 10pm. I have even seen people get smarter by sleeping til 6am (ok, I made this last statement up but wouldn’t that be great?). All kidding aside, I have seen people act consistently sharper when they are well rested.
How are you going to get a good night’s sleep to ensure you are not sabotaging your weight loss efforts?
Here are a few tips for getting a good night’s sleep:
1. Don’t watch TV before bed. You may not realize how fired up the news or your favorite TV show gets you before bed time. Instead grab a book or your favorite magazine and read in bed. This works wonders, especially a good fiction book that will help you forget the day’s events.
2. Cut your caffeine intake early in the day. An afternoon coffee or tea can still be racing through your blood stream at 10pm. Cut out your last caffeinated beverage by noon. This includes all coffee and teas (except herbal teas). Once you catch up on your sleep, you won’t be so dependent on your afternoon java kick.
3. Avoid Sugar before bed. (You were avoiding sugar anyway right?) Consuming sugar right before bed leads to a blood sugar roller coaster ride, potentially waking you up in the middle of the night due to a blood sugar low.
4. Put your work away before bed. There is nothing worse than a racing mind before bed. Crunching numbers and reading work documents right before bed may lead to dreams about work (or nightmares). End all work at least 2 hours before bed. If this is not possible for you, you may need to reassess your work schedule a bit.
Whatever the adjustments are for you, remember, sleep may just be the missing link in your nutrition, exercise and health regimen. Stick to your Diet Solution Meal Plans and tuck yourself in at 10pm each night and you will be well on your way to fat loss success.
To get started on your own Healthy Meal Plans right away.
www.thedietsolutionprogram.com
Can being sleep deprived cause you to gain weight? Yes! Many people don’t realize the many health implications of sleep deprivation. It may even be hindering your fat loss efforts.
How does sleep (or sleep deprivation) affect your weight loss efforts?
Here are just a few reasons why sleeping may be the missing link to your weight loss efforts:
1. When you’re tired, it is so much harder to make healthy choices. I’m not sure if this is more about psychology or physiology or a combination of both. However, I know I have experienced it firsthand. When I get a good night’s sleep, sticking to my regular exercise and healthy eating routine is a cinch. But when I’m sleep deprived, I somehow think that chocolate and sugar will make me feel better. The truth is, it never does! It actually makes me feel worse. Much worse, because the blood sugar highs and lows makes me more tired and cranky than before I ate the sweets.
2. Now for some science. Researchers from several separate studies have found a link between sleep and the hormones that influence our eating behavior. Two specific hormones are involved. Ghrelin is responsible for feelings of hunger. Leptin tells the brain when it’s time to stop. When you’re sleep deprived, your ghrelin levels increase at the same time that your leptin levels decrease. The result is an increased craving for food and not feeling full (a hormone disaster as far as staying on track with a healthy eating plan). Nothing is worse than craving food and being hungry at the same time.
3. Many people don’t know this, but your body adjusts itself based on your circadian rhythms and the amount of sunlight outside. Without getting too deep into the science, these rhythms and light tell your body to physically recover approximately between the hours of 10pm-2am and to mentally recover approximately between 2am-6am. If you aren’t getting to bed until 12am, you are missing out on 2 crucial hours of physical repair. This can result in all sorts of aches and pains that do not get better, no matter what you try. I have seen clients relieve bad backs and aching joints by just getting to bed by 10pm. I have even seen people get smarter by sleeping til 6am (ok, I made this last statement up but wouldn’t that be great?). All kidding aside, I have seen people act consistently sharper when they are well rested.
How are you going to get a good night’s sleep to ensure you are not sabotaging your weight loss efforts?
Here are a few tips for getting a good night’s sleep:
1. Don’t watch TV before bed. You may not realize how fired up the news or your favorite TV show gets you before bed time. Instead grab a book or your favorite magazine and read in bed. This works wonders, especially a good fiction book that will help you forget the day’s events.
2. Cut your caffeine intake early in the day. An afternoon coffee or tea can still be racing through your blood stream at 10pm. Cut out your last caffeinated beverage by noon. This includes all coffee and teas (except herbal teas). Once you catch up on your sleep, you won’t be so dependent on your afternoon java kick.
3. Avoid Sugar before bed. (You were avoiding sugar anyway right?) Consuming sugar right before bed leads to a blood sugar roller coaster ride, potentially waking you up in the middle of the night due to a blood sugar low.
4. Put your work away before bed. There is nothing worse than a racing mind before bed. Crunching numbers and reading work documents right before bed may lead to dreams about work (or nightmares). End all work at least 2 hours before bed. If this is not possible for you, you may need to reassess your work schedule a bit.
Whatever the adjustments are for you, remember, sleep may just be the missing link in your nutrition, exercise and health regimen. Stick to your Diet Solution Meal Plans and tuck yourself in at 10pm each night and you will be well on your way to fat loss success.
To get started on your own Healthy Meal Plans right away.
Jul 1, 2010
The Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.turbulencetraining.com
I often get asked, “What’s the best way to burn fat and lose my belly?” People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals.
Well, to say I've done them all would be an understatement.
With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I'm pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.
But first of all, I want to frame my responses. I'm going to talk about what works for people that have a limited amount of time to exercise, mostly because I expect your readers don't have 90 minutes per day to devote to a workout, unlike the typical audience of a fitness magazine.
That's why there is a huge disconnect between some of the information found in magazines and the ability of the reader to apply it to their lives.
We just don't have 6-8 hours per week for exercise, nor do we need it. If you're a triathlete, you might need that, but not someone that just wants to lose fat and gain muscle.
Having said all that, the bottom line for getting a better body is...
Use bodyweight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I've structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.
You'll do 5 minutes of bodyweight exercises to warm-up. This is a much more efficient approach than spending 5 minutes walking on a treadmill, which really doesn't prepare you for anything except more walking on a treadmill.
Then we move into the strength training supersets, where we use two exercises performed back to back with minimum rest between each. This cuts our workout time, while still giving us maximum results. We only need 20 minutes for this, and we'll use basic exercises, and sometimes even more bodyweight exercises, depending on the client's goal for muscle building.
And finally, we'll do 18 minutes of interval training. A warm-up, followed by six short intervals at the appropriate fitness level for the client, interspersed with short periods of low-intensity recovery. Finish with a cool-down. And that's the workout. Again, about 45 minutes total.
Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn't build a better body.
In fact, there are a few "dark sides" to long slow cardio, including less-than-optimal results, the potential for overuse injuries, and it is an inefficient form of exercise. If you only have 30-45 minutes for your workout and you spend it all on a cardio machine, when are you going to train the rest of your muscles and sculpt a better body?
So the best way to burn belly fat is with a combination of strength training and interval training. It’s fast, it works, and it’s fun!
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 www.turbulencetraining.com
www.turbulencetraining.com
I often get asked, “What’s the best way to burn fat and lose my belly?” People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals.
Well, to say I've done them all would be an understatement.
With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I'm pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.
But first of all, I want to frame my responses. I'm going to talk about what works for people that have a limited amount of time to exercise, mostly because I expect your readers don't have 90 minutes per day to devote to a workout, unlike the typical audience of a fitness magazine.
That's why there is a huge disconnect between some of the information found in magazines and the ability of the reader to apply it to their lives.
We just don't have 6-8 hours per week for exercise, nor do we need it. If you're a triathlete, you might need that, but not someone that just wants to lose fat and gain muscle.
Having said all that, the bottom line for getting a better body is...
Use bodyweight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I've structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.
You'll do 5 minutes of bodyweight exercises to warm-up. This is a much more efficient approach than spending 5 minutes walking on a treadmill, which really doesn't prepare you for anything except more walking on a treadmill.
Then we move into the strength training supersets, where we use two exercises performed back to back with minimum rest between each. This cuts our workout time, while still giving us maximum results. We only need 20 minutes for this, and we'll use basic exercises, and sometimes even more bodyweight exercises, depending on the client's goal for muscle building.
And finally, we'll do 18 minutes of interval training. A warm-up, followed by six short intervals at the appropriate fitness level for the client, interspersed with short periods of low-intensity recovery. Finish with a cool-down. And that's the workout. Again, about 45 minutes total.
Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn't build a better body.
In fact, there are a few "dark sides" to long slow cardio, including less-than-optimal results, the potential for overuse injuries, and it is an inefficient form of exercise. If you only have 30-45 minutes for your workout and you spend it all on a cardio machine, when are you going to train the rest of your muscles and sculpt a better body?
So the best way to burn belly fat is with a combination of strength training and interval training. It’s fast, it works, and it’s fun!
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 www.turbulencetraining.com
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