But while this is partly true, that belief unfortunately led many women to think that they could skip strength training.

So, now we have aerobics classes such as kick boxing and spin jammed packed with women who are in there almost every day, and many are not seeing the results that they really want.

I just got done reading another study that should change your mind about all cardio, no weight lifting.

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics recently found that strength training – or weight lifting – plays a key role in controlling a woman’s weight. They discovered that women who lifted weights just twice a week were able to avoid the slow, one to two pound weight gain per year that’s so common as we advance past age 40.

While one or two pounds may not sound like a lot, over the years it can really add up. Another plus? Women who lifted weights had healthier hearts.

So how does lifting weights help keep us slim?

It’s simple – strength training builds muscle, and muscle cells burn more calories than fat cells. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, 24 hours a day – even when you are asleep! So if you aren’t already, make strength training a part of your fitness program. Your efforts will pay off for years to come! Listen to these secrets from weight lifting expert Annette Padilla…

Well, I can tell you one thing:

Endless crunches are NOT the answer.

It’s funny, but one of my buddies who is a personal trainer where I work out had a brand new client come in who wouldn’t believe this to be the truth.

It’s close to summer and swim suit season and She came in demanding they spend her entire 30 minute workout doing some sort of ab exercise.

My friend, the professional personal trainer who has been in the business since she was a teenager tried to explain the tried and true formula for getting flat abs.

But this client wouldn’t have any of it. She simply did not want to hear any of it!

Apparently the idea of combining proper nutrition and the CORRECT exercise program just didn’t make sense to her.

She wanted to focus in on one area.  She, like so many of us believe that we can spot reduce.

We know we can spot muscle build. Biceps, quads, triceps. but there are some who hold on tight to the notion that spot reducing an area works.

We tend to think that if we do 100 more crunches that this may be the answer. I wonder if she really believed that some sort of ab contraption was the secret to flat, sexy abs. I wonder if this woman
had just seen one too many infomercials. Not a very productive way to think.

Needless to say, that was her one and only workout session with my friend the personal trainer just couldn’t take her on as a client if she wasn’t willing to hear – and accept – the TRUTH.

Getting rock-hard abs isn’t rocket science. But there is science behind it. The human body is a very complex machine. And that is why it stuns me when people refuse to listen to trained professionals.

If we wan to get lean and finally lose the belly fat and the love handles, come on guys! Let’s get serious and learn and accept the truth.

We’re going to need to eat the correct nutrients at the correct times. We’re going to perform the correct exercises scientifically proven to melt fat from our body for up to 48 hours after our workout. We’re going to be disciplined.

Most importantly, when we know the truth, we’re going to succeed.

If you really, really want to get lean? I like the information Tom Venuto has in his Burn the Fat products. For a free report Click here

So, shed the old worn out exercise myths along with the fat. I know you can do it!

Bringing you the best fat burning secrets.

That’s right. Many studies indicate that the ideal order of things should be resistance first, followed by cardio. Read more below…

As I’ve been telling you, the new wave of cardiovascular exercise is interval training, and it is the most economical way to get results fast. According to researchers, intense cardio interval training is much more effective at improving aerobic capacity than long steady cardio training alone.

The key component is that interval training should ideally be done after a resistance workout because after a resistance training your body is in a state where glucose stores are nearly depleted and fat is the prime source for energy.

Now, let’s be clear. Intervals can be done with any cardiovascular workout. If you are walking, then what you do is walk for a minute, then increase your pace for 30 seconds, walk for one minute, then increase the pace for thirty seconds. The optimal number of intervals is six. If you really push hard, then your results will diminish if you have more intervals.

If you like cardio, then after your six intervals simply keep a moderate pace to complete the time you usually allot for your cardio. It’s just that researchers say that we do not need to spend hours on cardio like they originally recommended. It will not create any complications unless we’re talking about overuse injuries which would be the subject of another article.

Also, know that you can get very precise interval increases by using the percentage of your maximum heart rate. Or, you can use the perceived rate of exertion. This is a scale from 1 to 10. From very low #1 as if you’re sitting watching TV, to very high #10 this is not advisable. When we are exercising, we do not want numbers from 1-3 this is too low. And we do not want 10 or maybe even 9 unless you are a very well conditioned athlete.

BTW—Intervals should be done after about four weeks of beginner level training. After this period of time you can introduce some intensity training.

If you’re conditioned, then please intensify your short intervals to an 8 or perhaps a 9. An 8 would feel like you are very late for a flight. In fact, as you are approaching the aircraft, you can see the doors starting to close. Of course you’re sprinting to get there before the doors close and you are waving your arms. Can you imagine? You’d be out of breath by the time you crashed through the doors. Right? This is the intensity to work at when you are at the top of the interval.

In other words, when you increase the intensity of your work out your breathing increases, your heart rate goes up, and you begin to feel a bit uncomfortable. Or, very uncomfortable.

I’ll say this again. This is important. If you are sedentary, please get the green light from your physician to start an exercise program. But once you do, even a very unconditioned person can do an interval. It wouldn’t take much for an out of conditioned person to get out of breath and uncomfortable. On the other hand if you are conditioned to exercise, then just know that you can apply intervals to any cardio work out. Jogging, walking, elliptical, spin classes. Anything.

The key component is to make it a goal to perform your resistance training before the cardio if possible.

Researchers say that this may increase your fat burning capacity.

For more useful cardio and resistance training information from Craig Ballantyne, use the link below.
Click here

Bringing you the best fat burning secrets.

If you’re like me, you have celebrated your fortieth birthday, and you have a feeling that your metabolism isn’t quite what it used to be. The bad news is you’re right: calorie burn does decrease with age. But there’s also good news: you’re probably burning more than you think.

Just today I read some new research in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition about average calorie burn is which I think will help us focus on what we can do, and not what we don’t want.

Drum roll. please! According to the study, men aged 40 to 69 expend about 2,900 calories. Women of the same age burn 2,300 calories daily. These averages are based on a person’s height, weight and activity level.

Wow! I don’t know about you, but these numbers sound surprisingly high if you compare them to a Nutrition Facts label, which implies the average person needs about 2,000 calories daily. They may seem downright decadent to one who has followed dieting plans where daily calorie caps are set at 1,200 or 1,500 calories. But they’re good approximations for how much energy people of this age group are expending.

One of the experts from the article points out that The reason people like us of all ages may assume we’re burning fewer calories than we really are is related to the fact that we underestimate our calorie consumption by a lot.

You and I know this is true. Think about it? Restaurant meals are about three times bigger than one person needs. And, they are generally filled with fat an sugar so that they taste good!

This expert points out that we regularly under report our daily calorie consumption by one-third.

Okay, now here’s something very interesting you need to know. Pay attention! As for that age-related decrease in metabolism, it’s probably most marked in our sixties and beyond. Why!

Muscle loss. Wow! This was especially found in women. And, as you know ladies, we have less muscle to play around with, right? So, what to do? How to stave off the dreaded middle age spread.

You know the answer to this. We need to begin a muscle toning and resistance training program. This is vital in so many ways. You and I know that muscle is our fat burning powerhouse in our bodies. So, the more we have, the higher our metabolism. And, the more muscle we have, the more independence an health we have as we age.

None of the old age related disabilities have to be part of our future.

So, please, if you have neglected this part of fitness, or if you know you need to power it up, get some step by step instruction. Please do not think you must do it alone. Get some good professional guidelines, then just start—please.

Go ahead and click the link below to learn more about a fantastic resistance training program that I use, and that I think you need to check out for your self. Click here

Bringing you the best fat burning secrets.

What I’m about to share with you could be the reason many of us who do a lot of cardio (even intense cardio) are not seeing the results we really want to see–a hard, lean, sexy body

Who doesn’t want that?

The information I want to share with you came from an email I received from Dress Size Reduction Blog.

I really recommend the expertise of Jayson Hunter, RD, CSCS

His message focused today on how low intensity workouts, (especially walking) will simply not power up what he calls our “fat melting furnace”.

He points out that in order to really fire up our body’s metabolism it requires hard, intense strength training and that we need to push this intensity each and every time we work out.

Our muscles really THRIVE on the metabolic boost it gets after a hard, intense strength training session.

Apparently, we been mislead with all the hype to do long, steady cardio.

This make sense doesn’t it? Be perfectly candid with you, I’ve seen this in my training as well.

As a spin instructor, and an avid spin class participant I see much better results when I get serious about strength training along with the cardio.

For some very powerful turbulence training work outs from Craig Ballontyne Click Here

Doing something new can be intimidating. Who likes making mistakes? The trick is to begin with exercises you can build on. Let’s start with the legs: After all, they help support our bodies in the most basic ways – standing and walking!

Another important reason for strengthening your lower body… Our lower body has the largest muscles in the body and the more muscle we have, the higher our metabolism, and so, naturally all this muscle burns more fat, even at rest.

So, let’s get basic. Try wall squats, the building block of all squat variations. Once you’ve learned the basics (and developed the quad, glute, and hamstring strength with this beginner move), you’ll be ready to tackle more advanced leg exercises.

Here’s how to get started right now. Stand about 1½ feet away from a wall, feet apart as wide as your hips, with your weight on your heels. Lean back slightly until your shoulders and upper back touch the wall. Now slowly lower yourself down (as if you were to sit on a chair) until your thighs are parallel with the ground or until your legs form a 90-degree angle. In the seated position, your back – from the shoulder blades to the lower rib cage – should lightly rest against the wall. Hold this position for as long as you can, stand back up, and repeat.

Once you’ve mastered the form, kick it up a notch by adding resistance with hand weights.

For other great weight resistance exercises check out Craig Ballantyne’s very effective fat burning exercises

I know, I can relate…

Fitness experts say that a six pack set of abs (or lack there of) is the direct result of low body fat levels.

If we want great abs.

Then, we better get the fat off that is covering them!—End of story.

Read on to get the truth about flat abs, and how to get the fat off…

I was reading a fitness article the other day about a guy who was doing one thousand crunches per day and still could not see his abdominal muscles.

One thousand crunches!

Wow! Talk about frustration.

Clearly, exercise alone just is not going to cut it.

As I read further, the article revealed that there was a significant factor preventing him from achieving the lean body and the abdominal definition he was aiming for.

A crummy diet!

Yes, he certainly exercised like a fiend, but he then thought he could get away with eating whatever and as much as he wanted. Turned out his diet was a mess. You know, fast food, packaged processed food, refined snacks, everything he ate was too much, and all wrong!

I’m sure you’ve heard nutrition experts say that…

“We cannot out-train a lousy diet.”!

I can relate to that! Can’t you? Come on. Let’s be honest. After a hard workout don’t some of us think we deserve a break. We think we deserve to eat until we are stuffed even if it is good healthy food.

Or even worse, we think we deserve that chocolate chip cookie—just one. We say, “I’ll work it off tomorrow”… One cookie once in a while is fine, but it’s a problem if it’s a consistent choice several times a week. And, let’s be honest—it’s often more than just one.

Now, come on, I’m not saying that ab work is not important.

But, if we want to get the tight flat abs, we cannot ignore any one of the three factors discussed below.

And, we especially cannot imagine that hard exercise can reverse the fat storage consequences of the brownies and ice-cream we had last night…

All the ab exercises and spin classes won’t help as long as we still have body fat covering our muscles.

Sorry!

The truth is, that there is no such thing as spot reduction or people who chew gum all the time would have a skinny face. Right?

The hard truth is that if we want to have a really lean body with great abs and well-defined muscle, we must be concerned with the number and quality of calories we consume.—as well as a combination of resistance and interval training.

To see great abs, we must be concerned with fat loss, not working the ab area to death.

This information is a bit counter intuitive. But all of the most reputable fitness experts agree on this point.

So, how do we achieve fat loss and get lean enough to see our abs?

According to Tom Venuto, here it is…

Fat loss, and weight loss is a combination of three major areas:

1. Intense interval cardiovascular training,

2.  A well-rounded whole body intense weight training program

3.  And, finally, a healthy nutrition program that is about 15 to 20 percent less than your calorie maintenance.—not drastic.

Tom will expand on each of these areas in his book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle.

He points out that each of us is very very unique so this three pronged approach is extremely variable from one person to another.

Some of us can tolerate carbs, others do much better with low carbs.

Tom Venuto’s, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle e-book is the best on determining your very individual body composition, and training and eating requirements. I highly recommend this fat loss manual.

He teaches us exactly how to burn the fat and get lean forever!

So, all the really credible experts like Tom Venuto tell us that in order to loose fat, and get lean, it’s not enough to exercise.

We must slightly reduce our caloric intake, and we must eat small frequent meals. Tom says meals should be around 250 to 300 for women, and a little more for men.

So this means that having only two or three large meals is not conducive to fat loss.

As a spin instructor I see it all the time. Participants work out regularly and see know results. They are either not working intensely enough, and eating poorly. Or, the intensity is there, but the diet stinks. Or they are not doing any strength training. Or a combination of all three.

If we are truly honest with ourselves we will see where we need to adjust.

Maybe more strength training. Maybe we have the intensity, but it’s not frequent enough. And maybe the other two factors are there, but be honest, we just plain eat too much, or we constantly choose highly refined processed food.

So, to recap…

It’s a massive error to think that one thousand crunches done every day will make your abs finally “pop” when your diet is a disaster which is leading to fat storage.

Go check out Tom’s program, I think you’ll really appreciate his no-nonsense information.
Click here to know more.