I’m sure most folk, who have tried to lose fat through diet and exercise can vouch that it’s a heck of LOT harder to lose the last 10 pounds than it is to lose the first 10. Not to mention being harder to lose the last 5 than it is to lose the first 50.

“Why You’ve STOPPED Losing Fat…And How to Fix It”

Here’s an Example:
If  someone is trying to lose the last 10 pounds to reach a goal of 5% body fat, but they only have 18 pounds of fat on their body, then it not only becomes a purpose of  losing 10 pounds, they’ll actually be aiming to lose 55% of the total fat on their body.

50% body fat reduction of yours, or whoever’s, when it comes down to it, is going to be hard yakka!

And I’ll be the first to put my hand up and say that it sux!

But here’s something very cool…

John Romaniello - Final Phase Fat Loss

A method that hasn’t been covered to it’s full potential is how to manipulate hormones to a degree using specific training effects, allowing for greater fat loss. Something that John Romaniello is really “on top of”.

For which he says: “The reason you’re holding fat in those areas is largely hormonal. As an example, if you store fat primarily in the love handles and lower back, then chances are you’re highly insulin resistant. A lot of belly fat is indicative of high cortisol. Men storing fat in the lower body or chest generally have higher estrogen levels.”

Luckily for YOU, and anyone else fed up with plateauing, John has a FR*E 27-page report:

“Why You’ve STOPPED Losing Fat…And How to Fix It” which he has made available and it’s FR*E!

Go grab it!

When you’ve read it, make sure you come back here, click on the comment button and give us your first hand feedback from John’s report.

Kind regards
Mandy
Virtual Fitness Trainer

Quickstart Nutrition Guide To Fat Loss

As I’ve said many times, nutrition is more important than exercise. No matter how hard or how often you work out, you simply cannot OUT-TRAIN a bad diet.  This leads to one very simple fat loss formula; calories in must be LESS than calories out.

With that being said, below you’ll find a simple set of guidelines to determining the RIGHT number of calories to help you burn fat fast along with a few suggested ways of cleaning up your diet.

Nutritional Plan:

If your current nutritional plan is preventing you from losing fat, then it’s time for you to start working on building better eating habits.

This can be as simple as committing to one small nutritional improvement per day (such as replacing your lunchtime soda with water) and one large change per week (such as setting aside time on a Sunday to shop and prepare for your weekly meals).

Once you have established good nutrition habits, you’ll find yourself making BETTER CHOICES on a daily basis. But you have to worknutrition for fat loss on consistent improvement, and if you mess up, don’t worry about it, just get right back to eating right.

Even if you start making only one change per day you will start to see improvements.

Make this a GOAL that you will start today: to choose one healthier food option per day that will get you one step closer to your lean body. You need to have a plan to make this work, just like you need a plan for your workouts.

Calorie Calculator:

Let’s start your meal planning by using Coach Alan Aragon’s “Calorie Calculator” to determine how many calories you should eat each day. According to Aragon, to determine the number of calories you should eat each day, you need this equation:calorie calculator Quickstart Nutrition Guide To Fat Loss

Daily calories = Goal weight x (workout hours per week + 9.5)
•    Protein grams = goal weight in pounds
•    Fat grams = half goal weight in pounds
•    Carbohydrate grams = [Daily calories – (protein calories + fat calories)]/4
NOTE:
o    1 gram of protein provides 4 calories
o    1 gram of carbohydrates provides 4 calories
o    1 gram of fat provides 9 calories
•    By the way, Aragon said it doesn’t matter if you eat 6 or 3 meals per day

Female Example:

You are a 160 pound woman who wants to weigh 140 pounds, and you exercise for a total of 3 hours per week:

Daily Calories = 140 x (3+9.5)
Daily Calories = 1750
Protein = 140grams (560 calories)
Fat = 70grams (630 calories)
Carbohydrates = [1750 – (560+630)]/4
Carbohydrates = 140grams

Male Example:

You are a 220 pound man who wants to weigh 180 pounds, and you exercise for a total of 3 hours per week:

Daily Calories = 180 x (3+9.5)
Daily Calories = 2250
Protein = 180grams (720 calories)
Fat = 90grams (810 calories)
Carbohydrates = [2250 – (720+810)]/4
Carbohydrates = 180grams

If you follow these calorie guidelines, along with implementing daily healthy changes to your diet, then you will be well on your way to reaching your fat loss goals.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

Two of the more dreaded post-holiday tasks are assembling new electronics and planning your New Year’s resolution workouts – especially when you have no instruction booklet for the latter.

For beginners, getting into fitness can be intimidating and confusing. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, getting fit is one of the most straightforward tasks you’ll attempt in the New Year. Fortunately, reaching your fitness goals requires only two things; discipline (that’s up to you) and a set of simple guidelines (which I’m happy to provide).

First, you should arrange for a full physical examination from your physician. This is mandatory for people that have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or are obese. Once you have your doctor’s approval to begin a fitness program, you should schedule a fitness assessment with a health professional at your gym.

While both of these are incredibly annoying, they are essential to your success and well-being. The benefits of a doctor’s visit are obvious, particularly if you have one or more of the previously mentioned conditions but it also allows you and your doctor to discuss your lifestyle. Preventative medicine is far better than reactive medicine. Make your doctor part of your fat loss and health-building team along with the health professionals at your gym.

The real benefits of the fitness assessment aren’t finding out how much body fat you have or how many minutes you can last on the treadmill, but rather getting a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.

According to Tim Irvine, President of Totum Life Science, “First and foremost we need to identify what works and does not work mechanically for an individual. We do this from an injury prevention standpoint and also to determine what the limitations are for an individual. Much more appropriate programs can be set from this information.” If you want to avoid injury and actually achieve your goals this year, get to know your strengths and weaknesses.

The next secret is to walk, don’t run, to fitness success. If you want to pick up your University running workouts where you left them 10 years ago, that’s fine. But I guarantee you won’t last 10 days. And then it’ll be a dreary 355 days until you’re ready to try exercise again.

The hidden benefit of a good fitness assessment is that it will actually serve as a nice introductory workout to your return to fitness. It will buffer your delusions of fitness grandeur from the reality of what your body actually can do. After the fitness assessment teaches your body a lesson and awakens your muscles from their winter slumber, only then will you realize your limits that you must respect in subsequent workouts.

Goal-setting is the fourth secret to success (and not just in fitness, but in any area of life). It is much more effective to commit to a set of specific short-term and long-term goals than it is to routinely hope for weight loss each year.

Set realistic goals and remember to train within your limits. If you are currently sedentary and haven’t exercised in months (or years), don’t begin an advanced training program. Start with a conservative beginner program. Your belly wasn’t built in a day, and neither will be lost overnight.

Limit your initial workouts to 1 set per muscle group. In week 2, you should be ready to add another set. And if you want to build up to 3 sets, then do so in week 3. Slowly increase the weight and stay within your desired repetition range. At no time should you be too sore to function. And runners should also heed this advice. Too much running will guarantee shin splints in the early going. Avoid running on back to back days for the first two weeks and keep the distance short. Sore muscles are guaranteed when you lift. So keep the volume low.

And now for the two super secrets that will help keep you committed and consistent with your workouts and will finally help you lose fat for good.

First, build your social support team. Social support is the #1 factor for success for women in fitness programs, and is important for men as well. Support can come from your spouse, brother or sister, child, mom or dad, friend, neighbor, co-worker, personal trainer, or lifestyle coach. Don’t try to go it alone. As Dr. Eric Serrano says about his weight loss patients, “Patients respond better when they report to a person instead of a machine. No one wants to disappoint a real person.”

You also need to know that nutrition is the second most important factor for success in fat loss programs. That’s why you don’t need to train like a world-class athlete when you are starting to lose fat. Most of the fat you’ll lose in the early going is because you have chosen to make better nutritional choices. And if you don’t make better nutritional choices, even the best exercise program in the world isn’t going to help you achieve your fat loss goals.

Nutrition is a lot simpler than you think. Don’t over think things. See a nutritionist or listen to what your mother told you as a kid. Food choices should contain a large nutrient-to-calorie ratio. Dr. Phil (yes that Dr. Phil) calls this “High-Response Cost, High-Yield Nutrition”. And follow this rule: Don’t eat foods with added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or fruit syrup,” says Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD. Log your nutritional intake on www.Fitday.com. This is a free website that allows you to track your calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

The consistent use of these 6 secrets will help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions. Make this year’s fitness plan a strategic investment in your future health. The most efficient and effective way to lose fat this year is with my Turbulence Training workouts – the choice of fitness professionals.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.

Consistency equals results. While running a marathon will not make you lean in one day, a consistent, a dedicated approach to fat loss will help you reach your goals.

Unfortunately, Americans have been getting consistently worse with their diets. The latest research from Tufts University shows that sugar-containing drinks are now the main source of calories in the average American’s diet (Bermudez, O., et al. Abstract, Experimental Biology 2005).

This would have been unimaginable 50 years ago back when people were much leaner on average.

On the other hand, there are many habits which have been shown to help people get lean and stay lean more than other actions. Here are 8 Simple Rules that will help you lose fat and get lean in conjunction with Turbulence Training.

1) Replace sugary beverages with Green Tea. That can reduce your energy intake by several hundred calories per day

2) Eat at least one midday snack to decrease your risk of obesity by 39%.

3) Remember that a good snack is focused on lean protein and a high-fiber fruit or vegetable. Nuts are also an option

4) Don’t eat dinner as your biggest meal of the day. If you do, you increase your risk of obesity by 6%. You should be eating several mini-meals all day long so that you are not starving at dinner.

5) Don’t wait more than 3 hours after waking up to eat breakfast or you increase your risk of obesity by 43%

6) Don’t eat more than a third of your meals in restaurants or you increase your risk of obesity by 69%. It is too hard to control the food contents at a restaurant. Pack your own meals and snacks as often as you can

7) Don’t go to bed hungry (3 or more hours after your last meal or snack) or you increase your risk of obesity by 101%. Again, think high-protein, high- fiber mini-meals to keep hunger at bay and to control your energy levels

Don’t eat breakfast away from home or you increase your risk of obesity by 137%. And don’t skip breakfast or you increase your risk of obesity by 450%. This is the most important time of day to start with a protein-based, high fiber meal as it will set the tone for your blood sugar and energy levels for the day.

Keep on improving everyday.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.

Turbulence Training is a structured routine that I came up with that allows you to get the most results in the least amount of time, no matter what your goals. That’s why I am able to create Turbulence Training for Fat Loss Program and Turbulence Training for Mass.

Turbulence Training has evolved from both scientific principles as well as personal experience. And it originally came to me in a dream in University. Just kidding. The truth is that during my graduate years at University, I was searching for an efficient and effective way to stay lean while keeping my strength and mass even when I did not have time to train as often as I would like.

So I based the program on what I had read in hundreds of strength training and fat loss studies, as well as my countless past workouts that I had logged faithfully over the years. From that research and my results, Turbulence Training was invented. The principles of Turbulence Training are:

1) Lift heavy weights.

Heavy strength training stimulates what is called muscle protein turnover. This is important for two reasons:

a) It causes extra calorie burning outside of training.

b) It stimulates muscle re-modeling (it will help keep muscle while in a state of reduced calories, whereas lighter reps and a lesser stimulus to the muscle won’t have the same muscle maintenance effect).

For most people, 8 reps is often lower than what they regularly use, therefore they build strength and muscle while reducing calories and burning calories with intervals. It works great even for advanced guys, but the results are almost magical for the average person because they tend to train with high reps and light weights. Thankfully, because so many people are using such poor programs, they make me look like a genius when they switch to my Turbulence Training routines.

2) Interval training is more effective for burning body fat and maintaining muscle mass than regular cardio.

I think this is most true when it comes to the last couple of pounds of body fat. Interval training is what separates people with 15% body fat from those people with the lean, athletic look. If you want to lose that last ten pounds, you will do it best with interval training in your workouts. Interval training also builds better sport conditioning and “everyday fitness” that is more practical to life (i.e. how often do you have to run more than 20 minutes at a slow pace vs. how often do you sprint up 3 flights of stairs?).

3) Non-competing supersets allow you to do more work, with less fatigue, than supersets of similar muscle groups or even traditional antagonist groups.

This allows most people to continue making strength gains even when they reduce calories. It also allows you to get more work done in a shorter amount of time. That’s why Turbulence Training is so efficient and effective.

4) Variety.

The Turbulence Training workouts are changed every 4 weeks, and sometimes every 2 or 3 weeks. My training template is simple to adapt and easy to modify for the creation of an endless number of workouts – a great thing to know if you are a personal trainer or simply someone that loves to workout to improve their body.

How is Turbulence Training different from other programs?

I found that most fat loss programs were deviating from the main goal. Some programs tried to be so hardcore that all they were concerned with was making someone puke. That will help you lose your lunch weight, but if you can’t complete the workout, how good could it be? Making someone puke doesn’t accomplish as much as my structured programs that actually stimulate the body to change.

Other fluffy fat-loss programs however, are all about high reps and slow cardio. That might give you some muscle endurance, but it doesn’t’t help you keep your strength and muscle, or really shed your fat. The programs that really get on my nerves are the ones that promise a toned body by doing a few sets of curls with soup cans. Get real! That will never work. You have to train hard to get the body of your dreams.

And I won’t lie, with Turbulence Training, you have to work hard, but the results are worth it. You have to lift heavy enough to stimulate muscle growth & muscle turnover and you have to do intervals at a level that you will find uncomfortable, but tolerable. With the heavy lifting and intervals, you will burn more calories outside of the training session than you would with any other program. And that is the magic behind Turbulence Training.

I call this effect, “Turbulence”, and use the analogy of the turbulence that a plane must fight against to right itself in the air. The harder your body has to work to return to normal, the more calories and fat it will burn and the more changes your body will make (i.e. you will build muscle and lose fat). It’s all about adaptation. And you’ll adapt to the TT workouts by getting leaner, fitter, and stronger.

Craig Ballantyne trains athletes and executives in Toronto, and writes for Men’s Fitness magazine. His trademarked Turbulence Training workouts and his comprehensive workout manuals (including “The Ultimate Bodyweight Workout”) are featured on his website Turbulence Training.

So many people are talking about how slow their metabolism is and why they need to start taking the latest diet supplement scam yet they don’t even understand how the human metabolism works. So before I even go into how to speed yours up, I want to first go over some of the basics.

What is metabolism?

Although there are many scientific ways for me explain it, and I could make it seem really confusing like most of the so-called experts do, but I won’t. I’m going to give you my extremely simple and easy to understand definition… metabolism is the rate at which your body burns calories to sustain life

I should also note that your body, yes yours, burns calories 24 hours a day, everyday – regardless of whether or not you workout. Remember that your body needs energy all the time, even while you’re asleep and that is why skipping meals is the absolute worst thing you can do if your goal is to lose weight (body fat).

Before we go any further let’s talk about what affects metabolism…

What affects metabolism?

What do you think has the biggest impact on your metabolism? Activity levels? Your Thyroid? Age?

WRONG! WRONG! and WRONG! Activity levels, Thyroid function, and age do affect metabolism but not nearly as much as…

Any idea? It’s muscle tissue! The more muscle you have the more calories you burn regardless of how active you are, how old you are, etc. It’s live tissue and it’s there working for you and burning calories 24 hours a day – each and every day!

Here’s a list of some of the factors affecting metabolism in order of greatest impact to least:

• muscle tissue (you already know why this is on the top of the list)
• meal frequency (the longer you go between meals the more your metabolism slows down to conserve energy)
• activity level (important but doesn’t make any difference if you don’t match your eating to your expenditure)
• food choices (ex. low-fat diets tend to result in poor hormone production which leads to a slower metabolism)
• hydration (over 70% of bodily functions take place in water – not enough water causes all your systems to slow down and unnecessary stress)
• genetics (some people have higher metabolisms than others – you can’t change genetics but you can still win the battle!)
• hormone production and function (think you have a slow thyroid? it’s not likely – before you go blame it on the thyroid first stabilize your blood sugar and throw in some progressive exercise 2-3 times each week)
• stress (stress also can slow metabolism by placing extra stress and strain on numerous systems. plus, many people tend to overeat when “stressed out”)

Why does it slow down?

How many times have you heard someone say, “as soon as you hit 30 your metabolism slows down”? Maybe you’ve said it. I know I hear it all the time and I got tired of hearing it so I did a little research and found that the metabolism does NOT slow down significantly due to aging but DOES due to a lack of muscle. And, you don’t lose muscle quickly due to aging either but due to a decrease or lack of physical stress.

So, the major cause of a slowing metabolism is three fold…

1. you lose muscle due to the lack of physical stress
2. your body cannibalizes muscle when it needs energy but you won’t supply any because you are “dieting” and skipping meals
3. your activity levels tend to decrease as you get older

So now that we know the problem… what’s the solution? Address those 3 issues! I’ve found through years of experience helping hundreds of people, that increasing your metabolism and getting rid of that excess body fat can often times be quite easy! Yet you’ll hear of all these experts telling you how hard it is and why you need to buy their new diet program, supplement, or fitness contraption.

It’s not that hard, it doesn’t have to be confusing, and you don’t need any of that crap! All you need is an understanding of how your body works and the willingness to make some small changes.

Here’s my basic formula for jump starting your metabolism:

Step 1 – Stop the storage of new fat

It doesn’t make any sense to start an exercise program if you just end up adding new fat later that day. This is a problem that is very common among people who start an exercise in an attempt to lose weight.

See the problem is this…

We don’t get fat due to a lack of exercise – we get fat because we supply the body with more calories than it needs at a given time. So the solution has nothing to do with exercise – it’s all about your eating! And I’m not saying you have to eat low-fat, super clean and healthy diet consisting of salad and tofu only. You can still eat the foods you like IF you can give the body just the amount it needs.

The key is to give the body the energy it needs, but just that amount and not a bunch extra because extra is extra is extra, it doesn’t matter what it’s from. Salad can be stored as fat, celery can be stored as fat – if it results in extra it can be stored as fat. I should also note that not all extra energy is stored in the fat cells and I will touch on that later.

So forget about trying to burn off any fat unless you can first stop storing new fat! Again, you do that by matching your eating to your activity level. This means small, balanced meals or snacks every 2-3 hours and the amount of calories in each feeding should depend on how active you are at that time of day.

Step 2 – Attack the existing fat

This requires a combination approach consisting of stable blood sugar/energy levels, and progressive cardiovascular/aerobic exercise and strength training.

We already talked about how important stable blood sugar and energy levels are and how to match your eating to your activity level so now I’d like to cover the exercise part of the equation.

In order for the exercise to even be worth your time you must be sure it’s progressive. Just because you run on the treadmill for 30 minutes three times a week, that doesn’t mean your body has to burn off that unwanted body fat! You have to force the body to make changes and improvements and the ONLY way to do that is to consistently provide a stimulus or stress that is greater than what the body is used to.

Here are some general guidelines on how you can make your exercise progressive and productive:

Strength training

• Change exercises frequently (every 2-4 weeks)
• Increase resistance
• Perform more reps
• Slower reps
• Advanced techniques

Cardiovascular training

• Increase speed/resistance
• Perform intervals
• Increase distance traveled
• Cross train by performing numerous activities

I should also say that it is extremely important that you have a well thought out and detailed plan to follow. You can’t just say “ok, now I know what to do” and then try a little of this here and little of that there. You need a roadmap. If you are serious about achieving your weight loss and fitness goals I highly recommend you get the help of a professional. Whether that means one on one, personal fitness training or just a do-it-yourself fitness plan – your chances of success are much greater.

In closing, please remember, it doesn’t have to be confusing. Hopefully this information has shown you how easy it can be if you know what you are doing.

Jesse Cannone, from the Healthy Back Institute is a certified personal fitness trainer, post-rehab specialist, nutritionist, and a national fitness presenter.

You don’t have to go through life with man boobs (otherwise known as male breasts). In fact, you can burn away chest fat and get rid of your manboobs forever with just three short, but intense workouts per week.

Getting rid of manboobs is as simple as getting rid of any other fat. You need to cut back on the junk, and fill up on the intensity. Turbulence Training is the fastest fat loss workout you can do at home. You don’t need fancy equipment or a gym membership (where you’ll be too embarrassed by your man boobs to go anyway).

Listen, women love a chiseled chest, but are turned off by the site of manboobs poking through a sweatshirt. That’s why I’ve put together a fat burning program that focuses on building muscle and blasting fat with all sorts of push-ups, chest exercises, and intervals. In fact, even the Turbulence Training abdominal workouts work the chest and help convert those man boobs back into a real man’s chest in just weeks.

You can gain muscle and lose fat with short workouts. You don’t need to be training 6 days per week or spending hundreds of dollars each month on fancy (but worthless) supplements.

Soon you’ll be the guy who is first to take his shirt off at the beach. No more hiding under sweats in the middle of July, or avoiding the water because you don’t want anyone to see your manboobs.

And no matter what anyone says, you don’t have to rely on surgery. Besides, that will leave ugly scars that will leave you just as self-conscious as when you had man boobs. The only fix is a permanent lifestyle change, thanks to the 3 short workouts per week of Turbulence Training. You’ll see changes in your man boobs, love handles, and arm definition within weeks, going from male breasts to ripped abs in the process.

Turbulence Training is not like all those other aerobic, slow cardio programs you’ve tried in the past that didn’t work. And it’s not a wimpy machine circuit that just ends up being a waste of your time. Instead, Turbulence Training is a unique exercise system that you can do in the comfort of your own home, so that no one at the gym can point or stare at your chest – at least not until they are staring with respect.

The fastest way, the safest way, and the only way to get rid of man boobs is with strength training and interval training. Combine that with Dr. Chris Mohr’s sensible nutrition guidelines, and you’ll have a new body, and a new chest in just weeks.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.

Gyms are busy. Too busy. And it is always busiest when you settle in for your fat loss workout with its awesome fat-blasting supersets.

I know it drives you nuts when you are trying to pair lunges and presses while someone is taking up valuable workout space chatting or doing some pointless fluff exercise. Why can’t they just get out of your way and let you finish your super effective TT workout?

Crowded gyms are such a big problem that I designed the following TT workout that helps you perform my trademark “noncompeting” supersets – the most effective way to lift for fat loss – without letting anyone get in your way. This new version of TT lets you get it done right, even in a busy gym.

The secret to this workout is the pairing of two exercises that can be done at the same bench and often with the same weights. So you won’t lose your spot between exercises. Camp out in your little area, work hard, and you’ll get lean and lose fat faster than ever.

NOTE: This workout originally ran in Men’s Fitness magazine, but I’ve actually improved the workout just for you!

Workout Guidelines

· Workout 3 days per week alternating between workouts A & B. Rest 1 day between sessions.

· In week 1, you will follow an A, B, A schedule. In week 2, a B, A, B schedule. In week 3, an A, B, A schedule, and in week 4, a B, A, B schedule.

· Each pair of exercises constitutes a “Superset”. In each Superset, do one set of the first exercise followed immediately by the next (1A & 1B) and then repeat.

· Rest 1 minute after completing the exercises in the Superset (i.e. after 1A & 1B).

· Repeat each Superset until you’ve completed a total of three sets of each exercise in the pair, then move on to the next pair.

· Use a 2-0-1 lifting tempo for all exercises (except for any holding exercises like the plank). Take 2 seconds to lower the weight, pause briefly, and then take 1 second to lift the weight.

· Finish each workout with stretching for the tight muscle groups only.

· For full exercise descriptions and photos, see the Turbulence Training manual.

Warm-up

· If you are limited by time, reduce the number of sets in the workout, but always perform the full warm-up.

· Never skip a warm-up.

o Perform this circuit 2x’s using a 2-0-1 tempo:

- 10 reps of bodyweight squats or step-ups

- 20 seconds for the plank

- 8 reps of kneeling pushups or regular pushups

- 10 reps of inverted bodyweight rowing exercise or band pull

- Perform 2 warm-up sets for each exercise in the first Superset.

- 1 set of 8 reps with 50% of the weight you will use in your “real” sets.

- 1 set of 8 reps with 75% of the weight you will use in your “real” sets.

Turbulence Training Interval Training Guidelines

· Research has shown that interval training is very effective for fat loss.

· It is recommended that the stationary cycle be used for interval training because it allows for an easy transition between work and recovery.

· Finish each interval workout with stretching for the tight muscle groups only.

Beginner Interval Workout:

· Warm-up for 5-minutes.

· Perform an interval by exercising for 30 seconds at a hard pace (at a subjective 7/10 level of intensity) – i.e. fast walking.

· Follow that with “active rest” for 90 seconds by exercising at a slow pace (at a subjective 3/10 level of intensity) – i.e. slow walking.

· Repeat for 3-6 interval repetitions. Finish with 5-10 minutes of moderate intensity exercise for a cool-down at a 4/10 level of intensity.

Advanced Interval Workout

· Warm-up for 5-10 minutes.

· Perform an interval by exercising for 30 seconds at a very hard pace (at a subjective 9/10 level of intensity).

· Follow that with “active rest” for 60 seconds by exercising at a slow pace (at a subjective 3/10 level of intensity).

· Repeat for 3-6 interval repetitions. Finish with 5-10 minutes of moderate intensity exercise for a cool-down at a 4/10 level of intensity.

Workout A

1A) Wide-stance Squat (8 reps)

- Set your feet 4-6 inches wider than shoulder width, your toes pointed forward.

- This superset works best if performed in a squat rack that also has a chin-up bar.

1B) Chin-ups (6 reps)

- If this is too hard, perform a Reverse-grip Lat Pulldown.

- Rest 1 minute and then go back to Squats.

- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next Superset.

2A) Barbell Step-ups (8 reps per leg)

- Use a step that’s high enough so that your knee is bent 90 degrees.

- If you have to use DB’s for the step-ups, take an extra 30 seconds rest when going from the step-ups to the rows.

2B) DB or Barbell Row (8 reps)

- Keep your lower back naturally arched.

- Rest 1 minute and then go back to Step-ups.

- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next Superset.

3A) Side Plank (5 reps per side)

- Contract and brace your abs for 10 seconds per repetition while keeping your body in a straight line.

3B) Stability Ball Jackknife (12 reps)

- Rest 30 seconds and then go back to Side Plank.

- Do this Superset 3 times and then go to the Intervals.

Workout B

1A) Low-Incline DB Chest Press (8 reps)

- Set the incline to one notch above the flat-bench position.

1B) DB or Barbell Romanian Deadlift (8 reps)

- Keep your lower back naturally arched for the entire movement.

- Rest 1 minute and then go back to 1A.

- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next Superset.

2A) DB Close-grip Chest Press (8 reps)

- Push the dumbbells straight up, not together.

2B) DB Rear-deltoid Lateral Raise (8 reps)

- Keep a tight arch in lower back and lean forward as far as possible.

- Perform this exercise extra slowly so that you don’t use momentum.

- Rest 1 minute and then go back to 2A.

- Do this Superset 3 times and then move on to the next Superset.

3A) Elevated Push-up (12 reps per side)

- Place one hand on a 4-inch step or box and lower your body as far as possible.

3B) Stability Ball Rollout (15 reps)

- Keep your body in a straight line at all times–don’t allow your back to round or bend backward.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.

Recently one of the UK’s top trainers, Paul Mort interrogated Men’s Health writer Craig Ballantyne on the benefits of high-intensity exercise for weight loss.

Q: First, can you tell us the basics about high-intensity training?

Answer:

This type of training is the result of years of study in the gym and in the research labs and library. From personal experience, I’ve found there is only one way to get the most fat loss and workout results in the least amount of time – you must increase your training intensity.

With the right workout, you can get more fat loss results in less workout time. Period. That is the one and only goal of this training program. A better body in fewer workout sessions, and shorter exercise bouts.

That means:

a) Shorter interval workouts instead of long slow cardio workouts

b) More challenging strength training exercises, such as advanced bodyweight exercises and some traditional strength training free weight exercises

If you have two hours to spend in the gym everyday, you can feel free to stick to the same relatively ineffective and inefficient program of long cardio and light weights. But if you are like most men and women and have 45 minutes (or less) on only three days of the week to workout, then harder training will work wonders for you.

Male or female, almost everyone I see in traditional fitness centers could benefit from increasing the challenge in their workout. And they can also benefit from getting in and out of the gym faster.

So that’s what led me to intense training. It’s simple, no B.S., no-fluff, just-the-basics, results-oriented training. You don’t need fancy gym machines or even an expensive gym membership. If you have a bench, a ball and some dumbbells at home, you are set.

Q: Okay so we’re clear these workouts will melt bodyfat fast, what makes it so effective?

Answer:

Most people are so darn hung-up on burning a specific number of calories on a cardio machine, that they don’t care how long they spend in the gym.

But big deal. If you burn X calories over 30 minutes in the gym doing cardio, but don’t boost your post-exercise metabolism, you’re wasting the other 23.5 hours to burn a lot more calories.

And that’s what happens with slow, steady workouts that never change. Sure you burn a few calories in the gym, but there is no “turbulence” on the body to increase your metabolism outside of the gym.

Instead, by using challenging strength training, and choosing intervals over monotonous cardio, research has shown that your post workout metabolism is significantly greater. And an increased metabolism for an entire 24 hour period is what gives people results.

It’s like putting money in the bank. It makes you more money even while you sit at home or sleep! That’s the power of a more challenging workout.

And with intense workouts, and other “challenging” workouts are always exponentially more enjoyable than staring at a TV (or worse a wall) when “doing your time” on a cardio machine. You can get this great “metabolic turbulence” in a boot camp, with bodyweight, at home with dumbbells, or even in a busy gym.

Nothing is more effective than intense training if you only have 45 minutes, three times per week to workout.

Q: In my opinion, resistance training, both with free weights and bodyweight is the key to losing bodyfat, for our readers that are still unsure about this could you give me your opinion on my this statement?

Answer:

Strength training is just one key for fat loss, it is essential to maximize your metabolism, and it is absolutely, positively paramount to building the best body of your dreams.

For those that doubt, start with bodyweight training. Not only is this method of strength training effective at helping you sculpt your body, but it is also empowering to your self-confidence and 100% applicable to your daily living.

Everything from carrying groceries to “seks” will be easier if you are stronger in the bodyweight exercises. Your mobility and stamina will increase, so that you will be able to carry your children to bed easier, you will be able to do yardwork with less fatigue, and you’ll literally improve your “zest for life” simply from mastering your bodyweight strength.

All of these benefits without touching a single free weight…but if you do go with free weights, you’ll take your fitness to an even greater level.

Research from the 2001 meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine showed that female subjects boosted their post-exercise metabolism to a greater level when they did 8 reps per exercise, rather than 12 reps.

So low rep, strength training is best for boosting metabolism. It will get you more results in less time because it will continue to work while you recover.

Q: I’m always telling people that aerobic exercise is useless for fat loss, does you agree with this? And why?

Answer:

Aerobic exercise is certainly inefficient for fat loss.

By that I mean, the benefits pale in comparison to the fat loss you can achieve in less time with interval training. Most people would be able to cut their workout time in half simply by using intervals rather than aerobic exercise.

Now I’ve witnessed a few people lose fat and maintain a beautiful body with aerobic exercise, but these have been limited to: young University-aged males that also did 4 days of heavy strength training, who had no “life” stress and plenty of time on their hands to train up to 10 hours per week (not counting recreational sports).

But does that sound like your average gym-goer’s lifestyle?

I doubt it. If it does, where do you live? I want to move there!

So next time you go to the gym, do this admittedly un-scientific test…Take a visual survey of the “cardio” area and the strength training area. Where are the best bodies?

In the strength training area, no doubt.

And in fact, we can also find a lot of beautiful bodies in the Yoga and Pilates area. Why? There’s certainly no “fat burning” cardio zone going on there. So what gives?

Nutrition.

Nutrition is the #1 factor in fat loss. It trumps any fat loss program, no matter how good it is. Yes, even my beloved intense training will not be 100% effective if someone continues to eat chips and pints as their meals.

There are far more efficient ways to change your body.

Eat for fat loss, and do some form of strength training to sculpt your body. When you take care of your nutrition and eat according to simple fat loss nutrition guidelines, your body will be like modeling clay in your hands…and the exercises you choose to do with sculpt it. If someone continues on with aerobic exercise, the improvements will be negligible.

So that’s why you don’t see cardio in a structured intense program. If someone wants to do a family bike ride or play a game of football on the weekend, by all means go ahead. But it is far too inefficient to get put in my main workouts.

Q: What about somebody that isn’t a member of a gym? Can they still benefit from intense training?

Answer:

Absolutely. As mentioned earlier, all you need is a bench, a Stability Ball (aka – Physioball), and a set of dumbbells. A pullup bar would be a bonus, if you are strong enough to use the pullup and chinup exercises.

I’ve done many of the bodyweight exercises outside, as obviously you don’t need any equipment to do many of the novel ab, leg, and pushing exercises. Heck, I bet you use many of the exercises in your boot camps and you know how little equipment is needed for a hard workout.

Think back to the days before the glitzy chrome-and-machine gyms.

People were still able to get fit with free weights andbodyweight.

And good nutrition certainly doesn’t need a gym membership.

Q: And lastly, I meet a lot of people who seem to have tried every diet going, tried classes, gyms and DVDS, what makes intense training different from these?

Answer:

Most people train in their comfort zones. And while a lot of programs require a lot of effort (those classes are no joke), most programs lack an effective level of intensity.

By intensity, we are talking about working closer to your maximum level of effort.

Sure, a set of 15 repetitions to failure for triceps pressdowns is tough, but it’s not truly intense. Compare that to doing a set of 8 pushups – which for many people is much more intense – and now you are using your entire body a lot harder. Thus, the turbulence on the body is much greater. And your body will have to work harder after training to recover – and that’s what increases your metabolism – and allows you to burn fat all day, rather than just for 20-30 minutes.

The same goes with the cardio vs. intervals. If you switch to intervals, you’ll notice changes in days.

Stay consistent with the plan, and you’re gold!

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.

If you don’t have variety in your program, you are more than likely to end up at a fat loss plateau soon rather than later. Variety is one of the keys to keeping that fat loss coming.

So not only should you have variety within your training week (i.e. alternate between two different interval training workouts, rather than just doing the same interval workout each time), but you should also change these workouts every 4 weeks.

So you need to change your training program every 4 weeks. To modify your interval training workouts, you can:

• switch exercise methods (and even use bodyweight exercises for intervals)
• increase or decrease the length of the interval (while decreasing or increasing the intensity, respectively)
• increase or decrease the number of intervals per workout
• increase or decrease the rest time between intervals

First, let’s take a look at the interval methods. Here is my list of preferred ways to do your intervals, ranked in order from best to worst, based on my experiences.

Sprinting outdoors (and hills might be the absolute best)

Strongman movements (Farmer’s walks, tire flips, car pushing)

Bodyweight interval circuits

Treadmill running

Stationary cycle (upright preferred)

Stairclimber

Rower

Swimming (only works for competent swimmers)

Elliptical & Crosstrainer machines

Okay, so how long should you do intervals and how the heck do you do bodyweight exercises as interval training?

First, I stand by what I said in Part 1. There does not seem to be a “best” interval training program. But that is good because it allows us to use variety in our approach. (So perhaps the best interval training method is simply the one that changes every 4 weeks.)

Interval recommendations have ranged from 15 seconds (from Muscle Media waaaay back in the late 90’s), to 5 minutes (these are known as aerobic intervals). So let’s take a look at each interval recommendation and all those in between.

15 seconds

The great thing about 15 second intervals is that you’ll be able to work at a very high rate (almost near your maximum power output), as long as you get adequate recovery between work intervals. The downside is that it is very difficult to do 15 second intervals on machines, because it takes a long time to “build up” and “bring down” the machine settings to the correct speed.

If you decide to use these short, high-intensity intervals, you should do so only if you already have an above average level of fitness. Your rest interval should be at least 15 seconds long, and can be as long as 60 seconds. The longer you rest, the harder you will be able to exercise in each interval.

20 seconds on, 10 seconds off

This method is known as the Tabata protocol, after the Japanese scientist that published a study on this routine. It is very demanding (obviously), and while some trainers have suggested this is the best method for interval training, I don’t think there is any proof that you will get better results.

Clearly, the pro’s with this method (as well as the 15 second intervals) is that you’ll get your workout done faster (provided you do the same number of intervals as any other workout). Again, it would be very difficult to perform this type of interval training on a machine, due to the time lag as you increase or decrease the settings. And finally, these too should only be performed by above average fitness levels.

30 seconds

The Turbulence Training workouts tend to use a lot of 30 second intervals. Beginners will rest up to 90 seconds between intervals, while advanced fitness levels will rest 30-60 seconds. The longer (relative) rest allows you to work harder in each successive interval (i.e. you’ll almost be able to match your performance in the first interval with each following interval). Short rest intervals (as in the Tabata protocol) will lead to a dramatic drop-off in performance with each interval. You can easily do the 3-second intervals on any machine.

45 seconds

These intervals are proven for fat loss, in addition to being effective for many team sports (such as hockey, soccer, basketball, and rugby). I have used 45 second intervals extensively in both areas of training. Not only will these tax your muscles, they will also tax your will to complete each interval (if done at the right intensity). Use 45-90 seconds of recovery between intervals. Do 3-6 intervals per workout. Your fitness and fat loss will skyrocket.

60 second intervals

Similar to the 45 second intervals in benefits and toughness. Use 60-120 seconds of recovery between each.

120 second intervals

These are now officially aerobic intervals, and can be used for both fat loss and improving aerobic capacity for sports and running. A great way to achieve two fitness goals at once. Exercise for 2 minutes and then recover for 2 minutes. Repeat 6 times. These workouts take longer (obviously), but can have a role in changing your body and improving your performance.

5 minute intervals

Same strategy as with the two minute intervals. This really increases your workout time, so these are only used with serious endurance athletes.

Beginner vs. Advanced

If you are thinking that these intervals all sound “too intense” for you, please don’t worry. Interval training is all relative. You don’t have to sprint for your life in each type of interval. Instead, just work at a slightly harder than normal pace. By the end of the interval, you should be getting tired, but you shouldn’t be gasping for air. Start conservatively and you will get the hang of it.

For example, if you regularly use level 5 on the stationary bike for 30 minutes continuously, you might try doing a 1 minute interval at level 7. Try that for an interval workout and let me know how it goes.

My favorite intervals for fat loss are between 30-60 seconds. These have been the staple intervals in my Turbulence Training workouts since the first workout was designed back in 2001. But again, I think you will get your best fat loss results if you vary your interval training workouts – just like you must vary your strength training workouts.

Intervals are the secret to success,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines.