Do You Hate Your Job

One of my clients does.

And it is killing him.

Literally.

At the very least, it is contributing to depression, frustration, and inflammation – hitting him both physically and mentally.

So not only does this stress beat him up at work, but in the gym too.

Work stress prevents him from losing fat, and contributes to the pain in his knees and back.

The worse his days at work are, the tighter his muscles and the more inflammation in his knees. Work also contributes to poor eating choices, because he just works so darn much. And that makes the inflammation even worse. It’s a vicious cycle. Inflammation is associated with many diseases, including arthritis and an increased risk of heart attacks.

So he needs to get out of this situation, ASAP. But easier said than done, right?

And ladies, don’t think this doesn’t apply to you…as quoted on Men’s Health.com the other day, “In a recent study at Yale, women who were most susceptible to stress had both higher levels of cortisol and greater abdominal fat than nonstressed women. And the ladies under stress stored fat primarily in one place: their bellies.”

Ouch.

You must exercise to control your stress hormones. My client always feels better after the workout. Yes it takes time, and that can add to your stress, but if you do your workout first thing in the morning, you are set. There’s no doubt that early morning workouts is the #1 workout time for busy people.

What type of workout is best? First of all, just start with anything you can stick to. That’s the best advice for you or anyone you know that “hates exercise” but needs to do it. Simply find something you like and do a little bit of it this week. Next week, you can do a little more. And so on.

That’s a good start, but a structured exercise program will give the greatest health improvements.

For structured workouts, the best, most efficient exercise approach would include strength training, interval cardio, and some meditation time. You can get all 3 components in Turbulence Training, if you make sure to include meditative static stretching at the end of your session.

One other benefit of the morning workout – It allows you to start the day with a sense of accomplishment.

So keep the TV off at night and get to bed early. Then get up early and get your workout done. Your exercise is one of many ways you can lower stress and the stress hormone cortisol.

Lowering cortisol should help to control food cravings over the course of the day, and following Dr. Mohr’s nutrition guidelines will also help you stay on track. Eating the right fats, as outlined by Dr. Mohr, will also help you optimize your hormone levels to fight fat and stress.

High-fat, high-carb meals increase inflammation…adding to the physical stress on your body. Avoid processed foods and fast foods at all costs…and just eat whole, natural foods.

Good nutrition is that simple.

So spend some time on the weekend preparing your food plan for the week, so that you don’t have to make any rush decisions for fast food meals or snacks.

Don’t eat anything with trans fats, don’t eat any processed carbs, and don’t drink any soda. And stay the heck away from fast food.

So nutritionally, there is a lot you can do to make your day go better. Same with exercise, be consistent and it will help reduce your stress and improve your health.

As for your job, if it is something you want to change, then you need to talk to the right person. You might need to find a career coach. If any readers want to pass along some career help, please let me know and I’ll share in future articles.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

P.S. Is a lack of time stressing you out?

“No time to exercise” is the #1 reason most people don’t exercise consistently. In fact, a lack of time stresses most people out for many reasons – whether it’s a lack of time to prepare good food, exercise, or be with your family.

That’s why I created Turbulence Training to be the most efficient and effective fat loss program out there.

The warm-up is applicable to your workout, not some 5-minute waste of time on the treadmill.

The strength training supersets shave minutes off your wait time.

And the intervals cut your cardio in half, or more.

“I think TT is awesome. I have seen a serious change in my overall body composition. In 12 weeks I’ve gained a lot of muscle and have lost about 10 lbs, but inches are flying off.”
Gordon M.

“The TT workouts are excellent! You have literally changed my life! I got completely burned out on single body part training and long periods of cardio. It just isn’t conducive to my life given that I work full time and have a spouse. I’m already lean but I want to maintain a high level of health and have a fit, athletic look. I have to admit that I was skeptical because the workouts were so short, but even after the first workout my skepticism disappeared in a hurry. The time flies by at the gym and the workouts have eliminated a lot of stress because if I got stuck at work and couldn’t get to the gym for “leg day” it would mess up my training schedule for the rest of the week. I also like having the option to do some body weight circuits plus I have a full range of dumbells and a ball at home so I can get my workouts in at home.”
Janet M

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

5 Steps to Get Your New Year’s Resolutions Back on Track

 

Already putting off your New Year’s resolution to get fit until 2007? If you’ve already fallen off the fitness-wagon, these tips are for you. After all, winter will soon be over (honestly!) and you’ll be ready to hit the beach. And you want to be ready for that, don’t you? Here are my 5 simple steps to help you lose fat and get lean.

1. Find a source of social support. It can be a friend, spouse, or co-worker, but research from Stanford University shows the ideal social support is a professional that you feel obligated to report to on a consistent basis.

2. Eat 6 small, balanced snacks and meals per day, rather than 2 or 3 large meals.

3. Commit to eating whole, natural foods such as fruits, vegetables, and lean protein sources, rather than processed foods like muffins, fast food, and sugary snacks. Use fitday.com to monitor your food intake.

4. If you want to lose fat, start by reducing your calorie intake by 200 calories per day. One easy way to do this is to replace sweetened beverages with water or Green Tea.

5. To get lean, you’ll need to include some form of strength training and cardiovascular training. If you haven’t worked out in years, start conservatively and get professional advice on how to structure your workouts in the safest, and most efficient and effective manner possible.

The good news is that you don’t have to spend hour after hour in the gym to get great results. A good program should have you in and out of the gym (shower included) in only an hour. Pretty small investment for such a great return, isn’t it?

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

Top 5 Fat Loss Tips

5 of CB’s Top Fat Loss Tips

Men’s Fitness magazine recently asked me for 3 of my best fat loss secrets. Since most times the magazines just don’t have enough space to run my full tips, I thought I’d give you a more detailed explanation of my secrets here (plus two bonus tips that I didn’t send to the magazine – just another reason to be a TurbulenceTraining.com newsletter subscriber).

Secret #1 – Focus on burning carbohydrate, not fat, during your fat-loss workouts.

Sounds backwards, right? But not when you look at how I structure my workouts. Remember that Turbulence Training focuses on resistance training and interval training. Both of these use carbohydrate as the main source of energy. So it’s obvious the workout is designed to burn carbohydrates during the training session.

Why do my fat loss workouts focus on burning carbohydrate rather than fat? In order to burn more calories after the workout, that’s why. When you exercise with intervals and heavy resistance training, your body uses more calories in the hours after exercise than it would if you did traditional cardio and lifted lighter weights. Alwyn Cosgrove calls this ‘afterburn’, and I call it ‘Turbulence’. By any name it gives you the same results – maximum improvements in your body composition (helping you lose fat and gain muscle).

Secret #2 – Use a range of repetitions in your strength training workouts.

In order to train more muscle fibers and burn more carbohydrates, I have clients use a range of repetitions within the same workout. My workouts now use 5, 8, and 12 reps per set in order to work the muscle the most effectively. This will burn more carbohydrates and promote as much muscle growth as possible when you are keeping the calories low. This approach is also used in my TT for Mass report – in order to get the most results in the least amount of time.

Secret #3 – Use the stationary cycle for interval training.

I choose the stationary bike for intervals whenever possible because cycling against a resistance can help maintain muscle mass. Cycling against a resistance also allows you to perform a large amount of mechanical work, and that is a key determinant of the Turbulence in my training. But please note: I don’t use low-intensity, fast pedaling ‘spinning’ intervals as I’m convinced that the hard, resistance based intervals are more effective for fat loss. My clients only cycle against a strong resistance in their intervals.

Secret #4 – Increase meal frequency

Okay, so this isn’t really a secret to anyone that has read about fat loss. But a new study from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that eating 6 times per day was associated with eating fewer calories per day, lowering cholesterol levels, and lowering post-meal insulin levels. Combine an increased meal frequency with an increased protein and fiber intake, and you’ll see your body composition improve rapidly.

Secret #5 – My Synergistic Turbulence Training Workouts
My Turbulence Training Fat Loss workouts are fast becoming the most effective way to burn fat, build muscle, and get lean. The synergistic strength training-interval training workouts are efficient and effective – getting you in and out of the gym in under an hour. Read more about the best fat loss workouts here that coaches and trainers from all over the world are using with their clients.

“I’ve been employing Turbulence Training with my clients for some time now, and I can say that they are delighted with results, not only because of the fat they burn, but also because of the time they save. Program is great for busy people – basic, most efficient principles in comprehensive and practical form. And I can add from personal experience, Craig is real professional and great guy in conducting business with his clients and associates.”
Davor Kudrna, Martial Arts Instructor and Conditioning Coach, Croatia

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

Interval Training: The Fastest Way to Fat Loss

Intervals: Efficient & Effective

Intervals are the single most results producing exercise that I’ve ever found for boosting your metabolism, helping you burn inches off your body, and giving you a tight, lean, strong shape.

Here’s an excerpt from my latest article in Men’s Fitness showing you how to use intervals for fat loss (Men’s Fitness, Page 114, April 2005).

Interval training is the fitness world’s equivalent of a visit to the in-laws. The shorter and more intense the visit, the better.

An interval is a short period of exercise performed at a given intensity for a specific length of time. Each interval is separated from the next interval by a short rest or lighter activity. There are no strict rules on how long or how intense the interval must be, however, changing the interval length or intensity changes the way your body works and responds to exercise.

Never sacrifice the quality of rest between intervals because this will only reduce the benefits. To succeed with intervals, you must first shake the mindset of traditional continuous cardio training.

No matter where you start with intervals, heed this warning. The high-intensity nature of the exercise can cause muscle soreness you’d associate only with weights, and can cause your legs to feel like j-e-l-l-o.

What most people don’t know is that intervals are the best cardio method for fat loss. Most guys in the gym are hung up on doing excessive amounts of work, but shorter, more intense intervals get the job done better.

Intervals continue to burn calories and fat after the training session, and that’s something you won’t get from slower, longer sessions of cardio. When Canadian researchers compared interval training and long, slow cardio training, it was interval training that was shown to be more effective for fat loss.

Use this workout 3-5 times per week to blast fat.

Start with this beginner protocol:

Warm-up for 5-minutes.

Work for 30 seconds at an 8/10 level of intensity.

Follow that with “active rest” for 90 seconds at a 3/10 level of intensity.

Repeat for 3-8 intervals.

Finish with 15 minutes of traditional cardio for “transition” and cool-down.

As you become accustomed to intervals, progress to the experienced protocol:

Warm-up for 5-10 minutes.

Work at a 9/10 level of intensity for 30 seconds.

Follow that with “active rest” for 60 seconds at a 3/10 level of intensity.
Repeat for 4-10 intervals.

Finish with 5 minutes of low intensity exercise for a cool-down.

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

How to Maximize Your Metabolism

You cut calories and you exercise. You do exactly what the articles say – Your calories out are greater than your calories in. You should be losing fat. But if you aren’t, perhaps you’re still not paying attention to an often forgotten factor of fat loss – your metabolism.

Your metabolism is a measure of how many calories you are burning each day. But did you know that the food, exercise, and lifestyle choices you make every day have a significant impact on your metabolism? For example, if you starve yourself (instead of following a sensible fat-loss eating plan) your metabolism will slow down. If your metabolism slows down, it means your calories out will be less. And that means no more fat loss, and possibly even continued fat gain.

So for every day that you continue to slow your metabolism with unhealthy lifestyle choices, you get further and further away from fat loss. To help, I’ve put together a list of the top 10 ways to maximize your metabolism, so that you’ll burn as many calories as possible each day so that you can finally lose the fat.

1) Don’t starve yourself! Cutting calories too much is one of the worst things you can do to your body. Starving yourself actually causes you to lose much more water weight and muscle than fat. Use fitday.com to find out your daily calorie intake.

2) Eat 6-8 small meals per day with an emphasis on lean proteins, fruits, and vegetables. You have to have a nutrition plan, so spend a couple hours on a day off preparing as much food as you can for the upcoming week.

3) Eat breakfast. You have to make this meal part of your daily metabolism-boosting plan. At the very least, eat a lean protein, drink some Green Tea, and consume a fiber-rich fruit to get your fat loss day started right.

4) Eat healthy fats. Sources of healthy fats included nuts, fish, olive oil, and flax oil. I consume 6 grams of fish oil per day. Replace all processed carbohydrates in your diet with almonds. For example, if you currently eat a small bag of pretzels as a mid-afternoon snack, eat almonds instead (eating the same number of total calories).

5) Eat high quality foods that will help you control your blood sugar levels, insulin levels, and energy levels. Insulin management will help you lose fat and prevent you form gaining fat. I’ll be writing more on how to eat and exercise to control your hormone levels – the #1 neglected factor in fat loss programs.

6) Eat 1.14g of protein per pound of lean body mass. If you don’t know your lean body mass, then simply eat 1g of protein per pound of body weight. But if possible, stick to the lean body mass recommendation, as that eliminates excess fat mass when calculating protein needs.

7) Don’t drink alcohol. Alcohol intake can quickly add hundreds of calories and alcohol prevents fat burning. Alcohol intake can also reduce testosterone levels, a big no-no for men looking to Get Lean.

Drink Green Tea and water. While I don’t believe that either of these will increase your metabolism, I do believe that they help prevent decreases in metabolism. Not too mention, these are your 2 healthiest beverage options.

9) Stick to a consistent sleep schedule. Don’t stay up all night, and if possible, avoid working afternoon and overnight shifts. If you must work shiftwork, stick to the rest of these principles as strongly as possible.

10) Use the Turbulence Training workout principles for the most efficient and effective metabolism boosting workout. This means strength training with moderately heavy weights (that allow you to complete 8 perfect reps per set) and interval training. For exact instructions, get the TT for Fat Loss Special Report.

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

Myth of Spot Reduction

One of my on-going projects for Men’s Fitness magazine is to find out the truth behind the numerous fat loss myths that you hear about in the gym every day. Here’s one of my past columns…

If I told you that there was one secret exercise that could magically reduce the fat from one of your trouble spots, then I’d be lying.

Fat burning isn’t like building muscle. When you strength train to build muscle, you only make gains in the specific muscles that were trained (‘spot gaining’). But no exercise has the ability to burn fat from one specific area only (also known as ‘spot reducing’). When you exercise, you burn fat from all over your body. Doing ab crunch after ab crunch won’t help you lose your belly fat any better than doing squats.

The best approach to fat loss is one that includes three major components. The first and possibly most important component is nutrition. It is so important for people to follow good nutrition principles when they are trying to improve their body. If you haven’t already heard these basic recommendations for fat loss nutrition, here are the 5 best fat loss nutrition tips:

1. Eat several small meals per day, rather than 2-3 large meals.

2. Monitor your food intake using fitday.com.

3. Determine how many calories you should eat per day to maintain your bodyweight.

4. If you want to lose fat, start by reducing your food intake by 200 calories per day below your maintenance level and add 3 workouts per week using the exercise techniques discussed below.

5. Stop eating processed foods and replace all sweetened beverages with water. This can quickly reduce your food intake by many, many calories.

The second component is resistance training. Small exercises like ab crunches are less effective than squats for fat loss. When you choose efficient and effective exercises like squats over ab crunches, you train more of your muscles and therefore get more results in less time. With squats, lunges, presses, and rows, you’ll build the foundation for a lean physique while burning more calories and fat than you would by spending 30 minutes on your abs alone.

The third component is interval training (interval training is a form of cardio training). I prefer intervals to traditional cardio because we have simply found them to be more effective than slow duration cardio sessions. If you train someone for performance, then they will develop the physique they desire. Intervals and resistance training are the best two methods for performance and fat loss. That’s no coincidence and should come as no surprise to those that read my newsletters.

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

The Crosstrainer-Elliptical Machine is Useless for Fat Loss

If you are using an elliptical-type machine for intervals, then I believe that you are not getting the results you deserve. In my opinion, the elliptical machines are one of the least effective methods for losing fat – just as bad as spinning classes (which I’ll cover in a future newsletter).

Now you might know someone that is uses the elliptical all the time and is lean. But I will be the farm that they can thank their genetics, their strength training, and their nutrition for their results. I have yet to see someone transform their physique with the elliptical trainer. In fact, when someone comes to me with a failing program, I often see them using the elliptical for their interval training. And that’s the first things I change.

The elliptical machine is sneaky, and it fools us three ways. First, you can get your heart rate up really high and easily. Second, you can get a big sweat on. And third, the machine tells you that you have burned an awful lot of calories (even though the calorie counter is likely inaccurate, as was shown on a CBS news report).

So why doesn’t the elliptical work? Because you just don’t do as much mechanical work as you do when you run or cycle. Basically, it’s just easier and less effective. Getting your heart rate up is not the key determinant of fat loss.

Your body is a well programmed machine. It’s ‘wired’ to increase heart rate and breathing as soon as it senses motion (that’s why you start to breathe heavily after taking a single flight of stairs – it’s not just because you are unfit).

The key factor in fat loss is the amount of work done. Until you learn to separate the influence of the two, you won’t be using intervals in the best possible manner.

As fat loss expert Alwyn Cosgrove explains, “The problem is not the elliptical itself — it’s just that it tends to allow/promote momentum (as most people have the resistance too low) from bodyweight alone. So unless you crank up the resistance and actually produce some force and/or MOVE your bodyweight – it’s nothing but momentum. So if you’re not actively using your muscles to produce some sort of force you aren’t burning many calories.”

But even then, I still don’t think using a high resistance level on the elliptical will get you the results you are looking for. Yet despite their ineffectiveness, elliptical machines and the like remain a popular training method. But that’s only due to the human condition – like flowing water, we seek the path of least resistance. We’ll will do anything to get around obstacles rather than doing the real work required to overcome the obstacles. Given the choice, humans always go with the easiest option.

Compare the elliptical to the Stairmaster. Stairmasters are more effective but less popular. Why? Because we’ve found something easier (the elliptical) that still gives us the comfort of a sweat and an elevated heart rate (even if we don’t get the results). And now millions of gym goers pat themselves on the back after flailing around on the elliptical for 30 minutes and thinking they’ve been shedding fat.

Training in your comfort zone is useless. Your metabolic rate will increase when your body is forced to change. The harder and smarter you train, the greater your increase in metabolic rate. That is why you have to do things the right way (the TT way!), to lose fat. As I’ve always said with Turbulence Training, the key to getting results is making your body change. That means using training techniques that demand your body to change. The elliptical will not cause your body to change. It is a waste of time.

So what works better? If you have my TT Reports, you know I recommend the stationary bike. It’s safe, effective, and convenient. You can work at a very high power outage, and that is no illusion. You are doing the work (as long as you are not spinning at a very high RPM – that is another waste of time!).

Of course, you can also use sprinting. But that has a few more risks to it, whether it is done on a treadmill (risk: falling) or outside (risk: muscle pulls – so prepare appropriately).

Some other manly fat loss interval options are sled pulling, Farmer Walks (see photo), pushing heavy objects, wheelbarrow carries, and complexes. I’ll talk more about the exciting fat-shedding potential of lifting complexes in my future reports

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

Fat Loss Owner’s Manual

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 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

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

6 Steps to Beginner Fat Loss

The 6 Steps to Fitness Success for Beginners: Part I

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.

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

How to Pick a Personal Trainer

Q: What certification should I look for in a personal trainer?

Answer:

Most importantly, no certification will guarantee that someone is a great trainer. The information taught in almost all certifications is generally outdated and basic.

It is really up to the trainer to learn outside of the certification process. A good trainer will have a mentor (preferably many mentors) that has shown them how to successfully deal with many situations, train people efficiently and effectively, and how to design a great training program.

A good trainer should also possess critical thinking skills. They shouldn’t simply do what all the other trainers are doing or copy workouts and exercises straight from a book or website.

If you are familiar with my training programs, you will know that they contain basic, no-fluff exercises. There’s no standing on gym balls or other dangerous and relatively ineffective training methods. There is nothing in my programs that I can’t justify. The trainer you choose should also be able to justify their exercise programs.

If I were picking a trainer, I’d insist on them meeting a very high level of criteria. After all, your trainer is in charge of your body and your health. You should demand a lot from your trainer. That’s the only way your training will reach another level.

Feel free to email me for trainer recommendations throughout North America. I might be able to recommend someone for you.

Get your free sample workout to burn belly fat, flatten your stomach, and work your six-pack abs at: http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines and will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.