4 Weight Loss
 
Turbulence Training
You may be wasting your time doing fat burning exercises in the gym or at home if you are trying to shape your body or get rid of body fat.

Most people are. That is when it comes to exercise for getting rid of belly fat and getting into better shape.

I was in the gym today (nothing new . . . ; ) and I saw all 4 of these exercises being performed by various gym members (again . . . nothing new.)

And they are useless for 99% of the people on the planet.

Here they are . . .

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USELESS EXERCISE 1: Walking Dumbbell Lunges

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Okay ladies, this one is for you . . . although I see guys do this exercise as well.

This is where you take a pair of dumbbells and kneel with one leg, then the other, and so-on, walking around the gym as you go.

The idea behind this exercise is to work the butt, and to some extent the thighs . . . but it's a joke. It's something invented by trainers who should know better.

If you want to build and tone your butt, exercise one leg at a time. Lunges are a great exercise for this, but save your energy. Do them on a Smith Machine or with a barbell. Work one leg at a time, too. Do not alternate legs. This just wears you out aerobically before it has a chance to get to your glutes.

Here's how I perform lunges:  On a Smith Machine, with pretty heavy weights . . . one leg at a time. I will do 2-3 sets, or do them in my 7 Minute Body-style workout fashion. I will finish one leg (and one butt cheek) before moving to the other leg.

Why? Again, to focus on the muscle more intensely and to avoid turning a leg/butt workout into a cardio session.

Jon Benson covers exactly how to work the butt area for the best results in 7 Minute Body and 7 Minute Muscle, found right here:

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 USELESS EXERCISE 2:  The Sit-up

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I'm shocked that people still think sit-ups done the old-fashioned way actually work the abs. Even worse, most people have been fooled into believing this actually helps get rid of belly fat.

Nonsense. Belly fat is burned off when you have a good nutrition plan and through general exercise, not using exercises for the abs. Fat burning exercises are fine, but guess what?

I never train my abs more than 3-5 minutes. Today my ab workout took 3 minutes and 12 seconds to complete. And my abs are sore!

But without the nutrition plan, forget it . . . I'd never SEE my abs at all. I'd just have a nice wall of muscle with a bunch of flab covering it up.

The best nutrition plan for abs is The Every Other Day Diet plan, found here

The best exercises to do for the actual ab muscles are hanging leg raises, done slowly, crunches (if you do them right) . . . and that's really all you need.

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USELESS EXERCISE 3:  The Bench Press

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I'm going to get a lot of flack from the guys out there who love to bench, but I'm here to tell you that this exercise for body shaping is all but worthless.

Why? Because most people are not built right body-wise to bench press on a flat bench with a barbell. I am not, that's for sure.

Bench presses work if you have short arms, a relatively short torso, and your shoulders are genetically strong.

Protect your shoulders and really work your chest by doing incline dumbbell presses with your palms facing OUT, not in toward your head. This protects the rotator cuff, a part of the shoulder that is often injured using barbell bench presses.

Combine this with a good cable fly or press movement and you're set. Again, you only need about 7-14 minutes of chest work tops to get the job done.

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USELESS EXERCISE 4:  Most Cardio Exercises

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Yep . . . saved the best for last.

Here's a fact:  Most cardio (bike, treadmill, glider, whatever) is a waste to time . . . UNLESS you do it at the right time with the right nutrition plan.

The calories you burn from cardio will be easily negated simply by eating a bagel! Hardly effective for getting rid of body fat. Weight training and/or resistance training at home or with your body weight, as covered in 7 Minute Muscle, is your best bet for exercise that burns-off mega-calories and keeps on burning long after the exercise session is over.

Here's how to use traditional cardio wisely:

Do it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach;
Keep your heart rate down to 75% of your max (220 minus your age x .75 will give you this number, at least approximately);
"Burst" for 2-3 minutes in your session up to 85-90% of your max heart rate.
OR, do cardio right after weight or resistance training when your heart rate is already elevated and your blood sugar is lower. Your body burns blood sugar first during exercise.

Cardio for most people only needs to be performed 3-4 times a week for 20 minutes. The only time I break this rule is when I want to get my body fat below 10%. Then I will do more, but only using the rules above.

Hope this saves you a ton of time with your fat burning exercises.


padre

P.S.  You can get both books, The Every Other Day Diet plan and 7 Minute Body, for a big-time discount by going here and watching this presentation:


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Here is a guest blog post from Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS.  Author and trainer, Craig shares some insights about that ubiquitous villain, belly fat.

Enjoy,

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By line: By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Dear Friend,
This is a letter from your ol' pal, belly fat. We had a great run this summer, didn't we? Lots of good times, great food, and plain ol' sitting around eating too much.

Well, I'm thinking about sticking around another year if you don't mind. But you might need to get a bigger pair of pants, as I was thinking about expanding my place down here.

So do me a favor, avoid that interval training you were thinking of doing. The last time you did that stuff, I nearly had to look for a new place to live. I felt like the Wicked Witch of the West in the land of Oz. Did you hear me yelling, "Help me, I'm melting!"?

Instead, stick to that slow cardio stuff. Sure I get a little sweaty, and the ol' brain up there thinks it's doing "a real fat burning workout", but it's never enough to melt me outta here.

Another thing, keep listening to those experts who say strength training doesn't burn body fat. Since research shows they're wrong, if you added strength training to your program, you'd practically need to throw me a going away party!

After each one of those superset workouts you tried last January it felt like someone lit a match under our collective butt. I was burning up down here!

But boy oh boy, I sure was glad you gave that up and went back to just lifting utensils and not dumbells. Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to celebrate another summer together this year.

Sometimes I wonder, what did you ever do in college without me, your trusted belly fat? Back then, you were probably one of those people that couldn't wait to get to the beach to show off your body, not like these days.

Nope, stay in the shade and keep the cover-up clothes on, that's the way to go now. Besides, its a lot closer to the cold beer and the BBQ when you're sitting in the shade avoiding all the fun down on the beach.

Well, it sure was good catching up with you. I'm sure we'll be in touch more often, as long as you stay away from that Turbulence Training workout routine.

Brings a tear to my eye whenever I even think about that workout program and all the belly fat it's burned. Heck, it's fried more belly fat than a frying pan!

So again, if you want to keep your dear old belly around for another year and another summer, don't use Turbulence Training - otherwise, its all over pal, and you'll never see me again.

Belly Fat says, "Don't use this"

Your friend and spare tire,

Belly Fat

PS - Seriously, don't go near that Turbulence Training program unless you want to see me, Thunder Thighs, Manboobs, Jigg Lee Arm Fat, and Luv Handles pack our bags and hit the highway.

It will be a sad farewell, and you'd be stuck with ripped abs, gorgeous glutes, and toned arms, and you know how much attention those guys get from the opposite sex. Who needs it, I say.


About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week.

For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment.

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My guest blogger is the noted author, fitness coach and nutritionist Jon Benson.  He speaks of a diet that will allow you to follow this natural tendency and use your cheat foods to actually burn fat.

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Fair warning . . . this one is a rant. It's probably a bit long, but take the time to read it.

I have some things to get off my chest . . . and a lot of people reading this will find it refreshing.

We have a problem in this country . . . hell, this world . . . with people overeating.

Obviously overeating is one of the primary reasons people are struggling with bellyfat and excess bodyweight in general. The solution to this problem is not "don't eat so much", although that is the end goal.

The solution is to really, REALLY understand how your body uses fuel and how to create a dietplan that allows you to take advantage of it.

First, my rant.

You want to know why 99% of the people who fail to see results from my dietplans . . . or any dietplan for that matter . . . REALLY fail?
They do not understand how smart and powerful their bodies really are.

Look . . . no dietplan on earth will allow you to eat whatever you want every day. That's fatloss suicide.

No pills will cure this. No surgery.

Only this will cure it:

Use your body's own internal appetite mechanisms to your advantage.

I receive hundreds of emails every day from people who see results from my Every Other Day Dietplan.

But I won't lie to you:  I also get emails from people who do not.

Welcome to the real world, right?  Some people succeed, others do not. It's the same story no matter what your goals may be.

But in fatloss, the difference between success and failure, at least in the case of my readers, is NOT the dietplan . . . it's the need to fully appreciate how and why it works.

Let me explain . . .

Here is a picture of me (excuse the quality; this was snapped with a mirror and a cellphone . . .)
 
http://www.jonbenson.com/img/jbtowel.jpg

Obviously I have abs . . . and I'm lean . . . and because I love to lift weights I also carry a lot of muscle . . . but the real power behind this picture is what you do NOT see:

You do not see what I ate the night before;  half a pizza.

You do not see how obese I was ten years ago . . . yes, 70lbs over-fat with a belly that     looked like I swallowed a basketball.

You do not see how I set my body up to receive this pizza and actually get leaner after eating it.

In case you think I'm on some magical dietplan or taking some fatburning-stimulants... wrong.

I just woke up 5 years ago after studying nutrition for 15 years and finally put 2 and 2 together.

So, here's the facts.

My EODD Plan is build around a simple concept:  Eat your favorite foods "frequently" and still drop the bodyweight you want.

And it works... not because it's a gimmick, but because it uses the science of metabolism, natural hormonal manipulation, and psychology to prepare your body to eat more calories.

Now those calories could easily come from, say, three yams . . . but I prefer pizza. ; )

If you've tried EODD with success, you know what I'm talking about. If not . . . then read on.

First, EODD never promises you that you can eat however MUCH you want every other day (or in my case, since I'm athlete, every three days) . . . no, no, NO!

It's whatever you want . . . not however MUCH you want. That is the sole reason a small fraction of my readers are not seeing the results they want.

Now, here's the beauty of it all:

After about 3 weeks following my System of eating, you simply cannot overeat . . . well, you can, but you'd have to force-feed yourself in order to pull it off.

You've been feeding yourself frequently for the day or two before your favorite food meals. The higher protein and very low starch content of the nutrition plan (with plenty of veggies) ensures that your body's metabolism stays elevated. BUT . . . and this is crucial . . . the amount of food consumed on these days before is not that much.

I'm never starving . . . I eat too frequently for that, plus the foods on my Plan curb your appetite. But I am not eating anywhere near my maintenance level of calories. I do not count calories (nor should you) . . . I just follow the System, which does the calorie-counting for me. Plus I know my body really well after all these years.

So, after days of eating enough to keep my metabolism relatively high, and right BEFORE it starts to slow down (your metabolism slows when you do not eat enough, bringing fatloss to a rapid halt) I hit the body with a lot of calories.

BUT... at the right time, and never at certain times.

And, please read this:  I do not eat "however much" I want on my feed meals . . . I eat WHATEVER I want in reasonable portions. I don't have to fight to not overeat, even when it's pizza or burgers (my two favorite cheat meals.) Why? Because my body is set up to want more food, but also trained not to eat too much food at one sitting.

This is because I've been "grazing" -- eating small, frequent meals the days before my feed day. And the body learns to adapt . . . quickly.

The brain is actually re-trained to signal the stomach that you've had enough food . . . yes, even when it's dessert, or pizza, or whatever your favorite food may be.

So here's the deal:  Yes, you can lose all the bellyfat and bodyfat you want eating like this . . . but like anything else that works, you have to follow a few simple rules.

The result is a dietplan where you never feel trapped. You always know that tomorrow, or possibly the day after, you can have whatever food you want. Just in reasonable amounts.

If you ask me, this is the perfect trade-off. No starvation, super-healthy eating at least 4 days a week, and you get to eat your cake as well (literally if you want.)

It's not magic -- it's science, and a bit of work on your part. Yes, work.

Nothing happens with effort. But put some effort into this System and boy . . . there's not a better dietplan on the face of the earth.

Click here for information on how and why this works . . .

In conclusion, I like to think of The Every Other Day Dietplan as "The Thinking Person's Dietplan." Anyone who considers every angle of what it takes to shed bodyfat:  Food you enjoy, freedom, a plan that's easy to follow, and flexibility will recognize this right away as the ideal approach.

But, like all ideal approaches, it requires you to re-think the way you eat.

You eat for fuel . . . period.  But you CAN (and should) eat for pleasure too. As long as you keep FUEL as the main reason you are eating in the forefront of your mind, your body (and mind) will follow. Your body will adapt and begin to use both healthy and "not-so-healthy" foods as fuel.

Fuel to power your workouts, help you burnoff that bellyfat and bodyweight you don't want, and empower your sense of control.

Especially now, with the holidays upon us, "food as fuel first; food as pleasure second" should be carved into your dinner table. Because, let's face it:  When all that holiday overeating is over with, you will be left with a bigger belly, feeling sluggish, and just one more step away from the body you desire.

My alternative offers the best of both worlds. You just have to be willing to re-think some things and give your body a few weeks to re-learn what it already knows --

When to signal you that you're full, and way before you overeat. And, believe it or not, you can (and should) do this by eating your favorite foods each and every week.

That's the only way to keep your MIND satisfied and happy. And your mind is the key to your body's success.

Thanks for reading,

Jon Benson
Co-author of the # 2 fitness e-book in the world - Fit Over 40
This best selling work profiles 54 real-world role models dedicated to sharing their secrets to a life of fitness and health.

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Many thanks to today's guest blogger, Jon Benson.
 Be sure to check out Fit Over 40 for proven insights into a longer, fitter life.

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