This week, we have the best fat loss research tips of 2009, including a possible way to boost your post-workout metabolism, and we also have the 7th TT Transformation Contest starting Sunday, December 27th, 2009.

And during the contest, you’re going to learn that you control everything.

Your success is your responsibility.

That means you must set the rules from the start. Be consistent. Make your fat loss the priority of everyone around you. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

And always look to surround yourself with positive social support from people who are going to help you no matter what.

Click here for the rules of the TT Transformation Contest

And don’t forget, a $1000 prize goes to the winner of the men and women plus 3-year platinum membership! For more details:

Click here to listen to this killer content call!

Now let’s take a look at some of the most important research studies of 2009.

Monday – Dec 28

Transformation Tip of the Week:

Win the Game
“Losing fat is a game between you and the outside world. Everyone, from family to friends to co-workers to restaurant owners to TV advertisers are conspiring against you to make you eat more and exercise less. Like it or not, it’s true. They might not be doing it on purpose, or with bad intentions, but they are happier when you are fed, full, and flat out on the couch. So focus on getting social support and setting up routines to overcome those obstacles thrown at you!”

Turbulence Training Bootcamp Workout #10 – TT Fat Loss Fun’n’Games (BW 200 V. 2.0)

TT Warm-up (30 seconds per exercise) – 10 minutes

• Y-Squat
• Pushup
• Cross Crawl
• Y-Reverse Lunges
• Shuffle

Rest 1 minute before repeating 1 more time.

TT Fun-n-Games! – 10 minutes

• Partner shadow drills (switch every minute)
• Follow the leader with camper as leader (switch every minute)

Water Break – 2 minute

TT Strength Circuits (30 seconds per exercise) – 10 minutes

• Vertical Jump & Stick
• Extended Pushup
• Reaching Lunge (30 seconds per side)

Rest 2 minutes before repeating 1 more time.

TT Bodyweight 200 V. 2.0. – 20 minutes

• 50 Jumping Jacks
• 15 Jumps
• 25 Pushups
• 10 Jumps
• 50 BW Squats
• 50 Walking Lunges (25 per side)

Rest as much as needed between exercises.

(NOTE: If you have access to kettlebells, bands or bars, do some type of rowing exercise instead of the 2nd round of jumps.)

Cool-down, Stretching & Water Break – 10 minutes

Click here for more 21 “Done for You” no equipment TT bootcamp workouts

Tuesday
30 minutes of fun activity…and take a quick peak at this interesting protein research…

Researchers had 8 trained subjects (5M, 3W) do a workout at 7am after consuming either 20grams of whey protein or 20grams of carbohydrates. The workout consisted of 9 exercises (4 sets of eachat 75% 1 RM).

NOTE: That’s a huge workout! 36 freaking sets.

Results: Both workouts boosted metabolism at 24 and 48 hours after training, HOWEVER, at 24 hours, the increase in metabolism was greater in the protein supplement experiment.

Reference:
Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009 Dec 4. Timing Protein Intake Increases Energy Expenditure 24 Hours Post-Resistance Training. Hackney KJ, Bruenger AJ, Lemmer JT.

Comments: Would this lead to increased fat loss? Not sure…there’s a lot of other things to consider…but I guess in theory, if you want to maximize your results, then you might want to consume protein before your workout – particularly if you workout first thing in the AM.

But then again, it might not make any difference at all in the long run.

Wednesday

Today I want to go back in the TT time machine…

When I first started fiddling with TT like workouts, it was way back in 98-99 when the system of pairing pushing and pulling exercises within the same superset first became popular.

To give credit where it is personally due for me, it was in an article by Charles Poliquin.

As a result, I actually designed a research study program based on this principle – and that research study, as far as I know, has still generated the BIGGEST 8-week muscle gaining results in the history of all research studies. I do not know of any study that has delivered better results than the superior group in that study.

Reference: 8-week training & supplement study

Anyways, that’s another blog post for another day – and it’s a great story – best summer of my life, back in 1999…

But back to the pushing-pulling supersets.

Eventually, Canadian researchers decided to test this out, and here’s a recent very interesting study.

• 15 men performed an 8-week program.
• One group did all their pressing exercises and then all their pulling exercises. The other group alternated between presses and pulls – they called these complex sets (sounds like supersets).
• Results: First, the complex sets resulted in cutting training time in half. Second, 1 rep max strength increased the most in the complex set group but peak power increased the most in the traditional training group.

Reference: Effects of agonist-antagonist complex resistance training on upper body strength and power development.

Bottom line: If nothing else, pairing supersets with non-competing exercises cuts your workout in half. And it might even make you stronger.

Thursday
30 minutes of fun activity – and since it’s New Year’s Eve, why not go for some dancing? Have a great New Year’s!

Now let’s look at my favorite interval training study of the year…

Reference: J Strength Cond Res. Physiologic Effects of Directional Changes in Intermittent Exercise in Soccer Players. Dellal A, et al.

• Researchers from Africa, Europe, and Asia teamed up on this one…
• Compared interval shuttle running against interval straight-line running in 10 elite men soccer players. Results showed that the shuttle running was more difficult.
• Researchers concluded, “The changes of direction induce an increase in the anaerobic metabolism solicitation and consequently create different responses compared with traditional IL running.”

So not only interesting for soccer (i.e. you should have lots of changes in direction), but also for fat loss…instead of running on a treadmill, you should be doing athletic movement and sprint drills.

Friday – 2K10!

Happy New Years!

I hope you are as excited as I am about this year…after all, check out all of these workouts coming in 2K10…

• TT Bootcamps 2K10
  TT Transformation
  Booty for Life 2
  Big 6 Circuit
  TT KB 15-minute Express
  TT Adrenaline
  TT Addiction
  TT Hardcore 2K10
  TT Bodyweight Cardio Vol 3

And much, much more. More info soon…Until then, if you don’t already own Turbulence Training or if you aren’t a TT member, then take advantage of:

The First Ever 50% Off Turbulence Training Sale

But hurry, it ends Friday, January 1st.

Social Support Saturday!
30 minutes of fun activity, and then consider the results of this research study…

Reference: Supervised exercise versus non-supervised exercise for reducing weight in obese adults. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2009 Mar;49(1):85-90.

• This research study looked at the effects of training with supervision/instruction (ie a qualified trainer) versus “advice”. There were two groups:
• Group one met a trainer twice a week for 4 months (as a group).
• Group two received basic advice to increase physical activity and access to a fully equipped gym (any exercise they did was unsupervised).
• The group with supervision lost almost 10 pounds more over a 4-month period. (Total fat loss of 13.4lbs in the coached group – and only 3.7lbs in the advice only group).

If you are serious about changing your body – hire a coach, or get a great training partner or team to help you. At the very least, make sure you belong to an online fat loss forum – like TT Members.

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
Do 30 minutes of fun activity, and then plan, shop, & prepare. And make sure you choose organic for a few specific items. According to the new Rodale book, “The New American Diet” (excerpted in Feb 2010, Men’s Health magazine), there are a “Dirty Dozen” fruits and veggies that should be organic.

Starting with the worst offenders, the dirty dozen are:

Peaches, apples, bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, imported grapes, carrots, pears

On the other hand, here are the clean fifteen (the fruits and veggies that contain the least pesticides and probably don’t need to be purchased in “organic” form):

Onion, avocado, corn, pineapple, mango, asparagus, peas, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, pappayas, watermelon, broccoli, tomatoes, sweet potatoes.

Hope that helps you with your planning, shopping, and prepping. Here’s to your success in the TT Transformation Contest!

Next week!
TT 15-min express
Nutrition – Green Tea & fat loss research

Have a great New Years,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS – Until next week…

…if you don’t already own Turbulence Training or if you aren’t a TT member, then take advantage of:

The First Ever 50% Off Turbulence Training Sale

But hurry, it ends Friday, January 1st.

I’m off to Europe this week and will be doing lots of bodyweight exercises, so that’s why I thought giving you a 30-minute bodyweight only bootcamp workout.

If you’re taking a break from the gym, then you’ll love it…and if you’re a trainer, it’s perfect for your fitness classes, of course.

I will also be working on my handstand pushups and hope to have some videos of me doing those all across Europe, should be pretty funny.

Click here to listen to this week’s podcast

And finally, the 5th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest is  finishing up. Exciting times! We’ll have voting soon.

Monday – August 10th

Transformation Tip of the Week:
“Take full responsibility for your actions or lack of action.”

• Can you eat pizza while on a fat loss program? Yes, as long as you know it could slow down, stop, or reverse your fat loss results.
• You are an adult. A lot of this is common sense. If you choose to sit on the couch after a hard day’s work, then realize that you will not be getting closer to your goals.
• If you choose to eat 1500 calories worth pizza and drink 600 calories of soda as you sit on the couch after a hard day’s work, then ACCEPT THE CONSEQUENCES, because you will gain weight.
• Your results are your responsibility.

And now, let’s train!

30 Minute TT Bootcamp Workout
- perfect for trainers & folks who want bodyweight only workouts

(By the way, I highly recommend the interval timer from Gymboss.com)

Warm-up (30 seconds per exercise) – 5 minutes

• Jumping Jacks
• Pushup
• Stick-up ===>
• Running in Place
• Rest 1 minute before repeating 1 more time.

TT Strength Circuit (30 seconds per exercise) – 5 minutes

• Vertical Jump
• Spiderman Pushup
• Rest 1 minute before repeating 1 more time.

Water Break – 1 minute

TT Tabata Exercises– 10 minutes

• BW Squats – 20 seconds BW squats plus 10 second walking recovery x 8 rounds
• Rest 2 minutes and take water break
• Touchdown Forward Lunge plus Pushups – 20 seconds touchdown forward lunges plus 10 seconds pushups x 8 rounds

TT Total Body Abs Circuit (30 seconds per exercise) – 5 minutes
Abs exercises circuit

• Spiderman Climb
• Plank on 1-Leg (30 seconds per side)
• Burpee
• Rest 1 minute before repeating 1 more time.

Cool-down, Stretching & Water Break – 5 minutes

Click here to get the TT Bootcamp Manual with all these workouts and exercise photos

Tuesday
30 minutes of fun activity.

Nutrition Tip:
If you are worried about getting enough calcium on a vegetarian diet, you need to know that a cup of almond milk contains 20% of your daily requirement (about 200 mg).

PLUS…a cup of almond milk only has 40 calories.

In comparison, a cup of milk has at least 86 calories and 300mg of calcium.

So almond milk is a good deal. The only knock against it is that almond milk has only 1g of protein, but there are plenty of ways to get protein on a veggie diet.

Wednesday

This might be a little too late, but we came up with a Pushup and Chinup bodyweight challenge over at TT Members…

The goal is to do as many pushups and chinups as possible in the month of August.

Elite Men’s Score is: 1000 pushups and 300 chinups
Elite Women’s Score is: 300 pushups and 50 chinups

We’ll come up with a new challenge every month on www.ttmembers.com

Thursday
30 minutes of fun activity – even stretching.

Now getting enough iron is another concern of vegetarians, but each slice of whole-grain bread had 25% of my daily needs…so I’m at 50% for the day right there from a sandwich…plus, vitamin C from food helps increase iron absorption (when consumed at the same time).

For more vegetarian diet articles, check out Kardena’s blog.

www.KardenasKitchen.com

Friday

3 minute arms – what can you really do in 3 minutes? A lot! Check out this video…

Social Support Saturday!
Do 30 minutes of fun activity, and watch this video for inspiration.

Transformation Contest #6 Details:

Entry Period: From Aug 31 to Sept 18
Final Day to Submit Photos: Dec 11

Get ready to transform!

Sunday – Plan, Shop & Prepare
30 minutes activity and then plan, shop, & prepare.

You may have heard about the recent research study that found organic food was no healthier than non-organic produce. Well, duh.

I certainly didn’t expect it to be…however, the big benefit of organic foods is being able to avoid pesticides.

And the top organic foods to buy are apples, cherries, strawberries, peaches, grapes, pears, and potatoes, because in each case these foods do not have a protective peel, unlike fruits such as bananas, oranges, and avocado.

Next week!
The TT Depletion Workout
More Transformation & Nutrition Tips

Stay strong and keep transforming,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

PS – If you liked that bootcamp workout…

…I have 20 more here:

www.TTBootcamps.com