I spent all day yesterday explaining what Turbulence Training is to new potential readers. By the end of the day I had my speech memorized, and decided to turn it into a new article for you called, “The 5 Laws of New School Fat Loss“.

Here goes…

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.

This revolutionary new workout system 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 I was stuck in the lab for up to 16 hours a day doing my thesis.

Obviously, I didn’t have a lot of time to exercise…but I still had SOME time, and so I made sure I did.

And so I based a new program on what I had read in hundreds of fat loss research studies, as well as my countless past workouts that I had recorded faithfully over the years.

And from that research and from my own personal workouts and results, Turbulence Training was invented and have given rise to the 5 Laws of New School Fat Loss.

Law #1) Use intense resistance training

NOTE: This doesn’t just mean lifting heavy weights…it could also mean doing difficult bodyweight exercises or even explosive exercises (like I use in the TT Big 6 Circuit).

Here’s why…

Intense resistance training stimulates what is called muscle protein turnover. This is important for two reasons:

a) It causes your body to burn extra calories and belly fat when you are not training (so while you recover, etc.).

b) It stimulates muscle re-modeling.

That means it will help you maintain your muscle (and sculpt your body) even while you are eating fewer calories and burning fat.

However, if you rely only on light weight & high reps, you won’t keep that muscle and your metabolism will decrease.

Law #2) Switch from slow cardio to interval training.

Research shows that interval training is more effective for burning belly fat than regular cardio – even when you don’t change your diet!

Interval training is what separates people with 20% fat from those men and women with the lean, athletic, sexy abs body type.

Interval training also builds better sport conditioning and “everyday fitness” that is more practical in life.

For example, how often do you ever need to run 5 miles? Pretty much never, right?

But how often do you need to climb a few flights of stairs or chase one of your kids? Those are every day demands…and will be best improved by interval training, not 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.

Law #3) Use non-competing supersets to do more work in less time.

By using the Turbulence Training system of non-competing supersets, where you do 2 unrelated exercises back to back, you’ll avoid muscle fatigue and get more work done in less time.

Therefore, you’ll burn more calories compared to traditional workouts.

This is one of the major reasons Turbulence Training is so efficient and effective.

Law #4) Use Total Body Workouts

Skip the classic steroid-bodybuilder method of doing one body part per day. That will only give you overuse injuries and a big body set up for more injuries & chronic pain in the future.

Not what you want, right?

Of course not. So switch to three total-body workouts per week, using a variety of exercises, and when possible, using a variety of training methods – from dumbbells to kettlebells to bodyweight exercises.

None of these methods is magical, and you can get amazing results no matter what combination you use, but in my most recent Turbulence Training workouts I’ve started to use more combination workouts and they are getting the highest ratings on the TT Member’s forum.

Click Here for the latest and highest rated TT Workouts

The top 3 programs so far this year are:

i) TT Transformation
ii) TT Adrenaline
iii) TT 2K10

(The TT Big 6 Circuit was just released…so it can’t be compared just yet.)

Rule #5) Change Your Workout Every 4 Weeks

The Turbulence Training workouts are changed every 4 weeks, and sometimes every 3 weeks for advanced results.

Why?

To avoid the dreaded fat loss plateau. If you’ve been doing the same workout over and over for more than 4 weeks, your results will slow down and eventually come to a complete stop.

You MUST change your program…and that’s why I create not just one, but TWO new Turbulence Training workouts every month for TT Members, so that they will always have a new program to keep their fat loss results moving along.

In fact, the Turbulence Training System 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 the body transformation results of a fast workout.

Now you know what really works,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

Women in their 40’s have to work against nature to maintain their figure.

Our current lifestyle and Mother Nature has stacked the odds against us. Sailing smoothly through the fourth decade of our life without some extra baggage is difficult (literally, I’m talking about gobs of fat hanging off our waists like a muffin top – not a pretty sight).

Do we have to just accept the fact that with age our bodies will change into something less desirable? Absolutely not!

There are a few ‘MAGIC BULLETS’ that will help you turn back the hands of time and make you look and feel years younger. Read on…

I have some good news and bad news about what happens to a woman’s body as she ages. Let’s start with the ‘bad’ news:

We die a little each day…

Mother Nature has programmed our body to start to ‘decay’ a little every day. In fact both men and women’s bodies are pre-programmed to ‘decay’ in a similar way.

There are messenger molecules that send signals to the entire body to ‘decompose’ so to speak. There are also messenger molecules, called cytokines that tell the body to ‘grow’. The messenger molecule of growth is Cytokine 10 or C10 and that of decay is Cytokine 6 or C6. In youth, C10 is plentiful and is sending messages to all parts of the body to grow.

We get less and less C10 circulating as we get older and we get more C6 circulating. This is a SLOW TRAIN TO THE GRAVE, decay without growth. More on this later…

Help! Our metabolism is tanking…

About two thirds of women will gain between 10-15 lb during MENOPAUSE with the majority of this weight centered around the abdomen.

Many women develop “insulin resistance” which means their bodies tend to store fat instead of burning calories. Other factors that are of concern and are involved in creating a middle age spread include hormonal imbalances, lack of sleep, dietary concerns and nutritional imbalances, and stress.

So far, it’s not a pretty picture: My saggy butt and over flowing waistline hobbling to the refrigerator for a soda and chips while I watch my favourite TV show before bed. Then I’ll fall asleep and wake up in the middle of the night and toss and turn while sleep eludes me. I’ll get up exhausted the next day, creak and groan through the long day only to repeat this cycle of sedentary living feeling lethargic and looking lousy.

STOP!!

This is depressing and does NOT have to happen. Although both of the facts I previously mentioned are true: we are in a constant state of decay and have the potential to have sinking metabolisms and a middle aged spread, there IS good news. Let’s get on with it!

Magic Bullet #1

Remember those messenger molecules C6 and C10 I mentioned? What if we had some way of turning on that magic messenger of youth, C10 again? If we could only keep that juice coming, then we wouldn’t have to decay with the constant flow of C6 our body delivers as we age.

Would you believe that you can?

INTENSE EXERCISE is the magic bullet that will turn your body’s switch to open the flood gates of C10. You see your body has a slow leak of C6 as we age, but when you exercise, you break down tissue and you will experience a surge of C6. Your body, in its evolutionary wisdom of survival, will provide a surge of C10 to start repairs or growth in response.

DECAY turns to GROWTH, brilliant.

You need to add intense exercise to your daily routine in order to keep those surges of C6 and C10 going. Modern day sedentary living, stress, and poor diet only accentuate the slow leak of C6 to decay, it will not stop, but you can overcome many aging factors by telling your body to GROW instead of DECAY when you add intense exercise.

This is tremendously good news. C10 is literally the fountain of youth. There will always be a slow decline in performance with age and our skin will fall prey to the hands of time, but we will feel younger and our bodies will look younger and sexier.

Magic Bullet #2 – Muscle Magic

So, from a cellular level, we see the need for exercise, but I’m telling you that you need to choose an exercise that builds and maintains MUSCLE as this is the second fountain of youth that you can tap into.

Remember I said that most women gain 10-15 pounds at menopause?

Well, this is a bit of a lie. Those women that gained weight were slowly re-compositioning their bodies in the 10 years prior to menopause and menopause is taking the blame. Studies show that there isn’t any evidence to show that the metabolism slows with the change of life.

Lifestyle leading up to menopause is to blame for this weight gain and many of the other ailments that women complain about.

Most lifestyles are such that as we go from our 30’s to 40’s we become more sedentary.

Although life is full of career and possibly child rearing, we also have more time to relax and we often don’t pursue sport in the same way we may once have. At the very least, we aren’t chasing toddlers and we have possibly been promoted to a position where we can sit down a little more.

Less activity equals less muscle.

Even though your weight may show the same or only a few pounds more on the scale, you are likely ‘fatter’ now than you were in your twenties and thirties. You have TRADED MUSCLE FOR FAT by reducing your daily activity.

Muscle is metabolically active tissue that takes calories to maintain. Fat is basically dead weight that does nothing for you in terms of caloric demand.

Your desire is to build and maintain as much muscle as possible so you can maximize your calorie burning capacity. The MORE MUSCLE your body has, the MORE YOU CAN EAT. Period. Do you see the need to weight train now? Bring it on!

Now, if you’ve experienced any weight gain in your 40’s, I’m not saying that it’s YOUR FAULT! Absolutely not. There is clearly an abundance of misinformation out there concerning women in their 40’s regarding this issue.

Time for some clarity.

I’m telling you that you can beat Mother Nature at her own game and maintain your weight, your figure, your self confidence and feel healthy and sexy well into and beyond your forties.

Here are 3 NON-NEGOTIABLE STEPS that you can take today to improve your health: exercise, exercise, exercise!

1. Start resistance training immediately.

You’d be surprised to hear that body weight only training is one of the safest and most effective ways to increase and maintain muscle mass in women in this age category.

By adding some muscle and maintaining the muscle that you already have, you will preserve and even elevate your metabolism as you age. And don’t think for a minute that you’ll get that overly developed muscular look-if only adding muscle was that easy. Your hormonal make up is not such that this is even possible.

Lift weight and LIFT AS HEAVY AS YOU CAN and you’ll still only add modest amounts of this good stuff.

2. Ensure you add intense heart pounding exercise daily or almost daily.

You need to get that surge of C6 and corresponding surge of C10 to keep your body growing, so move it intensely DAILY if possible. This also doesn’t mean that you need to start to run; there are plenty of other aerobic exercises that are more effective than going for that long slow jog.

High intensity interval training is your answer to FAST and extremely effective workouts and fat loss.

3. Make exercise a habit like brushing your teeth.

Get a plan so that you just have to DO the work. It’s always easier to face a workout with a plan in hand.

And finally….

did you think I’d forget to mention how your diet plays into this? Of course your nutritional plan plays a HUGE part into this picture. My one word of advice today: STOP DIETING.

ONE KEY to long lasting health and weight maintenance is to consistently apply the principles of nutrition that you may already know. Surprisingly, cutting out all junk food including all high glycemic carbohydrates and alcohol is a great start to gaining control of your eating and appetite.

Another pleasant surprise is that once you get past that first week of ‘withdrawal’ from the junk and sugar, your cravings won’t be as strong.

I’ve only scratched the surface of your action plan. You have some knowledge of the ‘’why’’ you need to move, time to find out the plan. As a woman in my mid-forties, I’m living proof that it is possible to fool Mother Nature. With my help, you can too.

Sincerely,

Shawna Kiminski
www.FemaleFatLossOverForty.com

Time is a precious resource these days and because of this, most people simply don’t have 90-minutes per day to devote to a workout.

Unfortunately, with all the information fitness magazines are spewing out, many people are often misguided into believing the only sure-fire way to lose fat and gain muscle is through long, hard workouts, lasting well over an hour in length.

Luckily, we don’t need to believe everything the fitness magazines are telling us, because some of what they are saying simply isn’t accurate!

With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I’m pretty confident in knowing what works and what doesn’t.

And I can confidently say that there is ZERO reason to be spending 90 minutes, five to six days a week working out, when you can easily get the same fat loss results in just half the time.

Let me explain…

The great thing about strength training and intervals is “efficiency”. Because you are working harder, the signal to your body to change is stronger.

RESULT: You cut time when you increase intensity.

Now don’t worry, I won’t be asking you to do hill sprints tomorrow if you aren’t exercising today.

For a beginner, we just do some slightly faster than normal walking intervals. For intermediate fitness levels, we’ll pick up the pace about 20% compared to their normal cardio levels, but again, the work periods are much shorter.

The key is you must shift to a slightly higher intensity in order to cut time from your workout. But the workout also goes faster, and much more importantly, you will get more results and better fitness from these methods.

So for you busy people out there – it’s easy to do these workouts first thing in the AM, or at lunch, or after the kids go to bed.

And another BONUS, you only need three hard workouts per week. You don’t have to be in the gym six days per week.

On your off days, it’s important to stay active for at least 30 minutes, but these days should be unstructured and revolve around being active with your family or hobbies. Don’t think of them as workout days, think of them as activity days.

Plus, you can get a great workout at home with only a bench, dumbells, and an exercise ball. You DON’T NEED  fancy machines or an expensive gym membership.

Which leads into Turbulence Training.

Over the years, many people have come across my fat loss workout programs and two of the most commonly asked questions I get are: “What is Turbulence Training?” and “How is this program different from all the others?”.

So, let me take a minute to break TT down for you…

What is Turbulence Training?

Turbulence Training is the fat loss system you might have read about in Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, or Shape magazine. In fact, the June 07 issue of Men’s Health contains two of my short, but effective fat loss and interval tips.

Who can use TT and what are its benefits?

Turbulence Training was designed for busy men and women (yes, women use it just as well as men) to get more fat loss results in less workout time. It’s about creating fewer workout days and more time out of the gym to spend living your life.

What are the advantages and features of TT?

The workouts are designed for simple home gyms, requiring very little equipment. And most importantly, they are meant to be done fast. I’ve cut the fluff, and used only the most efficient and effective exercises.

Too many magazine programs recommend redundant exercise programs, telling you to do four exercises when one will be enough. Or well-meaning, but incorrect articles brainwash us into believing that we have to run for an hour per day or we’ll end up in poor health.

But that’s not true. (The truth is; nutrition is far MORE important for fat loss and health than your choice of exercise.)

=> Click here to get Turbulence Training for less than 5 bucks.

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

Last day, Scott Colby and I took some time to educate readers on the benefits of living the vegetarian lifestyle, while also debunking many of the misconceptions out there.  So if you’re a vegetarian or thinking of trying it out, then check out the tips for how to be a vegetarian and lose fat.

Today, however, we weigh in on a few common exercise questions, including the effectiveness of steady-state cardio for fat loss, and if you’ll burn more fat working out on an empty stomach.

So, let’s finish it off…

**********************

Scott Colby: Let’s keep this moving.  We’ve got about ten more minutes.  Daniel out in Sydney says, “Hey, Craig.  I just wanted to ask you for your final thoughts on steady-state cardio, because fitness experts Tom Venuto and Jeff Anderson both believe in it.  They say people misunderstood the study showing ______ interval training burning nine times more fat.”

Craig Ballantyne: Oh, absolutely.  My final advice is people simply don’t have to do it unless you absolutely love to do it.

Take a look at transformationcontest.com.  Those people are using Turbulence Training and not doing slow cardio, and you will find that they are getting results – incredible results.

And so the BOTTOM LINE is the nutrition is the most important thing, and from there, then it’s simply doing something that will sculpt your body, which is resistance training.  That’s the most important thing.  And the interval training also works very well to burn belly fat, so that is my bottom line on it.

Three questions someone needs to ask themselves if they wanna do cardio.

1. Do they enjoy doing it?  If the answer is “yes” by all means go for it.
2. Do you have the time to do it?  Because the great thing about interval training is it takes half the time of a regular cardio workout.
3. Are you able to do it without getting overuse injuries?

If you can answer “yes” to all those – if you have the time, if you have the enjoyment of it, and you don’t get overuse injuries, you can go and do it.  It’s not like cardio never works for anybody.  But there are plenty of studies.  One showed that people who were doing an hour of cardio a week for an entire year lost an average of five pounds.

That’s NOT a very EFFICIENT way of doing things.

Other studies have shown that some people get results and some people actually gain weight when they go into a cardio program because it causes them to eat an extra 2-300 calories per day.  That was a British study.

And then there’s that STUDY from Australia which compared the interval training versus 40 minutes of slow cardio, and they found there was more results from the interval training group that did 20 minutes of interval training.  So there’s certainly enough proof to me that you do not have to do the cardio, and you really have to worry more about your diet and then use resistance training to sculpt your muscle.

I always think of it like this….

The analogy is someone who’s overweight and needs to lose body fat is the exact same thing as a big chunk of concrete that showed up at Michelangelo’s doorstep, and he was gonna sculpt David out of it.  And so you use the diet to whack off the big chunks of concrete to get down closer to the sculpture, and then you use resistance training to put in those fine details, like Michelangelo did on that sculpture.

And that’s what you’re doing.  Diet, resistance training, and you sculpt the body.  That’s how you do it.  That is my strong opinion that if you wanna do it, fine, by all means.

If you’re an endurance athlete you have to do cardio, of course.  But if you wanna lose fat, if you wanna get fit, you do not have to do it.

Scott Colby: Good stuff; I like that analogy there.  Maria out in Santiago, Chile.  Is it true that for fat loss it is better to train first thing in the morning before breakfast?

Craig Ballantyne: The answer to that is simply “no”.

I mean the most important thing is you TRAIN WHEN YOU CAN TRAIN.  Now that whole argument is based on the fact of doing cardio for fat loss, and because I don’t even think that you need to do cardio for fat loss that question’s already proven wrong to me, because it’s not even how we train for fat loss in the first place.

One study that I came across the other week, it may not be the world’s best study, but it showed that people who consumed 20 grams of protein before their training ended up burning more calories in the 24-hour period after than a group that did 20 grams of carbohydrates.

So in theory – and this is one of these in theory things like green tea – green tea’s supposed to burn more calories, but people don’t lose weight with green tea.

In theory, this MAY help you burn more calories, and so if you’re at a plateau and you’re doing everything right, maybe having a protein shake before training will help you burn more calories and may help you get through the fat loss plateau.

It might just be – not being able to see the forest because of the tree that’s in our way.  We might just be not thinking about the big picture and putting too much importance on that little detail.

But hey, you know what?  If you wanna try it for a couple weeks and see what kind of results you get, if you’re struggling and you’re stuck, it might be the missing piece of the puzzle.

So that just shows another reason that you don’t have to do a workout on an empty stomach.

I mean I have no problem with people that do work out on an empty stomach, though.  I trained this morning – I squatted, heavy squatting, this morning without eating because I wasn’t hungry.  And sometimes when I eat before training and then I do a bit of a warm-up, then I feel a little bit weak for about five minutes before all my blood sugar gets leveled out again.

So sometimes if I’m training first thing in the morning I don’t eat first thing in the morning.

And really what it comes down to is not only just your daily calorie intake, but your weekly calorie intake and your weekly calorie output, and that’s gonna determine fat loss in the long term.  So really your weekly weigh-ins are the true representation of what you accomplish in that week.

Scott Colby: Yeah, I just wanna add one more thing, Craig, and you mentioned that you’ve really gotta test and see what works best for you in a question like this.

Because I run early morning boot camps at 6:00 in the morning, and one of my long-time boot camp members, she would struggle with her endurance during the workouts, feel a little bit light-headed.  And she didn’t eat anything before the workout, so I said, “Why don’t you try eating an apple when you first wake up?”  That made all the difference in the world.  Her stamina, her endurance, her strength was better.  She had more energy during the workouts.

Now some people, if they eat before their workout they don’t feel good, because they don’t have time to digest it, things like that.  So that’s really gonna be something that you need to test on your own to see what works best.

Scott Colby: Let’s get one final question.  We had this one come in specifically about your program, Craig, so we’ll wrap it up with this.  Richard out in Minnesota says, “Does your program include any specific advice for seniors that need to increase muscle mass before losing additional weight?”

Craig Ballantyne: Say that again?

Scott Colby: Okay.  Does your program include any specific advice for seniors that need to increase muscle mass before losing additional weight?

Craig Ballantyne: No.  I mean we have people from age 18 to I think currently our oldest person right now is 74 using the program.  And really what it comes down to is the principles that apply to fat loss at every age are the same.

You know if someone needs to gain muscle mass before they start losing weight, then that’s pretty simple too.  We just don’t have them cut calories.  We have them cut out the interval training so that they’re really just doing the resistance training portion and they’re able to build muscle mass.  So that’s what I would have somebody do if they need to build muscle mass first before they go on a fat loss component.

Scott Colby: Yeah, I agree with you, Craig, as well.  For my boot camps we’ve got people in their 20s all the way to people in their 60s.  Really the body was designed to move in specific ways no matter what age.  Just because you passed the age of 60 doesn’t mean your body’s not meant to move in a certain direction any more. So we train people of all ages the same way, so I like that answer.  So let me just give that link one more time – or let me let you give the link to your transformation contest where they can find the rules.  Can you give that out again, Craig?

Craig Ballantyne: Sure – transformationcontest.com.

Scott Colby: Transformationcontest.com, and if you don’t have a copy of Turbulence Training, you’re interested in joining the contest, remember Craig’s running his Turbulence Training program, you can pick it up at half price and enter the contest if you go to www.theabsexpert.com/TT you can grab Turbulence Training at half price.  And you also get a month of your TT membership site – is that right, Craig?

Craig Ballantyne: Yep.

Scott Colby: Okay.  And that’s great too, because when you’re going through a program it’s a good idea to be part of a support community where you can ask questions and get encouragement from other people.

And then the bonus I wanted to throw in, since we knew nutrition is your number one key to getting these types of fat loss results, I did a teleseminar series called “Amazing Abs – The Diet”.  I interviewed 12 of the top diet experts in the world, and I wanted to give away the audio recordings, the MP3 downloads and the transcripts of each interview.

I think that would make a great supplement for those people who are doing the Turbulence Training program and entering the contest.  So if you go to www.theabsexpert.com/TT, if you order by Friday – that’s when the half-price special ends – if you’re one of the first 25 to order, just send me your receipt.  That receipt you would just email to Scott@scfitness.com and I will send you the downloads and transcripts of each interview in the “Amazing Abs Diet” teleseminar series.  So the way you could do that, you just listen to an interview each week of the contest and you’ll pick up something new and valuable for you to get through and get better results within the Turbulence Training transformation contest.

So Craig, this is great stuff.  We packed in a lot in just an hour, so I appreciate your thorough answers and your time during the holidays.  This was a great interview, and I appreciate it.

Craig Ballantyne: Hey, happy to help, Scott – thanks so much, man.

Scott Colby: Awesome.  Everybody listening, thank you so much for listening in, taking time out of your day.  Hope everybody had a great Christmas.  Have a healthy, safe and happy New Year’s.  We’ll talk to you next time.  Bye, everybody!

Fitness Over 40 For Females

By: Shawn Kiminski

As a woman in my forties, I understand and appreciate the challenges that others in my age group face. Our waist lines want to expand even when we exercise and are careful with our nutrition.

What’s a woman to do? Sadly there isn’t a ‘magic formula’, but there is hope.

While it isn’t possible to ‘spot reduce’, which means to lose fat from specific target areas, (unless you resort to pricey surgical procedures) you can do exercises that will help tighten those TROUBLE SPOTS.  Then, if you lose body fat, your problem areas will also be affected, giving you the look that you desire.

I find that many women in their forties experience weight gain around their middles, specifically; their tummies and behinds, resulting in a thicker waist and wider hips. Here are a few ‘SECRETS’ that you can employ to tap into the fountain of youth.  I promise, you can feel better than you did in your thirties, look your best, and have energy to spare.

GET RID OF YOUR TREADMILL!

Yes, you read it right.  If all you do on your treadmill (or any cardio machine) is long, slow, monotonous sessions, stop it! Sell your treadmill and make room in your house and life for some really effective fat burning exercise.  And you don’t need to spend a lot of money!

Your body is all you need.

The key is that you must replace your long easy cardio sessions with short high intensity interval training sessions. This can be accomplished with a few simple body weight exercises such as the squat jump, jumping jack or stationary sprint.

The following is a perfect example of how you can add a set of fat burning exercise to your day, sacrificing very little time and space.

This is the SQUAT JUMP. (As you can see, you can modify this movement to your fitness level by reducing the height of the jump and the depth of the squat.) This is how you start your program.  It’s simple!

• Start with 20 seconds of squat jumps, follow with a 10 second recovery time.
• Try to repeat this cycle for 5 minutes (or 10 total sets).
• Now you can rest for up to one minute.

As your body adapts and your fitness level increases, add cycles until you can do another 5 minutes. You will burn a ton of calories in 10 minutes at this pace. Remember, this isn’t a slow, easy pace.  You are trying to train at a high intensity level, so you should be breathing hard, and your heart rate should be up there.

• From a squat position, powerfully jump to fully a extended position, raise arms overhead
• Decelerate as your feet touch the ground, returning to the squat position
• Modify by powerfully reaching to the ceiling without letting feet leave the ground.
• You can also adjust the depth of your squat.  Going deeper hits your rear and thighs more effectively.

PUSH YOUR WEIGHT AROUND!

To lose body fat, every woman MUST add some resistance training to their workout regime.

Your GOAL is to add muscle to your body. Muscle is active, calorie burning tissue that helps keep your metabolism going strong. The reason why many women in this age group are gaining weight while eating the same quantity of food is that they’ve lost some lean muscle mass due to a more sedentary lifestyle.

It’s a fallacy that our metabolism will slow down as we age, thus leading to that inevitable ‘middle age spread’ as we gain fat. By adding muscle building exercises 3-4 times a week, you will hold onto the muscle that you had in your twenties and thirties.  In fact, if you work hard, you can even build a little extra.

This doesn’t mean that you need to join a gym or buy expensive equipment. It also doesn’t mean you are going to gain muscle bulk, or look masculine, which is another fallacy.

The female body simply isn’t capable of that unless you train very specifically with that goal in mind.  Using your body weight as resistance is often more than enough weight, and you will achieve a beautifully feminine physique.

Here is a list of BENEFITS that you’ll get from weight training:

• You will burn more fat than by doing cardio alone
• You will change the shape of your body
• You will boost your metabolism by retaining or building more muscle
• You will increase strength, becoming more functional
• You will build strong bones and combat osteoporosis
• You will improve joint stability and reduce the risk of injury

WHICH BODY WEIGHT MOVEMENTS SHOULD I DO?

One of the most effective body weight exercises is the unsung push-up.

There is nothing new or glamorous about doing push-ups, but they work!  You will work many of the muscles of the upper body, specifically the chest, shoulders and triceps. Many women complain that the backs of their arms are too flabby.  Doing PUSH-UPS directly TARGETS those muscles. In addition, you will target the core muscles.

The key is to keep your back plank straight through out. If body weight is too much resistance when you first begin, there are a variety of ways to modify the resistance.  Anyone can do some sort of push up to increase upper body strength, add muscle and work the core all at once.

WANT A TIGHT TUMMY? STOP DOING CRUNCHES!

The mid section is always a trouble spot for women in their forties. There is no magic bullet for this area, but the PLANK is one of the most effective exercises that you can safely perform to tone the abdominals. It effectively targets the abdominal area, and is much safer and easier to learn to perform than crunches. Having a strong core will reduce back aches and improve posture as well.

You start by holding the position shown in the photo for as long as you can. If that is too difficult, start on your knees.  As you get stronger, hold that position for longer periods.  If you started on your knees, soon you will graduate to your toes.  Before you know it, you will be sporting a stronger, flatter tummy!

THE REALITY OF DIETING

There are several unavoidable truths about what you eat.

The first is, you cannot ‘out train poor nutritional choices’.

What this means is, regardless of how hard you train, if your diet is poor, you simply will never get the results you are longing for.  The exercises and strategies listed above are some of the most effective ways to tone your muscles. The fact is, you will never actually see those muscles, or improve your trouble spots unless you make sound nutritional choices.

Secondly, going ‘on a diet’ is one of the most effective ways to GAIN weight! ’.

Lowering your calories excessively will result in a slower metabolism.  Eventually, this leads to more body fat, and for most women, a revolving cycle.  This will make you unhappy, and unhealthy.  Making sure that your diet is jammed with nutritionally dense whole foods will multiply the results you will get from any workout regime you decide to use.

My TOP 3 nutritional tips are as follows:

1. Eat 5-6 small meals daily. This ensures that you never get too hungry and overeat. As well, your body knows that there is a steady supply of food coming in.  This will help boost your metabolism, which helps burn body fat.
2. Include protein with every meal. This will help to stabilize blood sugar and help to control your appetite.
3. Lower your intake of starchy carbs, and eat more fibrous carbs.  Steer clear of refined sugar.  Your mother was right.  Eat your veggies!  Eat breads and pastas in moderation.  Never drink your calories.  So stay away from soda pop, and choose whole fruit over fruit juice.

Women in their forties shouldn’t look matronly and feel old. Don’t settle for old stereotypes.

You can feel energized and fit doing simple exercises that you can do in the privacy of your own home. Heart pounding, challenging workouts will make remarkable differences to your trouble areas. Fitness and fat loss is not rocket science, but it does take some will power, and the willingness to invest a small amount of time.

These tactics are the latest and best practices available in the fitness industry.  I’ve done my homework, practice what I preach, and I’d like nothing more than share my passion for fitness to help you meet your goals as well at:

=> Female Fat Loss Over Forty

Sincerely,

Shawna Kiminski