Supplements and Supplements’ Magazines

Here’s why you should view almost all nutritional supplements with a skeptical eye:

Most people read information about supplements from supplements magazines because magazines are normally considered one of the most trustworthy sources for information. But that's not always the case - you can't believe everything you read.

Most bodybuilding and fitness magazine publishers have their own supplement companies and they use their magazines to promote their products. By writing information about "new supplement breakthroughs" into editorial format, they appear much more believable. That makes magazines the perfect tools for selling supplements and weight loss products. As a result, many magazines have turned into nothing more than thinly disguised "supplement catalogs" with the single purpose of brainwashing masses of easily-influenced consumers.

The “magazine supplement company” business plan is nothing new. Certain “well known” publications have been doing it for decades. One day, it dawned on the rest of the publishers that more money could be made selling supplements than selling advertising or subscriptions. Soon, almost everyone had jumped on the bandwagon. This is just as true for online magazines as it is for paper and ink magazines.

Even if a magazine doesn't have a vested interest in a particular line of supplements, you still can't count on them to reveal the whole truth to you because publishers don't want to offend the deep-pocketed companies that are spending big money to advertise. Publishing is a tough business. Magazine owners depend on advertising revenue to keep themselves afloat.

A full-page ad in a high circulation national magazine can cost tens of thousands of dollars. With this kind of money at stake, do you think any magazine will print an article about how supplements don't work and run an ad on the next page for the same supplements they are criticizing? Not likely! And do you think they’ll turn down advertising dollars just because the effectiveness of the product being advertised is questionable? Also not likely – scarce few human beings have that much integrity.

12 Minutes a Day to a Better Body Shape

If you’re expecting me to give you some secret abbreviated routine, like “12 minutes a day to a better body shape,” or some nonsense like what you read in the magazine ads these days, you’ve come to the wrong place. It’s time for someone to cut through the crap and tell the truth about how much effort it takes to develop a great physique.

What most people want to hear is that you don’t have to work hard; all you need is XYZ diet, pill, machine, routine or some other magic formula. What you need to hear is that there’s a substantial time and effort commitment that must be made if you want a better body. To think otherwise is delusion or gullibility.

If you’re a recreational lifter looking to lose a few pounds and “firm up”, your time commitment for weight training might be as little as three days a week for thirty minutes a session. If you’re aspiring to become a bodybuilder or fitness competitor, or just look like one, the time commitment will be substantially more. You don’t get a body like Miss Fitness Olympia, Monica Brant, or Team Universe bodybuilding champion Skip Lacour from just “minutes a day” in the gym. Physiques of that caliber come from many hours spent in the gym – sometimes even two training sessions a day before competitions.

“I don’t have time” is the #1 reason people have for why they can’t fit everything in, but it’s not a valid reason at all. It’s an excuse made by lazy people. We all have the same 168 hours a week. We’re all busy. But some people get in shape and some people don’t. Why? Is it luck? Is it genetics? Of course not! People who successfully get lean and muscular –and stay that way – have made training a priority in their life. They MAKE time, even if that means setting the alarm an hour earlier every day or giving up an hour of television. Successful people use every hour wisely and never fritter their time away on unproductive and meaningless activities.

The truth is that you will always make time for whatever is most important to you in your life. If it’s important for you to spend three hours at the bars every night, you’ll make the time. If watching a TV show every night is important to you, you’ll make the time. If reading a book a week is important to you, you’ll make the time. If playing a game of hoops twice a week is important to you, you’ll make the time. If being with a loved one is important to you, you’ll make the time. And if your health and appearance are important to you, you’ll make the time.

You have to make training a top priority in your life. You’re being honest with yourself if you say, “Training isn’t that important to me,” or “I’m not motivated right now,” or “ I choose not to spend that much time training,” but you can NEVER honestly say, “I don’t have time,” because that’s never a valid reason for missing workouts.

The average person in the United States watches FIVE HOURS of TV per day! And yet those same people still use “no time’ as their number one excuse for why they don’t work out. Many of my coaching protégés get up at four or five in the morning because it’s the only time they can possibly train. The rest of their day is full with work and/or family commitments. You’ll never “find” the time; you must “make” the time even if that means sacrificing in other areas.

Weight Training and Permanent Fat Loss

The focal point of our fat-burning system is nutrition. In fact, it might be the most comprehensive nutrition system for fat loss ever developed. Although eighty percent of this program is about nutrition, that is only one component in a four part strategy, including: 1) goal setting and motivation, (2) nutrition, (3) aerobic training and (4) weight training. All four components are essential for permanent fat loss and building lean muscles at the same time; neglecting any component is going to compromise your results.

No one really knows what percentage nutrition actually contributes to your results as compared to training - your guess is as good as mine. But one thing is for sure: To go on a diet without a complete exercise program including weights, cardio and a crystal clear goal is not only ineffective, it’s a prescription for disaster. When you go on a calorie restricted diet and you don’t do any weight training, you will almost always lose lean body mass. Weight training is the only way to keep your muscle while you’re dieting for fat loss.

Metabolic synergism: The secret to multiplying your results by combining motivation, nutrition, aerobic exercise and weight training.
The secret to losing fat safely and permanently at the maximum possible rate is not weight training, cardio, motivational techniques or nutrition. The secret is the combination of all four. The effects of these four disciplines put together are far greater than the sum of their parts. That’s called “synergism.” Synergism means that 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 might not equal four, it might equal forty or four hundred! Each component of this program complements and enhances the others, resulting in progress that is exponentially faster than if you only used one or two of them in isolation.

How Weight Training Helps You Get Leaner

Most people only associate weight training with building muscle and increasing strength. Few people realize the impact weight training has on fat loss. Here’s why: Weight training increases your lean body mass. Increasing your lean body mass speeds up your metabolic rate so you burn more calories at rest – and the number of calories you burn at rest (your basal metabolic rate) is directly proportional to the amount of muscle you carry.

For example, if man weighs 176 pounds with a body fat of 19%, his lean body mass is 142.6 pounds and his basal metabolic rate is 1770 calories per day. Suppose he drops his body fat to 9%, and then he builds back up to 176 pounds, while maintaining his bodyfat at only 9%. His lean body mass is now 160 pounds with a basal metabolic rate of 1940 calories per day.

He now burns 170 calories a day more than before, with no additional exercise or calorie restriction! He even burns more calories when he’s doing absolutely nothing (even while he sits at his desk, watches TV or snoozes). Does an extra 170 calories a day make a difference? Well, let’s do the math: There are 3500 calories in a pound of stored body fat. Three thousand five hundred calories divided by 170 extra calories burned per day equals an extra pound of body fat lost every 20.5 days, which adds up to 17.7 pounds of extra fat lost per year with no additional activity.

It’s a common misconception that if you have a lot of weight to lose, you should lose the fat with cardio first before starting a weight-training program. Actually, the opposite is true; weight training always accelerates fat loss, although it happens primarily through an indirect mechanism. Muscle is metabolically active tissue that burns fat, and lifting weights builds muscle, therefore weight training must be a part of every fat loss program. This doesn’t mean you need to look like or train like a bodybuilder, unless that’s your goal. It simply means that weight training is equally as important as aerobic training even when your goal is fat loss. Aerobics by itself doesn't cut it.

Weight training by itself doesn’t cut it either – weights and cardio work synergistically together for maximum fat loss without muscle loss
For years, weight training was like Rodney Dangerfield – it didn’t get any respect. Weight lifters were viewed as weirdoes or freaks. Athletes were encouraged NOT to lift weights. Even a few short decades ago, it was thought that weight training made you muscle bound, slowed you down and raised your blood pressure. At one time, even the medical establishment suggested avoiding weight training in favor of aerobic exercise.

Today, all world-class athletes do serious weight training. Every pro sports team has a strength and conditioning coach, and meticulously structured training programs have increased athletic performance to levels previously undreamed of. Physicians now recommend weight training for cardiovascular health, improved bone density and other health benefits. In 1990, the American College of Sports Medicine released a new position statement stating that weight training decreased cardiovascular risk factors and was actually good for your health all along. The bodybuilders had received their vindication!

It was great news for the bodybuilders when the scientific, medical and athletic communities began to support strength training, except for one thing.
Many self-proclaimed strength training “gurus” are now taking the other extreme, suggesting that weight training is the best exercise for fat loss and aerobics is some kind of evil muscle-devouring monster. Let me clear this up for the record – weight training is an important part of a fat burning program, but weight training is not “the best” fat burning exercise. The best way to burn fat is the combination of cardio, weights and nutrition, all directed towards the achievement of a specific, written goal.

The increase in resting metabolism that comes from weight training is not enough to get maximum fat loss for most body types. It’s important to realize that the primary fat burning effect of weight training comes after the workout from the increase in BMR and from the increase in post-exercise metabolic rate. During weight training workouts, you are burning primarily sugar. The increase in post-exercise metabolism from cardio, on the other hand, is relatively small (with the exception of very high intensity cardio). Cardio provides the majority of the fat burning benefits during the workout, because aerobic exercise uses oxygen and is therefore fat-burning in nature. That’s why immediately after every 30 minute cardio workout you could accurately say, “I am now leaner than I was a half an hour ago.”

All calories burned will have an impact on fat loss because overall calorie balance is what really matters in the long run. However, it’s my contention that sustained fat burning, oxygen-utilizing aerobic exercise is critical for fat loss – especially in endomorph body types. If you’re the type of person with stubborn body fat, weight training alone is never going cut it. This program is, by definition, a weight training, nutrition and aerobic exercise program. If you’re not doing all three, and you don’t have written goals, you’re not following the program.

Recommended Aerobic Exercises for Fat Loss and Building Lean Muscles

Running - Jogging Outdoors

Running or jogging is an outstanding cardiovascular workout and the fat burning potential is extremely high. An obvious advantage of running is that it can be done outdoors and doesn't require any equipment.

The only drawback is that running isn’t appropriate for everyone and overdoing it can lead to injuries. Also, depending on where you live and what the climate is like, running outdoors may not be a viable or safe option.

If you’re a beginner, starting off with running may be too intense. Walking or using a cardio machine may be more appropriate until you become more fit. If you’re extremely overweight or you have orthopedic injuries to the lower body, running is also not advisable.

Although running is an excellent calorie-burner, if your goal includes becoming more muscular, then running may not be your best choice. Running tends to have a reducing effect on the entire body, including on muscle size. If you examine the physiques of long distance runners, you'll find that they’re all extremely thin, some almost to the point of looking emaciated. If you want to look like a runner, then train like a runner. If you want to look lean and muscular, then jogging or running should be used in moderation. Your best bet is that if you enjoy running, then do so, but cross training helps to avoid injury. By using a variety of different types of aerobic exercises, you can lose body fat and develop cardiovascular fitness without losing precious muscle or incurring orthopedic injuries to the lower body.

Walking

Walking is an ideal exercise to start a fat burning program if you’re a beginner or if you’ve previously been sedentary. Walking is also excellent if you are overweight, older, or pregnant. Walking is natural. Anyone can walk. And anyone can walk for 30-60 minutes.

One problem with walking is that the fat burning potential is low to moderate unless you really push your pace and walk quickly. A casual stroll in the park or walking around downtown between errands or shopping doesn't count as your "real workout." Walking to burn fat should be done at a brisk pace for a period of 30-60 minutes continuously.

Treadmill

Walking, jogging or running on a treadmill offers several distinct advantages over doing it outdoors. Advances in treadmill deck design now offer less impact because the decks flex and have more "give" to them, which lowers the injury potential. Treadmills offer continuous feedback on the electronic consoles including such features as time, speed, distance and even heart rate.

You can increase the fat burning potential by putting the treadmill on an incline. Most commercial treadmills elevate to 15%, which is a fairly steep uphill climb. Walking goes from a moderate fat burner to an excellent fat burner by walking uphill at a brisk pace. Using a treadmill also allows you to continue training despite poor weather or environmental conditions.

Stationary Upright Bicycle

Stationary cycling on an upright bike is an excellent mode of aerobic training for just about anyone. Because it’s a no-impact activity, the potential for injury is low. Cycling doesn’t require any special skills or coordination. Most stationary bikes offer several pre-programmed courses allowing you to remain on an even keel, ride uphill, or do interval training. You can increase the intensity by pedaling faster or by increasing the pedal resistance. Most bikes, such as the Lifecycle, offer a dozen levels of difficulty and they even have built-in heart rate monitors.

The fat burning potential for bikes is moderate to high. Because the exercise is non-weight bearing, you have to pedal quite vigorously to make cycling a good fat burner. Generally speaking, you'll have to get the rpms up to 70-90 and increase the resistance to maximize the fat burning effects.
One of the drawbacks of stationary cycling is that it can be somewhat boring. If you get bored easily, then bike somewhere where you can watch TV or read. (But keep in mind that it's not easy to read if you're pedaling at the proper intensity level). Using the interval programs can also make cycling more of a challenge and help you maintain your interest.

Stationary Recumbent Bicycle

Recumbent bicycling provides all the advantages of upright cycling with a few minor differences. Recumbent cycling is a more comfortable alternative to riding an upright bicycle because your lower back is supported. The ergonomically designed seat of a recumbent bike is sized and shaped perfectly to provide more comfort and support and reduce fatigue without interfering with your range of motion. This makes recumbent cycling the perfect choice if you have lower back problems, high blood pressure, if you’re pregnant or overweight. The recumbent bike also targets the gluteal and hamstring muscles more than the upright bicycle because your feet are in front of you and you push the pedals forward instead of up and down.

Outdoor Cycling

In terms of fat burning potential, stationary bikes have one distinct advantage over outdoor cycling - you can't coast. On most battery-powered electronic bikes such as the Lifecycle, if you stop, the machine shuts off. With the immense popularity of mountain biking and cross-country cycling, many people prefer to be outdoors doing their cardio whenever possible. That’s fine, but if you ride outside, remember - you must maintain a steady pace for this to count as a fat burner - otherwise it is more “recreation" than training. Push yourself continuously and outdoor cycling can be an incredible fat burner and an immensely enjoyable experience (no coasting!)

Elliptical machine

Elliptical machines first hit the gym scene in 1995, when the Precor EFX machine made its debut. Since then numerous other companies including Lifefitness, Stairmaster and Reebok have come out with their own versions of the elliptical machine in commercial and home models. In the brief time it’s been on the market, the elliptical machine has become one of the most popular machines in the history of the fitness industry. The reason is because elliptical machines give you a fat-burning, aerobic conditioning, muscle-developing workout that’s easy to learn, fun and entertaining. The no-impact elliptical striding motion removes stress on the knees and lower extremities, making it ideal for rehabilitating injuries and safer than aerobics classes or running outdoors.

On an elliptical machine you stride smoothly in a forward or reverse motion while holding the handrails or swinging your arms at your sides. The Precor model features a patented Cross ramp letting you vary the angle of the elliptical stride with the touch of a key, so you can target the muscles you want to emphasize during your workout. The cross-training benefits of an elliptical machine with an adjustable ramp are unattainable on any other machine. As the stride changes, the motion targets different lower body muscles, simulating activities such as hiking, cycling, running, walking and cross-country skiing. Depending on the angle of the cross ramp and the direction of the striding motion, you can put slightly greater emphasis on your quadriceps, hamstrings, calves or glutes.

The fat burning potential of the elliptical machine is high to very high, but because it’s self-paced, you must make a constant effort to maintain your speed (rpm's). Interestingly, many people report that their level of perceived exertion on the elliptical machine is lower than on other machines at the same heart rate. In other words, the elliptical machine feels easier at a heart rate of 150 than the Stairmaster feels at 150.

Rowing machine

Rowing is regarded by many fitness experts to be the most complete exercise ever. One advantage of rowing is that it works all the major muscle groups in the body, including the legs, buttocks, back, abdominals and arms. In addition, all the muscles involved are worked through a wider range of motion than most other exercises, allowing your muscles to stretch, and thereby increasing flexibility and joint mobility. Rowing is a safe, non-jarring impact-free activity and is ideal for rehabilitative exercise, although it’s not a good choice if you have low back problems.

In addition to providing a muscular endurance and strength conditioning workout, rowing is also a superb aerobic workout and an excellent fat-burner. Because it involves the entire body, rowing burns more calories than almost any other type of aerobic exercise, making it an extremely effective fat burning and weight loss exercise if it’s maintained for a long enough duration.

The only major drawback of rowing is that because it involves the whole body, it tends to be extremely exhausting, and many people can’t maintain a long enough workout on the rower to achieve maximum fat burning. One way around this problem is to incorporate the rower into a circuit of cardio machines. For example, you could do fifteen minutes of rowing, followed immediately by fifteen minutes of jogging, followed immediately by fifteen minutes of cycling for a total of 45 minutes.

Stair-climbers

Stairmasters and other stair-climbing machines provide an aerobic conditioning workout and they’re also excellent calorie-burners, making them ideal for weight loss. Newer models such as the Stairmaster 4400 offer an upright rail-less design with handles in front to encourage an improved exercise posture for the best lower body workout of any stair-climbing machine. Leaning on the handlebars excessively lowers your heart rate and reduces that fat-burning potential of the exercise. Stair-climbers also effectively target the glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings and calves.

Speed control buttons allow you to increase and decrease the intensity at any time during your workout. With over a dozen levels of difficulty, anyone from beginner to expert can use a stair-climber. There are several different workout programs, from a basic manual program to challenging hill and interval courses. The user-friendly console provides feedback and motivates you by displaying workout statistics including time, calories burned, miles traveled, floors climbed, step rate, relative intensity (METs) and power output (watts). In addition, many stair-climbers provide Polar-Heart Rate monitor compatibility. Stair-climbing is a very safe non-impact workout, although it may aggravate knee pain in those with pre-existing problems. The elliptical machine would be a better choice if you’re nursing a knee injury.

Cross Country skiing

Like rowing, cross-country ski machines have a very high calorie and fat burning potential due to the fact that they involve the entire body. Another advantage is that because it is a no impact activity, the injury risk is low. One disadvantage is that using the cross country ski machine does involve a certain degree of skill and coordination. Because the learning curve is longer, many people get on once, feel clumsy and awkward and never get back on. This is unfortunate, because it’s truly an outstanding aerobic exercise and a terrific fat burner.

Aerobic Training Cycle

Aerobic Training Cycle

Cycle Your Aerobic Training throughout the Year to Prevent Over-training and Adaptation

To avoid injury, over-training, loss of muscle and adaptation, your aerobic training should be cycled throughout the year based on your needs and goals at any given time. Doing aerobic training seven days a week month after month, year after year is unnecessary and will eventually lead to injury, over-training or burnout. It can also cause your body to adapt to the high volume of training. Aerobic adaptation almost always occurs if you continue doing daily cardio sessions for a long enough periods. As you become more and more, fit aerobically, the same workload becomes easier and eventually your body completely adapts to the workload. At this point, fat loss may come to a screeching halt. When it does, then the only way you can continue to lose fat is to add even more cardio. Before long, you may find yourself doing cardio twice a day just to maintain.

Aerobic adaptation syndrome often happens to aerobics instructors who teach two or three classes a day. Despite their extremely high energy expenditure, they sometimes have difficulty losing body fat because their bodies have grown so accustomed to the same routine every day.

To avoid adaptation and plateaus, you must alternate periods of high volume aerobic work with periods of low volume work over the course of a year. Bodybuilders do this naturally between pre-contest and off-season phases, and that's why they’re able to reach peaks of extremely low body fat every year. Once you’ve achieved what you consider an ideal weight and body fat percentage, don’t continue with six or seven days per week. Three or four times a week usually does the trick to maintain your body fat at your desired level. On the other hand, if you quit doing cardio completely, body fat will tend to creep back on.

HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training for Fat Loss

HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training for Fat Loss

High Intensity Interval Training, known as HIIT for short, is the technique of alternating 30 to 120 second periods of very high intensity aerobics (sprints, also known as the “work interval”) with 30 to 120 second periods of low to moderate intensity (the recovery interval). During the work interval, you actually push yourself outside of your target heart zone (above 85%) to the point where you begin to lose your breath. You then reduce the intensity enough during the recovery interval so you reclaim the oxygen debt just in time to do another work interval.

HIIT has received a lot of press lately as being superior to steady state exercise. In some ways, it is superior: HIIT burns a lot of calories during the workout, but where it really shines is after the workout. Your metabolic rate stays elevated longer after the workout is over than steady state cardio. This increase in the metabolism is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or EPOC for short. That’s right – this means you burn calories all day long after your workout is over (Imagine burning extra fat as you sit at your desk at work!)

That’s the good news. The bad news is, the degree of EPOC is not as great as most people think. It’s a myth that your metabolism stays elevated for 24 hours after a regular aerobic workout. That only happens after extremely intense and/or prolonged exercise such as running a marathon.
After low intensity exercise, the magnitude of the EPOC is so small that its impact on fat loss is negligible. Somewhere between 9 and 30 extra calories are burned after exercise at an intensity of less than 60-65% of maximal heart rate. In other words, a casual stroll on the treadmill will do next to nothing to increase your metabolism.

However, EPOC does increase with the intensity (and duration) of the exercise. According to Wilmore and Costill in "Physiology of Sport and Exercise," the EPOC after moderate exercise (75-80%) will amount to approximately 0.25 kcal/min or 15 kcal/hour. This would provide an additional expenditure of 75 kcal that would not normally be calculated in the total energy expended for that activity. An extra 75 calories is definitely nothing Earth shattering, but it adds up over time. In a year that would mean (in theory) you would burn an extra 5.2 lbs of fat from the additional calories expended after the workout.

Studies on the effects of HIIT have demonstrated a much higher EPOC for interval training than steady state training, which can add substantially to the day’s calorie expenditure. In one study, scientists from the University of Alabama compared the effects of two exercise protocols on 24-hour energy expenditure. The first group cycled for 60 minutes at a moderate intensity. The second group performed HIIT, cycling for two minutes at high intensity followed by two minutes at a low intensity. The group that performed the HIIT burned 160 more calories in 24 hours than the low intensity group. That means the HIIT group would burn an extra 11.8 pounds of fat in one year if they did HIIT five days a week instead of conventional training.

Ironically, weight training has a much higher magnitude of EPOC than aerobic training. Studies have shown increases in metabolic rate of as much as 4-7% over a 24hour period from resistance training. Yes - that means weight training does burn fat – although through an indirect mechanism. For someone with an expenditure of 2500 calories per day, that could add up to 100 - 175 extra calories burned after your weight training workout is over. The lesson is simple: Anyone interested in losing body fat who isn’t lifting weights should first take up a regimen of weight training, then – and only then – start thinking about the HIIT!

Two examples of HIIT protocols:
Standard Interval                                       Ascending Interval (more difficult)
Level 3: 5 minutes (warmup)                  Level 3: 5 minutes (warmup)
Level 4: 1 minute (rest interval)              Level 4: 1 minute (rest interval)
Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)           Level 5: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)      Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)            Level 6: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)       Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)             Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)       Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval) 
Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)             Level 8: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)        Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)             Level 9: 1 minute (work interval)
Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)         Level 4: 1 minute (recovery interval)
Level 7: 1 minute (work interval)              Level 10: 1 minute (work interval max)
Level 3: 5 minutes (cool down)                  Level 3: 5 minutes (cool down)

These are just examples of course; you'll need to adjust the workout based on your fitness level. You can adjust the duration of the intervals, the number of intervals performed and the difficulty level. You can perform similar workouts on almost any piece of cardio equipment. For fat loss purposes, the duration of each interval should be somewhere between 30 and 120 seconds and the total length of the workout is usually 12 to 20 minutes of intervals (not including the warm up and cool down). Your goal is to push yourself temporarily out of your

HIIT works, but it's not a solution. What's most important for fat loss is that you burn a lot of calories. If your intensity is moderately high and you sustain a STEADY STATE workout for a long duration, you're likely to burn far more calories than a brief HIIT workout, even when the "afterburn" effect from HIIT is factored in. My advice is to use both forms of cardio training, focusing on total calorie expenditure and leaning towards HIIT when you're short on time. If you’re stuck at a plateau, a change in cardio from regular steady workouts to intervals can often work wonders in helping you break through to the next level of leanness.
One last word of caution: HIIT is a advanced technique that is extremely taxing and challenging. This type of workout is not for beginners and you should get your doctor’s clearance before attempting any type of extremely vigorous and high intensity cardio work such as HIIT.

Fasted Cardio - Increase the Fat Burning Effects of Your Cardio by up to 300%

Fasted Cardio - Increase the Fat Burning Effects of Your Cardio by up to 300%

Any time of day that suits your schedule is a good time for cardio. The important thing is that you just do it. However, many bodybuilders and fitness models believe that early morning fasted cardio burns more body fat. Although this is still controversial, the evidence is strong and there are many reasons to consider doing fasted cardio first thing in the morning. The argument in favor of fasted early morning cardio goes something like this:

1.    After an overnight 8-12 hour fast, your body's stores of glycogen are depleted and you burn more fats when glycogen is low.
2.    Eating causes a release of insulin. Insulin interferes with the mobilization of body fat. Less insulin is present in the morning; so more body fat is burned when cardio is done in the morning.
3.    There is less carbohydrate (glucose) in the bloodstream when you wake up after an overnight fast. With less glucose available, you burn more fats.
4.    If you eat immediately before a workout, you have to burn off what you just ate first before tapping into stored body fat (and insulin is elevated after a meal.)

5.    When you do cardio in the morning, your metabolism stays elevated for a period of time after the workout is over. If you do cardio in the evening, you burn calories during the session, but you fail to take advantage of the "after burn" effect because your metabolic rate drops dramatically as soon as you go to sleep.
6.    Morning cardio gives you a feeling of accomplishment and makes you feel great all day by releasing mood-enhancing endorphins.
7.    Morning cardio "energizes" you and "wakes you up."
8.    Morning cardio may help regulate your appetite for the rest of the day.
9.    Your body’s circadian rhythm adjusts to your morning routine, making it easier to wake up at the same time every day.
10.    You’ll be less likely to "blow off" your workout when it’s out of the way early (like when you’re exhausted after work or when friends ask you to join them at the pub for happy hour).
11.    You can always "make time" for exercise by setting your alarm earlier in the morning.

A common concern about doing cardio in the fasted state, especially if it’s done with high intensity, is the possibility of losing muscle. After an overnight fast, glycogen, blood glucose and insulin are all low. This is an optimum environment for burning fat. Unfortunately, it may also be an optimum environment for burning muscle because carbohydrate fuel sources are low and levels of the catabolic stress hormone cortisol are high. It sounds like morning cardio might be a double-edged sword, but there are ways to avert muscle loss.

All aerobic exercise will have some effect on building muscle, but as long as you don’t overdo it, you shouldn’t worry about losing muscle. It's a fact that muscle proteins are broken down and used for energy during aerobic exercise. But you are constantly breaking down and re-building muscle tissue anyway. This process is called "protein turnover" and it’s a daily fact of life. Your goal is to tip the scales slightly in favor of increasing the anabolic side and reducing the catabolic side with nutrition just enough so you stay anabolic and you maintain muscle.

How do you build up more muscle than you break down? First, avoid excessive cardio. If your lean body mass has dropped, try limiting your cardio on an empty stomach to 30 minutes, and then it would be highly unlikely that amino acids will be burned as fuel. Bodybuilding nutritionist Chris Aceto suggests, "A strong cup of coffee should facilitate a shifting to burn more fat and less glycogen. If you can spare glycogen, you’ll ultimately spare protein too.”

Second, give your body the proper nutritional support. Losing muscle probably has more to do with inadequate nutrition than with excessive aerobics.
Third, keep training with heavy weights, even during a fat loss phase. Using light weights and higher reps thinking that it will help you get more "cut" is a mistake:

What put the muscle on in the first place is likely to help you keep it there.

Morning cardio is still controversial in academic circles, but in my book, it’s a sure-fire way to double or even triple the fat burning effects of your cardio. Ask any high-level bodybuilder or fitness model when they do their cardio and the chances are good that they’ll tell you they’re working up a sweat before breakfast early every morning.

Does too much cardio make you lose muscle?

One common exercise myth is that doing too much aerobic exercise or doing it too hard makes you lose muscle. While it’s certainly possible this could happen, only extreme amounts of high impact, high intensity cardio would cause large muscle losses to occur. For example, endurance training and bodybuilding don’t go well together. The muscle loss issue is usually highly overstated. If you’re in doubt, don’t guess: Carefully track your lean body mass with skinfold testing and adjust your cardio and nutrition accordingly.

Losing muscle is most likely caused by three factors: Inadequate caloric intake, inadequate protein or dieting without including a weight training program. You’re more likely to lose muscle from not eating enough than you are from doing too much cardio. If your lean body mass drops, it’s usually because you’re missing meals or not eating enough.

Provide yourself with the proper nutritional support, including adequate meal frequency, protein, carbohydrates and total calories, and it’s not likely that you’ll lose muscle, even with daily 45-minute cardio sessions. It’s ironic that so many people are worried about losing muscle from cardio when they’re skipping meals and eating meals without protein.

Methods to Calculate Fat-Burning Heart Rate Zone

Methods to Calculate Fat-Burning Heart Rate Zone

There are two methods to determine your target heart zone for fat burning. If you don't know your resting heart rate, you can use the "age-predicted" method. This formula takes your estimated maximum heart rate and multiplies it directly by the intensity you want to work at. If you know your resting heart rate, an even more accurate method is the Karvonnen formula. This method accurately predicts your training zone by factoring in your resting heart rate.

Method 1: The Karvonnen method (Use this formula if you know your resting heart rate)

Step 1: Determine your resting heart rate. Your resting heart rate is determined by counting your pulse (at your wrist or the side of your neck) for a full 60 seconds. A true resting heart rate should be measured in the morning as soon as you wake up and before engaging in any activity or consuming any stimulants (coffee, etc). Your resting heart rate is a fairly accurate indicator of your cardiovascular fitness level. The better your level of cardiovascular fitness, the lower your resting heart rate will be. The average resting heart rate is 72 beats per minute (bpm). If your heart rate is substantially higher than the average (80-90 bpm) it may be a sign of poor cardiovascular fitness. A resting heart rate higher than usual can also be a sign of overtraining. Low resting heart rates are usually an indicator of excellent cardiovascular fitness. Some marathon runners have resting heart rates as low as 40 bpm or less!

Step 2: Determine your estimated maximum heart rate (EMHR) Your EMHR is an estimate of how fast your heart can beat while exercising. The formula below is only an estimate of your maximum heart rate. The only way for you to know for sure what your EMHR is would be to experience a graded treadmill test. (Where they hook you up to a bunch of monitors and gradually run you faster and steeper until you literally drop from exhaustion)

The formula for estimated maximum heart rate is 220 - your age

Example: you are 30, 220 - 30 = 190 your EMHR is 190 beats per minute
Step 3: Determine your heart rate reserve (HRR) by subtracting your RHR from your EMHR

Example: your RHR is 58 bpm your MHR is 190 190 - 58 = 132 your HRR is 132 bpm

Step 4: Select an intensity range to work at based on your goals and on your personal fitness level. The target zone is between 60% and 80%
% of MHR Difficulty
60-65% moderate 65-70% somewhat hard 70-75% moderately hard 75-80% hard

Step 5: Multiply your HRR by your desired intensity range
example you are a beginner select the moderate intensity range of 60-65% multiply your HRR by 60-65% 132 X .60% = 79 132 X .65% = 86

Step 6: Add your RHR to your HRR to determine your target heart rate
79 (HRR) + 58 (RHR) = 137 (THR at 60%) 86 (HRR)+ 58 (RHR) = 144 (THR at 65%) Your target zone is 137 - 144 beats per minute


Method 2: The Age-Predicted Method

This is the simplest method of determining your target heart rate and this should be used if you don’t know your resting heart rate.
Step 1: determine your estimated maximum heart rate (MHR) The formula for maximum heart rate is 220 - your age

Example: you are 30, 220 - 30 = 190 your EMHR is 190 beats per minute

Step 2: Select an intensity range to work in based on your goals and on your personal fitness level. The target zone for the age-predicted method is 70-85% of your estimated maximum heart rate

% of MHR Difficulty
70-75% moderate (beginner) 75-80% somewhat hard (intermediate) 80-85% hard (advanced)

Step 3: Multiply your MHR by your desired intensity range Example: You are a beginner Select the moderate intensity range of 70-75% Multiply your MHR by 70-75% 190 X .70% = 133 190 X .75% = 142

An Important Note about Target Heart Rates

Regardless of which method you use, it’s important to understand that target heart rates are only guidelines – they are estimates. Heart rate estimates are usually accurate for about 70% of the population. That’s why you need to use good judgment about how the exercise feels and how your body is responding. Use common sense; if you’re working in your target heart range and it feels ridiculously easy, then don't be afraid to increase the intensity. On the other hand, if it feels incredibly difficult, don’t hesitate to decrease your intensity. After you’ve been working out for a while, you should start to develop a intuitive sense for how it feels to be in your target zone and you can use subjective measures of your intensity such as your rating of perceived exertion.

If you’ve been completely sedentary, if you’re overweight or if you’re in poor physical condition, you may need to start at an intensity level lower than your minimum target heart rate. Again, use your judgment, start slowly, and gradually increase the intensity of your workouts as you become more fit until you’re eventually in the ideal target zone.

Method 3: Perceived Exertion

Perceived exertion means that you "guess" at the intensity of your workout based on a scale of 1 to 10. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), perceived exertion is a reliable indicator of your level of physical exertion during steady-state exercise and can therefore be used as a substitute for target heart rates. Basically, if you think your workout is “hard,” it probably is.

The scale of perceived exertion below provides you with a subjective way to quantify the intensity of your workout without having to take your pulse. Your goal is to work at a level you perceive as moderate to hard, but not extremely hard. The scale goes from 0 to 10 with zero being no work (such as sitting) and 10 being maximal (such as a 50-yard all-out sprint). Based on this scale a rating of 4 to 8 would be the ideal range for steady sustained aerobic activity for fat burning.

Rating of Perceived Exertion

0    Nothing (no work: sitting or lying)
1     very, very light
2     very light
3     light
4     moderate
5     somewhat hard
6     moderately hard
7     hard
8     very hard
9     very, very hard
10     Maximal (all out sprint)

Breathing as a measure of exercise intensity

Believe it or not, breathing is actually a very good way to estimate whether you’re working out in your target fat burning zone. If you’re in the target zone, generally, you’ll be breathing much heavier than normal, but not so heavily that you’re hyperventilating or gasping for air. You should be able to speak full sentences comfortably without having to stop and catch your breath. If you’re so out of breath that you can’t hold a conversation, or complete a sentence, then you’re probably working out of your target zone (this is known as the “talk test”). Generally, the harder you’re breathing, the higher the intensity and the more fat you'll burn, provided you can sustain the activity for the required amount of time. If you’re not breathing hard, you’re not working out hard

How to measure your heart rate during a workout

During an exercise session, you should periodically check you pulse at your wrist or neck to see if you’re within your target range. If you’re below your target heart rate, you should increase the intensity by increasing resistance, speed or incline (if applicable). If you’re above your target zone, you can decrease your intensity. Taking a full 60 second count would be impractical because it would interrupt your workout too much (You may have to stop moving to check your HR, depending on the type of activity you are doing). The solution is to use 10-second pulse counts. Simply divide your target heart rate in beats per minute by 6 to find your 10 second count:

Example: Your target heart zone is 133 - 143 Divide 133 by 6 to for your low end of range 10-second count: = 22 Divide 142 by 6 to for your high end of range 10-second count: = 24

If you want to make the $100- $150 investment, a polar heart rate monitor is the ultimate way to measure your heart rate during exercise (www.polarusa.com). A chest strap transmits your heart rate to a wrist monitor via telemetry. This allows you to workout continuously without the interruption of pausing every few minutes to take your heart rate. Most commercial quality exercise equipment is now polar compatible so the heart rate signal will be transmitted directly to the machine and you can read your heart rate on the console's readout.

Frequent Aerobic Workouts – Double Fat Loss

Frequent Aerobic Workouts – Double Fat Loss

How would you like to learn a way to double your fat loss in the next seven days? It's really quite simple and the “frequent aerobic workouts” is the answer. To burn more fat you have to burn more calories. Most beginners start off with three days a week of cardio training. Usually they see good results initially because their bodies aren't accustomed to exercise and any increase in activity above no activity will always produce some results.

More often than not, the results begin to slow down a bit within a few months of training. Then they scratch their heads and wonder why it's not working anymore.

This is why: Because three days a week is for beginners, health, or maintenance. If you want twice as much fat loss and you want it twice as fast, double your aerobic workout.

Suppose you burn 400 calories per workout for three workouts per week. That's a total of 1200 calories per week burned. If you doubled that to six days per week at 400 calories per workout, you would burn 2400 calories. YOU JUST DOUBLED YOUR FAT LOSS EVERY WEEK! That was a real no-brainer, wasn't it?
While we're on the subject of burning more calories, what would happen if, in addition to increasing your cardio from three to six days per week, you increased the intensity so you were burning 600 calories per workout? With six workouts at 600 calories per workout you'd be up to 3600 calories per week….

YOU JUST TRIPLED YOUR FAT LOSS!

Yes it's that simple.

By the way, this kind of cardio training is how bodybuilders reach 3 - 4% body fat for competitions: They do approximately six days per week of intense cardio, 45 minutes per session. Let me wrap up the topic of frequent aerobic workout this way: If I were overweight and I knew what I now know about fat loss, I would be doing cardio every day, possibly even twice a day, and seven days a week until I was happy with my weight. Then and only then would I cut back to three days a week for maintenance.

Recommended Guidelines for Aerobic Workout Frequency

Here are the frequency guidelines I recommend for your cardio workouts:
When your goal is maximum fat loss: 5-7 days per week
When your goal is maintenance, health & cardiovascular conditioning 3-4 days per week

Duration of Aerobic Exercise – The Length of Cardio Workout

Duration of Aerobic Exercise – The Length of Cardio Workout

The longer you work out, the more calories you’ll burn and the more calories you burn, the more fat you'll lose. Makes sense, right? Of course, this only applies if your intensity is high enough. A long workout (30 minutes or more continuously) with an extremely low intensity won’t burn enough calories to have any impact on fat loss. There’s a minimum intensity threshold you must cross to get maximum benefit from each workout and you’ll learn about this “fat burning intensity zone” later in this section. Another reason you burn more fats with a longer workout is because you tend to favor the use of glycogen early in the workout, and then as your glycogen becomes depleted, stored body fat becomes the primary fuel source.

Cardiovascular health benefits, such as decreased blood pressure, decreased blood cholesterol, lowered resting heart rate and increased aerobic capacity can be achieved with as little as 12-20 minutes of cardiovascular activity. However, if you stop after only 20 minutes, you’re not burning enough total calories to have much impact on fat loss.

Most body types need to do aerobic exercise continuously for at least 30 minutes to burn a substantial amount of fat. Thirty to forty-five minutes continuously per session is the recommended duration for your goal of fat loss. Sixty minutes should be the maximum. Beyond 60 minutes per session, you tend to reach a point of diminishing returns and increase the likelihood of injury, over-training and adaptation. If you’re stuck at a plateau and you wish to do more than 60 minutes per day, you can, but it would be best to split it into multiple sessions, for example; 30-45 minutes in the morning and 30-45 minutes at night.
If you’re limited in time and long 30-60 minute cardio sessions are not an option, then it would be most productive to increase the intensity of the time you do have to maximize the calorie burning effects. This way, a 15-25 minute aerobic session can produce a substantial expenditure of calories.

Why are there so many programs recommending short cardio workouts?

One very popular fitness author claims that twenty minutes of aerobics three times a week is the “solution.” A supplement company owner claims that sixteen minutes of high intensity aerobics is the optimal duration. Yet another “fitness guru” says that eight minutes in the morning is all it takes.

If I’m right, and a 30 to 45 minute cardio session is the most effective way to train for fat loss, then why do so many “gurus” in the books and on TV talk about these “super-short, super- easy” aerobic workouts? The answer is simple: “Quick and easy” sells, “Long and difficult doesn’t sell. It’s all about marketing and the almighty dollar. If an author or promoter of a product can convince you that you can achieve your dreams with a minimum of effort, their sales will skyrocket. A wise person knows nothing good ever comes fast and easy.

Getting in great shape by spending only twenty minutes a day, three days a week (or less!) sounds great, but when things sound too good to be true, they usually are. If your goal is better health and a decent level of cardiovascular fitness, then three days of cardio a week for 20 minutes IS all you need. However, if your goal is to lose a lot of body fat as quickly as possible, then you're probably going to need more than 20 minutes.

If you're one of the few people genetically blessed with a fast metabolism and the ability to burn fat easily, then three days a week for twenty minutes will work for you. In fact, I know a few people with hyperactive metabolisms that stay ripped all year round without doing any cardio at all! Not many of us are that fortunate. I've seen very few people lose fat quickly from just three days a week of cardio. On the other hand, I’ve never seen anyone do six days a week of cardio for 45 minutes and NOT lose a lot of body fat (provided of course, they were on a good diet).

If you have superior genetics, you might get away with very little cardio. But if you’re like most people, be prepared to do more. The bottom line is that you should do as much - or as little - cardio as it takes for YOU to reach your goal. You can only determine how much that is by understanding your body type, getting started and adjusting your program through trial and error. If you can lose fat from just three 20 minute workouts a week - that's GREAT! Don't do more if you don't have to. However, if you've been doing 20-minute workouts three times per week and nothing is happening, then you need to increase your duration and/or frequency until the fat starts coming off.

Duration Guidelines for Aerobic Exercise

Here’s a summary of the duration guidelines for your cardio workouts while your goal is building lean muscles and losing maximum fats:

When your goal is maximum fat loss: 30-60 minutes of continuous activity per session
When your goal is gaining muscle, maintenance or cardiovascular conditioning: 20-30 minutes of continuous activity per session

Frequency of aerobic exercise (How often should you do cardio?)

The number of days per week you do aerobic workouts is largely dependent on your goals. Everyone should always do three days per week of cardiovascular work as a minimum. Three days of cardio a week is a habit you should maintain as a part of your lifestyle for your health if no other reason. If your body fat is already in the desirable range, then three or four 20 to 30 minute workouts per week are usually enough to maintain your low body fat level and stay aerobically fit. It’s also enough to help keep you lean when you’re working on gaining body weight. If your goal is to lose body fat, then adding a fifth, sixth or seventh day will maximize your results.