Are fat loss lies ruining your chances of success?

I sincerely hope that your 2007 workout and nutrition plan is
already wildly successful and that you are well on your way to
achieving your fat loss and fitness goals. But if you aren’t, let
me know why and what I can do to help.

Many people’s programs suffer from misconceptions about fat
loss – i.e. that cardio must be done everyday – and also false
perceptions about how well they are eating.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of client evaluations forms in my career,
and just recently I reviewed 5 more for a transformation program we are working on over at Men’s Health magazine.

And time and time again I see the same problem.

I have one question on my feedback form that asks the client:

“Do you eat lots of fruits and vegetables?”

Almost everytime the client’s answer is “Yes”.

On the next page, I have the client list their food intake.

And guess what rarely shows up?

If you guessed fruits and vegetables, you’d get a prize if I were
giving them away.

There are too many inconsistencies in our thoughts and actions when it comes to weight loss.

And the misguided notions that well-meaning fitness articles heap on us simply adds to the ever-growing confusion.

Here I want to shed some light on some of the most common
misconceptions about training and dieting for fat loss.

The more I discuss weight loss and read the research, the more I realize fat loss results come from your nutrition, and that
training is just a relatively small part of the equation.

But knowing this “truth” allows me to confidently design shorter
fat loss workouts than most people traditionally use or expect are necessary.

Listen, you can spend 60 minutes on a cardio machine if you want. Sure you will burn 500 calories during that session, but your metabolism won’t be significantly elevated after exercise AND you’ll still have to find some time to do the mandatory strength training that a beautiful and healthy body requires.

Or you can do what I suggest…

Scrap the long, slow, excruciatingly boring cardio workouts and
instead stick to a much more manageable approach of…

A bodyweight movement warmup (5 minutes)
Turbulence Training Strength Training Supersets (20 minutes)
Turbulence Training Interval Training (20 minutes)

Done only 3 times per week, these 45 minute workouts still burn plenty of calories during training (300-400 calories), but the workouts also boost your metabolism for hours and hours (some research suggests up to a day and a half!), therefore burning far more NET calories AND fat than slow, mind-numbing cardio.

All you really need are some short intense training sessions to
boost your metabolism and sculpt your body. And then you really just have to trust your nutrition to strip the fat.

Look at it this way…imagine you are carving an ice sculpture out
of a block of ice. Your nutrition would be responsible for lopping
off the big chunks to get down to only the amount of ice you
need…and the Turbulence Training workouts would be responsible for chiseling in the details of your final sculpture.

As no matter how much confusing information there is about
exercise, the debate over the best way to eat for fat loss is
always much more ridiculous.

(That’s why I went to a credible and sensible source – Dr. Chris
Mohr, Ph.D. – for the TT Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines.)

As far as dieting misconceptions go, I think too many nutritionists are trading political correctness for results. In my opinion, PC diets don’t work.

Take a look at the American Diabetes Association…they still make room for sugar in a diabetic’s diet – because they don’t want to deprive anyone of sugar.

Well that’s not going to work. You have to make sacrifices. You
have to stick to at least a 90% nutrition compliance if you want
big-time results.

You can’t go with the political correct approach of “having a
little bit of your favorite foods everyday so that you don’t
deprive yourself”.

Think about the person that has your dream body – whether it’s a cover model, your neighbor, a TV star, or the fittest person down at your gym. Do you think they haven’t made sacrifices? Of course they have. They’ve done the work to get their reward.

Now its your turn!

You have to get strict and stick to whole, natural foods (fruits,
vegetables, meat, fish, and nuts) if you want to succeed.

You need to accept that every action has consequences…

If you want to live a lifestyle where you don’t deprive yourself of
daily treats, that’s fine. But realize the consequence of this
action will be that you will always remain a few pounds of fat away from your goal.

According to your actions, you value your treats higher than you
value your fat loss success.

But if you place your desire for fat loss success above your desire to eat junk, than the consequences will be that you will reach your body composition goals. It’s that simple. We all get what we deserve and unless someone is holding a fork to your mouth, you are responsible for your own success.

And my last “non-PC” tip on dieting…almost all the people that
tell me they are eating very well are lying to themselves and to
me – as I mentioned before based on my client feedback experiences.

So do what Dr. John Berardi calls a compliance grid. Take a piece of paper and make a 6×7 grid (6 meals over 7 days). Then check off each time you eat according to plan and mark an “X” for each time you miss your goals.

Realize that you only have 4 mistake meals for an entire week if
you want to stick to the 90% compliance.

Most of the time this is a bucket-of-cold-water-to-the-face wake up call to people. They quickly realize their nutrition compliance is much closer to 75% than 90%…and that explains why they aren’t getting anywhere.

So the bottom line for fat loss:

1) Nutrition is where the hard work really is for fat loss.

2) The workouts don’t have to be super-long to get fat loss
results. You just need short, intense, and efficient. And that’s
what my workouts are all about. Nothing fancy, no rocket science, just FUN workouts that are over quickly…and who wouldn’t want that considering today’s busy lifestyles.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training

The Cardio Machine that Sucks

Recently, I was in Tampa, Florida, at a seminar. Between sessions, a physician from Georgia stopped me in the hall and said, “Hey Craig, you were right about those crosstrainer machines. I’ve had your program for a few months now and I’m getting better results with the bodyweight circuits.”

It’s always great to meet clients, and I was curious to find out how he heard of me. Turns out, he found me through Google, landing on an article I wrote about “how elliptical machines (crosstrainers) suck for fat loss”.

That’s right, I think those machines are almost a complete waste of time.

“I was using one of those machines for a long time and was wondering why I wasn’t getting any results,” the physician continued, “I’m so glad I found your program and now I’m using the bodyweight circuits from the Dumbell-Bodyweight Fusion Workout”, he added.

I told him how I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I’ve never personally known anyone to get great results with one of those crosstrainer machines. Now I’ve watched really lean people use them, but they didn’t get lean with those machines.

I know some people will be angry with what I have to say because they like exercising on the crosstrainer, but the truth is that they just don’t work as well as harder forms of interval training.

And hey, any time you are traveling or want a break from regular interval training workouts, you can use one of the 4 bodyweight circuits from the TT DB-BW Fusion Fat Loss program that you get as a bonus when you order the Turbulence Training fat burning workout routine.

Click here to get Turbulence Training

Let me know how it goes for you,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training

Cardio is a Waste of Time for Fat Loss

While the mainstream fitness media still insists that aerobic exercise is a great way to lose weight, Turbulence Training users know that interval training is the better way to burn body fat.

Still not convinced?

A recent study published by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, subjects aged 40 to 75 were instructed to do 60 minutes of aerobic exercise per day for 6 days per week for an entire year.

Given the amount of exercise, you’d expect weight losses of 20, 30 pounds, or more, right?

Well, the surprise findings showed the average fat loss for female subjects was only 4 pounds for the entire year, while men lost 6.6 pounds of fat over the year. That’s over 300 hours of aerobic exercise just to lose a measly 6 pounds of blubber. Not time well spent, in my opinion.

So what’s the better way? Stick with Turbulence Training, using interval training and strength training to get better bodysculpting results. With intervals, you’ll achieve more fat burning results in less workout time.

The next time you are out exercising, perform a session of interval training. If you are walking or running outside, find an incline that can challenge you for 60 seconds, then walk down for 60-120 seconds, and repeat up to 6 times.

If you walk or run on a treadmill, adjust the incline or speed to safely increase the challenge for 60 seconds, then return to the normal pace for 60-120 seconds, and repeat up to 6 times.

You can also use a rowing machine, bicycle or stationary bike, or even an elliptical machine to do intervals.

But whatever you do, stay away from boring, ineffective cardio exercise workouts and stick with Turbulence Training for your fat burning program.

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss