7-Minute Weight Loss Circuit

One thing we have to lose from our workout mindsets is the idea of this “60-minute workout”. Forget about spending that much time in the gym. Instead, choose better exercises that are more efficient. This will allow you to get your workout done faster, eliminating the “no time” workout excuse.

To do so, you need to eliminate irrelevant exercises. I know you want to do an exercise for shoulders, and one for arms, and one for abs, and one for this and that. But before you do, ask yourself, will these really get me to my goal, or have I just been convinced by bodybuilding magazines that I need 40 sets per workout to get results?

Now, taking those lessons, we can then create some pretty incredible bodyweight workouts as well. And these bodyweight workouts can get finished fast!

In fact, here is a 7-minute bodyweight circuit that can help you lose weight, burn calories, and blast your metabolism. You don’t need machines or weights. You can do this anywhere!

Bodyweight squat (10-20 reps)
Pushup (10-20 reps) – do it on your knees if you must
Reverse Lunge (10 reps per leg)
Plank (30 second hold)
Close-grip Pushup (10-20 reps)
Side Plank (20 second hold per side)
Mountain Climber (10 reps per side)

Do this with no rest between exercises. Rest 1 minute at the end of the 7-minute circuit and repeat up to 3 times.

If you are a beginner, do fewer reps and take longer rests.

It’s a tough, tough bodyweight circuit, especially the combination of two exercises late in the circuit. This combo literally exhausted me to my knees…twice…before I was able to finish the circuit.You can do the circuit up to 3 times.

Another weapon in your fat loss arsenal. Now you’ll know how to train efficiently and eat effectively for fat loss.

Don’t wait any longer to get started! Get all of these bodyweight exercises, and more, in the Turbulence Training workouts that you can do in the comfort of your own home. No more annoying drives to the gym, waiting in line for machines in an uncomfortable environment, or being intimidated by the super-buff gym bunnies. Lose fat, get fit, and workout your way – at home with only a bench, a ball, and dumbbells.

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

Uh-oh, Five Fat Loss Mistakes

Straight to it. Here are five of the biggest fat loss mess-ups that
I see men and women doing everyday…fix these, and you’ll lose fat.

1) Not having back up.

Trying to lose fat without social support is the wrong way to go
about this. Ideally, you’d have your doctor, an RD, a trainer, your workout partner, your spouse, your workmates, and your friends all behind you. Research shows that you’ll benefit most from a health professional (i.e. a trainer) and a workout partner that is also successful. Get those two people on your team first, and then work on the rest of the group.

2) Not using a structured program

If you ever go into the gym and wonder what you are going to do first, you’re already wasting your time – even before you choose. Get a plan, know what you have to do, stick to it, and see it through. That way, no wasted time wandering around the gym deciding where to start.

3) Not changing your workout after 4 weeks.

That’s the longest you should go on one program. If it’s been
6-months, give your head a shake. If it hasn’t worked yet, why do you think it’s magically going to start now. Change it up
frequently. You’ll get more results and you’ll have more fun.

4) Not realizing your results will come from nutrition more than
they will from training.

You want to lose fat? You have to eat right for fat loss. You can’t
train like an animal and then eat junk and expect to lose fat. No
program is that good. None. Diet beats training everytime, like
scissors beats paper. Eat whole, natural foods in 6 smaller meals
each day. Get lots of fiber, lots of protein, lots of vegetables.
Eat healthy fats, avoid trans fats. Drink lots of water and tea. So
simple, so effective. Eat for energy, not for gluttony.

5) Not knowing when to quit.

I get emails everyday from readers asking if they can add even more cardio and more lifting to their current workout plans. After all, if some is good, more training must be better?

Listen, you have to draw the line somewhere. You can’t keep adding more and more exercise. First, there is diminishing returns from each additional set you do, and from extra cardio. Second, your body can breakdown fast from too much work, particularly when you are dieting. Overtraining and low calories go together like oil and water. Neither of these combos will make your engine run optimally.

And finally, focus on quality over quantity. The “volume approach to fat loss” from the 1980′s (characterized by lots of cardio and lots of carbs) didn’t work. For good reason. Stick to high quality nutrition, and high-quality training.

The only thing that matters is results. Not muscle soreness, not
feeling exhausted after each workout, and not feeling deprived of food.

Quality work and quality food for a better body.

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

Weight Loss for Women At Home

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

A woman’s workout should consist of leg raises, biceps curls with
soup cans, and triceps kickbacks with water bottles.

Can you believe that silliness?

Neither can I, but that is what passes for “professional fitness
advice for women” these days.

I could see this info being accepted in the 1930′s (maybe?), but in the year 2007? Please…

Does anyone really believe that biceps curls with water bottles is going to prepare women to carry their children to bed, a bag of heavy groceries in from the car, or swing a sledgehammer during home reno’s?

No way. You need real-world workouts and fat loss advice. Not fluff.

Am I the only one that finds those types of recommendations
disrespectful to the physical capabilities of women? You’d think
that Linda Hamilton’s chin-up scene in Terminator 2 would have turned the tide of female fitness, or perhaps Demi Moore’s GI Jane.

I’ve watched women get fit fast at almost any age with Turbulence Training. In fact, we’ve had girls from 18 to 82 years young kickin’ butt with Turbulence Training.

Today, I want to share the story of a classic “supermom”, you know the mom with 3 active kids that has to drive them everywhere, eat on the run, and still find room for workouts. Her name is Brandy Kirton, and she’ll show you how real women train, eat, and find the time to do it all with proper planning.

CB: Brandy, tell us about your past exercise and nutrition experiences. At what point did you find out about Turbulence Training and what persuaded you to start using it?

BK:
I started working out back on high school. I’m 30 now.

I became a personal trainer for a few years in my early 20′s. So I learned a lot about nutrition and weight training. I have been in great shape and not so great shape in the last 10 years. I think I found Turbulence Training just surfing the web and decided to give it a try. I was desperate to lose weight after my 3rd kid.

CB: And how was this a change from what you had done in the past?

BK:
I was doing 30 minutes of cardio and then lifted for 30 mins
3 to 4 times a week. That was if I actually could make time.

I would not work out if I knew I couldnt get it all in. I would
think, “What’s the point of 20 mins?”.

CB: What kind of results have you achieved with Turbulence Training? And is there anything else, besides the results, you love about the Turbulence Training programs?

BK:
I love how it changes every month so I never get bored. I also love that I have no excuse about not having time to fit it in.

My results have been great. I am getting toned up and consistently loosing inches. I also have a lot more energy.

CB: Do you workout at home or in a gym?

BK:
I have to work out at home. No time to get to a gym.

CB: Has Turbulence Training had a positive impact on your lifestyle?

BK:
Turbulence Training has made a huge impact on me. I dont feel like it takes up my whole day or get bored of the same thing day in and day out.

I feel strong and love the daily emails. It helps me stay motivated.

I work full time, have three kids 9, 5, and 11 months, and a
husband. My older two kids play every sports so there really
is no extra time.

I have to get up at 5:30 to work out before they wake up but its
worth it. I feel great after I am done and no matter what happens that day I have already got my work out in which feels great.

CB: Do you have any social support? If so, how has this helped
you?

BK:
My mom comes over in the mornings to work out with me. I need that accountability so that I don’t sleep instead. Its hard to get up but I always feel so much better when I do.

CB: What are your daily obstacles and temptations that you have to avoid with respect to nutrition and training? And what
strategies do you use?

BK:
With all the practices, games and running around I have to do its hard not to grab McDonald’s with the kids.

I try to either bring food with me or wait until I get home. If I
have to eat out I do try and find grilled chicken or subway.

CB: How do you plan your nutrition?

BK:
I have to go shopping on Sunday to stock up on all my healthy
food. Otherwise I will eat whatever I can find which usually is not good for me.

CB: Thanks Brandy, keep up the great work.

****
The message is clear. Plan, prepare, commit, and be consistent.
Brandy didn’t use any magic pills or potions to succeed, she simply found a great workout plan, and did what she had to do.

As a supermom, Brandy practically has to create time out of thin air in order to do her workout, but again, she knows what she has to do and she does it. She’s committed. She has social support. She knows the correct options for eating on the run.

She has made the effort to plan for the obstacles (lack of time,
workout motivation) that we all come across. And by doing that,
she’s cleared a simple path to success.

And she doesn’t waste time in the gym with slow, boring cardio
workouts. Instead, she sculpts her body in half the time with the
Turbulence Training workouts.

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 www.TurbulenceTraining.com

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Are you ready for my famous “gain muscle or lose fat” chart?

I know this is going to make a few people mad, but it’s the truth about whether a guy should lose fat or gain muscle. If he doesn’t stick to my recommendations, he won’t get the ripped abs and muscles he wants.

I often get scrawny guys asking me how to lose fat, when they have no muscle underneath the fat…they think they will look good if they “get ripped”, but in reality, will look like they are starving. They should focus on gaining muscle instead.

This is a harsh lesson in reality, but too many guys are trying to lose weight when the focus should be on gaining muscle.

In fact, through my experience in working with athletes and dozens of men in the gym trying to lose fat and gain muscle, I’ve come up with a height-weight chart that determines whether or not you should lose weight.

Here’s the chart identifying the cut-off weight for muscle building, and the rule below.

5’6″ – 140 pounds
5’7″ – 145 pounds
5’8″ – 150 pounds
5’9″ – 155 pounds
5’10 – 160 pounds

And so on. For every inch taller, add 5 pounds. For every inch shorter, subtract 5 pounds.

For example, if you are 5’8″, 150 pounds, you should NOT be focusing on losing weight. You need to gain muscle if you want to look good on the beach and have muscle. Focusing on weight loss would be the worst thing you could do. If you do, you’ll look like crap, and practically anorexic, to be blunt.

Instead, you must focus on gaining muscle. This will improve the appearance of your body, and take you from a stick-figure to a lean, muscular physique with a better chance of seeing your abs.

And don’t worry, you’re not going to look huge. At 5’8″, a guy would have to be at least 180 in order to be considered “jacked” or “huge”.

And the best news of all? Because skinny guys are untrained, simply starting a muscle building program will give them maximum fat loss and muscle gain at the same time. They are going to get the best of both worlds.

To use Turbulence Training to gain muscle and lose fat, simply stick to the weight training workouts only. Avoid the hard interval cardio for at least 4 weeks as you gain muscle, and eat extra calories right after your workout (as well as having a bigger breakfast than normal). These two changes will
allow you to gain muscle and lose fat.

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 www.TurbulenceTraining.com

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

There are so many fat loss myths out there in “exercise-land” that I was hired by Men’s Fitness magazine to write about one myth each month.

After all, by now you’ve probably heard that if you don’t do
60-minutes of cardio in your fat burning zone on an empty stomach while Venus is in line with Jupiter, you’ll never burn fat.

The problem with myths is that not only are they wrong and give false hope to millions of people trying to lose weight, but they also waste your time and mental effort.

I have also seen these myths used as justification for cheating on
a diet, watching countless men and women justify their “treats”
because they believe they are on some type of magical exercise
program or nutrition plan.

I could go on for days about fitness myths, but I cut my list from
30 down to the Top 5 Fat Loss Workout Myths today. I’ll save the other 25 for future newsletters.

Myth #1: You have to do cardio first thing in the morning on an
empty stomach.

Relax. You don’t have to hop on the treadmill at 4:30am every
morning. Let’s allow common sense to dictate when and how you exercise.

If you want to work out first thing in the morning, and I know that is the best time for many TT readers, by all means, go ahead and do it. There’s nothing magical about this time – although it is often the only time many of day many people have to themselves.

We need to think “outside of the hour” of exercise and realize that calorie burning and fat burning goes on for 24-hours. Forget about the theories and look at the big picture.

It doesn’t matter when you exercise – as long as you exercise
intensely and consistently. Focus on relatively high-intensity
workouts to increase your metabolism for as many hours after
exercise as possible. That is best done with interval training and
resistance training.

Myth #2: You have to do your cardio in your “fat burning zone”.

Again, nonsense.

While you might burn a larger proportion of total calories as fat
when you exercise in your fat burning zone, you burn fewer calories overall by exercising at such a low intensity.

When you increase your workout intensity and get out of your
so-called “fat burning zone”, you burn more total calories, and as a result, more fat.

In addition, the “fat burning zone” training doesn’t put
“turbulence” on your muscles…so you don’t burn many calories in the post-exercise time period. But with interval training, you burn a significant amount of calories for hours after training, and
that leads to more fat loss.

I’ve worked with hundreds of people that have avoided the fat
burning zone while still managing to lose dozens of pounds of fat.
The “fat burning zone” is one of the biggest fitness myths of all
time.

Myth #3: You have to do cardio for 20 minutes before you burn fat.

When I hear this, I picture a fat-burning switch in my body that
turns on only after I’ve been doing “cardio” for 20 minutes. But
what if I only exercise for 19 minutes and 59 seconds? Are
you telling me that I won’t have burned any fat? That’s ridiculous.

What if I did it on an empty stomach in the morning and in my
target heart rate zone? (read that one sarcastically!)

I’ll say it one last time. We need to be more concerned with our
24-hour metabolism, not how much fat or even how many calories are burned during the workout.

Myth 4: Drinking ice cold water will help you burn calories and
lose fat.

Standing in line at the grocery store is a great place to pick up
the latest fat loss myths. You’ll also find this one all over the
Internet.

This myth often comes along with some calculations showing that by drinking 8 glasses of ice-cold water you can burn 70 calories per day. I don’t believe that actually holds true in real life. Regardless, drinking cold water is not going to burn any more fat off your body than drinking room temperature water.

Don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe you should drink 12 glasses of water per day, but the temperature of your water won’t have any effect on your overall fat loss success.

Myth #5: Adding one pound of muscle will burn 50 extra calories each day.

Uh-oh, now I’m cutting down a myth that supports my use of strength training in a fat loss program. But I have an obligation to set the record straight about this extremely prevalent myth (even though I just saw a big name fitness expert perpetuate this myth in a recent article!).

This myth sounds so good. Add a pound ouf muscle, boost your
metabolism 50 calories. That doesn’t seem out of line at all.

But do the math for a guy that puts on 30 pounds of muscle. Does his metabolism really increase by 1500 calories? Absolutely not. For an average guy, that would require his resting metabolism to increase from 2500 calories to 4000 calories per day. How would he be able to keep any of that muscle with a metabolism like that? He’d have to eat like a pig forever.

So when you look at the big picture, you can see this little myth
start to fall apart.

That’s not to say you should stop your strength training, but just don’t use this myth as an excuse to cheat on your diet.

Bonus Myth: Negative Calorie Foods Cause You to Lose Weight

According to the “experts”, a negative calorie food requires more energy to digest than it provides you when you eat it. And included in the negative calorie food list are apples and bananas.

So by this logic, I would actually starve to death if I had nothing
to eat but apples (because I would have a net energy loss from
eating a so-called “negative calorie” food).

There is no such thing as a negative calorie food.

It’s a shame that people are out there promoting this stuff, and
it’s too bad that so many people fall for it.

Remember the old phrase, “if it sounds too good to be true, it
probably is.”

Instead, let the common sense fat loss principles apply. It’s going to take consistent effort, working hard at your workouts and with your nutrition to get the results you want.

I guarantee you that Turbulence Training will successfully
guide you to the fat loss you deserve and desire.

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 www.TurbulenceTraining.com

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

The great thing about strength training and intervals for fat burning is “efficiency”. Because you are working harder, the signal to your body to change is stronger. You cut time when you increase intensity and you burn fat faster.

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.

It’s easy to do these workouts first thing in the AM, at lunch, or after the kids go to bed. 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.

And another bonus, you only need three hard fat burning 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 fat burning, stress reducing activity days.

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

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Cardio exercise is such a strange thing. In theory, it should work
so perfectly well for all men and women, but as anyone who has
tried it knows, the practicality of it just doesn’t add up.

After all, some men and women do cardio 6 hours, 9 hours, or more per week, and still have belly fat to burn. On the other hand, it works just fine for others.

British researchers wanted to get more insight into this paradox, and studied 35 overweight men and women, who weren’t previously exercising.

(Reference: International Journal of Obesity 32: 177-184, 2008).

Subjects exercised 5 times per week for 12 weeks. That’s a lot of
exercise, but it helped the subjects lose an average of 8.2 pounds, which is great – I was positively surprised by the results.

So cardio will work for some people, however, in my experience, it works best in young men, who need the help the least!

Back to the study, the variance in fat loss between individuals was huge. Check this out…

The best subject lost a staggering 32.3 pounds in 12 weeks, while the worst subject actually GAINED 3.74 pounds.

The scientists think they know where things went sour. They
classified the subjects into 2 groups, called the “Compensators”
and the “Non-compensators”.

The Compensators were hungrier, and as a result consumed an extra 268 calories per day, all but wiping out their cardio efforts.

Therefore, the Compensators lost the least amount of weight, and scientists believe that was due to the huge “compensatory” increase in appetite experienced by this group.

Does your appetite increase when you do slow cardio? If it does,
research shows it will ruin your cardio efforts.

So if your cardio program is not working for you, check your
appetite and calorie intake to see if you are “compensating” for
your efforts. If you are, you might be better off using a program
of high-intensity resistance and interval training (i.e. Turbulence Training) for your weight loss efforts.

As Australian Professor Steve Boucher has shown in research,
interval training increases hormones called catecholamines. And
increased catecholamines can reduce appetite, among other fat-
burning benefits.

In the real world, few people lose 33 pounds after 12 weeks of
cardio. Heck, few even achieve an average weight loss of 8 pounds with aerobic exercise.

So again, check your appetite, and consider giving high-intensity
exercise a go for your next workout program.

Beat the curse of cardio with high-intensity Turbulence Training.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
About the Author

Learn about the “Dark Side of Cardio” in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com
. Craig 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 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
www.TurbulenceTraining.com