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So Britney is trying to make the news again but this time it is for her diet.

Apparently Britney is on a diet with no sugar and is eating about 1200 calories a day. Let’s lookk at what that simple bit of info means.

First of all the “new” Britney Spears is training and getting ready for the annual VMA (Video Music Awards) show, that is the one that gave her such a bad rap last year. In getting this exercise alone Britney is going to get in better shape.

Spears also says she hits the gym on a regular basis, doing “lots of cardio and weights” five days a week.

Now lets look at the diet. The simple fact that she has a low caloric intake of 1200 calories with no sugar means that she is doing a diet more similar to the GI diet, more complex carbs anyway which should help her long term energy although giving up all of those coffee drinks that Britney Spears is famous for is sure going to be a tough habit to break.

“I eat chicken and salmon and rice. I eat avocados. I’ll have egg whites for breakfast and sometimes turkey burgers for lunch ” says Britney.

I for one am cheering for a Britney Spears Comeback, hope it goes well for her.

Ever noticed those infomercials about exercise equipment? I am sure you have. These are pretty expensive equipment and they promise to flatten your abs so that you can gain a figure like your favorite celebrity. These gadgets promise to help you lose fat in specific areas. such as the stomach, the chest, etc. Basically, these companies are just exploiting the gullibility of the common masses.

Most people believe that in order to lose belly fat, they only need to work on the belly. This is a big misconception and a major reason why so many people fail to lose weight successfully.

Spot Reduction is a Lie

The fact remains that no matter what you do, your body will not let you lose fat in any specific region of your choice. You maybe doing abdominal crunches all day long in the hope of losing belly fat quickly, but maybe astonished to find that you have lost only a few inches after weeks of hard work. What is more, what you have lost may not be fat at all but your valuable abdominal muscles. When you exercise, your body decides in which area it should burn fat. Thus spot reduction of fat is totally impossible. Read the rest of this entry »

For an individual who is overweight, exercising to lose that weight is one of the most rewarding activities he/she will ever embark upon.  However, there are literally thousands of activities you can do to burn calories.

It can be intimidating, to say the least, wondering where to start with such a varied array of exercises.  There are certain activities, though, that can take calorie burning to a whole different level. Listed below are the top X ways to burn calories (note: number of calories burned per activity assume a body weight of 150 pounds and exercise time of 30 minutes).

These activities can be split up into three general groups: Gym activities, training and sports activities, and daily life activities. The top gym activites for burning calories include: Read the rest of this entry »

For many people losing 20 pounds in a month would be a dream. Put that dream right in front of you because I am saying that there are ways that you can lose 20 pounds in a month.

To get started on any weight loss goal is easy but you need a strategy and tactics in order to lose 20 pounds in a month. Your strategy towards any goal is the broad strokes, the big concepts that are important. Here is your weight loss strategy

Increase your resting metabolism
Reduce your calorie intake
Quickly burn calories during cardio and weight workouts

Now that you have a strategy to lose 20 pounds in a month so now you need the tactics that will make it a reality. You need radical changes to lose 5 pounds a week.

Your tactics are the individual things that will make your dream work out for you.

Read the rest of this entry »

I am much more of a low intensity exerciser than I am a high intensity exerciser. Some people wonder what this means because they kill themselves working out but I would rather exercise in longer boughts of exercise throughout the day instead of killing myself on an elliptical trainer for 30 minutes.

There is a misconception that I believe still exists today: The harder you go on the cardio the more fat you burn. I’ don’t really agree with this at all. If you learn about the basics of the human body and how the energy systems work you find out that it is in fact the opposite.

How fat burning works

Fat burning occurs and peaks during sustained low intensity exercise in the presence of oxygen. This means that when energy is required quickly for short or medium bursts of intense exercise ATP and Glycogen becomes the source of that energy. They can be used instantly and without oxygen resulting in a by-product that everyone has experienced, Lactic Acid. Anaerobic Exercise predominately uses these fuels during brief periods that cannot be sustained. Aerobic Exercise utilizes fat as the dominant fuel because the low amount of intensity is sustainable allowing blood supply to the muscles that is rich in oxygen, fats’ catalyst. Read the rest of this entry »

Now that it is College Basketball playoff time we get to see a lot of young kids interviewed after games and often they say things like “I gave it 100%” or “I left everything I had on the court” or my very unfavorite (as my daughter would say) “I gave it 110%”.

Gave it 110% eh? Well that does not even make sense but the reason thaqt people say that is that they want to stress that they had nothing left except what they did today. The fact is it is impossible to give your workouts, whether cardio or weight everything all of the time. You have off days and you have times when you are a bit tired or your diet is not quite there on a particular day.

To really make gains ion strength or losses in fat you need to go beyond your norm, beyond 90% and remember how these college athletes do things trying to get to the final 4. I have always been a believer that if I do a set of bench press the first few reps are useless for strength increases. The only reps that matter are the ones where you are pushing your already known strength limits and reaching to levels of strength where you have never been, the last couple of reps is where all of the muscle gets created to be needed next time. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is an article on what to look for if you are out in the marketplace for a treadmill. A treadmill is a great piece of equipment to have around the house because it simulates walking or running and can be supplemented with hand weights to try get a bit more of a workout out of the equipment, Be careful of your coordination though.

If you are going to buy a treadmill it is indeed a very good investment as exercising in the open or going to a gym might not be equally possible at all times. The climatic conditions are the main hurdle along with the availability of time for a professional person to go for a fitness program at a certain time daily. Keeping one’s own treadmill at home can solve this problem, making it possible to exercise daily according to one’s own ease.

As there are to be seen various varieties and styles of treadmills available in the market, choosing one to fit you and your home best becomes quite difficult. Making a checklist to narrow down your search would be a good option that will help you in selecting a good equipment for you.

By making a checklist and researching for the different makes, you may be able to buy a good treadmill for you.

Add Various Guarantees Offered To Your Checklist
There are different assurances provided by various treadmill manufacturers, ranging from 2-5 years or may be of 10years. While checking the warranty, you must get it clarified whether it includes the motor only or other parts of the mechanism are also guaranteed .
Read the rest of this entry »

Interval training is a way of doing cardio that will give you the ability to make gains in time and distance much more easily than any other method. The principle of interval training is that you push yourself really hard and then you slow down.

This repetitive form of training leads to your body needing to adapt to changes and this is really great for you. The body begins to build new capillaries, and is better able to take in and deliver oxygen to the working muscles. Muscles develop a higher tolerance to the build-up of lactate, and the heart muscle is strengthened. These changes result in improved performance particularly within the cardiovascular system.

When people begin running they automatically do interval training where they will alternate walking and running to get a better workout in. As people get better at running they will start just running and not stopping until the 30 or 60 minute run is over. The upside of this is that you will get a much better workout and feel fantastically exhausted at the end, the downside of interval training is that you are going to be pushing your comfort zone so the workout itself is going to be painful

So how can you implement interval training into your regular workouts? I have a few examples. When you begin running as I said before you are going to have trouble running for any length of time so you decide that you are going for 20 minutes and you will do cycles of jogging for 30 seconds and then walking for 30 seconds. As you get better at running you will be able to jog for one minute and then walk for 30 seconds. You will notice that your rest stays the same but the running time increases until you get to the point that you do not need a rest for your 30 minute run.

As an advanced runner you are not going to slow down for a walk but instead your will run for 5 minutes and then break into a spring for 30 seconds or a minute and then slow back down to your regular pace. As another way to do interval training you can go to another location that is more hilly and use the uphills to change up your pace. The hills are going to force you push harder to keep the same pace and of course the downhills are going to use different muscles but as far as exertion goes you will find the running easier.

Try interval training soon either indoors on a treadmill or outdoors as long as the weather cooperates.

I wanted to post this question and answer from the guy that created the Turbulence Training program because I know how many people just run through their cardio without doing it the right way. It is not a pleasant jog or a sprint you are looking for but instead something in between that you should strive for. Read on….

Question
I’ve been told to exercise in my “fat burning zone”. What’s the best cardio method for weight loss.

Answer:
Cardio is not the only solution.

Clearly it adds to the energy deficit and overall calorie balance that favors fat loss.

BUT it’s not the “be all & end all” of fat loss success - and that is anecdotally supported by the number of overweight distance runners.

I almost never recommend long, slow cardio…simply because no one I train or consult with has the time for this, and it doesn’t work any better than shorter, less frequent, more intense interval training sessions.

Five or six days of 45-minute cardio sessions in my fat-burning zone? Yeah right, like anyone has time for that.

If I told you that you could get the same results (or better, as recent research suggests) in three 20-minute interval sessions each week as you could from three or five 45-minute slower cardio sessions each week, which would you choose?

Yes, intervals feel about 10x’s harder than regular, slow, boring cardio. And yes, you won’t be able to read your people magazine when doing intervals. And you might breath a little heavy. So if you’re worried about sweating, than maybe fat loss isn’t for you.

But if you don’t mind going against the crowd, intervals are worth every second for the superior results.

Now here’s one reason why Turbulence Training may actually work better for women than men…

More women tend to start Turbulence Training after having spent months or years using slow cardio and light (if any) weights. And selfishly, I could not be any happier - because when these dedicated women start using the shorter, more intense strength and interval sessions they make rapid progress and make me look like a genius.

The accolades come pouring in…I have dozens of testimonials from women thanking me for saving them TIME while helping them finally breakthrough stubborn fat loss plateaus (and eliminating the pain from their overuse injuries that occurred due to high volumes of cardio). Their words make me feel like a million bucks because the Turbulence Training workouts are making these women feel like a million bucks.