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.
Fitness and Health is a blog about nutrition, healthy eating, and fitness. Providing health and fitness info to burn body fat and build lean muscle.
Showing posts with label interval training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label interval training. Show all posts
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
5 Fat Burning Tips for You
At this time of year, we can use every last fat burning tip to help avoid weight gain.
So here are 5 fat loss tips for beginner & advanced readers.
1) No liquid calories (with the exception of a post-workout drink).
Get rid of all the juices, the sodas, and the sports drinks. Liquid sugar is the last thing you need when you are trying to lose fat.
You must also limit your alcohol intake - especially if you are adding mix to drinks...that is a double calorie bomb!
2) No fast food.
Do not eat at fast food restaurants. Even if you choose what you think is healthy, remember this:
Fast food restaurants are all about profit.
And in order to profit while giving you cheap, quick, and easy to prepare foods, the quality of the food ingredients will be poor - especially the protein.
Now you might have read that you can still make healthy choices at fast food restaurants. But you know what, that's just politically-correct opinion. If it's fast food, it's poor food.
Walking into a burger joint and grabbing a chicken breast on a white bread bun with a piece of old lettuce and a half-green, half-pink tomato is "barely" healthy eating.
The politically-incorrect truth is that it's going to take time and effort to eat properly. You will have to plan, shop, and prepare healthy meals. You will have to spend time cleaning, cutting, and cooking your food. That's the truth.
But believe me, it will taste so much better than fast food, and healthy eating will make you more alert. Eating fast food will make you feel terrible, and will make you want to have an afternoon nap at your desk.
Make one small improvement to your nutrition everyday for the rest of your life.
3) Eat more fruits and vegetables.
If you are eating 2 servings per day, then go up to 4 servings per day by the end of the week. And even if you think you are doing great by having 5 servings per day, you still need to double that (take 2-3 weeks to work your way up to 10 servings per day).
Stick with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables - organic if possible.
4) Eat 1oz of almonds or walnuts per day (1/2 oz in the AM, and the other half in the afternoon).
Most nuts are roasted in oils (possible source of trans fats), so stick to natural or dry-roasted nuts.
Don't panic...this small amount of nuts won't make you fat, but will fill you up and help you lose weight.
5) Be consistent with your workouts.
And make sure the workouts are efficient and effective. To make it easy for you to follow, stick with the Turbulence Training fat burning workout system.
It doesn't matter if you train in the morning before or after breakfast, or at night before or after dinner, or at 1pm on days when the moon is in line with Saturn...don't worry about the details, just train consistently.
6) BONUS TIP: Go for a walk after lunch or dinner (or anytime you eat a big meal). Research shows this will help you control your cholesterol and triglycerides, plus any movement is better than sitting around watching the TV and snacking.
Improve your lifestyle everyday
So here are 5 fat loss tips for beginner & advanced readers.
1) No liquid calories (with the exception of a post-workout drink).
Get rid of all the juices, the sodas, and the sports drinks. Liquid sugar is the last thing you need when you are trying to lose fat.
You must also limit your alcohol intake - especially if you are adding mix to drinks...that is a double calorie bomb!
2) No fast food.
Do not eat at fast food restaurants. Even if you choose what you think is healthy, remember this:
Fast food restaurants are all about profit.
And in order to profit while giving you cheap, quick, and easy to prepare foods, the quality of the food ingredients will be poor - especially the protein.
Now you might have read that you can still make healthy choices at fast food restaurants. But you know what, that's just politically-correct opinion. If it's fast food, it's poor food.
Walking into a burger joint and grabbing a chicken breast on a white bread bun with a piece of old lettuce and a half-green, half-pink tomato is "barely" healthy eating.
The politically-incorrect truth is that it's going to take time and effort to eat properly. You will have to plan, shop, and prepare healthy meals. You will have to spend time cleaning, cutting, and cooking your food. That's the truth.
But believe me, it will taste so much better than fast food, and healthy eating will make you more alert. Eating fast food will make you feel terrible, and will make you want to have an afternoon nap at your desk.
Make one small improvement to your nutrition everyday for the rest of your life.
3) Eat more fruits and vegetables.
If you are eating 2 servings per day, then go up to 4 servings per day by the end of the week. And even if you think you are doing great by having 5 servings per day, you still need to double that (take 2-3 weeks to work your way up to 10 servings per day).
Stick with fiber-rich fruits and vegetables - organic if possible.
4) Eat 1oz of almonds or walnuts per day (1/2 oz in the AM, and the other half in the afternoon).
Most nuts are roasted in oils (possible source of trans fats), so stick to natural or dry-roasted nuts.
Don't panic...this small amount of nuts won't make you fat, but will fill you up and help you lose weight.
5) Be consistent with your workouts.
And make sure the workouts are efficient and effective. To make it easy for you to follow, stick with the Turbulence Training fat burning workout system.
It doesn't matter if you train in the morning before or after breakfast, or at night before or after dinner, or at 1pm on days when the moon is in line with Saturn...don't worry about the details, just train consistently.
6) BONUS TIP: Go for a walk after lunch or dinner (or anytime you eat a big meal). Research shows this will help you control your cholesterol and triglycerides, plus any movement is better than sitting around watching the TV and snacking.
Improve your lifestyle everyday
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