What Should you must know for Safe Weight Loss

By: Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
www-TurbulenceTraining-com

What is necessary for safe weight loss?

A calorie deficit must be created through exercise and a small calorie reduction. This means more energy goes out than comes in. If it were only so simple!

Problem #1

Appetite seems to increase with activity level (therefore cancels out energy expended), this may not always happen.

Problem #2

The body will attempt to conserve weight during times of increased activity and reduced calorie intake (body becomes more efficient with energy).

Problem #3

Scales do not tell how much of the body weight is muscle, fat, OR water.

Problem #4

We all know someone who eats a lot (and eats a lot of "forbidden foods") BUT does not seem to gain a pound, while others eat very little and still have difficulty in altering their body composition.

Tip #1

You must use weight training to build muscle mass and increase metabolism and you must exercise consistently. The energy expenditure will help develop a negative caloric balance.

Tip #2

Base your success on how you feel, how your clothes fit, and how well you perform in your sport/activity, NOT on how the scale reads.

Tip #3

Do not starve yourself. The body may shut down its metabolism and it becomes extremely efficient in saving/storing energy. Eat nutritious meals spaced evenly throughout the day to maintain the metabolism and provide energy for exercise. Reduce any unnecessary food intake.

Tip #4

Remember you are trying to eat fewer calories then are needed to maintain weight. Aim to reduce the calories by a maximum of 20% (i.e. 200-400 per day), BUT/ never go lower than 1500 total daily calories. Reducing the amount of fat in your diet greatly helps in reaching a calorie deficit (because each gram of fat has 9 calories).

Tip #5

Do NOT eat "fat-free" foods in excess. Remember the aim is a calorie deficit! There are no magic OR forbidden foods. Some are better than others BUT very few items need to be fully excluded from a diet. Allow yourself at least the occasional treat.

Tip #6

Choose water as your low-calorie fluid source, unless you need the nutrients that are provided by a glass of milk OR juice.

Be honest #1

Do you really need to lose weight? Losing weight often involves certain sacrifices, so determine if it is really necessary for health or performance and then make full commitment to the goal.

Be honest #2

Can you decrease your food intake without your health suffering? Try to reduce calories with your health in mind by reducing the foods with least nutritional value (i.e. processed foods, sugary drinks, excess sauces, and sugar).

Be honest #3

Are you truly hungry when you eat? Are you just thirsty, bored, stressed?

Be honest #4

Are you active for only 30minutes (your exercise session) and then stuck in a chair for the rest of the day? Consider this before you justify an increase in caloric intake.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
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 wwwTurbulenceTraining-com

Illustrated Image by Pinterest

Toning, Light Weights, & High Reps

By: Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
www-TurbulenceTraining-com

I guess you could say it is my mission to show people the value of intense strength training for fat loss. Every month more research comes out to support intense training over slow cardio, and light weights. And each week, in real-life, more and more men and women (yes, women too!) see the benefits of pushing themselves with strength training.

The evidence from research and real-life continues to pile up that you need to put down those light weights and cut out those high reps. Take really light weights, add in isolation exercises, and repeat for a large number of reps. Do this for 3, 6, or 12 months, and you're guaranteed to have the same physique you have today. This approach just does not work.

You need to step out of your comfort zone with strength training.

Research has shown using a weight that enables only 8 reps per set results in a greater post-exercise metabolism than using a weight that allows 12 reps per set. And this was in women! So lifting challenging weights is not just for men, but also for the ladies. Another research study showed that a 30-minute, hard total-body strength training session can boost metabolism about 36 hours. You just don't get that from slow cardio or light, "toning"
isolation exericses, I'm sorry to say. But what if you are worried about "bulking up"? Just do one or two sets of 8 reps per exercise, rather than three or four. Bodybuilders know that high-volume training builds muscle. But if you don't want massive amounts of muscle, just don't do a lot of volume. That's just one of the reasons I don't use bodybuilder workout programs for fat loss.

Another way to avoid "bulking up" while still boosting your metabolism is to use more bodyweight exercises.

As for exercise choice, say goodbye to biceps curls, hamstring curls, and triceps kickbacks. Seriously, I couldn't think of a more useless exercise for a fat loss program than triceps kickbacks.

Stick to full body movements. Use squats, lunges, split squats, pushups, chinups, rows, etc.

Remember, you don't have a lot of time to workout. So you can't be doing bodybuilding splits from the 80's that call for three
exercises for the long head of the triceps, and two exercises for each of the anterior, medial, and posterior deltoid. That's just not possible in the real-world. A pushup trains almost all those muscles, and more. It works your abs, chest, triceps, and shoulders. That's the type of exercise that is going to help you get more fat loss results in less workout time.

I train in the concept of a short time frame. That is, anyone that wants to use my programs has less than 3 hours per week to devote to structured exercise. So there just isn't much room for isolation training in that time frame.

But training should be fun too, and adding some curls as a reward for completing a hard workout is fine, but only if you want to. You don't need those types of exercises to get results.  But remember, isolation exercises are not actually going to burn fat, but they can build muscle and help you sculpt your body. Here's the list of methods that lead to fat loss, in order of importance:

i) Nutrition
ii) Burning calories with interval training
iii) Burning calories due to an increased metabolism from interval training and strength training (with multi-muscle movements)

As long as you understand that nutrition is the most important factor in fat loss, and that strength training is essential for sculpting your body, than you will have realistic expectations of success - based on how well you

commit to each process.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
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 all over the Internet, 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

Illustrated Image by pinterest

Fat Loss Secrets of Fitness Models

By: Craig Ballantyne, CTT
Certified Turbulence Trainer
www-TurbulenceTraining-com

Fat loss is easy once you understand how hard it is.Once you realize that fat loss is hard work, and not just as easy as eating some celery, drinking really cold water, and slamming down some "metabolism boosters", that's when you'll really start to get results.

When you accept sticking to your nutrition program will take effort, only then will you start planning and preparing your nutrition to meet your fat loss goals.

Same with exercise. When you understand that harder workouts are more effective, then you'll start to plan your workouts accordingly.

Over the past year I've interviewed over a dozen fitness models
(men and women) for Oxygen and Maximum Fitness magazines, and their secrets to success are as plain as day.

They know it is going to be hard work to get ready for a
photoshoot, but what do they know that you don't know?

First, they've got their nutrition plans down perfectly. And when I say planned out, I don't just mean they have a meal plan torn out of a magazine. Instead, they have their shopping lists prepared.

They have time set aside for cooking, cutting, and chopping. These men and women have more than enough tupperware to store and freeze their food for the week.

Fitness models take their meals with them and aren't so naive as to believe that they will be able to find something "healthy" at work or on the road. They are not willing to sacrifice results for convenience. They have accepted the hard work that comes with eating for fat loss. Have you?

Second, fitness models know what works - not only in the kitchen, but also in the gym. They've recorded their workouts, studied the effects of various exercises, rep ranges, and workout frequencies.

They have accepted that their can be NO guesswork in a fat loss
workout program. That's why fitness models plan their workouts in advance, and write down the results in a training log for analysis.

If you aren't doing that, then you're doing nothing more than
playing a workout "lottery" and hoping you'll come up lucky.

Third, and perhaps most importantly (because its hard to have the first two factors without this one), fitness models surround
themselves with a supportive environment and social support groups.

How many fitness models do you think are married to sedentary, overweight smokers? How many fitness models do you think hang around men and women that start drinking at 4pm every Friday?

Having the right social support group and supportive environment can make or break your fat loss program in less than a minute.

Research shows this. Experience proves this.

All it takes is a bunch of co-workers to surround you at your desk with a box of doughnuts and pressure you into "having just one". The next thing you know its 3 days later and you haven't had a decent meal since.

According to the research on social support for fat loss, there are
at least 2 proven ways to harness the powers of others for your fat loss goals.

First, include a health professional in your social support group.
This could be your doctor, a nutritionist, or a trainer that you
see on a regular basis. But you need to be accountable to someone.

This will work best for those of you that can't find support among your family, friends, or co-workers.

Second, if a member of your social support group also loses weight, you'll have a greater chance of succeeding. So try and get family members, friends, and co-workers directly involved. Get them from cheerleaders to active participants in the fight against fat.

I hope these tips help you out. If you don't have any social
support right now, by all means, send me an email on your progress and at least hold yourself accountable to me.

If you need help planning a workout, please visit: www-turbulencetraining-com I promise you Turbulence Training will give you to the fat loss you deserve and desire.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the AuthorCraig 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

Illustrated image by Pinterest