Interval Training 5 Fat Burning Workouts

Lets talk changes to our body composition. The other day I gave you this formula, Resistance Training + Interval Training x 45 minutes x 3 days per week. A...

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Burn Fat And Tighten Your Abs

Ask ten people what type of exercise they should be doing to burn fat, tighten your abs and fire up their metabolism and they’ll all probably tell you the same thing.  They’ll tell you that you need to do 30-40 minutes of moderately-paced aerobic exercise on a treadmill, elliptical machine, stair climber, etc. for 3-5 times per week.

They’ll probably also tell you that more is better…4 times per week would be better than 3, and 5 times per week would be even better.

People will tell you this because that’s been and continues to be the mainstream recommendation for fat burning by many fitness professionals.  Get in a certain target heart rate and stay at that heart rate for 30 minutes or so, several times per week.  I am here to tell you there is a better way.

Sure, you’ll burn some calories while you’re running to nowhere on a treadmill, but you won’t make a complete physique transformation with this type of exercise alone.

Before we go any further let me give you an example of a better way to burn fat and tighten your abs.

Fat Burning Mini Circuit Training Workout

) The Kettlebell Clean Squat and Press. Which really is a full body fat burning workout on it’s own.

2) Mountain Climbers. Another great and I think under appreciated exercise. Get your heart rate going (as if you need more after the clean squat and press) while working your abs.

 

3) Push – Ups Yep the old standby. But do you do push ups properly to get the most benefit. Work your chest, delts, triceps and your core and abs. Work your core and abs while doing push ups? Absolutly if you are doing them right.

Do the above workout circuit training style. Work up to do the circuit 4 - 6 times. Depending on your conditioning level you should be able to do this in no more than 30 minutes.

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Back To Running To Nowhere

In fact, this type of steady state cardio can actually be counterproductive to burning fat.  Here are just a couple of reasons:

Long duration, lower intensity aerobics calls upon your stored body fat for energy during the sessions.  While this may sound good, this can actually cause your body to create more body fat in reserve after the workout is over to have ready for your next workout.

Yikes!

What’s worse, this type of exercise when done frequently as typically suggested, trains your cardiovascular system to be efficient.  Again, while this sounds good, your heart and lungs can actually reduce their capacity for work as they are getting more efficient at doing easy work (your long duration, low intensity aerobic workouts), which reduces their ability to handle stress.

This can lead to a host of other problems including higher change of heart attack.  You are only working within your current aerobic capacity because you’re never challenging it to go beyond what it’s capable of.   And anything that is easy will not yield results even close to what’s challenging for the body to accomplish.

Instead, you should be challenging the body to increase its capacity, so that it is stronger and able to deal with stress more easily.  How is this done?

The fastest and most efficient way to rev up your metabolism, burn fat, tighten your abs and develop lifelong health and fitness is to add lean muscle to your body through resistance training – period. You want life changing results in the quickest possible time? Get stronger and build some muscle. When you add lean muscle to your body you’ll be literally turning your body into a fat burning machine!

Let’s say that you were eating the amount of calories that allow you to maintain your current bodyweight, but began to add lean muscle to your body through proper resistance training…you’ll need to use some of those calories you’re eating to feed the new muscle, creating a calorie deficit in your body.

In addition, when you stimulate your body with proper resistance training, the repair and growth process will call upon your stored body fat for energy.  This calorie deficit combined with the repair and growth process will allow you to burn fat all day long, every day.  You’ll even get these fat burning effects when you’re sitting around doing nothing at all.

Also, properly conducted resistance training actually increases your heart and lung’s capacity for work.  By placing intense demands on your body, it is forced into being ready for anything you throw at it.  This makes you more resistant to cardiovascular health problems that plague most people…even those that exercise with aerobics frequently.

And the beauty is I’ve discovered that you don’t have to spend much time working out to get the fat loss effects, and strength and muscle gains that will create this environment…you can actually get it done with 2 or 3 weekly workouts that last between 20 and 30 minutes, and even less time at an advanced level.

And it’s easy to make this type of exercise part of your life because of its efficiency…and it will help keep you lean and healthy for the rest of it…muscle is the stuff that fat burning furnaces are made of!  That I can promise you.

Related Articles:

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Eating Healthy And Weight Loss Making The Time

You here it all the time from busy moms, executives, students, “I just don’t have time to eat right and exercise!” No one seems to be able to find the time for healthy eating and weight loss.

With all of the responsibilities and events packed into our busy days how are we to keep ourselves healthy and maintain an optimal weight?

When people think weight loss, they think diet and exercise, both of which already sound time consuming.

Well after 10 years of seeing clients I will tell you with 100% certainty that if a client follows their nutrition plan without exercise they always lose weight but if they don’t follow their nutrition plan but are consistent with their workouts, there is no weight loss.

Anyone who has ever attempted to lose weight without changing to healthier eating alternatives knows this is true. Trust me, I’ll be the first one to tell you all the reasons why exercise is so important but following a healthy eating regimen must be priority number 1!

So if nothing else, the following easy adjustments in your nutrition plan will help to take off, at the very least, an initial 5-10 lbs to get you well on your way to health and weight loss:

1. Only drink water as your beverage (with the occasional unsweetened tea or black coffee).

Eliminating all sugar drinks, “diet” drinks and sodas will automatically cause a dramatic weight loss.

Studies have shown, when all else is kept constant, people lose up to 10lbs just by giving up diet coke.

But it has no calories you say?

Equal (Aspartame) and all other artificial sweeteners like Splenda and Sweet and Low are toxins to your body and cause weight gain, even more so than sugar!

Squeeze fresh lemon in your water or make flavored herbal teas and cool them to make ice tea to make water drinking much easier.

Always consume ½ of your body weight in ounces of water per day to experience adequate hydration and weight loss (ex. If you weigh 150lbs, you must drink 75 ounces of water each day).

2. Eliminate the 4 white devils

White Flour, Refined Salt, White Sugar, and Dairy.

If you just stay away from these 4 things, you will automatically see a drastic drop in weight and will instantly feel more energetic throughout the day.

 Most people are well aware of the harmful effects of flour, refined salt and sugar but dairy?

Doesn’t it do a body good? Definitely not!

Dairy is one of the number 1 reasons people have such a hard time losing weight.

It causes inflammation in the body, digestive problems, clogged arteries, and weight gain. Get your calcium from leafy greens and avoid dairy at all costs.

When moms bring in their children to see me with weight and health problems one of the first things I do is take them off dairy. The results are miraculous!

Chronically sick kids are now automatically better. And those who have had such a hard time losing weight experience automatic weight loss without dairy.

3. Know exactly where to find the healthy food!

It is honestly just as easy to run in to the local supermarket and get a bag of carrots and some almonds as it is to run into a Quickie-Mart and buy some harmful processed food.

You can go absolutely anywhere now and find healthy eating options but you must know what you are looking for.

Stay away from most packaged foods as the label indicates more of a science experiment than anything that would be close to food. No one needs all of those toxins in their body. Labels should have 2 – 3 items, at most. And the best foods don’t have labels.

Don’t let time be your excuse. If you stop to eat 2-3 times per day and snack in between it is just as easy to find something healthy as it is to find something harmful.

Don’t let your body come to a shrieking halt before you decide to do anything about your weight and your health.

You know what will be a huge impediment on your time? If you or a family member becomes ill due to poor nutrition and lifestyle habits. So tackle the problem now before it really does begin to affect your time and your life!

 You can replace cars, homes and all material items, but you only get one body! Take good care of it.

Be well on your way to achieving your own Fat Loss and Health Goals with this healthy eating and weight loss plan.

Lean Muscle Fat Loss Mini Circuit Workouts

When it comes to fat loss, most people think cardio and dieting. Strength training is just an afterthought. Although hopefully you have been following my posts here and know better. But if you are skeptical.....

Strength training, can burn just as much, if not more, fat than cardio.

Why is it that people focus on cardio as they're primary fat burner?

For one thing cardio does shrink you down. But it does just that: it shrinks down both your fat and muscle. You end skinny and soft. But for a more athletic looking, lean and trim body we want to retain or gain lean muscle while burning fat.

Why?

A larger engine burns more fuel. Larger muscles burn more calories and more fat.

While cardio burns calories and fat when you're doing it, strength training has what is known as high EPOC or "Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption." This is a fancy term for saying how long your metabolism is elevated after exercise.

Studies show that a well-designed strength training program can elevate your EPOC or metabolism for up to 38 hours after your workout. In other words, you continue to burn calories long after strength training. Whereas once you stop cardio, the calorie burning stops as well.

Strength training coupled with diet and cardio burns fat far more than cardio and diet alone.

3 Points To Your Strength Training Workout

Superset between upper and lower body movements through "mini-circuits"

Focus on free weights, compound and multiple compound lifts, and use isolation movements only to bring up lagging parts

Train each body part 3 times a week, but lower the overall volume by spreading the sets and exercises throughout the week

Mini Circuits

This is where you alternate between an upper and lower body exercise.

Using mini-circuits gives you the powerful fat loss effect of circuit training but with the simplicity of using just 2 exercises.

A typical mini circuit uses a lower body exercise, such as the squat, coupled with pushups.

And as you should know we use compound movements (such as the power lifts) and multiple compound movements (such as the Olympic lifts), burn more calories.

The very fact that you have to use more muscles to stabilize the weight means that you stress and develop more muscle and burn more calories and fat as a result.

Below is a strength training/fat loss program that (coupled with diet and high intensity interval training) will get you leaner, more muscular and you'll be more energetic. Do this mini circuit workout 3 times a week.

Strength Training Fat Loss Mini Circuit Workouts

1A - Kettlebell Clean & Press

1B - Swings: 1 set, 20 reps, 60 seconds rest

2A - Hang Cleans

2B - Front Squats: 3 sets, 8-10 reps, 90 seconds rest

To perform this exercise, clean a barbell to your shoulders, perform a front squat, drop the bar to hang clean position and repeat till you achieve 8-10 reps

3A - Front Squats: 4 sets, 10-12 reps, no rest
3B - Pullups: 4 sets, as many reps as possible, 60-90 seconds rest

4A - Deadlifts: 3 sets, 10-12 reps, no rest
4B - Pushups: 3 sets, as many reps as possible, 60-90 seconds rest

These mini circuit training workouts are tough, but if you build a bigger engine, then you'll burn more fuel. Gain lean muscle burn more fat.

 

Mother's Day Fat Burning Workout

5 “Get Your Body Back After Baby” Training Tips

by Holly Rigsby

Yes, as Moms we ALL know what a miracle it is to bring a new life into this world. Our bodies have undergone some amazing changes to make this blessing possible. But now that your baby is here, the very next thing on your agenda is to get your body back!

Whether you’re a brand new mom dealing who is just getting cleared to train after delivery, or a mom who has been dealing with the rigors of parenthood and the time it absorbs for a while, I’ve got you covered—because at Fit Yummy Mummy, we help all moms. 

I know how it feels to be in the “post-preggers slow-mo” stage where it seems like the weight isn’t coming off.  And I also know what it’s like to chase my kids around and make sure they get to school and practices on time, leaving little time for me—especially for me to work out.

Moms are a special breed, because part of the job is that we constantly put our children and their needs ahead of ourselves, often neglecting our fitness and our bodies until we’re unhappy.

I want you to know that no matter what, you can have the body you want and become even better mom in the process, because you’ll have more energy, more focus, and a brighter mood.

5 Training Tips To Jump Start The Mother’s Day Fat Burning Workout.

1) WHEN TO START

Right Now!  If you’re a brand new mom, then as long as you did not experience complications or additional surgeries during delivery and are not under doctor’s orders to stay off your feet, you can get moving within the first week of giving birth.  

And if you’ve been a mom for a bit now, it’s time to start taking just a few minutes (as little as 15!) for yourself, and get in shape so you can have the energy to be the best mom you can be.

The “waiting game” is starting to fade out. This is especially true if you exercised throughout your pregnancy. Your body will actually CRAVE activity – I know mine did!

Even if your doctor gives you the standard “Do not exercise for six weeks” Rx, speak up! Show your doctor the list of exercises you want to do—and be specific!

Before you start however, here are some important safety tips.

• Listen to your Body. I cannot stress this enough. If at any time you feel discomfort, pain, light headedness, nausea or experience bleeding STOP immediately, do not try to push through it. Either take the time you need to recover and/or share this information with your Dr.
• Stay Hydrated. Drink plenty of water before, during and after you workout sessions, especially if you are breastfeeding
• Do not to overdo it. Doing too much too soon, jumping into rigorous activity, lifting heavy weights, will only lead to trouble. Your muscles and ligaments need time to recoup. They are overly flexible due to the hormones easily stretched so more prone to injury. Plus you risk burning yourself out. Chronic pain can result from premature sessions of running, stepping or weight lifting with misaligned posture and loose joints and ligaments.

 

2) WHAT YOU CAN DO

Pelvic floor and core activation exercises can be started as soon as possible after birth. Pelvic floor exercises such as Kegels should be started immediately, and can be done anywhere. 

These foundational exercises can hasten the restorative process, improve your posture, flatten your abdominal muscles, and prepare you to return to your favorite strength training routine. The sooner you start, the sooner your body responds.

Walking is a must and you can do this as soon as you feel comfortable to do so. I had Baby Alexander strapped to me in a carrier and was out the door one week after we came home from the hospital.

From here you will then ease into a full-body weight strength and intervals training program. As you regain strength and endurance and your body is responding positively to your workouts, you can then gradually begin to increase the intensity of your routine.

3) BATTLE OF THE ‘MOMMY BELLY’

The most common concern of new moms is how to get rid of the jelly belly! Many worry if a flatter, more toned tummy is even possible to achieve again.

 Yes it is.  As long as you follow an effective exercise program and a supportive nutrition plan, the process burning off the mommy belly fat is not as hard as you think.

If you consistently performed core strengthening exercises and worked out throughout your pregnancy, this process will be easier.

There are some great exercises you can do to bring your abdominal muscles back together, rebuild your core and help you regain a flat tummy…. just avoid jumping into intense exercise too soon, before your abdominal or pelvic floor muscles are ready.

As an additional tip only for new moms: avoid crunches! The traditional crunch is one of the worst exercises you can do after having a baby – especially if you have Diastasis Recti (abdominal separation). Crunches can actually increase the gap!

Plus crunches only target one of several ab muscles — primarily the Rectus Abdominus (your six pack muscles) which is one of the most overstretched muscle groups during pregnancy and your obliques.

These muscles easily overpower the weaker internal abdominal muscle (the Transverse Abdominus) during crunch-like exercises which can cause your abdominal wall to bulge out!

The secret to flattening your mommy belly after pregnancy is to train from the inside out. In addition to cleaning up what you eat, your focus must be on rebuilding strength and control of your Transverse Abdominus – your deepest core muscle.  This muscle compresses the abdominal wall, acts like a corset, draws the belly button closer to the spine and is the body’s most important core stabilizer.

Effective core exercises include…

The “drawing in” maneuver –  You can lie on your back, on your side or get on all fours – contract and hold your deep core muscles as you imagine drawing your belly button in toward your spine – and hold for count of 10 as you breathe.

Plank variations which are most effective when you perform sets of 10-second holds with a brief rest between sets instead of holding for 30-60+ seconds at a time.

 4) MAKE IT EASY TO EXERCISE

Okay, not easy…but make it convenient.  To make the most of your workout plan, set up a routine that you can stick to.

*** Consistency is KEY to your Success *** 

Make it easy on yourself and workout at home. Create a workout space in a convenient corner of your home. Have your equipment set up and ready to go, so whenever baby naps or is playing – you can grab a quick 10-15 minute workout.

Yes, 15 minutes is all you need when you are following an effective workout plan. As a busy mom – there’s just no time for hour long workouts; plus who has the energy!?

Thankfully, 15 minutes of the right type of exercise will make you feel amazing and give you more energy to get through the day no matter how exhausted you were to begin with.

 5) RESULTS

The final and most important tip when focusing on losing the post pregnancy weight….setting realistic goals. Believing that getting back to your pre-pregnancy shape will happen immediately is a surefire way to become frustrated, give up and settle for a “Mom Body”.

While many factors impact your results, including how much weight you gained, your diet before, during and after pregnancy, your exercise program and intensity, care available postpartum, etc. a realistic goal is about a pound a week.  

You may notice a huge difference in your body during the first two weeks after delivery, when you lose much of the accumulated pregnancy-related fluid.

After that, loss of fat stores is up to you which will gradually decrease over a period of four to six months as long as you follow through with consistency.

Putting it All Together

Now all that’s left is to tell you to get started! Waiting ….for the perfect time, when you have more energy, when you’ve lost some weight – all excuses. Putting off your workout plan now, makes it that much harder to get started later.

Easing back into your exercise routine will not only help get your body back—well for the women I work with, they get an even BETTER body back, doing so will only help to improve your mood and boost your energy levels.

No excuses! Here’s a special Fit Yummy Mummy workout to get you going today!

  Mother’s Day Fat Burning Workout

Your Fit Yummy Mummy workouts are performed super set style. This is an example of performing your workout 3 times through for each super set. (Note: You will complete each Super Set 1-4 times depending on your fitness and energy levels). You rotate between the two movements in each super set with little to no rest, allow a 60-90 second rest between each super set.

Be sure to include a warm up and cool down.

NOTE – The only equipment you need for this workout is a stability ball and a mat. The rest of your workout  will utilize your own body weight. If you do not have a stability ball you can perform the squat movement against the wall for support.

A1 Ball Wall Squat 10-12x
A2 Push Ups 6-8

B1 Prisoner Split Squat 6-8x each side
B2 Glute Raise March 8-10x each side

C1 Belly Blaster 10-12x
C2 Side Plank hold 30 sec each side

Get Going With The Fit Yummy Mummy Workouts

Fat Burning Workout for Women

The Best Fat Burning Workout Program for Women

If you want to burn fat, lose cellulite, and shed inches of fat from your thighs, then you need to discover the fat burning resistance training and interval training secrets of the world's slimmest women. These fast fat loss workouts will help you get in and out of the gym whether it's your home gym or whether it's a commercial gym. You get your workout done in 45 minutes.

Each fat burning workout program starts with a body weight warm up and then we do strength training, whether it is body weight training or dumbbells. Or sometimes we use barbells but most women that I work with train at home so we just use dumbbells and body weight. Then we finish with 25 minutes of interval training.

Women must use the most efficient and effective training methods. The stuff that gets you the most results in the least amount of time. So we are not doing long, slow cardio sessions and we're not doing 5 or 6 day per week body building training programs.

When it comes to strength training it's a very important thing to include in a fat burning workout program. Even if you only did, had time to do one set of an exercise, it's not like you did 3 sets of an exercise you get 3 times the results. That one set done with proper intensity is going to give you a lot of results.

That's where a lot of women get upset and confused, because they think, "If I've only got twenty minutes to exercise what's the point of me doing strength training? I'll just go and do twenty minutes of slow cardio." But you're not really getting anywhere that way. That's not the best fat burning workout program for women.

On the other hand, resistance training and interval training apply a stimulus (which I call "turbulence") to the muscle and help you burn fat after the workouts. Consider this analogy about the turbulence in a fat burning workout program and in a flight on an airplane.

I thought of this analogy on an airplane, realizing that an airplane has to expend a lot of energy to return to its normal flight pattern after it goes through turbulence. That is basically what the body is doing. We put the body in turbulence with our training in fat burning workouts and our body has to expend a lot of energy to replace the energy burnt during exercise and repair the muscle damage.

Because your body wants to be in what's called homeostasis or basically a steady state, it doesn't like to get put out of its normal state and when it does, it has to expend this energy to get back into it. That's why turbulence helps you burn fat.

One of the big lessons I like to give women is to avoid getting hung up on that calorie counter on the cardio machine when choosing fat burning workout programs.

Calorie counters are not accurate. In fact, CBS News did a segment on the accuracy of cardio machine calorie counters and found they are not even that accurate.

Second of all it doesn't really matter how many calories you burn in a training session. What really matters is how many calories you burn in a 24 hour period. By burning calories in a short amount of workout time with a higher intensity workout, you end up burning more calories in a 24 hour period, even though you don't burn as many on a machine calorie counter during your actual workout.

In your life and in your fat burning workouts, you must look at the big picture. Look beyond what is happening in minute by minute increments. Looking at how many calories are burned in a workout is literally looking at the small picture. Looking at your 24 hour metabolism is looking at the big picture. That's where you're going to see the benefits of the fat burning workout programs.