TweetIf you've ever wondered why you can't drop weight
even though you do cardio all the time...you're
in for some intriguing info.

A lot of people have succumbed to the practice of
doing more cardio, more cardio and even more cardio.

All without the correlating fat loss they were
hoping for.

There's a reason their fat loss wasn't proportionate
to the exercise duration. It has to do with three main
contributors that involve calories.

Here's why long steady state aerobic activity
is inferior to an interval based approach.

1) Calories burned during exercise.

You'll simply burn more calories from performing at
a higher exertion level.

Intervals typically incorporate an effort level above
80% with a recovery period below 30%. Basically,
work at 80% or more of your effort level for a
particular exercise, then back it off to around 30%.

Keep alternating high/low.

This approach to cardio was promoted heavily in
the Body For Life program and for good reason,
it flat out works.

You're probably saying...ok, burn more calories by
working harder. That's pretty obvious.

BUT....

This is the not so obvious part.

2) Calories burned after exercise

An interval approach to cardio has been shown to
increase post exercise caloric expenditure for up
to 24-48 hours. Long duration hasn't.

How would you like to burn more calories over the
next 24 hrs just by changing the type of cardio
you perform?

Your arm should now be raised above your head :-)

and

3) Long duration cardio decreases muscle mass.

When that happens, you burn fewer calories all
day long. The less muscle you have the fewer
calories you burn. The more you have, the faster
your metabolism becomes.

Shorter intervals of cardio actually promote lean
muscle mass whereas long duration produces
hormones that tear down your muscle tissue...again,
not a favorable action if fat loss is your goal.

Now don't take this the wrong way and think you're
going to get "Schwarzenegger" muscles.

Won't happen!

By putting your body in the most optimal situation to
lose fat, you're actually promoting an environment for
your body to preserve and potentially build lean muscle
mass. Which is a good thing!

Ok, enough about cardio.

Let's talk about five fundamentals you need to adhere to
in order to realize your fat loss goals.

Contributing to these five are some world renown
fitness and nutrition experts by the names of
John Berardi, Alwyn Cosgrove and Craig Ballantyne.
These guys are major players in the world of fat
loss.

Here we go with our five "must do" fundamentals.....

1) You fail to consider the consequences of
your actions!

Either your food and exercise choices get you one
step closer to your fat loss goals or they don't. You
need to place either a positive or negative action on
your choices. Once you get this down, you'll be
heading in the right direction at record pace.

2) Control your blood sugar levels.

High blood sugar levels trigger your body to store
fat! Plain as day. To keep them under control,
eat every 2-4 hours, limit starchy carbs like potato,
oatmeal, whole grain bread, whole wheat pasta to only
the 2-3 hours after you exercise.

At this time, you're body needs sugar to restore and
recover from your exercise program. Other times,
they're really not needed.

3) Eat more fruits and vegetables!

As Americans, we eat very few. Some studies show
less than 1% of us gets 5 servings per day. WOW!

Low sugar fruits like berries, oranges, apples and
plums eaten in moderation are important. Forget
the people who say fruit is bad. Anything consumed
over and above what is necessary isn't good. So
eat a small piece of fruit with some of your daily
meals....preferably early in the day as fruit does
contain natural sugars.

I could go on and on about the benefits of vegetables,
so I'll save it and just tell you to get some with every
meal.

They balance your bodies acidity level, increase your
metabolism and provide lots of vitamins, minerals,
anti-oxidants, fiber, phytochemicals, and other micro-nutrients.

Enough said.

4) Exercise with some intensity.

A Harvard study showed that intense exercise
reduced death rates whereas low intensity exercise
had little to no effect.

Although your probably not directly concerned with
that right now, the results you'll achieve from upping
up your exercise intensity will be profound. Stop
counting crossword puzzles as your daily exercise and
exert yourself. :-)

You just might be surprised how much you like the results!

5) Cover your nutritional bases.

Your fat loss efforts may be affected by your
nutritional inadequacies. In order to maximize
your efforts, make sure those nutritional gaps
are filled.

Take a multi vitamin/mineral a couple times per
day. Water soluble vitamins are flushed out of
your system if not utilized so take one in the
morning and again later in the day.

Nothing mega dosage level...just normal RDA amounts.

Essential fats. It's estimated that over 80% of
Americans are deficient. A study done in Ontario,
Canada concluded that by supplementing with
essential fats, individuals can raise their
metabolism by up to 400 additional calories burned
per day!!

There are many benefits to taking essential fats.

You can do your research, but not taking them
will have a negative impact on your fat loss.

Protein. If you can't get the optimal levels in each
day, then use a quality protein blend. Use it in
shakes or in your oatmeal. Either way, you need
to get a good portion at each meal.

It not only helps stabilize your blood sugar, but
assists in repairing your bodies many tissues in
addition to the many other important hormonal roles
it plays.

There's a couple others, but these are the "players".

Here's what I want you to take from this article.....

1) Exercise Intensely with Weights

2) Perform cardio intervals equally as much as
your longer cardio days.

3) Eat every 2-4 hours

4) Up your fruits and vegetables

5) Limit "starchy" carbs to the 2-3 hours after
exercise only. Limit them in the evening, even if
it's after exercise.

6) Implement consequences for your poor actions and
reinforcing ones for your positive actions. Build that connection.

7) Cover your nutritional bases with just a few supplements

These are core to any successful fat loss
program. Do these 90% of the time or more
and you'll accomplish your fat loss goals!



Originally posted by: Ironpumpedlady

TweetIt's amazing that still even today with all the knowledge people have access to, they still don't practice these simple fundamentals!!


Stay Strong~~!!!
IPL