Muscle Recovery: Contrast Therapy

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

*Sorry this took so long to post. It’s been crazy lately with my Mom’s cancer (which is now completely gone as far as we know – confirmation in about a week when she goes back for her check up – and she’s not taking painkillers and she’s doing really well now) but I’ve got a day off, so I can finally finish writing this (it’s been a half completed draft for what seems like forever!)

This short series on muscle recovery is getting awesome. It’s already getting some attention from Google and people are learning how to recover faster and reduce pain through the simple techniques I’ve provided.

My most popular post in the series so far has been the one on self myofascial release, so you might want to check that one out (and if you leave a comment I’ll post a part two with some more in-depth tips on SMR).

Now let’s move onto contrast therapy. The most common form of contrast therapy is…

Contrast Hydrotherapy

This can be done with baths or with a shower (my preferred method because it’s more convenient). The goal here is to switch between hot & cold water. We all know that both heat & cold are used for therapy, but combining them is even more effective – and doesn’t have to add any time to your training.

Let’s assume you shower after exercise/working out (please don’t tell me if you don’t). If you’re working hard enough to worry about muscle recovery, you’re probably going to need a shower. So naturally, you’ll have a shower afterwards.

This is the perfect time to do some contrast hydrotherapy. There are multiple ways to do it, and I recommend trying each of them to see what works best for you. You can do a 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3 cold:hot ratio.

Always start & end with cold water for best results. Not only is this good for muscle recovery, it’s also good for fat burning (nifty side bonus) and it’s good for your hair (I’m the kind of person who shaves my head instead of doing my hair, so I’m not sure why I know that or care about that…).

Personally, I find a 1:3 ratio works well for me. So I start with 15 seconds of cold water, then 45 seconds of hot water. You can do it with longer periods as well, I just like short showers so doing 1 minute of cold & 3 of hot takes too long – especially since you should go through at least 3 cycles of cold/hot.

Big Tip: Keep moving – especially during the cold treatment. Moving keeps your blood flowing and will help the recovery just that much more.

In summary:

Figure out whether 1:1, 1:2 or 1:3 ratio works best for you

Choose how long the cycles are going to be (mainly depending on how sore you are & how long you want to shower for)

Always start & end with cold

Keep moving!

This is probably my favorite recovery technique because it takes up no extra time in my day and it’s so simple!

Try it out and let me know how it works for you.

Shawn Horwood

P.S. I’ve got some really cool stuff planned, but I’m still helping take care of my mom since she’s not supposed to do much while she’s recovering from cancer surgery, but come August I’ll be doing some really cool stuff – including aiming to get rid of my own fat that I’ve been letting accumulate so I’ll let you follow along on my progress.

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Musce Recovery: Icing/Cryotherapy

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

In my last post on muscle recovery, I talked about self myofascial release and how you can use it to help your muscles recover more quickly. Today, I’m going to briefly discuss one of the most old school techniques for recovery – ice!

Cryotherapy is essentially therapy involving low temperatures. It’s often used to refer to the freezing of warts with liquid nitrogen and similar processes, but the term includes icing your muscles and joints.

It’s very simple to perform cryotherapy for muscle recovery. Simply freeze a full water bottle upright (to avoid air pockets) and use it as you would a foam roller. I briefly mentioned this in my post on SMR – which is linked to above.

Spend at least 5 minutes on each area you want to ice. I recommend 10 minutes or even longer if you need it, but 5 is the minimum or you might as well not bother icing.

Then there’s the “old school” methods that work great, and that’s your basic icing techniques. Get a bag of ice, frozen peas or corn or something that is frozen but still flexible, or a water bottle.

Ice the area for about 30 minutes, then remove for the same period of time and repeat as necessary. If you’ve got multiple areas that need icing, ice one area for 30 minutes, then the other, then back to the first so you’re getting one iced while the other is warming back up.

I could try to drag this on, but there’s not much else you can do with ice (there’s one more thing I know of, but that’s the next post). So today’s post is a bit short, but it’ll help you recover faster – so use it!

Shawn Horwood

Questions? There’s a nice comment area below for those. I’d be happy to help in any way I can!

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Muscle Recovery: Self Myofascial Release

Posted on June 1, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

After my post on fitness definitions, I thought it would be good if I posted some information on a few of the terms I described. I figured a good started point would be SMR or self myofascial release as it’s a great recovery technique.

SMR is most often done with a foam roller, but it can also be done with golf balls, a tennis or lacrosse ball, some PVC pipe with insulation around it, The Stick or even a frozen waterbottle.

The goal with SMR is to release knots and relax muscles and stimulate the stretch reflex so you can recover faster and reduce pain while increasing mobility after workouts.

How do you perform SMR?

The basic movement is just putting the foam roller, ball or whatever you’re using under/against the muscle you want to work on. The goal is to create pressure against the muscle with whatever SMR tool you’re using, and then roll it around that muscle group. If you find a particularly tight area, spend extra time on that area of the muscle group.

In general you simply roll around the muscle until you find a “tender” area, then focus on that area for 1-2 minutes and move onto the next area.

You can perform SMR on all the major muscle groups and many of the smaller ones fairly easily. There’s no “right” way to do it (despite what some experts may tell you), so play around with it a little bit.

If you find you need to spend more or less time than recommended, then that’s great. It’s just a guideline. If you’re watching videos on Youtube that tell you to do it a certain way and it doesn’t work for you, then try to find a way that does. (If it does work then great!).

Here are a few techniques for performing SMR on your feet:

With a lacrosse or tennis ball, roll it around under your foot while focusing on the tender spots. Make sure you don’t just do the bottom of the foot, but also the inside and outside. This can also be done with a frozen waterbottle, which will effectively ice your foot while doing SMR. (For the frozen water bottle to be really effective you need to spend at least 5 minutes/foot)

You can also perform SMR with golf balls. Get a bunch of golf balls (you don’t need good ones) and place them on a piece of foam or a pillow or if you live in an old house on shag carpet (if anybody still has that stuff…I don’t think people like being able to lose their keys and wallet in their carpet).

Place the golf balls on your choice of foamy surface and step on them. Then just “march” on the golf balls for a minute or two. The amount of golf balls you need will depend on the size of your feet.

When to Perform SMR

The most common time to use self myofascial release techniqes is post-workout. Right after you’ve abused your body and it’s begging you to be nice. It’s a great for reducing the pain from your workouts (which is great because who likes living in pain?) and can even be done on your off days to keep your muscle soreness down.

Some people do it on a daily basis, I simply do it whenever I feel like I need it. I’m not currently competing in anything so I don’t need to be in peak condition, and therefore I see no need to do it daily. However, if you are in competitive sports or your job requires you to be in the best shape you can be in at all times (like a firefighter), I recommend doing SMR daily or at least 3-4 times/week.

And that is basically all there is to SMR. There are a number of ways you can do it, so play around with it!

Shawn Horwood

Got questions? Leave a comment below!

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Fitness Definitions

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

I realized today that in the fitness industry a lot of terms are used that may not be understood by a person who has not devoted many hours each week to studying fitness. I still come across terms I don’t understand.

So just for you, I’ve decided to put together a list of terms that may notbe understood by everyone. And each time I come across a term I don’t know, I’ll look it up and add it to this list (feel free to let me know what you don’t understand so I can keep this list awesome).

You may already know a lot of these terms, or you may think some are self explanatory, but I’m providing them to make sure I cover everything.

A

Aerobic Exercise – Continuous, light intensity exercise that lasts at least 10 minutes, increasing the body’s need for oxygen

Anaerobic Exercise – High intensity exercise that lasts a short period of time where the body’s demand for oxygen exceeds the oxygen supply due to exercise

ART – Active release technique (a form of soft tissue massage)

C

Contrasting – Switching from one thing an opposite or something very different

Core – The muscle group consisting of the abdominals, obliques & lower back

Cryotherapy – Use of low temperatures for medical therapy (such as applying ice to a body part to reduce  inflammation & decrease pain)

D

Dynamic Stretch – Movement based stretches

E

Ectomorph – The body shape of a “skinny guy” or “hardgainer” with narrow shoulders, chest & long, thin muscles

Endomorph – The body shape of the average person with a short neck, round face and excessive fat stores

F

Flexibility – The measure of the range of motion at a particular joint

Foam Roller – Recovery tool used for SMR via rolling on it to release tension in the muscles

H

Hyperextension – The movement/extension of muscles, joints or tendons past the normal range of motion

Hyperplasia – The formation of new cells (muscle hyperplasia refers to the formation of new muscle cells)

Hypertrophy – The increase in size of cells (muscle hypertrophy refers to the increase in size of muscle cells)

I

Interval Training – The use of short bursts of high intensity exercises separated by short rest periods

Isometric Exercise – Isometric exercises are done in static positions such as a hang or plank

Isotonic Exercise – Isotonic exercises are exercises performed at a constant speed

M

Max VO2/VO2 Max – The maximum capacity of an individual’s body to use oxygen during incremental exercise. It is commonly used to compare the performance of endurance athletes

Mesomorph – The body shape of a typical jock with a significant amount of muscle

Mobility – Flexibility when in motion (most people are not nearly as mobile as they are flexible)

P

Plateau – The “flattening out” of fitness progress due to

Prone – Lying down face down

R

Rep – A repition of an exercise in a set. 5 reps means do the exercise 5 times in that set

ROM – Range of Motion. How far you can move a joint, tendon or muscle without causing injury or pain

S

Set – A unit of measurement containing a certain number or repititions of an exercise

SMR – Self Myofascial Release is used to relax contracted muscles, increase circulation and stimulate the stretch reflex of muscles in order to reduce pain and increase mobility. It is most often done with a foam roller, tennis or lacrosse ball & golf balls. More advanced SMR is also done with PVC pipe.

Static Stretch – Performing a stationary stretch and holding it for time

Superset – Combining multiple exercises in one set with a certain number of repititions for each & no reps between

Supine – Lying down face up

W

Warm Down – Light exercises performed in order to push blood through the muscles to aid recovery post workout

Warm Up – Preparing the body for exercise

Hope that helps! Feel free to leave a comment asking me about any definitions you don’t know.

Shawn Horwood

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How to Cut Your Workout in Half and Lose More Fat

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

by Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS (with comments from Shawn Horwood)

My comments will be italicized so it’s easy to tell what Craig is saying and what I’m saying. In this article Craig compares interval training (the basis of his Turbulence Training workouts) to standard cardio.

Typically people go to the gym and run on the treadmill or do some other kind of cardio for an hour or more to burn fat, and often after a year they’re in no better shape than they were before. And as Craig mentions in this article, who the heck has time to spend an hour or more working out for miniscule results?

The #1 reason for not working out is a lack of time.

If you get up at 5:30am to drive an hour to work, only to get home at 6pm and then have to launch right into carting the kids around, who can blame you for not working out? Not when it takes 45 minutes to do cardio, and another 30-45 minutes for isolation bodybuilding workouts.

If that’s the way you have to exercise to lose fat, then practically no normal person is going to be able to pull that off.

But when you look at the science, you’ll see that you can get more results in less time. You just have to increase the intensity of the workout, but at the same time, you can cut your workout time in half (or more!).

I am convinced that an effective fat loss workout can be done in 45 minutes or less, and that long, slow, excruciatingly boring cardio is not necessary for you to get the body you want. Please, read on…

In last week’s newsletter, I spoke about the 3 biggest training mistakes as well as my top 3 training tips to help you get more results in less time. Here I go into detail on the superiority of interval training when compared to traditional aerobic exercise:

Q: What is the role of interval training vs. steady state aerobics in a fat loss program?

Answer:
Interval training is more important than cardio. First of all, it gets more results in less time. And with “lack of time” being the number one reason most people do not participate in a training program at all, clearly intervals are the winner here.

Now let’s just assume that lack of time is not a problem. Well, interval training is still more effective because it applies more “turbulence” to the muscle. Or in scientific terms, interval training results in a greater metabolic stress on the muscle.

And that causes more calories to be burned in the important 23.5 hours per day when you are not exercising.

In reality you should be exercising throughout the day. Walking is considered exercise, so hopefully you’re getting some of that done and not just sitting on your butt all day and ten working out for half an hour.

From there, the muscle must work to recover, repair, and replenish the energy that was used in the training. It is much more metabolic work for the muscle to recover from interval training (and strength training) than it is to recover from aerobic training.

Therefore, in the post-exercise period, interval training results in more calories burned.

In fact, I just read a new study from Australia that shows interval training is superior to slow cardio for fat loss.

I’ve noticed Craig likes to read a lot of research – and apparently Australia’s been doing some interesting research on interval training and fat loss.

The researchers, Trapp & Boutcher put WOMEN through a 15 week study where one group was a control, one group did intervals (20 minutes of alternating sprints and recovery), and one group did 40 minutes of slow cardio.

The interval group lost 2.5kg of fat in 15 weeks on average (with one subject losing 7.7kg of fat), while the slow cardio group lost only 0.4kg of fat over 15 weeks on average.

The results speak for themselves.

So don’t get hung up on how many calories are burned during a training session with aerobic training. That is not nearly as important as how many total calories your body burns over the course of the day – and you will burn more with interval training.

And for those that subscribe to the fat burning zone as being important, again, you aren’t looking at the big picture (the 24-hour calorie burning period). Instead, those that believe in the importance of the fat-burning zone have a myopic view of how the body works.

The same message applies to those people that live and die by the cardio on an empty stomach method. You’re “nickel and dime-ing” the fat loss process, when really it’s a much bigger budget to balance.

Look at the big picture. Get your nutrition in order, then focus your workouts on brief, intense strength and interval training workouts that increase your metabolism for the next 24 hours.

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training & the Nutrition Guide here: www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
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

Takeaways from this article:

1. Interval training workouts are shorter than standard cardio sessions and are great for burning fat

2. Slow, boring cardio is boring and it sucks…but interval training is fun and doesn’t suck. (Highly technical, I know).

3. As Craig says at the end of the article, get your nutrition in order then get your butt in gear and do some high intensity training and watch your body transform.

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Cheap Old School Supplement That Burns Fat Fast

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

by Jeff “The Muscle Nerd” Anderson (with comments from Shawn Horwood)

My comments will be italicized so it’s easy to tell what Jeff is saying and what I’m saying. If you’ve read much of my stuff you probably know that I don’t take supplements. I have a pretty active & healthy lifestyle, and I don’t find the need for supplements as I’m not looking for that extra “edge”.

However, that doesn’t mean I don’t approve of them. In fact, some supplements are quite effective, and if you struggle with getting/keeping your body at the level you want it, you might want to look into taking some effective supplements (not the hyped up garbage that most people buy).

Jeff is a guy who really knows what supplements work and which ones don’t, so let’s hear his supplement recommendation.

All but lost is a little-known “Old School” supplement that used to be one of pro bodybuilding’s Top Gun supplements for when competitors were trying to shed crazy amounts of body fat, but needed to hold on to as much muscle as possible.

Why haven’t you heard of it as often?

Well quite frankly, over the years, individual supplements just haven’t been as “sexy” as the high priced “breakthrough formulas” being marketed…and not as profitable for the supplement companies!

So what is this amazing (yet boring) supplement that can dramatically increase fat-burning while helping keep the muscle mass you’ve worked so hard for?

It’s called “Medium Chain Triglycerides” (MCT’s) and it’s one of those supplements that has been PROVEN to work!

MCT’s most often come in the form of an oil (either by itself in supplement form or in coconut oil) and is itself a FAT…

…a fat that actually BURNS FAT!

You see, MCT’s are digested differently than other fats.

For one, they CANNOT trigger fat storage no matter how much you take!

Weird…but TRUE!

Also, they produce a LOT of energy and are burned very quickly, thereby saving your muscles from being broken down for fuel during cycles of intense training.

I suggest using the complete formula in “Homemade Supplements” first because I show you how to use it in combination with a few other cheap supplements to create a KILLER personal supplement you can make yourself!

(You can learn how to make your own supplements at www.HomemadeSupplementSecrets.com)

However, you can also take a tablespoon by itself during dieting cycles when you need extra energy but don’t want to increase your calories.

The best times are immediately upon waking or about 20-30 minutes before weight training.

Give this “lost supplement” a try if your goal is to burn body fat while you’re still training with weights.

It’s a VERY powerful addition to your supplement program that won’t cost you a kidney!

Jeff’s Homemade Supplement Secrets is a great program that shows you how to make your own supplements VERY cheaply. If you are currently taking supplements or you are looking into taking supplements and don’t like wasting your money you should check out www.HomemadeSupplementSecrets.com

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Top 7 Weight Loss Mistakes

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

by Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS (with comments from Shawn Horwood)

My comments will be italicized so it’s easy to tell what Craig is saying and what I’m saying.

Seven Mistakes People Make When Trying to Lose Fat

1. They fail to consider the consequences of their actions.

Alwyn Cosgrove (one of the top trainers in the business) once told me, “I get my clients to think, “Will this help me or not? Is this a positive step or not?” If you can see that every action that you take is either helping you lose fat or stopping you from losing fat, then you will start to make better choices. So remember that everything you put in your mouth is either for or against fat loss. And every exercise choice you make is either for or against fat loss. “Get that”, Alwyn says, “and you’re a hit.”

Alwyn is one of the top trainers in the business and is definitely a guy to listen to. His advice is incredible, as you can see from the statement Craig has provided. The concept of understanding that you are either moving towards your goals or away from them is beneficial in all areas of life, not just your health.

2. They neglect to control their insulin and blood sugar levels – 2 key factors in determining whether or not the body fat will come off.

If you eat processed foods you are guaranteed to elevate your insulin & blood sugar levels. If you do that, your body sends the message, “Store fat!”, and you won’t make any progress. So avoid white-flour based bakery products, sugary drinks, and almost any carbohydrate snack that comes in a bag or a box.

This is basic nutrition advice that SO many people ignore. Ditch the processed garbage and start eating some real food and you’ll find it much easier to get and stay healthy.

3. They train like it’s the 80’s.

Yes, I know. Eighties music is popular again. But that doesn’t mean ineffective training methods from the 80’s like light weights, low intensity steady state cardio, and endless low-intensity ab work should also make a comeback. That type of training should stay buried in the back issues of cheesy muscle magazines. Stick to strength training and interval training for efficient and effective body changing routines.

Whenever I see someone lifting light weights I am saddened because they seem to think that 10,000 repetitions will build massive muscle or something. Like the guys who think they have great abs because they do 1,000 crunches/day. Look at Craig’s abs (they’re way better than anyone I’ve seen who does hundreds of crunches) - and he’s totally anti-crunch/situp!

4. They don’t take 30 minutes to plan their next day’s food intake.

If you fail to do this, you will set your fat loss efforts back by a minimum of 72 hours. Without a good meal plan, you are left to hunt and gather food in the modern world. And that’s a recipe for fat loss disaster. You are bound to eat something processed if you aren’t prepared. You will lose the fat burning benefits from yesterday’s workout and it will take until the end of the following day to get back on track. An entire 72-hour period wasted.

I admit that this is not one of my strong suits. I never plan my meals ahead – I just figure it out as I go most of the time. However, I don’t buy processed foods when I am grocery shopping so when I get hungry I usually find something good to eat.

5. They don’t eat enough vegetables.

We can thank John Berardi for making it common knowledge that you should eat fibrous vegetables at every meal to assist your fat loss efforts. By doing so, you’ll control your blood sugar and insulin – thus supporting the optimal hormonal situation for fat loss.

Controlling insulin levels is very important as insulin causes you to store fat. This is why one of the symptoms of diabetes is rapid weight loss because of the lack of insulin. I’ve actually joked that people should just become diabetic and not take their insulin and they’ll lose weight. Death also causes you to lose weight, and it’s about as desirable as diabetes.

6. They screw up their hormones with poor lifestyle choices.

If you are out boozing and staying up late on the weekend, you are shutting down your fat loss and messing up the optimal hormonal environment for fat burning. I will talk a lot more about the optimal hormonal levels for fat loss, as I believe this is the underrated key to building your best body ever.

Just to be clear, if you have a beer once in a while it ain’t gonna kill you. However, getting drunk every weekend (actually getting drunk at all) is not healthy and not condusive to fat loss.

7. They don’t plan and monitor their training sessions.

If you are still going to the gym without a plan, then you are going to have a hard time losing fat. And if you aren’t recording your workouts and eating habits, then you aren’t losing as much fat as you probably can. To fix this mistake, start by getting on track with strength training and interval training. It’s guaranteed to get you lean.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Enough said.

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

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How to Burn More Belly Fat During Exercise

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

by Jeff “The Muscle Nerd” Anderson (with comments from Shawn Horwood)

My comments will be italicized so it’s easy to tell what Jeff is saying and what I’m saying. This article from Jeff is not the type of article I usually like to share, as it contains more “theory” than fact. However, I thought I’d post this article for two reasons.

First, I don’t mind a little theory here and there, as long as 90-95% of what I do is based on fact and second – I disagree with a few things Jeff says in this article so I thought it would be interesting for you to see what he thinks and why I disagree.

Much research has been done into the seemingly impossible task of “spot reduction” of body fat.

You know…like how to burn fat directly off of your belly WITHOUT taking away from the butt you’re so proud of.

While experts have claimed that there’s no way to “spot reduce” where you’re able to take of the fat, recent studies are showing that it may in fact be possible.

For example, scientists have studied exactly WHERE fat is burned from in order to fuel certain activities.

It seems that there may be a unique connection where the fat cells in the location of the muscles being exercised may actually provide the bulk of the long term fuel for your training.

This is NOT definitive yet, but it holds promise.

It also supports my theory (and again, this is ONLY my theory!) that your MIND-MUSCLE CONNECTION plays a STRONG role in how much, and WHERE you can burn fat.

In this article, I reveal a unique tip that I use to increase the “mind-muscle” connection to (again, in theory) burn more belly fat from your training by implementing a crazy “cardio fat blaster”…

The above is all Jeff’s theory, and he admits it’s not proven so I have no argument with what he has said so far, but in a moment I’ll be disagreeing with what says so keep reading…

How To Burn More Belly Fat During Exercise

1. First, if you have my best-selling “Combat The Fat” program (www.CombattheFat.com), you know that I’m a HUGE supporter of LOW intensity cardio as a fat-burner.

Sure, you can get your panties all in a wad while you preach to me about how HIGH intensity is better, but I lay out the FACTS in my book and the men and women who have used CTF know the real deal.

Anyhoo, I digress…

Hold up a second. I’ve gone through Jeff’s Combat the Fat (it’s awesome) and seen the research proving that low intensity is more effective as a fat burner. I’ve also seen the research Craig Ballantyne shows proving that Turbulence Training style workouts are highly effective. My conclusion – both work and it’s more about what suits your lifestyle. CTF & TT workouts are completely contradictory, but both are effective.

2. For this exercise session, you’ll do a quick, low effort warmup of about 5 minutes on a treadmill, bike, or other exercise equipment.

You can also do a quick mobility routine similar to one of the ones I use as they get your blood flowing and your body moving while reducing injuries & aiding recovery.

3. Next, do a set of WEIGHTED CRUNCHES until failure. Just one single set.

I HATE crunches. And situps. I know Jeff’s stuff is based on military training and the military uses them, but I still hate them and don’t recommend them. There are much better ab exercises you can do.

Instead of crunches I recommend a weighted plank. Hold the plank until failure being sure to keep your body in a straight line.

4. Now, go and do a 10 minute LOW INTENSITY cardio activity that uses primarily either an upper body or lower body movement (e.g. – Rowing machine/jumping rope primarily works upper body while jogging, bike, works lower)

5. When 10 minutes are up, do one set of HANGING LEG RAISES (with your legs straight) to failure and then go on to your 2nd 10-minute bout of low intensity cardio using the opposite area of your body as your last set.

(i.e. – if you jumped rope in your last cardio round, switch to an exercise like jogging on the treadmill this time.)

6. When done, do a single set to failure of HANGING ROTATIONAL KNEE RAISES…then on to your 3rd round of cardio using the opposite half of your body.

And so it goes on, switching back and forth between an abs exercise and low intensity cardio.

For your follow up abs exercises, I suggest (in order)…

=> Hanging Knee Raises

=> Either crunches or V-ups

Again, I don’t recommend crunches or V-ups. Instead use the plank exercise or jack-knife respectively.

As you can see, we slowly decrease the intensity of the abs exercise choices with each set as you get closer to the end of your workout.

But in essence, by training your abs throughout your cardio session, you send a “message” to your body WHERE you want all that fat-burning cardio to do most of it’s work.

You may think I’m crazy, but give it a try and see if it doesn’t make a difference in where your measurements start reflecting results!

I highly recommend checking out Jeff’s research and workout strategies that he presents in Combat the Fat. He covers all aspects of fat loss, not just workouts or nutrition, so I if you want a complete program for getting rid of fat, take a look at Combat the Fat.

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Do Low Carb Diets Work Best for Burning Fat?

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

by Jeff “The Muscle Nerd” Anderson (with comments from Shawn Horwood)

My comments will be italicized so it’s easy to tell what Jeff is saying and what I’m saying. I know low carb diets are pretty popular, and a lot of people claim that it’s the carbs that are causing you to be fat and it has nothing to do with the rest of your diet.

I’ve even heard people say that all you have to do is cut out carbs after 4:00 and you’ll lose weight like crazy. I personally think it’s crazy to even suggest that all your problems lie in one type of food that isn’t even inherently bad and is even necessary for certain functions.

Jeff did a small experiment on himself to see what would happen if he cut out carbs, so listen as he tells you what happened to him.

Do “low carb” diets burn fat?

In a word?

YES!

A recent look at 87 long term studies have proven that when it comes to burning body fat, reducing your carb intake DOES work best.

BUT…

“Low carb” diets can be VERY frustrating for most people and hard to stick to.

As an experiment last year, I went 10 full days with ZERO carbohydrates.

I mean, not even a blade of GRASS in my diet…straight protein…not a single carb or gram of fat in sight.

I went INSANE!

No, I don’t mean that “figuratively”…I mean I LITERALLY went INSANE!

I went from near sobbing fits over my computer not working properly to hysterical laughter at the thought of even undertaking such an experiment.

I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t sound like a state I would want to be in…though it could be fun seeing other people in this state.

You see, your brain NEEDS carbs just to function properly so doing without any at all was an extreme example of how your body does need to get some carbs to function.

So how can you burn fat using low carb diet plan WITHOUT worrying about whether you’ll be fitted for a straight jacket?

Well here’s what I tell my clients of my “Combat The Fat” program (www.CombattheFat.com) to allow them to easily burn fat and still enjoy carbohydrates…

…limit your intake of “dry” carbs and fill up on “wet” Carbs!

This is a little twist I’ve created that allows you to EASILY reduce the WRONG kind of carbs WITHOUT counting calories and NEVER going hungry.

You see, you need more carbs on training days to help your muscles recover from your exercise. Therefore, you can consume 2-4 servings of “Dry Carbs” on those days (like oatmeal, pasta, bread, etc.)

“Wet Carbs” include most vegetables and fruits and don’t contain a lot of carbs so you can eat MUCH more of these each day.

Use them as “fillers” in your diet to keep from getting hungry and helping you avoid the real culprits…those “dry carbs”.

I know this is a very different way of looking at the food you eat and doesn’t really follow the normal “low carb” pattern.

But it’s a glimpse of the way that I’VE structured the RIGHT way to use “low carb” to lose weight and forms one of the foundations of my daily eating guidelines within Combat The Fat (www.CombattheFat.com).

Jeff’s nutrition plan in Combat the Fat is really effective and keeps you away from counting calories and being hungry. It’s all about adapting your lifestyle and the way you look at eating so it’s not a chore and you actually enjoy eating.

Takeaways from this article:

1. If you completely cut out carbs you will literally go insane. If you don’t mind having huge emotional mood swings for no reason at all (and you’re a hermit and don’t ever see anyone) then I guess you could completely cut out carbs to lose fat fairly quickly.

2. Just cut down on the “dry carbs” and eat lots of “wet carbs” and you won’t have to worry about your carbs anymore. But remember on training days and any time you’re doing extended exercise (especially things like a marathon) carbs are necessary and you should make sure you are getting enough of them for your body to handle your training.

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Why Cardio Doesn’t Work For Fat Loss

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Shawn Horwood

by Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS (with comments from Shawn Horwod)

www.TurbulenceTraining.com

My comments will be italicized so it’s easy to tell what Craig is saying and what I’m saying. This article is basically Craig’s training motto – cardio doesn’t work. I never realised it when I was living in rural Alberta, but in the city I see it all the time; people are out walking their dogs or doing long, light jogs to get in better shape.

Not only is it not good for the dogs, it’s not good for you. People train for marathons thinking that’s the epitomy of fitness when in reality training for the 100 meter dash is much better for your health.

Look at marathoners – there’s “gym rats”, skinny people, fat people and fit people. Now look at the sprinters…they’re in amazing shape, yet they don’t spend their day doing cardio like many so called experts tell you to.

Obviously cardio doesn’t work for fat loss. Craig will tell you why:

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.

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training
About the Author

Learn about the “Dark Side of Cardio” in the free report from Craig Ballantyne at www.TurbulenceTraining.com. Craig 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 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

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