Tuesday, September 30, 2008

2 Tips to Burn Body Fat Fast Revealed

There are two easy steps to take when it comes to burning body fat fast. Let's take a brief look at them.

Number 1: you need to gain muscle

Muscle is highly metabolically active. It requires a ton of calories to maintain and therefore increases your metabolism. Simply said, when you pack on more muscle your calorie requirements are increased to maintain that new muscle. In turn, you burn more calories allowing you to drop more fat from your body. The most important thing to remember here is to develop more muscle. That requires you lifting weights and doing resistance training.

Number 2: eat frequent meals and snacks

In order to develop this new muscle and drop some body fat you have to eat frequent meals and snacks. The worst thing that you can do is to not eat at all and starve yourself. When you do that, you're literally lowering your bodies metabolism because when you starve yourself, your body is taking energy from your muscles in the form of protein. This makes your muscles smaller.

If you know that increasing muscle in your body allows you to drop body, do you really want to starve yourself knowing that it lowers your metabolism? There you have it.

Two simple steps to take to burn some body fat. Don't be left out and be the one who is still not dropping the body fat you want to get off.

Cap Josue Cano B.A. C.S.C.S., is a specialized strength and boxing trainer working 1-on-1 with clients who just authored the book: Don't wait get in S.H.A.P.E.: drop body fat fast and get fit quick. He is also an entertaining, funny health and fitness speaker who speaks to college students about college weight gain and has a program called Tackle the Freshman 15. He is available to speak for your organization and can be reached at his website: http://www.dontwaitgetinshape.com or by phone: (877) CAP-3159 E-mail: cap@dontwaitgetinshape.com. If you're in ventura County, call for training at: (805)415-0497

Monday, September 29, 2008

How to Measure Body Fat in 3 Easy Ways

1. Underwater Weighing: This is the most accurate method basing on the premise that fat floats - think of how oil rises to the top in a bottle of salad dressing. Therefore, by submerging a body in a tub of water, you can determine how much of it is lean and how much is not However impracticability outweighs efficiency since Underwater Weighing is only done with sophisticated equipment at university research facilities.

How it works: You sit in a large tank or tub full of water in a special chair with a weight belt around your waist. A trained technician then submerges you beneath the surface of the water as you force all the air out of your lungs. You must remain underwater for about 10 seconds so that the technician can record your weight. The technician repeats this procedure eight to ten times in order to determine an average.

The technician measures your body's volume by computing the difference between your body's weight measured in air and its weight underwater. The technician then calculates your body density by dividing your body mass by the volume of the water that it displaces, minus any air left in your lungs. After computing density, the technician uses another formula to determine your percent body fat.

2. Skin fold thickness: Measuring skin-fold thickness (the amount of fat just under the skin) is a simpler method for determining percent body fat. When done by an experienced person, it is a very accurate predictor of total body fat. However, this method can yield inaccurate results if not done by a skilled practitioner or if performed on an older person or on someone who is severely overweight. Given that the results can vary greatly depending on the practitioner, you should view the results skeptically.

A person trained in skin-fold measuring, such as a doctor, dietitian, or health club staffer, measures your skin-fold thickness by using skin-fold calipers at the upper arm, upper back, lower back, stomach, and upper thigh. The technician takes two sets of measurements and obtains an average at each site. Then he or she converts the millimeters that the calipers measure and places those numbers in a formula to arrive at the percent body fat of your entire body.

3. Bioelectrical impedance: Bioelectrical impedance is another relatively simple method for determining percent body fat, but it can produce inaccurate results if a person is dehydrated, overhydrated, severely overweight, or older with little muscle mass.

A trained technician takes readings from a machine that delivers a harmless amount of electrical current through your body to estimate total body water, which reflects the amount of muscle or lean tissue you have. (Muscle contains water, and fat contains very little water.) The technician then determines the amount of body fat you have between your body weight and your lean tissue.


Callie Armstrong is a writer for http://www.AllergyHero.com. Her insights on dieting, exercise and health can be read at http://www.body4beach.com

Sunday, September 28, 2008

What Types Of Food Help To Burn Body Fat

Through this article we will look at the various types of foods that are readily available and which can help you burn body fat. It should be remembered that there are a wide variety of foods that burn fat and including them in any healthy eating plan will help you achieve your goals of losing that additional weight.

The first foods we are going to look at are breakfast foods such as oatmeal, whole grain cereal and skimmed milk. Oatmeal is a great food for burning fat as it contains a good source of vitamins, minerals and fibers which help with the fat burning issues.

Another great way of burning fat is by eating spicy foods which contain peppers. There is a component in peppers known as capsicum which induces the body to produce more stress hormones and these in turn increase a person's metabolic rate. By increasing a person's metabolic rate it helps them to burn more calories.

Also increase your intake of fruits such as oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, lemons and limes as they contain high concentrations of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Vitamin C helps to reduce the effectiveness of fat. It has often been found that it can liquefy or dilute fat in the body. So because it is being diluted the fat becomes less effective and so becomes much easier to flush out of our systems. Plus Vitamin C is also great for working on cholesterol deposits as it helps to burn it and this makes it more difficult for cholesterol deposits to build up in the blood vessels. Also including citrus fruits to a diet (on a daily basis) will help to increase your metabolic rate and thus increase our ability to get rid of that fat. Plus you will find that it helps to control your cholesterol levels as well.

Another food that is ideal for helping to burn fat is soybeans. This food contains lecithin which shields the cells in the body from accumulating more fat. But not only it also helps to break down fatty deposits in the body as well. However, if you really want to ensure that you lose fat then you should eat these at least 3 times each week. This will then help the body in its ability to get rid of the fat. You will find that many health food stores hold stocks of soybeans.

Last but not least, good solid organic protein foods such as beef, lamb, chicken, fresh seafoods, fermented milk products, etc will also increase the speed at which the body's fat burning process takes place.

By all means, avoiding junk foods like donuts, sweet cakes, ice cream, soda, or anything that contains sugar and its related derivatives will greatly remove the blockage to success as far as burning body fat is concerned.

Although we have only mentioned a few above, there are a wide variety of foods that burn fat which are readily available not just from your local health store but your supermarket as well.

Don't forget Water And Exercise, and learn more about using supplements here at http://www.2knowabout.com/exercise/bodybuildingsupplements.php

Dr. Kang-pang Chan is a board-certified naturopathic physican by the American Naturopathic Medical Association and now based in Hong Kong.

Explanation As To What Body Fat Percentage Is

In simple terms body fat percentage is the percentage of fat contained within your body. So if you are 150lbs and you have 10% of fat this means that your body consists of 15lbs of fat. The other 135lbs is your lean body mass which is made from bone, muscle, organ tissue, blood and everything else in the human body. What is important to remember is that a certain amount of fat is essential for the body to function correctly. It helps to regulate the bodies temperature, cushions and insulates our organs and tissues as well as being the main form of the body's energy storage.

The body fat percentage is an estimate of a fraction of the total body mass that is adipose (insulating) tissue as opposed to lean body mass (or may be referred to as fat free mass). This index helps to monitor a person's progress during a diet or as a measurement of physical fitness in relation to certain sports (i.e., body building). This is also a more accurate way to measure a person's excess body weight rather than body mass index (BMI) as it differentiates between the weight of muscle mass and that of fat mass. Whilst using the BMI method lumps all of these masses into one figure. But there are specific skills which are required in order to perform the measurement correctly. But even those who are skillful enough will find factors which will contribute to a significant margin of error where there measurements are concerned.

But what does total body fat percentage consist of?

It consists of essential fat and storage fat. Essential fat is the amount that is necessary for the body for the maintenance of life and reproductive functions. This percentage of fat is greater in women than it is in men because of the demands putting on their bodies due to child bearing and other hormonal functions. The essential fat in a man should be between 2-5% whilst in a woman it should be between 10-13%. Where as storage fat is an accumulation of fat in the adipose tissue which helps to protect the internal organs in a person's chest and abdomen. Again women will have slightly more of this then men.

In order to calculate a person's body fat percentage the following measurements should be taken. It is important that you try to be as accurate as possible usually allow a margin of error of between 0.25(0.5cm).
1. Abdomen - This is for men only - Measure around the abdomen horizontally that is level with the navel (belly button).
2. Waist - This measurement only for the women - Again horizontally at the level of minimal abdominal width.
3. Hips - Again this measurement only to be used on women - Measure around the largest horizontal circumference of the hips.
4. Neck - Both men and women - Inferior to the larynx with the tape measure sloping slightly downwards towards the front.
5. Height - Again both men and women to be measured. Do not forget to take your shoes off before doing this measurement.


So before deciding that you need to lose weight it is vital that you consider your body fat percentage. You may find that in fact you do not need to lose any weight all you need to do is tone up your muscles instead.

Besides being a naturopathic physican, Dr. Kang-pang Chan is a personal trainer certified by the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA).

To learn more about Body fat, please visit:

http://www.home-cure.com/healthandfitness/

Benefits of Cycling for Fitness and Fat Burning

Cycling can offer benefits for both fitness and burning off unwanted body fat. It really depends on your health and fitness goals and what you want to achieve from your cycling program. Outdoor cycling can include cycle tracks in forests and parks, to cycle ways within your town or city, along beaches or major roads and free ways. You can take the family cycling or use your cycling program as some ime out for yourself away from work and other pressures you may be experiencing at that moment in time.

Indoor cycling also offers some exciting opportunities as well.

With spin and other cycle classes being extremely popular, and lots of fun, to just being able to control your own training programs from within the privacy of your own home.

Some Helpful Hints on Setting Up Your Bicycle

1. Make sure that the handle bars and seat are in a comfortable position.

2. Check that the seat height or the seat itself is suitable for your build, taking into consideration the amount of time you will be spending on it.

3. If you are using an indoor cycle make sure your bike has foot pedal straps. If you pick up the pace your feet can easily fly off if you don't have them connected to the pedals.

A Few Things You Need to Organize Before Starting Your Cycling Program

1. Do you have any injuries that effect what type of bicycle you use? e.g. semi-recumbent cycle for indoors rather than your normal high seated indoor cycle. Etc.

2. Do you know what your health and fitness goals are? And how will this affect your program.

3. Do you have a program that specifically designed for your goals?

4. Arranging your program so that you can enjoy it at a specific time of the day when you don't have to rush. The last thing you want to do is spend all that money on setting your program up only to throw in the towel due to other commitments interfering with your program times.

5. Do you have a resistance and eating plan organized to suit your cycling program? You might as well put in the effort with your diet and training if you are going to start exercising too. Don't you think? It will certainly speed up your results as well as giving you more energy.

6. As well as making sure your bicycle is comfortable and set up correctly you will also want to ensure that your indoor cycle is placed somewhere in your house where you will use it and where you can access it easily.

7. When using your cycle makes sure your legs aren't wrapped up around your neck while pedaling. Keep your seat at a comfortable distance from the pedals. I get my clients to stretch their legs out completely then slightly bend their knees - this is where I will position the seat. This is so they get a full stretch of their legs without feeling like they are being pulled off the seat when the pedals rotate.

8. When cycling outdoors makes sure your feet can touch the ground, while you are seated on your bike seat. The amount of times I have seen cyclists that are virtually falling off their bicycles when they stop at a corner, because their feet don't touch the ground, always worries me. Play it safe and use your common sense when cycling.

9. When cycling outdoors makes sure you check with your local council regarding rules and regulations for cycling eg. Safety helmets, knee pads etc

How many times can I cycle per week?

Cycling indoors or outdoors is a great way to keep fit and burn off those extra calories. Cycling 3-4 times per week will make a difference in the way you look, feel as well increasing your self esteem. You don't need to cycle for hours on end, 20 - 30 mins is sufficient and sometimes less when you are first starting out. As your fitness increases you can ramp up the intensity and the length of your cycle sessions. If you're training for a specific event your cycling training will vary due to speed drills and training specific sessions to help you prepare for the ig day. Choose a program to suit your health and fitness needs and you'll be on your way!



To know more information Visit Getfitsource.com

Virtualfitnesstrainer.com

Burn Off Body Fat Fast

While I was searching through the most popular fitness/fat-loss e-books out there I ran into a book by the name of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle. This book seemed to be getting a lot of reviews from others as the best fitness book available, a book by a natural bodybuilder named Tom Venuto.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is an E-book created by a bodybuilding champion by the name of Tom Venuto. This book attempts to teach people all the aspects of losing weight, whilst gaining muscle. This program shows you how to burn of body fat. Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle has been called the greatest fitness book ever. With this kind of serious hype, I decided to look into it.

I wanted to see if it really did live up to its great reputation. I have been bodybuilding for many years now as well as being a fitness freak, so I wanted to see what real information was in this book. As it turned out this program/ebook really does show you how to burn off body fat fast.

Not only does this program work. It shows you how to burn body fat fast. Believe me when I mean fast it is certainly fast. It also shows you how to feed your muscle. By the end of this program you will not only loose all of your body fat fast you will also feed your muscles and be stronger than ever before.

If you want to have some weight fitness and be successful health wise I would highly recommend this wonderful ebook. So if you want to burn off body fat you should defiantly check this ebook out. This Book really did amaze me.

Max Whitson is expert that is making explicit reviews and comparisons of the best weight loss products online. His site shows one of the best, most selling weight lost programs there is today. You can visit his site at http://www.burn-off-body-fat.com

How Does Your Body Burn Fat

How does your body burn fat? Many people want to lose excess body fat. An increasing percentage of people in our modern society find themselves overweight. Those overweight folks usually attempt to remove their excess weight through fad diets and wonder pills. This leads to failure and frustration.

A better understanding of how the body naturally burns fat can help those who want to reduce naturally and safely. In this article we will look at the three sources of calories and how your body uses each source. We will look at what type of diet best burns body fat safely and effectively. We will take a look at how exercise helps your body burn fat. We will look at other factors such as proper rest and stress reduction and their role in helping you burn body fat. Let's begin with an examination of the three primary sources of calories and how they affect your body in burning fat.

In order to answer the question, How does your body burn fat ? it is important to look at the three primary sources of calories. These sources are carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Except for water, protein is the most plentiful substance in your body. It is the major building material for the body. Because protein is so important in building and repairing your body, it is not used by the body for energy when enough carbohydrates and fats are present.

Carbohydrates are the main source of energy for you body. They provide us with immediate energy by combining with the oxygen in our blood. Fats are the concentrated energy source of the body. They have over two times the calories per gram of carbohydrates or proteins. In order for our body to burn fat we need to eat the proper diet.

A diet that will enable our body to burn fat needs to restrict carbohydrates. The popular low carbohydrate diets are based on this fact. If the body has no carbohydrates to burn, it next burns body fat. But, while a high protein and low carbohydrate diet can be helpful in burning body fat ; it can also have harmful long term effects. Make sure your diet is not overly restrictive. Make sure you are still getting the proper nutrients with any diet that restricts carbohydrates.

Any discussion of the question, How does your body burn fat ? must examine the role exercise plays in burning body fat. Once your body is using body fat as a source of energy, you need to exercise in order to burn that energy. An increase in physical exercise will help you burn more body fat. If you want to burn off some body fat, try to exercise frequently.

Other factors such as getting proper rest and reducing stress can have an effect on how your body burns fat. If you are going to follow a lifetime regimen to manage body fat, it is very important to stay healthy in all ways. Too much stress or a lack of sleep can lead you away from the path to a low fat body percentage.

As you can see, the body burns fat when carbohydrates are not readily available. Carbohydrates are the first choice for energy for your body. Fat is the next choice as an energy source. Exercise helps you burn body fat by requiring your body to spend more energy. Proper rest and proper management of stress help you follow a long term strategy to burn off body fat.

This is a basic summary answering the question, How does your body burn fat? . But there are many more factors to take into consideration. Proper nutrition plays an important role in burning body fat. The choice of the right type of exercise program for you is crucial. Check out my site for more information on these and other factors that are important in any strategy to burn body fat. You can burn body fat safely and effectively if you get the facts on how the body burns fat.

Did you find this article helpful in learning how the body burns fat? If you would like to learn more, visit How To Burn Muscle And Burn Fat and get the free 12 part mini-course and a 40 page report that will skyrocket your fat loss success.

How Would I Go About Burning Body Fat

So you have been working out hard as well as eating right but you still can not seem to get of those extra few pounds of fat. But if you want to know how to burn fat you do not need just to exercise consistently as well as trying to eat right there are something other things you can do which will help.

1. Count those Calories
If you restrict the amount of calories that you intake you will end up losing muscle tissue rather than burning the fat. Using a crash diet simply does not work. It will only lower the body's temperature and this causes the thyroid to slow down which in turn slows down the metabolism. A person's metabolism needs to be high in order to burn fat.

2. Breakfast
Ensure that you eat breakfast each morning which contains both carbohydrates and protein as well as a little fat in order to boost your metabolism for the rest of the day. Remember that eating breakfast is the first opportunity you will have to bring your blood sugar levels back up to normal after you have been sleeping and fasting all night.

3. Weight Training
Muscles help burn calories. So the more muscles you have the more calories you will burn even when you are resting. It is important that any weight training you do is relatively intense and your reps should between 15 to 20 of each exercise. Also train at least every day or if not at least 3 times a week. You should only spend an hour each day weight training and no more.

4. Increase your Heart Rate
Doing cardio exercises helps to burn fat. But if you happen to being doing some cardio exercises religiously and yet fat loss is not taking place then you need to increase the intensity of your sessions but not the length. Any cardio exercise session you do should last no longer than 45 minutes.

5. Dieting
By going on a special diet, you can help your body rid itself of unwanted fat fast. It's proven that Dr. Atkin's Diet, as well as any similar kind of diets, can help reduce large amount of body fat in a very short period of time. I've seen men of 200 lbs of body weight lose fat and get slim in just 4 weeks, having reduced close to 20 lbs of body weight altogether. The result was so good that these men couldn't believe this could be done so easily and they all had to check with their doctors and underwent some whole body checkup just to make sure. And the result? They're found to be whole lot healthier than 4 weeks ago before they started the dieting program!

But if you want to try something different then give interval cardio training a go. By integrating slower levels of intensity for several minutes with very high levels you are helping to boost your metabolism. This also helps to create more a post-caloric burn, where you will find that calories are burned 24 hours after the workout was done.

As you can see these points will help with how to burn fat that is unwanted on your body and provide you with the desired results at the end.

Dr. Kang-pang Chan is a board-certified naturopathic physican by the American Naturopathic Medical Association and now based in Hong Kong.

To learn more about Quick Weight Loss, please go to http://www.home-cure.com/weightloss/WeightLossTipsbr.php

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Trapped In The Body Of A Fat Teen

When you are in middle school or high school, being different may not seem like a good thing. Especially if what makes you different is that you can?t wear cute short skirts or skinny jeans because you are overweight. And, if that weren?t bad enough, you may feel terrible inside when you eat lunch in the cafeteria and watch girls who must be a size 0 or size 2 eating french fries, pizza, brownies and whatever they want without gaining an ounce.

If you are tempted to dwell on how unfair it all is I can help. Like you, I was an overweight teen and my weight bothered me so much that I was willing to do anything and everything to be thin. For example, I once spent an afternoon wrapped in a tight-fitting silver outfit trying to sweat off four pounds of belly fat. Guess what? At the end of the day, I weighed exactly the same. Meanwhile, I felt humiliated, disappointed and taken-in.

That was then, of course, and now I?m grown up and thin and ready to share with you what I have learned from studying people who are naturally thin ? like the kids in your school who can eat absolutely anything without gaining weight. Instead of envying them I can teach you how to be exactly like them.

The first thing you need to do is to lose the mindset that there are bad foods and good foods. It?s simply not true. Foods don?t fall into neat, black and white categories ? even my favorite obsession, barbecued potato chips, aren?t truly bad. By obsessing over foods that we think are bad for us, we actually tend to eat more of them. So if you are like I was and have a food that you love to eat to excess, stop beating yourself up for eating it. You don?t see the thin girls in your school doing that, do you?

Another thing you can do is to go on a hunt and throw away everything diet related in your life. Food scales, calorie counters, food monitoring diaries and every diet book in your house should all be thrown away, because diets don?t work for most of us and very few people get thin and stay thin by dieting. In fact, research actually shows that teens on diets gain more weight than teens who don?t diet. So if your mom or a friend advises you to go on a diet, please give it a second thought. They have your best interests at heart, of course, but, like most people, don?t have the best information on what really works in the long-term.

When you are on a diet, you stop listening to what your body is trying to tell you, and that causes problems. Your body knows when it is hungry and when you need to eat ? even how much to eat. The secret to letting the thin person within you out is to listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied. Become self-aware of other reasons that may cause you to overeat and you can deal with those issues in a more appropriate way that doesn?t involve food.

Dr. Kim Hiatt regularly speaks about issues relating to childhood and adolescent obesity and secrets thin families know about weight control. She has been successful at overcoming her own weight loss difficulties. Along with Marna Goldstein, Hiatt is co-owner of ThinfromWithinTeens.com. Hiatt is an adjunct professor of psychology at Southwestern College. She completed her doctorate dissertation on childhood and adolescent obesity.

About the Author:

for free five-minute podcasts released each week. Among the titles are Motivation 911; How to Stop Before You Get to the Tablecloth; Reducing Emotional Eating; and Feeling Fabulous Today and As You Are Losing.

Burn Body Fat Fast 2 Killer Tips for a Brad Pitt Body

Trying to burn body fat fast can seem like a frugal effort if you are not doing it right.

The ability to burn body fat fast depends simply on having the right diet, the right type of strength training workout, and the right type of cardio routine.

Unfortunately, most people eat the wrong things and do the wrong type of workouts when trying to burn body fat fast. The end result is little to no fat loss and a lot of frustration.

This article will show you the 2 most common mistakes people make when they try to burn body fat, and how to avoid them.

BURN BODY FAT FAST MISTAKE #1: Going on some extreme crash diet

This is a common dietary method that lot of people try to use to burn body fat fast. They go from eating whatever they want to all of a sudden being on some 500-1000 calorie per day super restricted diet. More often than not, they only eat 1 meal a day and stay hungry the rest of the time.

If you have ever tried using an extreme crash diet as a way to burn body fat fast, then you need to stop!

THE SOLUTION: The key to eating the right way to burn body fat fast is to eat the right foods at the right time. The overall number of calories is important too, but you need to keep your metabolism in mind as well. A crash diet will actually slow your metabolism and make your body want to hold onto whatever energy it has!

Trying 4-6 small meals a day spaced 2-3 hours apart. Each meal, try eating a portion of healthy protein, complex carbs, and good fats such as omega 3's found in fish. This type of diet is a great way to burn body fat fast because you are eating more often. This helps to keep you from being hungry and binging. Also, it is a great way to keep your blood sugar regulated.

BURN BODY FAT FAST MISTAKE #2: Avoiding strength training at all cost.

When most people try to exercise to burn body fat fast they try to do long bouts time on a cardio machine and also try to do hundreds of crunches.

You have to understand that if you want to burn body fat fast with exercise then you need to shift your focus on increasing you metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more calories your body will burn while at rest and while being active.

So what increases your metabolism?

Simple, muscle!

Muscle uses stored body fat for energy when your body is in the right state. By strength training in a circuit format you will stay moving, burn lots of calories, and add the mean muscle mass that will help you to burn body fat fast.

SOLUTION:

Here is an example of a strength routine that will help you burn body fat fast:

1. Inverted pushups

2. DB squats

3. 1 arm DB row

4. Hamstring leg curls on a stability ball

5. Overhead DB shoulder press

6. Planks

7. Med ball squat, curl, and press

REPS: 10-15

ROTATIONS: 2-3

REST: 30-45 secs between each exercise

The important thing here is for you to understand how this type of workout structure helps to burn body fat fast. By doing a lot of multijoint exercises, you will work more muscle. The more muscle you work, the more muscle you add, and the more body fat you will lose!

CONCLUSION

As you can see, crash dieting and avoiding strength training at all costs are not effective ways to burn body fat fast. If you really want to burn body fast fast, try following the dietary guidelines above and strength training in a circuit format.

Good luck =)

Want to Reprint this Article on How to Burn Body Fat Fast?

Reprinting is welcome as long as the content, links, author bio, and resource box are all included and remain completely unchanged.

To avoid making the same fat loss mistakes that 97% of people make, go to Secrets to Burn Body Fat Fast

For my thoughts on the Burn The Fat program, Click Here

Tom Gifford is the author of http://www.TheFatLossZone.com, which provides stellar cutting edge fat loss tips for people who have tried all the fad diets and exercise gimmicks.

Reduce Body Fat Through Exercise

Exercise and nutrition both play a very important role in the amount of fat stored in your body. Not all exercising will reduce your body fat equally. The type, duration and intensity of your routine will determine how effectively you lower your body fat percentage.

The most important rule you have to remember when trying to lower your body fat percentage, is that you don't choose where the fat comes off from, your genetics do. If you're trying to get a killer set of abs, doing sit ups and crunches when you have a high body fat content isn't going to burn the fat that is covering your abs.

To get rid of excess body fat, you need to participate in activities that burn a lot of calories. Running, biking, swimming and most sports will do this very well. In addition to cardio, you also need to have a good strength training routine. Muscle burns more calories than fat so one of your top priorities needs to be building more muscle mass.

A common misconception is that to get rid of fat, you need to workout at a low intensity. While its true that activities at low intensities burn more fat, those at high intensities will burn more calories and at the end of the day, the amount of calories you burn is more important than the amount of fat you burn even if you're trying to get rid of fat.

Running at a high intensity will burn more calories than walking at a slow intensity. Remember, to lose body fat, you need to burn more calories than you eat. Exercising harder will burn more calories and help you get to your goal quicker.

If you burn 400 calories (of mostly fat) at a low intensity versus 500 calories (of mostly non-fat) at a higher intensity, what happens to that extra 100 calories at the end of the day? The answer is that it gets converted to fat. You are better off burning it by working at a high intensity.

Exercising alone can only go so far. Remember to include a healthy diet that includes calorie restriction until you reach your body fat percentage goal.

What is Body Fat

Body fat is the percentage of your body that is not bone, water, muscles or organs. Therefore, your body fat is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. There are two types of body fat, essential body fat and storage fat.

Storage fat collects primarily under the skin and is called subcutaneous fat. Most storage fat finds it way around the waist, hips, thighs and buttocks.

The location of fat storage is also dependent on gender. The hormones testosterone and estrogen also determine where fat is deposited in the body.

Why do we need body fat?

Body fat in itself is not dangerous, and we all need some amount of fat to be healthy. Fat is needed for the following functions:

Cushions and protects our internal organs

Helps in the absorption of some vitamins, such as Vitamin A, Vitamin D and Vitamin E

Helps promote normal growth and development

Necessary for the proper functioning of the female reproductive system

Provides energy for us to function

Provides some amount of body heat



The American Council on Exercise outlines the percentage of body fat needed for health and at what level body fat becomes an obesity issue. The list shows how much fat males need as against females. For instance, a female essential body fat ratio is between ten to twelve percent, males are a low two to four percent. Acceptable levels of body fat for males and females are eighteen to twenty-five percent and twenty-five to thirty-one, respectively. This however, also depends on age as older females may need a little more body fat than younger ones.An essential fat refers to the fat found in our bone marrow, organs and muscles. As the name indicates this type of fat is necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the body. Females need more because some body parts are made up of fat, like the breasts, hips and thighs.

Storage fat provides energy and is kept by the body as a reserve. This type of body fat is the fat that can and does lead to obesity.

Why do some people have more than others?

Some people are genetically predisposed to having a higher percentage of body fat than others. No amount of dieting and exercise will change that; however, eating properly and exercising will improve your health even if you never become as lean as you wish.

For most of us however, the percentage body fat we have is directly related to how much fat, sugars and carbohydrates we eat and our activity level. Sedentary people who consume a lot of fats and sweets will generally have a higher percentage of body fat than someone of the same age and gender that eats right and exercises.

To help keep your body fat in the percentage range for your height, age and gender you need to have a sensible diet and be active. The secret is to keep a balance between the amount of calories you consume and the amount you burn from daily activities and exercise.

Gareth runs a fitness and nutritional information site packed full with interesting articles about fitness, health, diet advice and muscle building tips

Visit us at: www.24hrfitness.co.uk

Nutrition section: www.24hrfitness.co.uk/nutrition-choice.html

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Why Does Your Body Build Up Excess Fat

Why does your body build up excess fat? By eating more food than we can burn up through physical exercise and our normal bodily processes.

Foods furnish the energy that is measured in units called calories. If we eat more calories from food and drink than we burn up through exercise, the extra calories are stored away in the form of body fat. The body acts as a bank for fat. If a person continues to take in excessive calories, the amount of fat in your bank grows.

You can reduce the amount of fat in your bank by making withdrawals. There are two safe ways to do this: (1) eat less high-fat foods; and (2) increase your physical activity to burn the excess calories.

The best way to reduce your fat storage is a combination of eating less high-fat foods and exercising your body.

Your body always counts the calories that you eat, even when you forget that you've taken in those calories. The body never lies! Everything that makes your body fat enters your body through your mouth. If you pay attention to what you eat, you gain control of the body fat storage that accumulates.

There are certain times in your life when you are more likely to retain fat in your body. The first is aging. As you grow older, your body requires fewer calories to fuel basic processes. Unless food intake is gradually reduced or physical activity is increased, the extra pounds are sure to pile up.

Most women gain extra weight during pregnancy and at menopause. A woman's metabolism helps to determine how easily she can lose the aby weight after her child is born.

There are many lose-weight-fast programs that guarantee that you can lose excess pounds without effort. Some of these may use drugs or herbs that can be harmful to your body. Some of them say you can eat a certain food or beverage because they are ignored by your body. But, calories always count toward your body fat storage no matter what foods they come from.

When you first begin a weight loss program, it seems you can lose weight faster at the start. A lot of that first weight that you lose is water weight. You may be exercising more strenuously and losing water weight by sweating it off. That doesn't mean, however, that you can go into a steam room and lose a significant amount of weight by sweating it off.

The moral of this story is: Eat smaller portions of healthy foods and give your body the exercise it needs to keep it fit and in shape.


About the Author

Jude Wright is the owner of 9 Weeks to Weight Loss at 9WeekstoWeightLoss.com. Stop by and get your free report, Losing Weight Without Starving Yourself.

Burn Bodyfat Using Bodyweight Circuits

More and more people are finding it hard to find time to get a workout in with their busy schedules.

If these people knew that they could get a great fat burning workout in as little as five minutes they would no longer have any excuses.

If more people would take their fitness and health levels more seriously their would be less medical problems and less work missed.

Most people have spent lots of money on diet and fitness books and weight loss products and never get the results they are looking for.

If more would just find simple effective ways to get fit and healthy and stay that way their lives would improve in a big way.

People can cut their workout in half if they become creative and do it at home.

What people can expect when they train using their own bodyweight is a fast effective fat burning workout.

People could use stairs, take a walk instead of walking on treadmill, go for a bike ride instead of using a stationary bike and get some fresh air in their lungs.

You don't need a gym for a great workout, all you need is a little space and a little time and the benefits will be great.

Here is a short but effective workout:

Jumping Jacks - 30 seconds
Burpees - 30 seconds
Pushups - 30 seconds

Repeat for 5 minutes ( no rest ) move from one exercise to the other.

The above workout will get you breathing heavy in no time, just do your best to complete it, don't over do it.

John Grube is an expert on the subject of bodyweight training. He has over 25 years of training experience and is the author of The Wildman Training Program manual. For more info http://www.wildmantraining.com

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Low Body Fat Secret Of Bodybuilders And Fitness Models

The secret to getting super lean ? I'm talking about being RIPPED, not just average body fat ? is all about mastering the art of peaking. Most people do not have a clue about what it takes to reach the type of low body fat levels that reveal to see ripped six-pack abs, muscle striations, vascularity and extreme muscular definition, so they go about it completely the wrong way.

Here's a case in point: One of my newsletter subscribers recently sent me this question:

Tom, on your Burn The Fat website, you wrote:

?Who better to model than bodybuilders and fitness competitors? No athletes in the world get as lean as quickly as bodybuilders and fitness competitors. The transformations they undergo in 12 weeks prior to competition would boggle your mind! Only ultra-endurance athletes come close in terms of low body fat levels, but endurance athletes like triathaletes and marathoners often get lean at the expense of chewing up all their muscle. Some of them are nothing but skin and bone.'

Tom, there seems to be a contradiction unless I'm missing something. Why do bodybuilders and fitness competitors have to go through a 12 week 'transformation' prior to every event instead of staying 'lean and mean' all the time? If they practice the secrets exposed in your book, they should be staying in shape all the time instead of having to work at losing fat prior to every competitive event, correct??

There is a logical explanation for why bodybuilders and other physique athletes (fitness and figure competitors), don't remain completely ripped all year round, and it's the very reason they are able to get so ripped on the day of a contest?

You can't hold a peak forever or it's not a peak, right? What is the definition of a peak? It's a high point surrounded by two lower points isn't it?

Therefore, any shape you can stay in all year round is NOT your peak condition.

The intelligent approach to nutrition and training (which almost all bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors use), is to train and diet in a seasonal or cyclical fashion and build up to a peak, then ease off to a maintenance or growth phase.

I am NOT talking about bulking up and getting fat and out of shape every year, then dieting it all off every year. What I'm talking about is going from good shape to great (peak) shape, then easing back off to good shape.... but never getting out of shape. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Here's an example: I have no intentions whatsoever of walking around 365 days a year at 4% body fat like I appear in the photo on my website. Off-season, when I'm not competing, my body fat is usually between 8 ? 10%. Mind you, that's very lean and still single digit body fat.

I don't stray too far from competition shape, but I don't maintain contest shape all the time. It takes me 12-14 weeks or so to gradually drop from 9.5% to 3.5%-4.0% body fat to peak for competition with NO loss of lean body mass...using the same techniques I reveal in my e-book. It would be almost impossible to maintain 4% body fat, and even if I could, why would I want to? For the few weeks prior to competition I'm so depleted, ripped, and even drawn in the face, that complete strangers walk up and offer to feed me.

Okay, so I'm just kidding about that, but let's just say being eing ripped to shreds isn't a desirable condition to maintain because it takes such a monumental effort to stay there. It's probably not even healthy to try forcing yourself to hold extreme low body fat. Unless you're a natural ectomorph (skinny, fast metabolism body type), your body will fight you. Not only that, anabolic hormones may drop and sometimes your immune system is affected as well. It's just not ormal to walk around all the time with literally no subcutaneous body fat.

Instead of attempting to hold the peak, I cycle back into a less demanding off-season program and avoid creeping beyond 9.9% body fat. Some years I've stayed leaner - like 6-7%, (which takes effort), especially when I knew I would be photographed, but I don't let my body fat go over 10%. This practice isn't just restricted to bodybuilders. Athletes in all sports use periodization to build themselves up to their best shape for competition. Is a pro football player in the same condition in March-April as he is in August-September? Not a chance. Many show up fat and out of shape (relatively speaking) for training camp, others just need fine tuning, but none are in peak form... that's why they have training camp!!!

There's another reason you wouldn't want to maintain a ipped to shreds physique all year round ? you'd have to be dieting (calorie restricted) all the time. And this is one of the reasons that 95% of people can't lose weight and keep it off --they are CHRONIC dieters... always on some type of diet. Know anyone like that?

You can't stay on restricted low calories indefinitely. Sooner or later your metabolism slows down and you plateau as your body adapts to the chronically lowered food intake. But if you diet for fat loss and push incredibly hard for 3 months, then ease off for a while and eat a little more (healthy food, not pigging out), your metabolic rate is re-stimulated. In a few weeks or months, you can return to another fat loss phase and reach an even lower body fat level, until you finally reach the point that's your happy maintenance level for life ? a level that is healthy and realistic ? as well as visually appealing.

Bodybuilders have discovered a methodology for losing fat that's so effective, it puts them in complete control of their body composition. They've mastered this area of their lives and will never have to worry about it again. If they ever slip and fall off the wagon like all humans do at times ? no problem! They know how to get back into shape fast.

Bodybuilders have the tools and knowledge to hold a low body fat all year round (such as 9% for men, or about 15% for women), and then at a whim, to reach a temporary peak of extremely low body fat for the purpose of competition. Maybe most important of all, they have the power and control to slowly ease back from peak shape into maintenance, and not balloon up and yo-yo like most conventional dieters!

What if you had the power to stay lean all year round, and then get super lean when summer rolled around, or when you took your vacation to the Caribbean, or when your wedding date was coming up? Wouldn't you like to be in control of your body like that? Isn't that the same thing that bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors do, only on a more practical, real-world level?

So even if you have no competitive aspirations, don't you agree that there's something of value everyone could learn from physique athletes? Don't model yourself after the huge crowd of losers who gobble diet pills, blow their money on exercise gimmicks and suffer through starvation diets like automatons, only to gain back everything they lost! Instead, learn from the leanest athletes on Earth - natural bodybuilders and fitness competitors?

These physique athletes get as ripped as they want to be, exactly when they want to, simply by manipulating their diets in a cyclical fashion between pre-contest cutting programs and off season maintenance or muscle growth programs. Even if you have no desire to ever compete, try this seasonal peaking approach yourself and you'll see that it can work as well for you as it does for elite bodybuilders.

Tom Venuto is a bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,? which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: http://www.burnthefat.com and http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com

Friday, September 12, 2008

The Low Body Fat Secret Of Bodybuilders And Fitness Models

The secret to getting super lean ? I'm talking about being RIPPED, not just average body fat ? is all about mastering the art of peaking. Most people do not have a clue about what it takes to reach the type of low body fat levels that reveal to see ripped six-pack abs, muscle striations, vascularity and extreme muscular definition, so they go about it completely the wrong way.

Here's a case in point: One of my newsletter subscribers recently sent me this question:

Tom, on your Burn The Fat website, you wrote:

?Who better to model than bodybuilders and fitness competitors? No athletes in the world get as lean as quickly as bodybuilders and fitness competitors. The transformations they undergo in 12 weeks prior to competition would boggle your mind! Only ultra-endurance athletes come close in terms of low body fat levels, but endurance athletes like triathaletes and marathoners often get lean at the expense of chewing up all their muscle. Some of them are nothing but skin and bone.'

Tom, there seems to be a contradiction unless I'm missing something. Why do bodybuilders and fitness competitors have to go through a 12 week 'transformation' prior to every event instead of staying 'lean and mean' all the time? If they practice the secrets exposed in your book, they should be staying in shape all the time instead of having to work at losing fat prior to every competitive event, correct??

There is a logical explanation for why bodybuilders and other physique athletes (fitness and figure competitors), don't remain completely ripped all year round, and it's the very reason they are able to get so ripped on the day of a contest?

You can't hold a peak forever or it's not a peak, right? What is the definition of a peak? It's a high point surrounded by two lower points isn't it?

Therefore, any shape you can stay in all year round is NOT your peak condition.

The intelligent approach to nutrition and training (which almost all bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors use), is to train and diet in a seasonal or cyclical fashion and build up to a peak, then ease off to a maintenance or growth phase.

I am NOT talking about bulking up and getting fat and out of shape every year, then dieting it all off every year. What I'm talking about is going from good shape to great (peak) shape, then easing back off to good shape.... but never getting out of shape. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Here's an example: I have no intentions whatsoever of walking around 365 days a year at 4% body fat like I appear in the photo on my website. Off-season, when I'm not competing, my body fat is usually between 8 ? 10%. Mind you, that's very lean and still single digit body fat.

I don't stray too far from competition shape, but I don't maintain contest shape all the time. It takes me 12-14 weeks or so to gradually drop from 9.5% to 3.5%-4.0% body fat to peak for competition with NO loss of lean body mass...using the same techniques I reveal in my e-book. It would be almost impossible to maintain 4% body fat, and even if I could, why would I want to? For the few weeks prior to competition I'm so depleted, ripped, and even drawn in the face, that complete strangers walk up and offer to feed me.

Okay, so I'm just kidding about that, but let's just say being eing ripped to shreds isn't a desirable condition to maintain because it takes such a monumental effort to stay there. It's probably not even healthy to try forcing yourself to hold extreme low body fat. Unless you're a natural ectomorph (skinny, fast metabolism body type), your body will fight you. Not only that, anabolic hormones may drop and sometimes your immune system is affected as well. It's just not ormal to walk around all the time with literally no subcutaneous body fat.

Instead of attempting to hold the peak, I cycle back into a less demanding off-season program and avoid creeping beyond 9.9% body fat. Some years I've stayed leaner - like 6-7%, (which takes effort), especially when I knew I would be photographed, but I don't let my body fat go over 10%. This practice isn't just restricted to bodybuilders. Athletes in all sports use periodization to build themselves up to their best shape for competition. Is a pro football player in the same condition in March-April as he is in August-September? Not a chance. Many show up fat and out of shape (relatively speaking) for training camp, others just need fine tuning, but none are in peak form... that's why they have training camp!!!

There's another reason you wouldn't want to maintain a ipped to shreds physique all year round ? you'd have to be dieting (calorie restricted) all the time. And this is one of the reasons that 95% of people can't lose weight and keep it off --they are CHRONIC dieters... always on some type of diet. Know anyone like that?

You can't stay on restricted low calories indefinitely. Sooner or later your metabolism slows down and you plateau as your body adapts to the chronically lowered food intake. But if you diet for fat loss and push incredibly hard for 3 months, then ease off for a while and eat a little more (healthy food, not pigging out), your metabolic rate is re-stimulated. In a few weeks or months, you can return to another fat loss phase and reach an even lower body fat level, until you finally reach the point that's your happy maintenance level for life ? a level that is healthy and realistic ? as well as visually appealing.

Bodybuilders have discovered a methodology for losing fat that's so effective, it puts them in complete control of their body composition. They've mastered this area of their lives and will never have to worry about it again. If they ever slip and fall off the wagon like all humans do at times ? no problem! They know how to get back into shape fast.

Bodybuilders have the tools and knowledge to hold a low body fat all year round (such as 9% for men, or about 15% for women), and then at a whim, to reach a temporary peak of extremely low body fat for the purpose of competition. Maybe most important of all, they have the power and control to slowly ease back from peak shape into maintenance, and not balloon up and yo-yo like most conventional dieters!

What if you had the power to stay lean all year round, and then get super lean when summer rolled around, or when you took your vacation to the Caribbean, or when your wedding date was coming up? Wouldn't you like to be in control of your body like that? Isn't that the same thing that bodybuilders and fitness/figure competitors do, only on a more practical, real-world level?

So even if you have no competitive aspirations, don't you agree that there's something of value everyone could learn from physique athletes? Don't model yourself after the huge crowd of losers who gobble diet pills, blow their money on exercise gimmicks and suffer through starvation diets like automatons, only to gain back everything they lost! Instead, learn from the leanest athletes on Earth - natural bodybuilders and fitness competitors?

These physique athletes get as ripped as they want to be, exactly when they want to, simply by manipulating their diets in a cyclical fashion between pre-contest cutting programs and off season maintenance or muscle growth programs. Even if you have no desire to ever compete, try this seasonal peaking approach yourself and you'll see that it can work as well for you as it does for elite bodybuilders.

Tom Venuto is a bodybuilder, certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and a certified personal trainer (CPT). Tom is the author of Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,? which teaches you how to get lean without drugs or supplements using secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Get rid of stubborn fat and increase your metabolism by visiting: http://www.burnthefat.com and http://www.burnthefatinnercircle.com

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Benefits of Using a Body Fat Scale To Calculate Body Fat

Millions of people are obese all over the world. Some people are happy with that and make no desire to change that. Other people are concerned about their weight and want to take steps to get their weight under control. This article will highlight why you should use a body fat scale to help you calculate your body fat and help you control your weight.

You may have heard about using a skin caliper to measure your body fat. Until recently, this was the most affordable option to most consumers as the other methods were very expensive. With a skin caliper, you pull your skin and pinch it with the caliper. You have to do this in several areas of your body. You then put these measurements into a formula and you get your body fat percentage.

There are two problems with using a skin caliper. One is that you have to pinch yourself in the exact same area each time to get accurate results. Another is that it is hard to do it by yourself. Usually you're not able to use it around all over your body. So you'll need someone to help you to do the test. That's great if you've got a partner or spouse. But if you're single and living alone, how are you going to use it. You could ask your neighbor to come over and see you in your underwear to help you. You may not stay single for long if you make this offer to a few of your neighbors.

Other than the two noted problems with the caliper, it is a good and inexpensive method to use to measure your body fat.

What is a better method to calculate your body fat percentage?

You can use a body fat scale to check your body fat. Most of them work the same as a regular scale that gives you your weight. They also serve a second purpose and that is to analyze your body fat. You stand on the scale and in seconds you'll have a body fat measurement for you.

You can see how this method is much more convenient than using a skin caliper. It only takes one person and it takes much less work. Most people like getting things with less work. It takes much less time to use a body fat analyzer than a caliper. That comes in handy when you want to monitor your progress each week to see how you're doing. And the cost of a body fat analyzer is only nominally more than a skin caliper.

The benefits of using a body fat scale to quickly calculate your body fat percentage outweigh the small costs of obtaining one as compared to using other methods such as a skin caliper. You can purchase a reliable one for about $30 on Amazon or Ebay. Whichever method you choose you won't go wrong because as long as you're concerned and thinking about reducing your body fat, you're on the right track.

Visit Body Fat Scale Reviews to get the best ways to calculate body fat. Read the latest reviews of Omron and Tanita body fat scales. http://www.bodyfatscalereviews.com/

Discover Which Form Of Cardio Exercise Is Most Effective To Burn Off Body Fat

I am sure you have wondered at some point in time which cardioexercise is better. To put it in simple terms, both low and high intensity exercises will help you to burn off body fat. The question here is which is the most effective to burn off more body fat.

When scientists first discovered that during intensive exercises, your body burns glycogen, which is a form of stored carbohydrates that are stored in your liver and muscles for energy. During low intensity exercises, your body will burn a lot of fat.

If your wondering whether or not it works, the answer is no because there are so many obese people still around. Even though they are working out with low intensity routines, it still makes you wonder how it can be.

The scientists were right when they said the human body burns more body fat during low intensity exercises like walking or swimming. During a high intensity exercise such as running, the body will burn a lot more calories. Even if some of the calories burnt are from glycogen, there are still many fat calories burned as well.

To put the icing on the cake, when your store of glycogen gets low, the carbohydrates from your food you eat will later get converted into glycogen to fill up the store and won't be converted to body fat when they are left unused for energy.

High intensity cardio exercise will juice up your metabolism even after you have completed your workout. What this means,is that your body will continue to burn body fat hours afteryou have left the gym. This effect is nearly non existentin low intensity cardio or aerobic workout.

Accumulatively, your body will burn up more and more calories during and after you have finished a high intensity cardio exercise that it will with low intensity.

You can inject high intensity exercises into your cardio workout by introducing some interval training. You can walk for 3 minutes or so, then break into some jogging for another 1 minutes or so. Then, walk briskly again until you have caught your breath and then sprint for a minute before you walk again. From this point, simply alternate your running and walking for the next 20 minutes until you are finished.

One of the best things about cardio is the more you do it, the more energy you'll have. Cardio will help you to burn calories, although its more useful for keeping your energy levels high.

If you've never tried cardio before, you should give it a shot. If you like to exercise, you'll find cardio the best way to boost your energy and keep in top shape. If you are just starting out, you'll want to go slow and keep your cardio exercise in track - as it is very easy to over exert yourself.

Get started today!

An easy beginner tip would be to walk in place for 3 minutes then jog in place for 1 minute.

Keep alternating with walking for 3 minutes and jogging for 1 minute for 20 minutes.

Before you know it, you will lose body fat and have more energy than you can handle.

Dr. Ralph Napolitano is a chiropractor, certified clinical nutritionist, and holistic health counselor. His family owns and operates Ann & Tony's Restaurant on Arthur Ave in The Bronx since 1927. His restaurant and clinical experience gives him the tools to help you achieve the health and well being you always wanted. Dr. Napolitano gives you simple and natural solutions to help you lose weight, lower cholesterol, and avoid heart. Use the primary sources on your journey to a total health rebirth. Get free audio health tips at http://www.therenaissancedietpodcast.com



BodyBuilding And Fat Loss

The first step in any bodybuilding program is to first reduce the fat level in the body system and as well as shading some weight to get the muscles in the right mass. You will understand that when you shade off a reasonable amount of weight in order to develop muscles faster.When you are fat and over weight, you will generally not be able to train for a longer period of time. You should also not forget about the fact that the basis of bodybuilding lies in regularly training and quality health style.

Poor dieting and nutrition style is also generally agreed to be the most influencing factor to over weight. Bodybuilding is different from weight gaining. When you are bodybuilding, you tend to grow bigger in size by way of developing huge muscle mass and becoming fitter. But when you gain weight, you as well increase in size but certainly less fit. One very effective way to loss weight and fat yet develop muscles is by regular exercise. Below are other vital things that you need to know in your quest for bodybuilding and fat loss at the same time.

Checking what you eat ? this way you can be able t dedicate from what meal your excess calories comes from.

Weight and iron pump are very good ways to achieving good results - You also need to incorporate weight and iron pump to your regular program. This helps you to increase the resistance on the muscles and also help to tone them up while you burn up calories.

Try develop a good eating habit ? This is true because statistics shows that most fat people loss weight faster when they reduce the amount of food that the eat.

Good water drinking habit ? You have to drink enough water during and after exercise as this helps to flush out fat from your system.

Don?t be to anxious ? You don?t have to be overly anxious to get the desired fat or weight off, as bodybuilding and weight loss is a gradual process.

Adequate sleep ? You need enough sleep if possible after training as it helps to relax the muscle and get it up into top shade.

You can also join a good gym house ? When you join a gym house, you will be given a program by your trainer, which you will endeavor to accomplish daily. You also need to stay focused on you program, as there could come a time when you become discourage due to a gradual muscle development.

Stay away from fatty foods ? You should also try to avoid eating fatty foods, which can be responsible for weight gain.

Chidike Okereke is a researcher in the field of bodybuilding and proper maintenance of the physical body posture through training and exercise. And has been an adviser and trainer for some years now. For questions, information and quality recommendations please, visit the links below:

http://www.musclemass.net.ms

http://www.healthwise.net.ms

contact: info@healthwise.net.ms

Monday, September 8, 2008

Fat loss that's good for the heart!

Bodybuilder or not, no one who's playing with a full deck wants to be carrying excess body fat. While weight training and dieting play major roles, to maximize fat loss you should also be doing some sort of cardiovascular training (more affectionately known as cardio) to compliment your bodybuilding workouts.

Cardio, can be defined as any continuous exercise that increases the heart rate to what exercise physiologists call the target heart range. You can calculate your target heart range by using a formula that takes into account your age, resting heart rate, and approximate fitness level. It is important to note that the general guidelines for calculating your target heart rate are only a guide. Many other factors such as family genetics, medical conditions, and even common medications, also play a role in determining the best level to workout.

Cardiovascular training can take many forms. You can walk, bike, run, swim, cross country ski, or attend aerobic classes. Another way to effectively vary your cardio training is by cross-training. Cross-training involves alternating various different types of exercises in one exercise session. No matter what you do, the primary objective is to raise your heart rate to your target heart rate zone, keep it there for 25 to 30 minutes, and to do this for at least three times per week. Make sure that if you are doing an activity like swimming or running, that your skill level is sufficient enough to allow you to maintain your heart in the target heart rate zone. Start/stop activities, such as tennis, hockey, bodybuilding workouts, and basketball, are great workouts, but do not provide continuous time in the target heart range. Therefore they have limited cardiovascular and fat loss benefits.

Burn Bodyfat Using Bodyweight Circuits

More and more people are finding it hard to find time to get a workout in with their busy schedules.

If these people knew that they could get a great fat burning workout in as little as five minutes they would no longer have any excuses.

If more people would take their fitness and health levels more seriously their would be less medical problems and less work missed.

Most people have spent lots of money on diet and fitness books and weight loss products and never get the results they are looking for.

If more would just find simple effective ways to get fit and healthy and stay that way their lives would improve in a big way.

People can cut their workout in half if they become creative and do it at home.

What people can expect when they train using their own bodyweight is a fast effective fat burning workout.

People could use stairs, take a walk instead of walking on treadmill, go for a bike ride instead of using a stationary bike and get some fresh air in their lungs.

You don't need a gym for a great workout, all you need is a little space and a little time and the benefits will be great.

Here is a short but effective workout:

Jumping Jacks - 30 seconds
Burpees - 30 seconds
Pushups - 30 seconds

Repeat for 5 minutes ( no rest ) move from one exercise to the other.

The above workout will get you breathing heavy in no time, just do your best to complete it, don't over do it.

John Grube is an expert on the subject of bodyweight training. He has over 25 years of training experience and is the author of The Wildman Training Program manual. For more info http://www.wildmantraining.com

Friday, September 5, 2008

How Would I Go About Burning Body Fat

So you have been working out hard as well as eating right but you still can not seem to get of those extra few pounds of fat. But if you want to know how to burn fat you do not need just to exercise consistently as well as trying to eat right there are something other things you can do which will help.

1. Count those Calories
If you restrict the amount of calories that you intake you will end up losing muscle tissue rather than burning the fat. Using a crash diet simply does not work. It will only lower the body's temperature and this causes the thyroid to slow down which in turn slows down the metabolism. A person's metabolism needs to be high in order to burn fat.

2. Breakfast
Ensure that you eat breakfast each morning which contains both carbohydrates and protein as well as a little fat in order to boost your metabolism for the rest of the day. Remember that eating breakfast is the first opportunity you will have to bring your blood sugar levels back up to normal after you have been sleeping and fasting all night.

3. Weight Training
Muscles help burn calories. So the more muscles you have the more calories you will burn even when you are resting. It is important that any weight training you do is relatively intense and your reps should between 15 to 20 of each exercise. Also train at least every day or if not at least 3 times a week. You should only spend an hour each day weight training and no more.

4. Increase your Heart Rate
Doing cardio exercises helps to burn fat. But if you happen to being doing some cardio exercises religiously and yet fat loss is not taking place then you need to increase the intensity of your sessions but not the length. Any cardio exercise session you do should last no longer than 45 minutes.

5. Dieting
By going on a special diet, you can help your body rid itself of unwanted fat fast. It's proven that Dr. Atkin's Diet, as well as any similar kind of diets, can help reduce large amount of body fat in a very short period of time. I've seen men of 200 lbs of body weight lose fat and get slim in just 4 weeks, having reduced close to 20 lbs of body weight altogether. The result was so good that these men couldn't believe this could be done so easily and they all had to check with their doctors and underwent some whole body checkup just to make sure. And the result? They're found to be whole lot healthier than 4 weeks ago before they started the dieting program!

But if you want to try something different then give interval cardio training a go. By integrating slower levels of intensity for several minutes with very high levels you are helping to boost your metabolism. This also helps to create more a post-caloric burn, where you will find that calories are burned 24 hours after the workout was done.

As you can see these points will help with how to burn fat that is unwanted on your body and provide you with the desired results at the end.

Dr. Kang-pang Chan is a board-certified naturopathic physican by the American Naturopathic Medical Association and now based in Hong Kong.

To learn more about Quick Weight Loss, please go to http://www.home-cure.com/weightloss/WeightLossTipsbr.php

Reduce Body Fat Through Exercise

Exercise and nutrition both play a very important role in the amount of fat stored in your body. Not all exercising will reduce your body fat equally. The type, duration and intensity of your routine will determine how effectively you lower your body fat percentage.

The most important rule you have to remember when trying to lower your body fat percentage, is that you don't choose where the fat comes off from, your genetics do. If you're trying to get a killer set of abs, doing sit ups and crunches when you have a high body fat content isn't going to burn the fat that is covering your abs.

To get rid of excess body fat, you need to participate in activities that burn a lot of calories. Running, biking, swimming and most sports will do this very well. In addition to cardio, you also need to have a good strength training routine. Muscle burns more calories than fat so one of your top priorities needs to be building more muscle mass.

A common misconception is that to get rid of fat, you need to workout at a low intensity. While its true that activities at low intensities burn more fat, those at high intensities will burn more calories and at the end of the day, the amount of calories you burn is more important than the amount of fat you burn even if you're trying to get rid of fat.

Running at a high intensity will burn more calories than walking at a slow intensity. Remember, to lose body fat, you need to burn more calories than you eat. Exercising harder will burn more calories and help you get to your goal quicker.

If you burn 400 calories (of mostly fat) at a low intensity versus 500 calories (of mostly non-fat) at a higher intensity, what happens to that extra 100 calories at the end of the day? The answer is that it gets converted to fat. You are better off burning it by working at a high intensity.

Exercising alone can only go so far. Remember to include a healthy diet that includes calorie restriction until you reach your body fat percentage goal.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

How To Get Rid Of Body Fat

Believe it or not, there are many safe ways to get rid of body fat. Millions of ordinary people have been trying to find out how to get rid of body fat (cellulite) in the safest way without drugs, without supplements, permanently and without wrecking their metabolism.

You can get leaner, faster than you ever thought possible! Even if you have less-than average genetics... even if you've never succeeded at losing weight before... even if you have stubborn fat deposits that don't seem to budge. It's a fact - 95% of the people who go on conventional diets gain all the weight back and sometimes they end up fatter than when they started. If you've ever started a diet, then smashed into the dreaded plateau, it's probably because you cannibalized your own muscle and slowed down your metabolism.

Also, 97% of all supplements are a total waste of money! You are being lied to and ripped off by companies that don't care about your health and well-being. You would be amazed to learn the ugly truth about the $13 billion per year supplement industry and the $40 billion per year weight loss industry.

If you are in search of ways to lose the body fat, all you have to do is a few searches on the net. There are many sources to guide you on your quest for a healthy way to lose body fat. Just glean through the searches for natural ways and safe ways to do this. They are out there, you just must search and read carefully through your findings. Persevere and you will discover what you seek.

Stone Gates is a midwest United States native. He has been involved in internet businesses for about a year and owns a traffic exchange at http://clicks4ms.com . He also has additional information posted his blog at http://stonegates.wordpress.com

BREAK# Burn Off Body Fat Fast

While I was searching through the most popular fitness/fat-loss e-books out there I ran into a book by the name of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle. This book seemed to be getting a lot of reviews from others as the best fitness book available, a book by a natural bodybuilder named Tom Venuto.

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is an E-book created by a bodybuilding champion by the name of Tom Venuto. This book attempts to teach people all the aspects of losing weight, whilst gaining muscle. This program shows you how to burn of body fat. Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle has been called the greatest fitness book ever. With this kind of serious hype, I decided to look into it.

I wanted to see if it really did live up to its great reputation. I have been bodybuilding for many years now as well as being a fitness freak, so I wanted to see what real information was in this book. As it turned out this program/ebook really does show you how to burn off body fat fast.

Not only does this program work. It shows you how to burn body fat fast. Believe me when I mean fast it is certainly fast. It also shows you how to feed your muscle. By the end of this program you will not only loose all of your body fat fast you will also feed your muscles and be stronger than ever before.

If you want to have some weight fitness and be successful health wise I would highly recommend this wonderful ebook. So if you want to burn off body fat you should defiantly check this ebook out. This Book really did amaze me.

Max Whitson is expert that is making explicit reviews and comparisons of the best weight loss products online. His site shows one of the best, most selling weight lost programs there is today. You can visit his site at http://www.burn-off-body-fat.com

Monday, September 1, 2008

What is Body Fat

Body fat is the percentage of your body that is not bone, water, muscles or organs. Therefore, your body fat is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. There are two types of body fat, essential body fat and storage fat.

Storage fat collects primarily under the skin and is called subcutaneous fat. Most storage fat finds it way around the waist, hips, thighs and buttocks.

The location of fat storage is also dependent on gender. The hormones testosterone and estrogen also determine where fat is deposited in the body.

Why do we need body fat?

Body fat in itself is not dangerous, and we all need some amount of fat to be healthy. Fat is needed for the following functions:

Cushions and protects our internal organs

Helps in the absorption of some vitamins, such as Vitamin A, Vitamin D and Vitamin E

Helps promote normal growth and development

Necessary for the proper functioning of the female reproductive system

Provides energy for us to function

Provides some amount of body heat



The American Council on Exercise outlines the percentage of body fat needed for health and at what level body fat becomes an obesity issue. The list shows how much fat males need as against females. For instance, a female essential body fat ratio is between ten to twelve percent, males are a low two to four percent. Acceptable levels of body fat for males and females are eighteen to twenty-five percent and twenty-five to thirty-one, respectively. This however, also depends on age as older females may need a little more body fat than younger ones.An essential fat refers to the fat found in our bone marrow, organs and muscles. As the name indicates this type of fat is necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the body. Females need more because some body parts are made up of fat, like the breasts, hips and thighs.

Storage fat provides energy and is kept by the body as a reserve. This type of body fat is the fat that can and does lead to obesity.

Why do some people have more than others?

Some people are genetically predisposed to having a higher percentage of body fat than others. No amount of dieting and exercise will change that; however, eating properly and exercising will improve your health even if you never become as lean as you wish.

For most of us however, the percentage body fat we have is directly related to how much fat, sugars and carbohydrates we eat and our activity level. Sedentary people who consume a lot of fats and sweets will generally have a higher percentage of body fat than someone of the same age and gender that eats right and exercises.

To help keep your body fat in the percentage range for your height, age and gender you need to have a sensible diet and be active. The secret is to keep a balance between the amount of calories you consume and the amount you burn from daily activities and exercise.

Gareth runs a fitness and nutritional information site packed full with interesting articles about fitness, health, diet advice and muscle building tips

Visit us at: www.24hrfitness.co.uk

Nutrition section: www.24hrfitness.co.uk/nutrition-choice.html

Trapped In The Body Of A Fat Teen

When you are in middle school or high school, being different may not seem like a good thing. Especially if what makes you different is that you can?t wear cute short skirts or skinny jeans because you are overweight. And, if that weren?t bad enough, you may feel terrible inside when you eat lunch in the cafeteria and watch girls who must be a size 0 or size 2 eating french fries, pizza, brownies and whatever they want without gaining an ounce.

If you are tempted to dwell on how unfair it all is I can help. Like you, I was an overweight teen and my weight bothered me so much that I was willing to do anything and everything to be thin. For example, I once spent an afternoon wrapped in a tight-fitting silver outfit trying to sweat off four pounds of belly fat. Guess what? At the end of the day, I weighed exactly the same. Meanwhile, I felt humiliated, disappointed and taken-in.

That was then, of course, and now I?m grown up and thin and ready to share with you what I have learned from studying people who are naturally thin ? like the kids in your school who can eat absolutely anything without gaining weight. Instead of envying them I can teach you how to be exactly like them.

The first thing you need to do is to lose the mindset that there are bad foods and good foods. It?s simply not true. Foods don?t fall into neat, black and white categories ? even my favorite obsession, barbecued potato chips, aren?t truly bad. By obsessing over foods that we think are bad for us, we actually tend to eat more of them. So if you are like I was and have a food that you love to eat to excess, stop beating yourself up for eating it. You don?t see the thin girls in your school doing that, do you?

Another thing you can do is to go on a hunt and throw away everything diet related in your life. Food scales, calorie counters, food monitoring diaries and every diet book in your house should all be thrown away, because diets don?t work for most of us and very few people get thin and stay thin by dieting. In fact, research actually shows that teens on diets gain more weight than teens who don?t diet. So if your mom or a friend advises you to go on a diet, please give it a second thought. They have your best interests at heart, of course, but, like most people, don?t have the best information on what really works in the long-term.

When you are on a diet, you stop listening to what your body is trying to tell you, and that causes problems. Your body knows when it is hungry and when you need to eat ? even how much to eat. The secret to letting the thin person within you out is to listen to your body. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are satisfied. Become self-aware of other reasons that may cause you to overeat and you can deal with those issues in a more appropriate way that doesn?t involve food.

Dr. Kim Hiatt regularly speaks about issues relating to childhood and adolescent obesity and secrets thin families know about weight control. She has been successful at overcoming her own weight loss difficulties. Along with Marna Goldstein, Hiatt is co-owner of ThinfromWithinTeens.com. Hiatt is an adjunct professor of psychology at Southwestern College. She completed her doctorate dissertation on childhood and adolescent obesity.

About the Author:

for free five-minute podcasts released each week. Among the titles are Motivation 911; How to Stop Before You Get to the Tablecloth; Reducing Emotional Eating; and Feeling Fabulous Today and As You Are Losing.

Why Does Your Body Build Up Excess Fat

Why does your body build up excess fat? By eating more food than we can burn up through physical exercise and our normal bodily processes.

Foods furnish the energy that is measured in units called calories. If we eat more calories from food and drink than we burn up through exercise, the extra calories are stored away in the form of body fat. The body acts as a bank for fat. If a person continues to take in excessive calories, the amount of fat in your bank grows.

You can reduce the amount of fat in your bank by making withdrawals. There are two safe ways to do this: (1) eat less high-fat foods; and (2) increase your physical activity to burn the excess calories.

The best way to reduce your fat storage is a combination of eating less high-fat foods and exercising your body.

Your body always counts the calories that you eat, even when you forget that you've taken in those calories. The body never lies! Everything that makes your body fat enters your body through your mouth. If you pay attention to what you eat, you gain control of the body fat storage that accumulates.

There are certain times in your life when you are more likely to retain fat in your body. The first is aging. As you grow older, your body requires fewer calories to fuel basic processes. Unless food intake is gradually reduced or physical activity is increased, the extra pounds are sure to pile up.

Most women gain extra weight during pregnancy and at menopause. A woman's metabolism helps to determine how easily she can lose the aby weight after her child is born.

There are many lose-weight-fast programs that guarantee that you can lose excess pounds without effort. Some of these may use drugs or herbs that can be harmful to your body. Some of them say you can eat a certain food or beverage because they are ignored by your body. But, calories always count toward your body fat storage no matter what foods they come from.

When you first begin a weight loss program, it seems you can lose weight faster at the start. A lot of that first weight that you lose is water weight. You may be exercising more strenuously and losing water weight by sweating it off. That doesn't mean, however, that you can go into a steam room and lose a significant amount of weight by sweating it off.

The moral of this story is: Eat smaller portions of healthy foods and give your body the exercise it needs to keep it fit and in shape.


About the Author

Jude Wright is the owner of 9 Weeks to Weight Loss at 9WeekstoWeightLoss.com. Stop by and get your free report, Losing Weight Without Starving Yourself.

Benefits of Cycling for Fitness and Fat Burning

Cycling can offer benefits for both fitness and burning off unwanted body fat. It really depends on your health and fitness goals and what you want to achieve from your cycling program. Outdoor cycling can include cycle tracks in forests and parks, to cycle ways within your town or city, along beaches or major roads and free ways. You can take the family cycling or use your cycling program as some ime out for yourself away from work and other pressures you may be experiencing at that moment in time.

Indoor cycling also offers some exciting opportunities as well.

With spin and other cycle classes being extremely popular, and lots of fun, to just being able to control your own training programs from within the privacy of your own home.

Some Helpful Hints on Setting Up Your Bicycle

1. Make sure that the handle bars and seat are in a comfortable position.

2. Check that the seat height or the seat itself is suitable for your build, taking into consideration the amount of time you will be spending on it.

3. If you are using an indoor cycle make sure your bike has foot pedal straps. If you pick up the pace your feet can easily fly off if you don't have them connected to the pedals.

A Few Things You Need to Organize Before Starting Your Cycling Program

1. Do you have any injuries that effect what type of bicycle you use? e.g. semi-recumbent cycle for indoors rather than your normal high seated indoor cycle. Etc.

2. Do you know what your health and fitness goals are? And how will this affect your program.

3. Do you have a program that specifically designed for your goals?

4. Arranging your program so that you can enjoy it at a specific time of the day when you don't have to rush. The last thing you want to do is spend all that money on setting your program up only to throw in the towel due to other commitments interfering with your program times.

5. Do you have a resistance and eating plan organized to suit your cycling program? You might as well put in the effort with your diet and training if you are going to start exercising too. Don't you think? It will certainly speed up your results as well as giving you more energy.

6. As well as making sure your bicycle is comfortable and set up correctly you will also want to ensure that your indoor cycle is placed somewhere in your house where you will use it and where you can access it easily.

7. When using your cycle makes sure your legs aren't wrapped up around your neck while pedaling. Keep your seat at a comfortable distance from the pedals. I get my clients to stretch their legs out completely then slightly bend their knees - this is where I will position the seat. This is so they get a full stretch of their legs without feeling like they are being pulled off the seat when the pedals rotate.

8. When cycling outdoors makes sure your feet can touch the ground, while you are seated on your bike seat. The amount of times I have seen cyclists that are virtually falling off their bicycles when they stop at a corner, because their feet don't touch the ground, always worries me. Play it safe and use your common sense when cycling.

9. When cycling outdoors makes sure you check with your local council regarding rules and regulations for cycling eg. Safety helmets, knee pads etc

How many times can I cycle per week?

Cycling indoors or outdoors is a great way to keep fit and burn off those extra calories. Cycling 3-4 times per week will make a difference in the way you look, feel as well increasing your self esteem. You don't need to cycle for hours on end, 20 - 30 mins is sufficient and sometimes less when you are first starting out. As your fitness increases you can ramp up the intensity and the length of your cycle sessions. If you're training for a specific event your cycling training will vary due to speed drills and training specific sessions to help you prepare for the ig day. Choose a program to suit your health and fitness needs and you'll be on your way!



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