The great thing about this workout is that you can pretty much do it anywhere because all it basically is alternating between jogging and sprinting.

It’s called interval training and as far as workout routines go it is pretty effective minute for minute and it is ideal for burning fat, losing weight and you’ll get an excellent lung workout as well!

To start off you want to get loosened up and warm yourself up thoroughly because your interval training workout routine begins with an all-out sprint… so you want to make sure and get a good warm up session in beforehand.

Once you’re thoroughly warmed up you’re ready to begin your interval training session.

Your interval training session begins with an all-out sprint for 30 seconds. This is followed by 60-90 seconds of light jogging. Which is followed by another 30 second all-out sprint. Which is followed by 60-90 seconds of light jogging. Followed by a 30 second sprint… followed by 60-90 seconds of light jogging… and I think you get the point. Lather, rinse and repeat…

I usually go back and forth for about 15-30 minutes or until my sprint turns into a really fast “jog.”

This interval training workout routine is ideal because #1 it’s a great cardio workout since you’re sprinting you’re really testing yourself #2 you burn a lot of calories since your exertion level is so high because of the sprinting and #3 you burn fat with the jogging.

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So the bad news about visceral adipose tissue is that it has a direct link to heart disease but fear not there is some good news…

The good news is that this type of fat is usually one of the first our bodies will dispose of when we first engage in some type of weight loss program. This is a case where weight loss will actually benefit your health in more ways then the obvious benefit of the weight loss itself.

The bottom line is that any belly fat is bad for your health but hard belly fat may actually lead to other much more serious conditions and it’s a condition that can be very easily avoided with a little bit of exercise and a cleaner diet.

Exercise 3-4 times a week and lower your caloric intake by 10-20% to put your body into fat-burning and weight loss mode.

Take the first step in a weight loss program and your body, your health and your heart will all thank your for it.

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You see as we get older our bodies begin to shed more and more muscle (lean muscle at that) and we replace it with more and more fat and this results in a body that already has some fat on it and now because of the additional fat (and less muscle) our metabolism is going to suffer for it!

The only way to reverse this trend is by working out with weights to boost your metabolism!

Lean muscle has a tremendous positive effect on your metabolism and the only way to acquire lean muscle is by working out with weights and by consistently performing an anaerobic workout routine.

In my last post: Follow This Workout Routine To Bust Through Plateaus I talked about performing a high-rep workout routine to “switch things up” and to bust through training plateaus and that workout routine is also ideal for someone who is new to lifting weights (anaerobic exercises).

Usually folks that are new to lifting weights and anaerobic workout routines are weary of getting “too big” (don’t worry about it you don’t eat enough - trust me), are intimidated by heavy weights or just don’t want to hurt themselves since they’re new to “pumping iron.”

If this is you, a high-rep workout is for you.

Using a high number of reps while working out ensures that you’re building lean muscle tissue and not trying to “bulk up”… remember this: high number of reps = lean and defined muscles and low number of reps = big, bulky muscles.

Working out with weights or performing any anaerobic exercises is the fastest and easiest way to boost your metabolism, so make sure to include it in your exercise regimen.

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What happened?

Your body adapted to the workout routine and you need to change it up if you want to continue to see results…

Let me tell you about a simple change you can make to your workout routine that will have your muscles screaming once again and will have you feeling good about the gym again.

In my experience as a personal trainer I noticed that most people that workout in the gym workout in the 6-10 rep range and some fitness buffs will even go as high as 12 reps regularly… what this means is that whenever you perform an exercise you are doing 6-12 repetitions of that particular exercise with that weight.

The simple change is this: Instead of doing 6-12 reps in your workout routine go for 20 reps instead!

Now you won’t be able to use the same weight you did before with your old workout routine but you still be using the same exercises. Just take your best guess as to how much weight you’ll be able to use for a good 20 reps and hit the weights!

This simple change to your workout routine will literally shock your muscles into growing again and bring a much welcomed return to good healthy pumps in the gym!

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OK so in the last post we talked about circuit training working as a hybrid workout that we can utilize as both a cardio workout and an anaerobic workout as well.

So how can we take this workout routine to the next level? How can we continue to work our muscles through resistance training and increase the intensity of the cardio workout at the same time?

Most of the time when we think circuit training we think of anaerobic exercises… the cardio effect comes into play because we’re jumping from one station to the next basically never taking a break between sets.

What I recommend you do is mix in some cardio exercises into your circuit training.

This will increase the intensity of your cardio workout and it will really increase the amount of calories you burn during your new hybrid circuit training workout!

Here’s what i recommend:

4 sets of 4 exercises.

3 anaerobic exercises (anything where you have to push or pull any type of weight even your own) and one cardio exercise at the end of the set.

For the cardio exercises I recommend 5 minutes on the treadmill, 5 minutes on a stationary bike at a good pace or 5 minutes on an elliptical trainer.

Take your circuit training and fat burning to the next level… try the circuit training hybrid workout the next time you hit the gym!

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If you don’t like doing cardio and you like lifting weights but you’re also looking for a way to squeeze in some some fat-burning exercises to your workout routine you may want to incorporate some circuit-training into your current exercise routine.

Circuit-training helps your body burn more fat by elevating your heart rate, speeding up the pace of your workout and obviously you’ll be burning more calories because of the limited amount of rest between sets.

There are different variations of circuit-training and the one I’m talking about here is simply limiting the amount of rest between your sets to 15-30 seconds to add an element of “cardio” to your normal everyday workout routine…

Don’t expect to lift the same amount of weight you would had you not been circuit training but remember the goal is to get a good weight-lifting session in as well as get in some good fat-burning cardio.

Circuit training is great particularly when you only have 20-30 minutes to get in a workout and you want to do both cardio and pump iron.

Tomorrow I’ll talk about how you can really give your normal circuit-training session a cardio boost!

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Here are a few reasons you may want to start drinking more water…

Did you know that drinking half a liter of water can raise your metabolism by 30%?

Or that mildly dehydrated individuals experience up to a 2% drop in their metabolism?

Did you know that most people when they think they’re hungry are actually thirsty?

And did you know that drinking water throughout the day will keep you feeling full and is a good way to avoid unnecessary snacking?

And finally did you know that your body is made up of about 70% of water?

Drink water. Lose weight. Get ripped.

For overall fitness and health, it doesn’t get much better then good ‘ol water!

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Here’s a few reasons to stay out of the gym when you’re tired…

Hitting the gym when you’re tired results in the release of stress hormones…

stress hormones lead to smaller muscles…

smaller muscles lead to a slower metabolism…

a slower metabolism leads to more fat.

So stay out of the gym when you’re tired…

Your body will thank you for it.

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This may be common sense to most of you but your body burns less fuel when you are sleeping so consuming a plate full of rice or a loaf of bread (both just full of carbohydrates) before you hit the sack is probably a bad idea if you’re looking to stay lean…

Matter of fact, consuming a large portion of carbohydrates before you go to bed will probably increase the amount of fat your body stores in the middle of night.

Not exactly what you were looking for right?

If you’re looking to stay lean and you’re looking to keep the fat off then it’s probably a good idea to avoid all carbohydrates before going to bed…

Instead go to bed and have just a small protein meal (cottage cheese, protein shake, chicken breast) and make sure you don’t consume any carbohydrates at least 3 hours before you go to bed.

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In a nutshell, eating carbs alone will slow down your metabolism and further ignite your appetite.

Think chinese food ok… you know how you’re always hungry a couple of hours later?

Now you know.

Another reason to include protein whenever you consume carbohydrates is because protein has been shown to curb the effects of eating carbs by themselves.

Eat protein = Feel full longer and maintain a higher metabolic rate over a longer period of time.

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