Faster Fat loss

Filed under Advanced workout, Body Toning, Fat loss

There are three schools of thought when it comes to cardio for fat loss, you have those who are die hard cardio fanatics, those who think its the devil and those who think when done properly it can have huge implications on the amount of calories burned during a workout.

The following program is something that I have been doing with my personal training clients and seeing great increases in conditioning as well as fat loss. The key is to perform this mini circuit at the end of your total body training program or even on the off days when you aren’t resistance training, it will rev up your metabolism and keep the fire burning for a few hours. Okay lets get to it.

3 Minutes of Hell Circuit (Que organ music duhduh duhhhh)

Exercise 1: push-ups off knees 30 seconds

pushupknee

Exercise 2: Alternating lunges 30 seconds straight or 15 reps per leg

lunge

Exercise 3: Jump tucks 30 seconds straight or 15 reps total

jumptuck

Exercise 4: Mountain climbers 30 seconds straight or 30 reps

mountainclimber

Exercise 5: speed squats 30 seconds straight or 30 reps

squat

Exercise 6: Plank hold count to 30 seconds

plank

Lay down and wish you were dead……word to the wise this is an advanced program tune in tomorrow for a beginner version of this

Mar , 31

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Question of the week

Filed under Body Toning, Fat loss

lean lower body

Q: I need advice. How can I tone my lower body (particularly hamstrings and butt) in 4 weeks? In the past I found that weights makes me noticeably bigger (even at high reps) and very quickly. So I’ve always stuck to running for legs. Any suggestions?

Tsing Lam

A: Most women who build up muscles in the lower body very quickly cannot do too much leg work without increasing the size of their quads, to get around this problem incorporate exercises like hip bridges and quadruped extensions, these exercises allow you to work the legs without overloading them.

Mar , 28

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Drop Your Freshman15 medicine ball circuit

Filed under Body Toning, Exercise program, Fat loss, Intermediate Workout

Perform 3 sets with a 60 second rest in-between sets for maximum fat loss

Oct , 11

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workout of the day – Sculpt

Filed under Body Toning, Exercise program, Fat loss, General fitness

Warm-up:

Arm circles x 12
Chest &back x 12
PNF patterns x 12
Prisoner squat x 12
leg swings (multiple directions) x 15

Mini circuit 1: Butt & Thighs
A1: Walking lunge 20 repetitions
A2: Hip lift 20 repetitions per leg
rest 60 seconds and repeat 2 more sets

Mini circuit 2: Shoulders and Arms
B1: Standing dumbbells shoulder press 12 repetitions
B2: Dumbbells biceps curl 15 repetitions
B3: Overhead triceps extension 15 repetitions
rest 60 seconds and repeat 2 more sets

Mini circuit 3: Abs and Lower back
C1: Reverse abdominal crunch 15 repetitions
C2: Laying superman 15 repetitions
C3: Plank hold on elbows 30 seconds
rest 60 seconds and repeat 2 more sets

Oct , 7

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Introducing The Drop Your Freshman 15, Lean,Sculpt,Tone system

Filed under Body Toning, Exercise program, Fat loss, General fitness

Hey Guys

Here is some exciting news, we have gone to the drawing board and come up with an innovative system to guarantee you maximum results with your workout routines. The new system is called the Lean, Sculpt, Tone system and we promise you that you have never experienced anything like it.

What is the Lean, Sculpt Tone system?

It is an awesome way for you to mix up your current workouts. On the original Drop Your Freshman 15 program you would follow your total body training programs 2-3 times a week always focusing on training the whole body. As effective as that system is for fat loss, we figured that it may not be ideal for those looking to add a little bit of muscle. To combat this we have created a workout mix. From now on the workouts posted on the blog will fall into one of three categories;

Lean; Total body circuit training programs for those of you who want to drop as much fat as possible in the shortest period of time.

Sculpt: Workouts focusing on specific trouble spots like the abs, butt and stomach

Tone: A combination of the previous workouts, meant to drop fat while toning up trouble zones.

Workouts will be marked with a graphic indicating which day the fall under from now on. We hope you enjoy this new workout mix, leave comments letting us know.

In Health
Teiko

Oct , 7

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Understanding HIIT for fat loss

Filed under Beginner workouts, Exercise program, Fat loss

If you have never heard of HIIT then prepare for a total shift in how you see conditioning for fat loss. HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and when it comes to fat loss absolutely nothing compares to HIIT (sorry for the bad joke). HIIT is based on the theory that fat loss is not a direct result of the calories burned during a workout, but rather the calories that the body burns after the workout is done. A traditional cardio session may burn upwards of 300 calories , but once you have stopped running that is it whereas HIIT forces the body to keep burning calories after the workout is finished. If you are still not convinced about HIIT here are some more benefits to this style of training

Increase your metabolism for up to 36 hours

Burn maximum fat in minimum time

Increase strength

Increase muscular endurance

Give you lean, firm muscles

Improve your anaerobic endurance

Shorten your workout times, and

Increase your free time

Now that you know what HIIT does, lets take a look at how it is performed. Firstly HIIT can be done with any piece of cardio equipment, but for beginners I generally recommend the exercise bike. You want to set up the bike so that you can almost extend your leg fully in the bottom position of peddling, once you have the height adjusted you are going to set the machine to a manual ride, meaning that you will be responsible for the difficulty and pace of the ride. Set the timer for a 15 minute count down, input your weight etc and start riding.

The First 2 minutes should be at a comfortable pace ( if someone where to ask you how hard you are working it should be around a 5/10). This setting will depend on your personal level of fitness, a very fit person may have to set the intensity up to a level 14 on the bike to achieve this , whereas someone who is just starting out may have to input a 4 on the machine. Once the 2 minutes is up you are going to increase the difficulty on the bike up to a 8/10, the peddles should be much harder to move at this point ( imagine riding up a steep hill). You will ride at this 8/10 for 30 seconds and then drop back down to the 5/10 once that is done. Alternate between these periods of high and low intensity for the next 12 minutes or until the timer reads that you have 1 minute left on the bike. On the last minute I want you to try to set a personal best and take yourself to a 10/10 in terms of how hard you peddle, once you have completed this you are done for the day.

The keys to success with HIIT are;

With HIIT, you try to work as hard as possible for the assigned time period.

Each HIIT- Aerobic workout is made up of an equal number of shorter rides and longer recovery periods.

During each sprint, you try to pedal / run / climb as fast as you can.

To learn about some more effective fat loss strategies click HERE

Oct , 2

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Workout of the day- beginner

Filed under Beginner workouts, Body Toning, Exercise program, Fat loss

Warm-up:
exercise bike or treadmill 3-5 minutes
- Arm circles 12 repetitions
- Chest and Back 12 repetitions
- PNF patterns 12 repetitions
- Prisoner squats 12 repetitions
- Warrior split split – 6 repetitions per leg

Activation;
4 point plank
( front plank 30 seconds )
( side bridge 30 seconds )
( hip bridge 30 seconds )

Resistance Training;
Mini circuit 1

A1: Dumbbells shoulder press 12 repetitions
A2: Dumbbells step-up 15 repetitions per leg
A3: Reverse abdominal curl 12 repetitions
Perform 2 sets then move on to mini circuit 2

Mini circuit 2
B1: Dumbbells bent over row 12 repetitions
B2: Dumbbells sumo squat 15 repetitions
B3: Quadruped extension 15 repetitions per leg
Perform 2 sets then move on to mini circuit 3

Mini circuit 3
C1: Dumbbells split squat 12 repetitions
C2: Dumbbell biceps curl 12 repetitions
C3: Russian twist 12 repetitions
Perform 2 sets to complete your workout for the day

Oct , 1

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Better alternatives to cardio

Filed under Fat loss

The biggest mistake most people make when trying to lose weight is, doing too much cardio. I know this statement flies in the face of all that you have been taught about fat loss but the fact is that cardio is not the most efficient way to lose weight. Today I was at the gym doing my interval conditioning and noticed something. Most of the people there perform the same routine every time they set foot into the gym and a year later they haven’t lost a pound. What exactly have they been spinning their wheels with you ask? CARDIO.

Lets face it, when people want to shed a few pounds they lace up their sneakers and hop on the treadmill hoping that a few 30 minute jogs will magically produce their dream body. Nothing could be further from the truth. The human body is an extremely adaptable machine, meaning it will always adjust itself to whatever you do. If adaptation doesn’t occur the result is often injury. So from a fat loss perspective this means you must always find new ways to challenge the body.

Mixing up a combination of resistance training, conditioning drills and some cardiovascular activity is a sure fire way to melt off the pounds. For more information as to how to structure the ultimate fat loss program order The Drop Your Freshman 15 fat loss manual HERE

Oct , 1

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Drop Your Freshman 15 Core progressions 1

Filed under Beginner workouts, Fat loss

Yesterday we looked at a Dynamic warm-up that you can use before you engage in your fat loss workout, today we will continue onto some activation movements for the core.
Muscle activation movements will promote better exercise technique by engaging certain muscles before you begin resistance training. Muscles around the hip like the glutes and musles of the stomach like the obliques can sometimes be slow to respond, so what we do is turn them on and then begin our fat loss workout.

For more information on exercises to get you lean click here

Sep , 30

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Drop Your Freshman 15 warm-up video

Filed under Beginner workouts, Body Toning, Fat loss

Here is a video of The dynamic warm-up you can use before you start your Drop Your Freshman 15 fat loss program. Each movement should be done for 9-12 reps, with a focus on increasing the range of motion each repetition.

Sep , 29

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