How Often Should I Exercise?

People often email me asking how many days per week should they workout. For the average person wanting to lose weight and focus on fat loss, the answer is simple. They will get fantastic results by training hard only three days per week. Now for the average person, that should be manageable.
And yes, all three of those workouts should be done in less than an hour. Research shows that 20-30 minutes of interval training is more effective than 40 minutes of slow cardio for weight loss. Combine the intervals with 20-30 minutes of strength training. Do that 3 days per week, and pow, you'll lose fat fast. (With good nutrition too, of course!)

On off days, I encourage people to be as active as possible, but without making extra effort to go to the gym. Walking to do your errands for an hour is great, if you have the time. Just do some form of health-promoting exercise (which can mean a half hour walk, yoga, or aerobic training if you desire). The duration and intensity of these off-day workouts depends on your fitness level, your recovery capacity, and your nutrition plan.

For many people, New Year's resolutions mean a return to high-volume cardio programs. But I urge restraint, caution, and conservatism. Trying to re-do your old running programs after some time off is a recipe for disaster.
If you plan on resuming a former running program, please start conservatively, especially if you are running on hard surfaces. Start easy. Build up in volume. Monitor your energy levels, strength levels, and mood. Be conservative, train consistent, and superior results will be yours.

And what about for beginners? How often should they workout?
Well, if you are the utmost of beginners, and haven't done any formal exercise in a long, long time, then simply do 3-6 bouts of 5 minutes of walking each day. Every day. Progress with your walking by increasing the time you walk and decreasing the number of "bouts" per day. For example, in week 3 of your exercise program, do 3 bouts of 10 minutes per day. And by week 6, you should be able to walk for 30 minutes straight. That is a place to get started.

At the same time, combine your walking program with a professionally designed bodyweight 3-day strength program that you can do at home (heck, most beginner exercises are even done lying on the floor!). After 6 weeks, you can increase the intensity of your workout, as outlined by your personal trainer. Eventually, you can progress into a more intense 3-day per week program.



Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit http://www.TurbulenceTraining.com



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Effective Weight Loss and Nutrition

Health Expert's Opinion About Weight Loss
Some people are of the wrong belief that diet plans for effective weight loss includes fasting. Health experts are of the opinion that fasting is a bad way of dieting and also dangerous. Good quantity of nutrients is required by the body regularly to sustain energy, health and growth. If the body is not supplied with proper supply of nutrients, then the muscles would use get weakened and start using the tissue as the source of energy.

Many people tend to go for the liquid protein plan. The health experts explain that it is ineffective as it includes huge amounts of protein with low amount of carbohydrate liquids. Such eating plans could cause serious side-effects. It can also cause major health related problems in the future and also death. it is better advised for you to take proper medical advice before implementing such plans, however, you would require constant supervision.

Some of them also select pills to lose the weight. Such pills for losing weight makes tall claims of burning, blocking or flushing the fat and might work for some extent, however, most of them do not work properly. Some of the pills are utilized to control the appetite. While some of them have side-effects. Some also might cause anxiety, while others fatigue, or become addictive.
Poor dieting, lack of nutrients also develops eating disorders.

To avoid the eating disorders like Bulimia or Anorexia, it is very important for you to consult a fitness expert to diagnose a good and nutritious diet plan that would work for you. You should also avoid some diet plans that include eating only a single food group, fasting or diets that would claim that you could simply eat as much as possible and still be able to lose weight. Health experts recommend everybody who are interesting in effective weight loss to avoid the kind of diet plans which supply lesser than 1400 calories. To set a good diet plan, you need to learn on making changes to your lifestyle in order to get permanent and effective weight loss.

There are various types of healthy 'diet plans' that effective lose weight and do not harm your body. One such type includes training and sports nutrition which are specially designed for the athletes. The other type of diet plan is for those non-athletic groups and consists of vegetarian and nutrition dense diets.
For more in depth information and advice on Effective Weight Loss please visit EffectiveWeightLossAdvice.com today.


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Do 8-Pack Abs Really Exist?

Are 8-pack abs a myth or magic? You may want to know if it's really soon after you acquire your 6-pack abs. But the first question you need to ponder on is, is there any difference between a 6-pack abs and an 8-pack abs?

Before you start counting on the number of packs, think that an 8-pack abs is actually a super defined 6-pack abs. If you cannot see any difference between the two, as there exists but only so subtle, remember that an 8-pack abs will give you physical advantages not available to those having a 6-pack abs.
The eight pack of an 8-pack abs can be found in the lower abdomen just below the six pack and it is actually a midsection that is lean and well-toned.

While both eight pack and six pack compose the rectus abdominus muscle group, it is the tendons that separate and distinguish each from the other.

Unfortunately, not all gentlemen are endowed with a gift of further achieving an eight pack. Genetics plays a main role in getting an 8-pack abs and will serve as a final arbiter if a 6-pack abs is all that you can make. There are some signs that manifest if you have the genes for achieving an 8-pack abs. See if the tendons of your lower abdomen are still large ad taut and if they are you may be lucky to further develop that pay of your abdomen for an 8-pack abs.

People who are consuming terrible portions of fat, sugar, and alcohol won't be getting either of the 6-pack abs or 8-pack backs. It goes to show that only the determined and the disciplined ones will be getting them.
If you have worked your way out to achieve a 6-pack abs through rigorous exercise and a strict diet, developing an 8-pack abs also consists of the same mechanism: tone up muscles and lose fats.
The twofold tasks can be accomplished with having a low fat, low sugar diet, weight training, and cardiovascular exercise. It sounds similar to getting a 6-pack abs but reaching to the other level is difficult and can even be frustrating sometimes.

Your diet should consist of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and poultry, fresh fish, sufficient fiber, and lots of water.

Aside from the aerobic cardiovascular exercises, you will also need to incorporate 20-30 minutes of cardio exercises into your daily routine. It is okay to be persistent but don't tire yourself by adding another 30 minutes extra.

Free weight training also helps in burning fat and building muscle through elevating your body temperature. It is important that exercises should focus on your midsection when you're doing your abdominal routine. Do exercise with high resistant and low reps to make your abdominal muscles grow and eliminate fats.

An 8-pack abs is yours to achieve given the following formula: good genes, proper diet, and abdominal exercises that focus on the midsection.



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Nutrition Weight Loss - How to Lose Weight When Nothing Else Has Worked

There are literally thousands of weight loss designed products, pills, diets, and everything imaginable these days. Obviously there is no miracle cure, or it would likely be everywhere. The reason that there is no one across the board catch all for losing weight is because different bodies react to different treatments differently. One newer nutrition weight loss "diet" which takes a scientific approach, however, has been getting rave results from all who use it.

Nutrition weight loss has been getting a great deal more scientific credibility in recent months and years before of new tactics for speeding up the metabolic rate at which a body can burn fat. This is the secret to weight loss. Part of affecting your metabolism successful entails eating more meals spread throughout the day but in smaller portions. You can think of this as like going to the gym and toning any muscle in your body by applying focused exercise and increased use of that muscle. In this case, the metabolism is used more often and consequently gets in better shape by eating continually throughout the day.

The nutrition weight loss diet which has revolutionized the idea of calorie counting and toning or shaping your metabolism is called Fat Loss 4 Idiots. It's very likely that you may have heard of this diet before. What it is is a members only diet site which offers you all of the resources that you need to work your metabolism into shape. They offer calorie calculators which do all of the work for you in combination with tailored diets to meet your needs but promote a healthier diet, not to mention a wealth of information on how this process works, why it works, and why other diets don't work.



Try this nutrition weight loss diet risk free for 60 days as the makers guarantee that you'll see an immediate result or your money back in full. This nutrition weight loss system boasts 9 pounds lost each 11 days you stick to their finely calibrated system. Don't wait and visit http://www.yourreviewsite.com/how-to-lose-weight-the-right-way.php, summer's right around the corner!



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5 Components of Physical Fitness

Physical fitness is the ability to function effectively throughout your workday, perform your usual other activities and still have enough energy left over to handle any extra stresses or emergencies which may arise.
The components of physical fitness are:

* Cardiorespiratory (CR) endurance - the efficiency with which the body delivers oxygen and nutrients needed for muscular activity and transports waste products from the cells.
* Muscular strength - the greatest amount of force a muscle or muscle group can exert in a single effort.
* Muscular endurance - the ability of a muscle or muscle group to perform repeated movements with a sub-maximal force for extended periods of times.

* Flexibility - the ability to move the joints or any group of joints through an entire, normal range of motion.
* Body composition - the percentage of body fat a person has in comparison to his or her total body mass.
Improving the first three components of fitness listed above will have a positive impact on body composition and will result in less fat. Excessive body fat detracts from the other fitness components, reduces performance, detracts from appearance, and negatively affects your health.

Factors such as speed, agility, muscle power, eye-hand coordination, and eye-foot coordination are classified as components of "motor" fitness. These factors most affect your athletic ability. Appropriate training can improve these factors within the limits of your potential. A sensible weight loss and fitness program seeks to improve or maintain all the components of physical and motor fitness through sound, progressive, mission specific physical training.


Principles of Exercise
Adherence to certain basic exercise principles is important for developing an effective program. The same principles of exercise apply to everyone at all levels of physical training, from the Olympic-caliber athlete to the weekend jogger.
These basic principles of exercise must be followed.

Regularity
To achieve a training effect, you must exercise often. You should exercise each of the first four fitness components at least three times a week. Infrequent exercise can do more harm than good. Regularity is also important in resting, sleeping, and following a sensible diet.

Progression
The intensity (how hard) and/or duration (how long) of exercise must gradually increase to improve the level of fitness.

Balance
To be effective, a program should include activities that address all the fitness components, since overemphasizing any one of them may hurt the others.

Variety
Providing a variety of activities reduces boredom and increases motivation and progress.

Specificity
Training must be geared toward specific goals. For example, people become better runners if their training emphasizes running. Although swimming is great exercise, it does not improve a 2-mile-run time as much as a running program does.

Recovery
A hard day of training for a given component of fitness should be followed by an easier training day or rest day for that component and/or muscle group(s) to help permit recovery. Another way to allow recovery is to alternate the muscle groups exercised every other day, especially when training for strength and/or muscle endurance.

Overload
The work load of each exercise session must exceed the normal demands placed on the body in order to bring about a training effect.

A personal fitness program can happen anywhere and at any age. Start off with a pair of New Balance mens walking shoes [http://www.best-walking-shoe.com/new-balance-mens-walking-shoes-mw558] and move on to the flagship New Balance 991 Running Shoes [http://www.best-walking-shoe.com/new-balance-w991-running-shoes] when the desire to do more kicks in. Never look back.



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