Showing posts with label Craig Ballantyne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Craig Ballantyne. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Top 5 Fat Loss Myths By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS


SO ONCE AGAIN CARIG SENT ME A GREAT ARTICLE TO SHARE WITH ALL YOU. ON FAT LOSS MYTHS THAT ARE OUT THERE. Click Here for the turbulence training program!




There are so many FATLOSS myths out there in "exercise-land" that I was hired by Men's Fitness magazine to write about one myth each month.
After all, by now you've probably heard that if you don't do60-minutes of cardio in your fat burning zone on an empty stomach while Venus is in line with Jupiter, you'll never burn fat.
The problem with myths is that not only are they wrong and give false hope to millions of people trying to LOSE WEIGHT , but they also waste your time and mental effort.
I have also seen these myths used as justification for cheating ona diet, watching countless men and women justify their "treats"because they believe they are on some type of magical exerciseprogram or nutrition plan.
I could go on for days about fitness myths, but I cut my list from30 down to the Top 5 FATLOSS Workout Myths today. I'll save the other 25 for future newsletters.
Myth #1: You have to do cardio first thing in the morning on anempty stomach.
Relax. You don't have to hop on the treadmill at 4:30am everymorning. Let's allow common sense to dictate when and how you exercise.
If you want to work out first thing in the morning, and I know that is the best time for many TT readers, by all means, go ahead and do it. There's nothing magical about this time - although it is often the only time many of day many people have to themselves.
We need to think "outside of the hour" of exercise and realize that calorie burning and fat burning goes on for 24-hours. Forget about the theories and look at the big picture.
It doesn't matter when you exercise - as long as you exerciseintensely and consistently. Focus on relatively high-intensityworkouts to increase your metabolism for as many hours afterexercise as possible. That is best done with interval training andresistance training.
Myth #2: You have to do your cardio in your "fat burning zone".
Again, nonsense.
While you might burn a larger proportion of total calories as fatwhen you exercise in your fat burning zone, you burn fewer calories overall by exercising at such a low intensity.
When you increase your workout intensity and get out of yourso-called "fat burning zone", you burn more total calories, and as a result, more fat.
In addition, the "fat burning zone" training doesn't put"turbulence" on your muscles...so you don't burn many calories in the post-exercise time period. But with interval training, you burn a significant amount of calories for hours after training, andthat leads to more fat loss.
I've worked with hundreds of people that have avoided the fatburning zone while still managing to lose dozens of pounds of fat.The "fat burning zone" is one of the biggest fitness myths of alltime.
Myth #3: You have to do cardio for 20 minutes before you burn fat.
When I hear this, I picture a fat-burning switch in my body thatturns on only after I've been doing "cardio" for 20 minutes. Butwhat if I only exercise for 19 minutes and 59 seconds? Areyou telling me that I won't have burned any fat? That's ridiculous.
What if I did it on an empty stomach in the morning and in mytarget heart rate zone? (read that one sarcastically!)
I'll say it one last time. We need to be more concerned with our24-hour metabolism, not how much fat or even how many calories are burned during the workout.
Myth 4: Drinking ice cold water will help you burn calories andlose fat.Standing in line at the grocery store is a great place to pick upthe latest fat loss myths. You'll also find this one all over theInternet.
This myth often comes along with some calculations showing that by drinking 8 glasses of ice-cold water you can burn 70 calories per day. I don't believe that actually holds true in real life. Regardless, drinking cold water is not going to burn any more fat off your body than drinking room temperature water.
Don't get me wrong, I strongly believe you should drink 12 glasses of water per day, but the temperature of your water won't have any effect on your overall fat loss success.
Myth #5: Adding one pound of muscle will burn 50 extra calories each day.Uh-oh, now I'm cutting down a myth that supports my use of strength training in a fat loss program. But I have an obligation to set the record straight about this extremely prevalent myth (even though I just saw a big name fitness expert perpetuate this myth in a recent article!).
This myth sounds so good. Add a pound ouf muscle, boost yourmetabolism 50 calories. That doesn't seem out of line at all.
But do the math for a guy that puts on 30 pounds of muscle. Does his metabolism really increase by 1500 calories? Absolutely not. For an average guy, that would require his resting metabolism to increase from 2500 calories to 4000 calories per day. How would he be able to keep any of that muscle with a metabolism like that? He'd have to eat like a pig forever. So when you look at the big picture, you can see this little myth start to fall apart.
That's not to say you should stop your strength training, but just don't use this myth as an excuse to cheat on your diet.Bonus Myth: Negative Calorie Foods Cause You to Lose Weight
According to the "experts", a negative calorie food requires more energy to digest than it provides you when you eat it. And included in the negative calorie food list are apples and bananas.
So by this logic, I would actually starve to death if I had nothingto eat but apples (because I would have a net energy loss fromeating a so-called "negative calorie" food).
There is no such thing as a negative calorie food.
It's a shame that people are out there promoting this stuff, andit's too bad that so many people fall for it.
Remember the old phrase, "if it sounds too good to be true, itprobably is."Instead, let the common sense fat loss principles apply. It's going to take consistent effort, working hard at your workouts and with your nutrition to get the results you want.
I guarantee you that Turbulence Training will successfullyguide you to the FATLOSS


you deserve and desire.
Sincerely,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS Author, Turbulence Training

About the AuthorCraig 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 Click Here for the turbulence training program!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

3 Reasons to Avoid Elliptical Machines

Hey everyone I was just sent this great article by my friend Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS Click Here for a turbulace training!

The latest Men's Health magazine comes down on elliptical machines hard.

Now I know elliptical machines are often the only option for people with bad knees, but if your knees are healthy, think twice before using the elliptical machine for these three reasons.

First, on page 52 of the December, 2008 issue, Men's Health warns, "Never trust elliptical machines".

They quote a study that found elliptical machines over-estimated the number of calories burned in a workout by 31%!

Ouch.

So if your "elliptical cardio workout" burned 400 calories, the truth is you really burned closer to only 300 calories.

Second, later in the Dec. issue, Men's Health magazine interviewed Biggest Loser contestant Ed Brantley. Ed lost 73 pounds on the show, but had this to say about elliptical machines, "I hated the elliptical. It was too easy, I didn't feel like I was doing anything."

Exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself.

But that's EXACTLY why elliptical machines are so popular...

You see, the third reason elliptical machines are inferior for fat loss is because they fail my "human nature" test.

Put it this way...

Take 100 people and put them in a gym with 100 treadmills and 100 elliptical machines.

Tell them they have to exercise for 30 minutes at a hard pace, and they have the choice to use either the treadmill or the elliptical.

Guess where 90% of folks are going?

The elliptical!

Why?

Because it is human nature to take the EASY WAY out. And that is why elliptical machines are so busy at the gym and you rarely see anyone doing intervals on a treadmill or bodyweight circuits in the corner of the gym.

Often I see folks using the elliptical machine only to say they "worked out", but without getting any REAL work done.

So if you are stuck at a fat loss plateau, and you've been counting on the elliptical machine to help you out, then forget it.

To burn fat and get more out of your workouts, do interval training outside, on a bike or treadmill, or with kettlebell exercises or bodyweight circuits.

For more interval training and bodyweight workouts, visit: Click Here for a turbulace training!


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