How To Get Killer Abs At Home

These exercises come with a warning. Don't cough the next day. Your abs will still be hurting after this tough, but fast ab workout.

How To Get Killer Abs At Home
By Craig Ballantyne, MS, CSCS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

For some people, ab training is like taking out the garbage – it has a bad habit of being put off until tomorrow. But that’s not surprising, considering how busy most of our lives are these days.
So whether it’s your kids that need your help with their homework, or a project that the boss wants you to finish on your own time, chances are you often have to cut your workout short so that you can get home and get some work done. All too often, ab training is the first thing to get cut in your workout.

But what happens after you finish your evening projects, and the guilt of skipping your abs comes settling into your mind? You kick yourself, don’t you? You think that you should have spent at least five minutes on your abs at the gym. Instead, now you’re going to spend the next 24 or 48 hours shaking your head and wishing you had done your abs at the gym when you had access to the gym’s equipment. After all, you can’t do a great ab workout at home, can you?


Well guess what? Of course you can! All you need are up to 12 minutes a night, two times each week to do all the ab work you need to take your mid-section to the next level. This “abs at home” program doesn’t require anything other than a Stability Ball, which is cheap, yet effective for sharpening up your abs into shredded condition. And not only is this “abs at home” workout great for building cover model abs, it’s also easier on your low-back than doing an endless number of traditional sit-ups.

This short ab workout requires you to perform two Supersets. Perform the exercises in the Superset back to back with no rest between them, and perform each Superset up to three times. Zip through the entire session in as little time as possible, and you’ll feel no guilt for slipping in an extra workout.

You’ll start your “abs at home” training by doing a full body abdominal exercise called Mountain Climbers. These will target your abs from the pelvis towards the rib cage, in addition to challenging your upper body strength. It also prepares the muscles of your entire body for the rest of the exercises to come.

Mountain Climbers are paired in the first Superset with Stability Ball Crunches. Go extra slow as you lower your torso in each repetition, to work your abs extra hard. These two exercises complete your first of two supersets.

In the second Superset, you’ll pair a Stability Ball Rollout with a Side Plank. The Ball Rollout focuses on your abs from the top down, while the Side Plank builds muscle endurance in your abs and oblique muscles.

Do this workout twice per week for 4 weeks before switching up the exercises.

The "KILLER ABS AT HOME" Workout

Exercise Sets Reps
A1 -Mountain Climber 3X20 per side
A2 -Stability Ball Crunch 3X10
B1 -Stability Ball Rollout 3X10
B2 -Side Plank 3X1 8-10 seconds per side
* A1 & A2, and B1 & B2 denote superset pairs

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS
Brace your abs.
Start in the top of the push-up position.
Keep your abs braced, pick one foot up off the floor, and slowly bring your knee up to your chest.
Do not let your hips sag or rotate.
Keep your abs braced and slowly return your leg to the start position.
Alternate sides until you complete all of the required repetitions.




STABILITY BALL CRUNCH
Lie on the stability ball with your feet spread slightly greater than shoulder width apart on the floor (a wider stance equals greater stability and an easier exercise).
Curl your shoulder blades off the ball as if performing a regular abdominal crunch off the floor. Return to the start position.
Take 3 seconds to lower your upper body back to the ball.




STABILITY BALL ROLLOUT

Kneel on a mat and place your clasped hands on the top of a medium sized ball.
Brace your abs and slowly lean forward and roll your hands over the ball while the ball moves away from your body.
Keep your body in a straight line and go as far as you can with perfect form.
Contract your abs and reverse the motion to return to the upright position.





SIDE PLANK

Lie on a mat on your right side.
Support your bodyweight with your knees and on your right elbow.
Raise your body in a straight line so that your body hovers over the mat.
Keep your back straight and your hips up. Hold your abs tight. Contract them as if someone was about to punch you in the stomach, but breath normally.
Hold this position for the recommended amount of time or 8-10 seconds if you are doing multiple repetitions.



About Craig Ballantyne

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, M.Sc., is one of the top Strength & Conditioning coaches in North America. He trains athletes and executives in Toronto and is a member of the Training Advisory Boards for Men's Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines. Craig also works extensively with athletes and is currently a consultant to Rugby Canada helping the National Team prepare for the 2007 World Cup. Craig's fat loss and workout tips are featured every month in Men's Fitness and Maximum Fitness, and in numerous on-line newsletters. Craig’s trademarked Turbulence Training workouts and comprehensive workout manuals are featured on his website.



About Craig's Trademarked "TurbulenceTraining System"


This is the training method that Men’s Fitness magazine and elite personal trainers are calling the most effective fat loss training system in the world. Craig Ballantyne’s trademarked Turbulence Training system allows you to burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions, without fancy equipment and provides an exciting new alternative to the time consuming traditional weight training workouts you see in the muscle magazines. You will enjoy challenging, sweat-pouring workouts that burn the most fat humanly possible in the shortest period of time. No other workout program compares to Turbulence Training when it comes to time efficiency. The workouts are ideal for busy executives, students or parents with young children. In just 50 minutes or less, three days per week, you can get leaner, stronger, fitter and more muscular with a total strength and cardio workout, and you can even do it in the privacy of your own home. No fancy or expensive machines are needed since you can do so many of the exercise with your own body weight. To learn more, click the link below:

www.TURBULENCE TRAINING .COM

How to Cut Your Workout Time & Lose More Fat

I highly recomend both this program"TurbulenceTraining" and "BurnTheFat Feed the Muscle"
I have personally used both with great results. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.
You can get my contact info in my profile.

By line: By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
TurbulenceTraining.com

How to Cut Your Workout Time & Lose More Fat
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
TurbulenceTraining.com

The #1 reason for not working out is a lack of time.

If you get up at 5:30am to drive an hour to work, only to get home at 6pm and then have to launch right into carting the kids around, who can blame you for not working out? Not when it takes 45 minutes to do cardio, and another 30-45 minutes for isolation bodybuilding workouts.

If that's the way you have to exercise to lose fat, then practically no normal person is going to be able to pull that off.

But when you look at the science, you'll see that you can get more results in less time. You just have to increase the intensity of the workout, but at the same time, you can cut your workout time in half (or more!).

I am convinced that an effective fat loss workout can be done in 45 minutes or less, and that long, slow, excruciatingly boring cardio is not necessary for you to get the body you want. Please, read on...

In last week's newsletter, I spoke about the 3 biggest training mistakes as well as my top 3 training tips to help you get more results in less time. Here I go into detail on the superiority of interval training when compared to traditional aerobic exercise:

Q: What is the role of interval training vs. steady state aerobics in a fat loss program?

Answer:
Interval training is more important than cardio. First of all, it gets more results in less time. And with "lack of time" being the number one reason most people do not participate in a training program at all, clearly intervals are the winner here.

Now let's just assume that lack of time is not a problem. Well, interval training is still more effective because it applies more "turbulence" to the muscle. Or in scientific terms, interval training results in a greater metabolic stress on the muscle.

And that causes more calories to be burned in the important 23.5 hours per day when you are not exercising.

From there, the muscle must work to recover, repair, and replenish the energy that was used in the training. It is much more metabolic work for the muscle to recover from interval training (and strength training) than it is to recover from aerobic training.

Therefore, in the post-exercise period, interval training results in more calories burned.

In fact, I just read a new study from Australia that shows interval training is superior to slow cardio for fat loss.

The researchers, Trapp & Boutcher put WOMEN through a 15 week study where one group was a control, one group did intervals (20 minutes of alternating sprints and recovery), and one group did 40 minutes of slow cardio.

The interval group lost 2.5kg of fat in 15 weeks on average (with one subject losing 7.7kg of fat), while the slow cardio group lost only 0.4kg of fat over 15 weeks on average.

The results speak for themselves.

So don't get hung up on how many calories are burned during a training session with aerobic training. That is not nearly as important as how many total calories your body burns over the course of the day - and you will burn more with interval training.

And for those that subscribe to the fat burning zone as being important, again, you aren't looking at the big picture (the 24-hour calorie burning period). Instead, those that believe in the importance of the fat-burning zone have a myopic view of how the body works.

The same message applies to those people that live and die by the cardio on an empty stomach method. You're "nickel and dime-ing" the fat loss process, when really it's a much bigger budget to balance.

Look at the big picture. Get your nutrition in order, then focus your workouts on brief, intense strength and interval training workouts that increase your metabolism for the next 24 hours.

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training & the Nutrition Guide here: TurbulenceTraining.com

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

P.S. More TT Success Stories...Including the "21 pounds in 21 days Fat Loss Story"!

"TT Training has revolutionized my workout routine--NO more excuses! No time for the gym...NO problem, can't go outside...No problem! The bodyweight workouts kept me strong this fall."
Mary Iverson

"Hi Craig, I am enjoying Turbulence Training. I am a personal trainer, so I've incorporated much of it into my sessions. Though I used some philosophies from TT, your program has added a world of new ideas, methods, and techniques to my client sessions. And for that, I thank you so very much. Even my wife loves it, ha! So much more to read and implement, so TT reading will keep me busy for many months to come. Make it a great day!"
Loren Salas

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training & the Nutrition Guide here: TurbulenceTraining.com

"The things I like the most in the TT program: a) Large number of different exercises allowing for ever new combinations, which prevent boredom and routine. b) Different approaches to strength training (dumbbells, own body, simple implements). c) A lot of precise information about pacing, timing and choosing effort levels. d) Sound and solid information on kinesiology and physiology of training."
Peter Tancig

"Hi Craig, I wanted to send you a note regarding TT. The workouts are great and if you incorporate the diet plan you can't help but lose FAT. I have been using the program for three weeks and have dropped twenty one pounds. I look forward to getting down to my goal weight within a year. I am very happy to have purchased this program and would recommend it to other with no hesitation. Thank you very much."
Tim Jones


About the Author

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 all over the Internet, 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 TurbulenceTraining.com

6 Ways to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain

6 Ways to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
TurbulenceTraining.com

Obesity has worldwide problem. In fact, almost 2/3 of Americans need to lose weight and over 1 billion people in the world are overweight. If you are overweight, you need to lose weight and improve your health and fitness. And yes, this can still be done over the holiday season. Don't wait for New Year's day to start your weight loss resolutions.

There are a number of reasons for the increased incidence of obesity and overweight individuals, as suggested by American statistics, but also a number of workout and nutrition tips that can counter the effects of each bad nutrition and exercise habit that we have:

* It has been estimated that for every high-sugar drink you consume, you increase your risk of obesity by 60%! Soft drinks provide 33% of all added sugars in American diets.

Tip #1: Avoid drinking calories!

* In the USA, sugar consumption has increased from 26 to 32 teaspoons (between the 1970’s and 1998).

* Americans eat an extra 150 kcal per day now in comparison to 1980. In theory, this could lead to 15 lbs. of weight gain per year!


Tip #2: Avoid over-eating treats at parties. If you can't have just one, don't have any at all!

* Your obesity risk increases 6-fold if you watch more than 2 hours of television each day.


Tip #3: Stay active. Walk around the mall a couple extra times if it means you'll avoid the couch and overeating at home. Stay busy, stay active, stay lean.

* Only 25% of individuals exercise moderately for 30 minutes each day, whereas 25% of the population does no exercise at all.


Tip #4: It's not all or nothing. If you can only do 15 minutes of exercise, that is still better than nothing. Don't stop all exercise just because you can't do 30 minutes that day.

* Obesity continues to increase in the USA despite a continued decrease in the consumption of dietary fat. In 1994-96, fat accounted for 33% of total calories compared with 40% in the late 1970's.

* In 1994-96, just over half of the population reported eating fruit each day while the consumption of processed carbohydrates (such as bread, snack foods, and cereals) has increased 110% since the late 1970's.


Tip #5: Avoid processed carbs. Hit the veggie tray, the protein offerings, and the calorie free beverages at parties. If its rolled in pastry, don't eat it.

* Milk consumption has decreased in children by 16% since the late 1970's, while consumption of soft drinks increased by 16%.


Tip #6: Don't keep soda in the house. If you don't buy it, neither you nor the kids will drink it.


Stick to these 6 simle tips and you'll stay lean over the holidays. Add in a little more exercise and you could do the impossible - you could lose fat over the holidays! Get started on a fast, efficient and effective program of strength training and interval training today!


About the Author

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 TurbulenceTraining fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines and all over the Internet, 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 6 Ways to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit TurbulenceTraining.com

Why Calories Don't Matter

Why Calories Don't Matter
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

TurbulenceTraining.com

Myth: I need to burn 300 calories each workout to lose fat.

Truth: Possibly one of the worst inventions for fat loss was the calorie-counting monitor on treadmills, elliptical machines, and stairmasters. Because of these, millions of men and women now obsess about the number of calories burned per session. You've probably even been one of those people, watching it creep up ever so slowly during a slow-cardio session. All the while knowing that you can wipe out a 30-minute, 300-calorie treadmill session with one fell swoop of the Krispy Kreme hand.

Too many people are brainwashed into thinking that if they don't burn 300-500 calories per session, then they won't lose fat. After all, that is what you've been told time and time again in those fluffy fitness/fashion magazines. The problems with this approach to fat loss are numerous. First off, it's difficult to say if the calorie counters are even accurate. A story on CBS news showed that cardio machines overestimate calorie burning by up to 20%.


Next, depending on slow cardio for advanced fat loss is relatively useless and at the very least, inefficient. It takes a long time for you to burn a lot of calories and one study showed that men who only used cardio training for weight loss ended up with a reduced resting metabolism. You are basically undoing the calorie burning by depending only on cardio. On the other hand, guys in the same study that used strength training didn't suffer a reduced metabolic rate.

So what is the solution to burning fat in a faster, more efficient method? The answer is to burn fewer calories in less exercise time, but with a more intense form of exercise.

And the trick to getting better results in this backwards approach? Your body will burn more calories after exercise (when you use intervals) than it does after you do slow cardio and your metabolism will stay high. Some experts refer to this as the afterburn effect. How do you do intervals? Well, you could sprint for 30 seconds and rest for 90 seconds and repeat that for 6 sets - using the bike preferably or treadmill if you are experienced with it.

Within that short time frame the intervals will cause your muscles to go crazy with activity (I call it a metabolic disturbance). This crazy metabolism boost causes lots of calorie burning after exercise to get your body back to normal. The result is you would end up burning more fat and more calories in the post-exercise period as your body tries to get things under control.

Now there is one time where you'd want to count calories, but that is when you are counting up and determining how many calories you eat per day. Again, you can wipe out an entire workout's work in less than a minute simply by eating garbage. Without some structure and discipline to your nutrition, there is nothing that even my programs can do to help you lose fat.

So exercise nutrition control and interval training. These are the two anti-calorie counting methods that will help you lose fat and get lean.



About the Author

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 all over the Internet, 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 www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Can You Think Yourself Thin?

The Law Of Attraction And Weight Loss: Can You Think Yourself Thin?
By Tom Venuto, NSCA-CPT, CSCS BurnTheFat.com

--------------------------------------------------
Metaphysics & Brain science merge and prove that positive thinking and goal setting literally create your body and your entire life experience
---------------------------------------------------

On recently broadcast special edition of CNN's Larry King Live, Mr. King interviewed a panel of "mind experts" about how the thoughts you think literally turn into the events you experience, the material things you possess... AND even the health of your body.

For years, "positive thinking" and goal-setting were often criticized as "pollyanna" and "the law of attraction" was relegated into the category of "new age" fluff.

On the recent Larry King show, panel experts Bob Proctor, John Assaraf and others who were featured in the movie 'The Secret' explained that recent breakthroughs in neuroscience along with understanding mental laws, reveal why goal setting, the "law of attraction" and "positive thinking" all work, regardless of whether you look at them from a metaphysical or a scientific perspective.

Scientists have even identified specific parts of the brain, such as the reticular activating system (RAS), which works with the visual parts of our brain to call our conscious attention to things that are important to reaching our goals and to filter out those things that are unimportant.

The RAS is activated by "programming" goals into our sub-conscious minds. Our sub concscious mind is the "power center" and THIS is the mechanism that explains why goal setting and positive thinking are now being accepted as scientific methods for change.

We are discovering that our brain is cybernetic in nature, which means that it is literally like a computer, waiting for a program to be installed.

Here's the kicker - the subconcsious is completely neutral and impartial - it will carry out any instructions you give it.

Unfortunately, many of us are still running negative programs we picked up from others as children when our non-conscious minds were totally open and impressionable, or which we developed over the years as a result of repetition of our own negative thinking.

As it turns out, our own thoughts, repeated daily, are one of the primary ways that our "mental computer" is programmed on a sub-conscious level, which is the level of beliefs, habits and automatic behavior.

To change your results, you must overwrite old negative programming and install positive new programming into your subconscious.

This can be achived through such techniques as written goal setting, positive self-talk (affirmations), and mental imagery (visualization).

In the 1970's, the Soviets and East Germans were the first to formally use structured mental rehearsal, and at that time, they dominated in several olympic sports. This was reported in great detail in Charles Garfield's landmark book, "Peak Performance." Today, virtually all elite athletes use visualization extensively, as we now know that the brain cannot differentiate between real practice and practice that is vividly imagined.

If you are getting more of the same negative results in your life - such as the same health problems, or the same body fat continues to return even after you lose it, then you have probably been un-consciously running old negative programs and re-inforcing them with negative thought patterns.

You can begin the positive mental reprogramming process by writing down your goals, changing your internal dialogue and taking a few minutes to relax, quiet your mind and perform a session of visualization or mental rehearsal every day (seeing yourself in your "mind's eye" not as you currently are, but as you ideally would like to be).

These methods, repeated often enough, will begin to program the non- conscious portion of the mind, which is the same part of the mind that controls your heart beat, digestion and new cell production, all on "automatic pilot."

In the last decade, neuroscientists discovered that you have the capacity to create an almost infinite number of new neural connections in your brain when you run new thought patterns.

The Old neural pathways are like grooves in a record, and if you are struggling with your health related behaviors or behaviors in any other area of your life, you have been playing the "old records" over and over again.

If you were to carve a new groove into that record, it would never play the same way again. the old pattern would weaken and the new one would take over. Brand new, positive thoughts, feelings and images begin to create new neural patterns.

Psychologists estimate that it takes 21 to 30 days to establish a new pattern in your brain. During this time, the focus on sticking with your practice and repeating your new thought patterns is critical.

Is this easy? For most people, no it's not. In fact, controlling your thinking and keeping it constructive may be one of the most difficult challenges you have ever faced. Fortunately, writing goals and reading affirmations can help get you started.

You can take some of the pressure off yourself by simply accepting that negative thoughts and self criticisms will pop up from time to time. Just observe them, without mulling over them or adding to them, and change the polarity of the thought by quickly repeating one of your positive affirmations or by changing your mental pictures.

So is there something to this whole "positive thinking" thing?

The philosophers and theologians have been saying yes for the entire span of recorded history: "As you think, so shall you be." Variations on this proverb can be found in every spiritual and philosophical tradition.

But... if you are the left-brained, "prove-it-to-me" type, you dont have to go on faith anymore. Scientists are beginning to prove more and more convincingly that thoughts are powerful things. Even Larry King seemed impressed with what his panel of "mind mentors" had to say.

So how soon are you going to begin your mental training right alongside your physical training? When are you going to learn how to harness this power locked up inside your mind?

Guess what? You're already using this force every day because you cannot turn it off. Whatever you are thinking and picturing in your mind repeatedly on a daily basis is already on it's way to you, so it's simply a matter of HOW you are using it, not IF you are using it.

What do you say to yourself every day? Do you say, "I am becoming leaner, healthier and more muscular every day?"... or do you say "I am a fat person - Ive tried everything, nothing ever works?"

The fact is - you can think yourself thin and healthy or you can think yourself obese and ill. Maybe not in the literal sense...but most certainly as the critical part in the chain of causation...

You see, there's a lot of talk these days in the personal improvement world about law of attraction, manifesting, intention, visualization, affirmations and of course, positive thinking.

Without understanding that there is an orderly, scientific basis underneath all of these things, many people will simply remain skeptics, while on the opposite extreme, others may get the idea that you can sit around meditating and visualizing, then expect a mystical "law of attraction" to kick in and then "poof!" a great body materializes out of thin air... along with the perfect relationship, a nice bank account and fantastic career success.

What really happens is "Positive thinking" and related methods quite literally re-program your brain, which in turn creates new behaviors that move you physically toward whatever you have been thinking about and focusing on.

So success is achieved through positive thinking + positive doing.... attraction + action. There are two sides to the coin. Without paying attention to both, you may continue to struggle... often against nothing but yourself.

If you want to transform your body or any other aspect of your life, then you have to change on the inside (the mind) first and then everything else will follow.

This process of *scientific* goal setting and mental reconditioning through emotionally charged mental imagery (visualization) and internal mental dialogue (affirmations) is the very first thing I have always taught my clients and the first thing I wrote about in my book, Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle You can learn all of these techniques in detail in chapter 1. Learn more about the psychology of body transormation inside the
Burn The Fat ebook:BurnTheFat.com

About the Author:

Tom Venuto is a natural bodybuilder and author of the #1 best selling e-book, "Burn the Fat, Feed The Muscle,” which teaches you how to burn fat without drugs or supplements using the little-known secrets of the world's best bodybuilders and fitness models. Learn how to get rid of stubborn fat and turbo-charge your metabolism by visiting: www.BurnTheFat.com

How to Cut Your Workout Time & Lose More Fat

By line: By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training
Word count: 964
Related keywords: cardio, fat loss, weight loss, burn fat, lose weight, build muscle, burn calories


How to Cut Your Workout Time & Lose More Fat
By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training

The #1 reason for not working out is a lack of time.

If you get up at 5:30am to drive an hour to work, only to get home at 6pm and then have to launch right into carting the kids around, who can blame you for not working out? Not when it takes 45 minutes to do cardio, and another 30-45 minutes for isolation bodybuilding workouts.

If that's the way you have to exercise to lose fat, then practically no normal person is going to be able to pull that off.

But when you look at the science, you'll see that you can get more results in less time. You just have to increase the intensity of the workout, but at the same time, you can cut your workout time in half (or more!).

I am convinced that an effective fat loss workout can be done in 45 minutes or less, and that long, slow, excruciatingly boring cardio is not necessary for you to get the body you want. Please, read on...

In last week's newsletter, I spoke about the 3 biggest training mistakes as well as my top 3 training tips to help you get more results in less time. Here I go into detail on the superiority of interval training when compared to traditional aerobic exercise:

Q: What is the role of interval training vs. steady state aerobics in a fat loss program?

Answer:
Interval training is more important than cardio. First of all, it gets more results in less time. And with "lack of time" being the number one reason most people do not participate in a training program at all, clearly intervals are the winner here.

Now let's just assume that lack of time is not a problem. Well, interval training is still more effective because it applies more "turbulence" to the muscle. Or in scientific terms, interval training results in a greater metabolic stress on the muscle.

And that causes more calories to be burned in the important 23.5 hours per day when you are not exercising.

From there, the muscle must work to recover, repair, and replenish the energy that was used in the training. It is much more metabolic work for the muscle to recover from interval training (and strength training) than it is to recover from aerobic training.

Therefore, in the post-exercise period, interval training results in more calories burned.

In fact, I just read a new study from Australia that shows interval training is superior to slow cardio for fat loss.

The researchers, Trapp & Boutcher put WOMEN through a 15 week study where one group was a control, one group did intervals (20 minutes of alternating sprints and recovery), and one group did 40 minutes of slow cardio.

The interval group lost 2.5kg of fat in 15 weeks on average (with one subject losing 7.7kg of fat), while the slow cardio group lost only 0.4kg of fat over 15 weeks on average.

The results speak for themselves.

So don't get hung up on how many calories are burned during a training session with aerobic training. That is not nearly as important as how many total calories your body burns over the course of the day - and you will burn more with interval training.

And for those that subscribe to the fat burning zone as being important, again, you aren't looking at the big picture (the 24-hour calorie burning period). Instead, those that believe in the importance of the fat-burning zone have a myopic view of how the body works.

The same message applies to those people that live and die by the cardio on an empty stomach method. You're "nickel and dime-ing" the fat loss process, when really it's a much bigger budget to balance.

Look at the big picture. Get your nutrition in order, then focus your workouts on brief, intense strength and interval training workouts that increase your metabolism for the next 24 hours.

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training & the Nutrition Guide here: Turbulence Training
Sincerely, Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training

P.S. More TT Success Stories...Including the "21 pounds in 21 days Fat Loss Story"!

"TT Training has revolutionized my workout routine--NO more excuses! No time for the gym...NO problem, can't go outside...No problem! The bodyweight workouts kept me strong this fall."
Mary Iverson

"Hi Craig, I am enjoyingTurbulence Training. I am a personal trainer, so I've incorporated much of it into my sessions. Though I used some philosophies from TT, your program has added a world of new ideas, methods, and techniques to my client sessions. And for that, I thank you so very much. Even my wife loves it, ha! So much more to read and implement, so TT reading will keep me busy for many months to come. Make it a great day!"
Loren Salas

Get your very own copy of Turbulence Training & the Nutrition Guide here: Turbulence Training

"The things I like the most in the TT program: a) Large number of different exercises allowing for ever new combinations, which prevent boredom and routine. b) Different approaches to strength training (dumbbells, own body, simple implements). c) A lot of precise information about pacing, timing and choosing effort levels. d) Sound and solid information on kinesiology and physiology of training."
Peter Tancig

"Hi Craig, I wanted to send you a note regarding TT. The workouts are great and if you incorporate the diet plan you can't help but lose FAT. I have been using the program for three weeks and have dropped twenty one pounds. I look forward to getting down to my goal weight within a year. I am very happy to have purchased this program and would recommend it to other with no hesitation. Thank you very much."
Tim Jones


About the Author

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 all over the Internet, 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 Turbulence Training.com

Fat Loss Power of Food

By line: By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training

I know that most readers think that fat loss is all about exercise, but you must know that good nutrition is just as important for fat loss results. Making the correct food choices is your secret weapon in the rush to get the best body for summer. Eating right will help you lose fat and increase your energy dramatically, so that you'll have plenty of stamina for social life, in the gym, and at work.

When I start working with clients, I have everyone enter their food intake on a nutrition tracking website to allow both of us to evaluate their nutrition. Some of the common problems that I see are:

1. Too many treats per day. As one client said, ''I still have one treat per day such as chips, a chocolate bar, a donut, or a rib sub each day, and sometimes I skip breakfast. But other than that, I think it is pretty good.''

If that’s the case, and you are trying to lose fat, then you will have a difficult time. You just can't eat that many treats (read: garbage) and expect to get lean (unless you are 16 years old).

2. Skipping breakfast.

3. Not eating enough fiber.

4. Not eating enough lean protein and low-glycemic, low-fat carbohydrate sources.

5. Not eating much during the day and then eating a huge dinner.

Solutions:

1. Set the tone with the first meal of the day by consuming a lean protein source and high-fiber, low-glycemic carbohydrates. Fiber at this meal will help control blood sugar over the morning and can help modify appetite at subsequent meals.

2. Consume mini-meals to prevent starvation-induced meal binges and energy slumps.

3. Choose snacks that contain protein and fiber, such as almonds.

4. Keep your dinner moderate, and avoid high-calorie feasts.

5. Consume calorie-free beverages, preferably Green Tea or water.

6. Consume at least the recommended amount of fiber through vegetables, fruits, almonds, etc. But start adding fiber to your diet slowly and drink more water.

7. Try to improve your nutrition each day. This will help get you into healthy eating habits. Be consistent with your training and nutrition, and you'll get results.

So here is your challenge. Start with one day and eliminate all of the processed foods from your nutrition plan. I want you to go one full day without foods containing added sugar, hydrogenated oils, or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

If you do this, you'll feel amazing and energized. You will probably have your best workout of the year and you'll probably get more done at work as well.

Replace the junk with lean protein sources, fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains (such as oat-based products), water, and green tea. Make sure to log your food intake on fitday.com and compare it to your regular eating. You'll notice that it is very hard to overeat when you eat only healthy foods. And then next week, try going two days without processed foods.

Keep focusing on one improvement each day and soon you'll have better nutrition habits and fast fat loss to go along with it...not to mention a new body!

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for 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 Turbulence Training

Related keywords: carbs, carbohydrates, protein, fat, calories, fiber, meals, fat loss, burn fat, lose weight, weight loss, nutrition

How Bad is Your Nutrition?

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training

Chances are your nutrition is terrible. Or at the very least, your nutrition plan is good but you allow yourself far too many treats. Take today for example. How many Halloween candies have you treated yourself to at work? And you still have to go home and resist the leftover candy bowl or your child’s Halloween loot. The bottom line: You can’t succeed in your fat loss program if your diet is average.

I need to bring up this point because of the many emails people send me about their nutrition. From what I read, most people’s nutrition plans are far too poor to allow them to lose fat. And yet they are working harder than ever in the gym and wondering why they aren’t losing fat. No workout will help you build muscle and lose fat if you keep eating at fast-food restaurants, drinking sugary sodas, and raiding bags of leftover mini-candy bars.

And it’s frustrating because the secrets to fat loss nutrition are so simple. The best approach is eating several small meals per day, with each meal containing lean protein, vegetables, and other whole foods. You must eliminate unnecessary calories such as soda and high-fat, high-sugar snacks (like that mini-Snickers bar that’s on your desk right now). If you’re trying to lose fat, you can’t have treats every day. If fat loss is the goal, then cookies, apple pie, ice cream, nachos, fried foods, etc. just don't make the cut, as unfortunate as it is.

Research shows that an increased intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with fat loss (nutritionists never put a limit on the number of vegetables that people should eat - provided they are not fried or covered in fat or sauces). Other research suggests that replacing carbohydrates with almonds (a source of fiber, protein, and monounsaturated fats) leads to greater weight loss. Almonds are a very healthy snack and help curb hunger. A typical serving is 1 ounce of almonds (about 22 pieces) and can replace chips, chocolate bars, and cookies in your diet.

Make sure you are logging your food intake and making notes about your energy levels when you eat certain foods. Soon you will identify the nutritional reasons for your fatigue or for your consistent energy levels. You will quickly associate sugar and fried foods with poor mental performance, while noticing that small, whole, natural food-based meals and snacks help keep you alert and full of energy.

If you are overweight and just starting to improve your nutrition, I have some good news for you. You should begin losing at least 1 pound per week (probably 2 or more) simply from the nutritional changes.

Nutrition is that powerful. Don’t expect to start eating perfectly tomorrow, but you should slowly build up to eating much better and healthier than you were yesterday. Try to improve your nutrition plan everyday. Stay consistent and focused with your nutritional approach. You can do it. Here are three nutrition changes that would pay huge dividends for a fat-loss beginner:

1) Eat several small, whole food meals per day.

2) Don't consume any unnecessary liquid calories (i.e. no soda, alcohol, or sweetened beverages). Drink more water – nutrition experts recommend 3 liters per day.

3) Eliminate processed carbohydrates and sugar from your nutrition plan (no soda, cake, chips, white bread, or chocolate bars).

If you’re fed up with the body fat and spare tire around your middle, then it’s time to take a structured approach to fat loss.

If your current nutritional plan is preventing you from losing fat, then it’s time for you to start working on building better eating habits. This can be as simple as committing to one small nutritional improvement per day (such as replacing your lunchtime soda with water) and one large nutritional change per week (such as setting aside time on a Sunday to prepare a weekly menu and all of your meals).

But you need to have a plan to make this work, just like how you have a plan for your workouts. Your nutrition plan should include the contents of every meal, as well as your grocery list for the week. This will enable you to have meal alternatives for nights when you might need to be running from one event to the other with no time or healthy snack alternatives when you are on the road between meetings.

It’s important that you make your plan something you can follow. If you are currently eating 7 meals per week at the golden arches, it wouldn’t be realistic to plan to replace those meals with carrot sticks and tofu this week. A better plan would be to substitute a couple of those meals with healthier sandwich options and then work on improving things even more in the following weeks.

So here’s a three-step guideline on building a better nutrition plan:

1) Prepare a weekly menu. Outline each meal and snack for every day of the upcoming week. Take into account the possibilities that you might work late or get invited out to lunch. The more options you have and preparations you make, the better you will be able to stick to your fat loss plan.

2) From your menu plan, you’ll now know what foods and ingredients you need to make it through the week. Make your grocery list and stick to it (see mine below). Grocery shopping is your first opportunity to break some bad nutritional habits. You can’t eat chips, cookies, or cakes if you don’t have them in the house – so don’t buy them and you’ll avoid any future temptation.

3) Prepare the meals or prepare the ingredients so that making the actual meal doesn’t take a lot of time. Like shopping, it’s best to do all of these preparations at one time (such as on a Sunday or another day off).

My shopping list includes:

Fruits · Apples · Oranges · Blueberries · Melon · Peaches · Grapefruit · Raspberries

Vegetables · Peppers (red, yellow, green, & orange), · Spinach · Asparagus · Broccoli · Snow Peas · Mushrooms · Frozen mixed vegetables · Tomato sauce

Protein Sources · Chicken breasts · Turkey breasts · Salmon fillets · Lean beef · Skim milk & low-fat, low-sugar yogurt

Carbohydrates · Oat bread · Oatmeal (no sugar added) · Whole-wheat pasta

Other · Green tea · Unsalted, not roasted, Almonds

You’ll notice that most of these foods come without a food label. Most of the foods that you should avoid come in a bag or a box. Building a shopping list that contains very few bagged or boxed items is something to aim for. But when you do purchase something with a label, make sure to avoid two of the unhealthiest ingredients created by man:

1) High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) 2) Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil (the sources of trans-fatty acids)

You might have heard of these two ingredients. They are strongly associated with obesity and other lifestyle-diseases (such as diabetes).

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for 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 Turbulence Training

Challenge complete.

I know this post is late, but I thought I would post it anyway.
I followed the "Bowflex 6 week challenge" for the last 6 weeks. I followed the exercise plan exactly. The diet plan I was not as successful with. The diet requires you to eliminate all caffeine from your diet. I did not do that. I also allowed myself to drink on the weekends..... about 6-8 oz of spirits with diet coke. The food portion of the diet I followed to a tee. I was not able to find certain food options as they were American products, but I was able to find a calorie equivalent option.
The water portion of their diet was difficult, but I would say I was able to follow it 90% of the time.

Now the results! This is a quote from the diet plan in the Bowflex manual.

"The men involved in my research, for example, had an average fat loss of 27.95 pounds per man. Women on the same
program averaged a reduction of 16.96 pounds. Best of all, these dramatic results were achieved -- not in six months --
but in only six weeks!
That'’s right. Similar results can be accomplished by you in six short weeks, which include just 18 workouts (3 per week)
on the Bowflex machine.
Bowflex was a significant part of the results. The exercises performed on it allowed the participants to build muscle,
which accelerated their metabolisms, and produced faster and greater fat losses."

My results were not quite so dramatic.

I lost 8.6 lbs..... 5.1 lbs of that was fat loss. The rest of it (3.5) was muscle mass.
Just a tad short( insert sarcasm here) of the almost 28 lbs the program suggests is possible.
Even though I did not follow the program exactly I don't feel the cheats I allowed myself would account for the huge difference in what they claim is possible, and what I achieved.
The muscle mass loss is what bothers me the most....although everything I have read suggests that weight loss and building muscle mass don't go together. You need to eat more calories to add mass and you need to reduce calories for weight loss.
Most plans have you lose weight and then add muscle back after tour weight is at a healthy level.

Overall I am pleased with my progress. My weight loss is on average 1.4 lbs per week which is healthy and sustainable for a long period of time. I feel more muscular, and have more muscle definition than when I started.
I am now at week 10 and have added some cardio to the program. I am now down 10.6 lbs and counting.
My current weight is 211 lbs and my goal is 195. I can see the light. 2 years ago I weighed 270 lbs and it seemed like an impossible task. It is NOT!
Slow and steady will win the race....eat healthy....watch your portions....drink lots of water...exercise hard 3-5 times per week. It will happen for you! It will happen for me.

Cardio Can Kill

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS

Turbulence Training

I'm not a big fan of long cardio, especially extreme bouts of cardio - i.e. running marathons.

Just this past weekend a 41-year old man died running one of the Toronto marathons. Last year, same thing. These are not the first, nor will they be the last men to die running a marathon.

And for what?

To run an irrelevant distance for no reason at all. I don't see any logical reason for most people to run a marathon. Particularly when you are a 40-year old father of a young family. You can be fit and healthy with far less exercise time, as long as you train with far better exercise choices.

Sure, you can say you are pushing the boundaries of your human performance...but I doubt that is any consolation for the family of thes two men.

No matter how "type A" someone is, or how driven they are to perform in a marathon, simply being able to run a marathon proves nothing. And it can have disastrous consequences. Not too mention the many smaller negative consequences of:

a) A waste of hours of your life spent away from your loved ones while you pound the pavement

b) Sore knees, chronic back pain, and blistered feet

c) Money and time wasted in the physiotherapist's office

d) An improperly trained body (i.e. weak back of the body, no upper body strength, overuse injuries)

e) A level of fitness that has limited carryover to real world needs (carrying groceries & other objects, outsprinting an attacker, manual labor, etc.)

So please, if you insist on running marathons, do yourself and your family a favor and:

1) Get a full physical from your doctor. This goes without saying for anyone on an exercise program over the age of 30, but running marathons is another reason not to neglect your physical exams.

2) Pay close attention to your body during the race. Wear a heart rate monitor, and exercise conservatively, drink the right amount of fluids (but not too much as that can be the cause of death in long runs), and just plain be careful. A marathon is hardly a reason to risk your life.

Now, here's more bad news.

Cardio has been killing fat loss programs for decades.

Why?

Because almost all of the exercise science studies performed in the 70's through the early 90's were done on distance running.

From there we got the messages that:

i) To lose fat, you had to do long, slow endurance training. Clearly, we know this is false. Nutrition is the most important aspect of fat loss.

ii) That we should eat a high-carbohydrate diet. This message, while generally true for endurance athletes, was broadly applied to fat loss. So we were subjected to that hideous low-fat, high-carb phase in the 90's where we were urged to eat Snackwell low-fat cookies with no regard to the sugar and calorie content.

iii) Beginners should get out on high-volume, walk-run programs. Now while it is important to get people out and exercising, high-volume activities for underprepared beginner muscles are going to cause injury fast. And that's what happened to most people that tried to take up running.

iv) Too many cardio enthusiasts had the wrong mentality of, "If I go for a 5 mile run, I can have some juice and cookies as a reward". Needless to say, that didn't help anyone lose fat.

The end result?

This high-cardio, high-carb approach to fitness and fat loss left many men and women with thunder thighs, saddle bags, and chronic running injuries.

Fast-forward to this decade, and the mainstream media is finally starting to see the benefits of strength training and interval training for both fat loss and the cardiovascular system.

Not too mention people are finally getting their nutrition right. And it's so simple:

- lots of fruits and vegetables (rarely does anyone get enough)
- lean protein
- healthy fats
- fiber-rich low-glycemic carbohydrates

Dr. Chris Mohr gives dozens of options for each in the TT Fat Loss Nutrition Guidelines.

So eat right, train right, and be safe.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

P.S. Okay, so you don't want to give up running?

At least train your body correctly with Turbulence Training. It trains the muscles that running neglects, and promises to put more power into your hill running.

"Just thought I'd drop you a line and share what a great year I've had so far. After 3 years of traditional bodybuilding programs and hours of traditional low intensity cardio I had 25% body fat to show. Being a student with little time able to train, cost of gyms, travelling around over holidays, Turbulence Training has been a lifesaver. With incorporating these workouts as the base of my training, and making the most of intervals, as well following your nutrition plans, I'm currently at 13% bodyfat and have dropped 22 pounds of fat. Thanks for an intense, easy to follow program."
Josh Dunn

"The TT workouts are excellent! You have literally changed my life! I got completely burned out on single body part training and long periods of cardio. It just isn't conducive to my life given that I work full time and have a spouse. I'm already lean but I want to maintain a high level of health and have a fit, athletic look. I have to admit that I was skeptical because the workouts were so short, but even after the first workout my skepticism disappeared in a hurry. The time flies by at the gym and the workouts have eliminated a lot of stress because if I got stuck at work and couldn't get to the gym for "leg day" it would mess up my training schedule for the rest of the week. I also like having the option to do some body weight circuits plus I have a full range of dumbells and a ball at home so I can get my workouts in at home."
Janet M

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for 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
Turbulence Training

Week 3 complete!!

Half way there!!!

At this pace my total weight loss after the 6 weeks should be almost 13 lbs.

Current weight is 215.6 lbs and 26.8% body fat. That is a total weight loss of 6.4 lbs and 1% body fat.
My total fat loss is 3.9 lbs. I have also lost 2.5 lbs of lean body mass.

According to the Bowflex program I should be gaining muscle mass not losing it, but from everything I have read you need to eat more than the program allows to gain muscle mass. Most experts would agree that it is very difficult for most people to lose fat and gain muscle mass at the same time.

Now to be fair to the program I am not measuring my body fat percentage by the book I am using my scale that has a body fat percentage readout. I think I will take my body fat measurements the way Bowflex recommends, and see what the result are next week.

Weight and body fat percentages aside, I feel great. My pants fit better, there is more room in my shirts and I feel more muscular.

I have not posted my starting measurements and my current measurements. I will take my new measurements and post those this week
Last weeks biggest struggle was drinking the 5 liters of ice cold water. This week is 5 1/2. I think half your weight loss is from the 10-15 trips to the washroom each day.

Week 2 Complete

Well Week 2 of the 6 week challenge is complete.
Not the kind of results I expected!
Weight is now 217.8 and body fat is 27.1%.
That is only a .6 lb loss from last week. Total loss is 4.2 lbs .8% body fat

Quite surprised!!! I followed the plan same as in the 1st week and pushed harder with the workouts.

As I said in a previous post I lost 50 lbs 2 years ago on a doctor prescribed diet of 1000 calories per day. I was a member of a gym and was working with a personal trainer and working out at least 4 days a week. Still some weeks my weight would go up or stay the same, so I am not too discouraged with this weeks results. The human body has an amazing way of adapting to the changes you try to make to it through diet and exercise.

This week the program adds two new exercises and reduces the calories by 100 and adds 1/2 liter more water. That should shake things up a little.

Looking forward to better results next week.

Bowflex 6 week Challenge Week 1 Done!

Well week one completed.

So far so, good.
Weight is now 218.4 lbs. Body fat 27.2%. That is a 3.6 lb loss.

I am a bit disappointed that the 3.6 pounds includes 1.3 lbs of lean body mass. I thought the workouts would compensate for the diet. Not too worried though it is just week one. I will try to intensify the workouts and see what next week brings.

Following the diet has not been as bad as I thought. The eating plan is very straight forward and easy to follow.
To save a few bucks my wife and I took apart one of the Lean cuisine meals and weighed the meat and measured the rice and vegetables, and we made up our own frozen dinners. We bought some low calorie sauces to add some spice and flavour.

This week we add a another 16 oz of water to make a total of 144 oz per day. Glug glug. I think the water drinking requires the most discipline of the entire program.

Will update next Monday after weigh in.

Burn the FAT

If you are looking for a way to burn off fat and keep your muscle, check out the link "Burn the FAT" in my links section.

It will take you to a page that will change your life.

This guy gives you a ton off easy to follow tips on how to" burn fat and feed the muscle". That by the way is the name of his ebook.
It changed the way I eat and think of food. Lots of tips for those who have tried to loose weight and hit the inevitable dreaded plateau. Tips on how to break through the plateaus and move forward. The best part for me was the fact he encourages "cheat meals" to fool your body and keep your metabolism burning fat. No pills or supplements, just hard work in the gym and great diet.

Don't get me wrong. It is not easy too do, but easy to follow.
It takes some discipline and drive, but all things worth achieving do.

Bowflex "6 Week Challenge" underway

Well here we go!

I started the Bowflex "6 Week Challenge" yesterday.

My starting weight is 222 lbs and 27.8% body fat.

I did my 1st workout yesterday and it was great, although I must say I am used to working harder at the gym, I am going to follow the workouts as designed for the "6 Week Challenge" to give it a fair test.
The diet designed for the program is not as difficult as I thought it would be. You drink so much water that you are not really very hungry between meals.

My kids have also started to do workouts on the gym, but not really following any kind of set program. My eldest (20) who is very strong and physically active find the Bowflex challenging for sure. I have seen in other reviews ( mainly by free weight enthusiasts) saying the Bowflex is too easy and the weight equivalents do not compare to free weights. My experience so far, and I admit it is limited, is that a pound on the Bowflex seems heavier than a pound of free weights. I feel this is because of the Power Rods. Their design forces you to use a lot of strength to keep a fluid motion while doing the exercises.

I will post again next Monday, with an update of how the workouts are going and a weight report.
Happy Bowflexing!

It's here!!!

Our Bowflex arrived the other day and the boys started to assemble it as soon as it came.

It took them 3 hours, but it was all done when I got home from work. What a nice surprise!!
The machine is bigger and sturdier that I imagined, which is good as I am 6' 2" and 220 lbs. We will need to rearrange the basement to create a workout area, but that should be no problem.

As I said before I am kind of a ditz when it comes to mechanical things, so it was great to have it done for me.
I noticed that the box that hold the "power rods" looked like it was upside down, so I looked at the assembly instructions and saw that it was. I was able to remove the box and put it back on correctly with no trouble. A testament to good instructions for sure. The boys said it was easy to put together and the instructions were very clear and precise.

I loaded up the "i Trainer" software and it looks very cool.
You can design your own work out or use preset workouts based on what you want to accomplish. It even has workouts that are sport specific. For example it has a baseball "batting" workout and a baseball "throwing" workout. QuickTime videos show you the technique for all exercises, and you can print out sheets to track your workouts or you can put your workout results right into the program to track your progress.

My wife and I are going to set up out workouts in "i Trainer" for the " 6 Week Challenge" this weekend and work out proper technique and weight resistance for each of out exercises and then it's off to the races.

Will post again on Monday after our 1st workout.

Bowflex delivery day!

Woohoo!

Bowflex will be delivered today!

Very excited to get started. It took the entire 17 days for delivery they talk about on the Shopping Channel website.
My wife and I have been following the eating program they suggest as part of their "6 Week Challenge", just to get a feel for it. It is not as hard as I thought it would be.

The program starts with 1500 calories per day for men and 1300 for women. Not a lot of food considering you could easily eat 1500 calories in one meal at McD's. The calorie level drops 100 calories every two weeks.

The other part of the eating program is the water. You start with 4 liters per day and add 1/2 liter each week for the 6 weeks. Be prepared to be close to a bathroom. Had to go at least 10 times a day for the 1st few days, but that is getting better as my body gets used to the increased water intake.

My kids are going to try and get started with the Bowflex assembly today.

I will update after we get it together to report on how the assembly went.

About to get started on my Bowflex!!!

I just ordered my Bowflex Sport from the Shopping Channel. Saved a bundle compared to buying it from Bowflex direct.
I expect delivery this week. I am a bit of a mechanical ditz, so I am not looking forward to the assembly.
I have read through the diet program and the exercises. Looks do-able. I need to loose 25 lbs, soooo here we go.
I will update the blog once I get delivery!