The Mind Over Body Matter Letter

Oh man…

18.2% body fat

I didn’t know I’d fallen off the wagon THAT far.

But no big deal: I’ve just got work to do.

Okay, yesterday… a little chest and tri’s… although next week we’ll start to get a little more aggressive and switch to upper body and lower body days.

Make sure to check it out.

Warmup: Two sets of pushups immediately followed by a non weighted bar only set of incline bench.

Set One: Incline bench, 10 reps at 135 lbs
Set Two: Incline bench, 12 reps at 135 lbs (I generally need a little more warmup for chest for some reason)
Set Three: Incline bench, 8 reps at 185
Set Four: Incline bench, 4 reps at 205

Compound Set one: Iso wide Hammer Strength with 2 plates on each side followed immediately by 10 bodyweight dips
Compound Set two: Same as above with 3 plates on each side
Compound Set Three: Same as above with 3.5 plates (0.5=25lb plate)

Two sets of pushups (20)

10 25 yd “sprints” at 3/4 speed with a walk back for rest

Cool down for 7 minutes on the bike (mainly just to catch up on some reading… lol)

I had a little extra time to mess around so I also shot basketball for about 20 minutes. While doing this, I was doing a few full court sprints with the ball and converting lay ups.

Diet was a little off yesterday.

Shake in the morning and shake after the workout…

Chicken and veggies for lunch and the same thing for dinner.

I gotta hit the grocery store.

More tomorrow.

No big deal.

I got the workout in… which what what I was really looking to do today but the diet aspect sucked pretty bad.

I’ve got to hit the grocery store… period.

So the workout was pretty short - a little over 30 minutes but I walked out sweaty and tired.

Here’s how it went:

Set one: Warm up set of overhand bent over rows with just the bar.

Compound set one: 8 reps at 135 bent over row followed with 8 reps lat pull at 140.

Compound set two: 8 reps at 155 bent over row followed with 8 reps lat pull at 160

Compound set three: 6 reps at 185 bent over row followed with 6 reps lat pull at 180

Two sets of 8 reps of pull ups (or you can just go to burn out either way)

Compound set four: machine row 8 reps at 120 followed with 8 reps standing curls (bar only)

Compound set five: machine row 8 reps at 140 followed with 6 reps standing bar curls (95)

Two sets of 10 leg raises.

10 minutes of interval training on the bike: 1 minute warm up (low level), 30 second “sprint” at a mid level, 30 second cool period at a low level, 15 sec “sprint” at a high level, 45 sec recovery at low level, repeat.

Went home and drank a Cyto gainer shake to get some calories in me.

For this workout, low level means low resistance and low effort. High level means high resistance and almost max effort.

Also, I probably could have went a little heavier in the workout but I’ve been so sporatic lately that I didn’t want to over tax my joints and connective tissue… yet

I haven’t done the measurements yet… although I’ll try to get a bodyfat one tonight.

More tomorrow, until then, grab the book so you’ll know why I’m doing what I’m doing and then check out this video and see if you can do this…

(Guest article by Craig Ballantyne… author of Turbulence Training)

While the mainstream fitness media still insists that aerobic cardio exercise is a great way to lose weight, you should know interval training is the better way to burn body fat.

Still not convinced?

A recent study published by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, subjects aged 40 to 75 were instructed to do 60 minutes of aerobic exercise per day for 6 days per week for an entire year.

(Reference…
Obesity 15:1496-1512 (2007). Exercise Effect on Weight and Body Fat in Men and Women. Anne McTiernan*, et al.)

Given the amount of exercise, you’d expect weight losses of 20, 30 pounds, or more, right?

Well, the surprise findings showed the average fat loss for female subjects was was only 4 pounds for the entire year, while men lost 6.6 pounds of fat over the year. That’s over 300 hours of aerobic exercise just to lose a measly 6 pounds of blubber. Not time well spent, in my opinion.

So what’s the better way? Stick with interval training and strength training to get better bodysculpting results. With intervals, you’ll achieve more fat burning results in less workout time.

The next time you are out exercising, perform a session of interval training. If you are walking outside, find an incline that can challenge you for 60 seconds, then walk down for 60-120 seconds, and repeat up to 6 times. If you walk on a treadmill, adjust the incline or speed to safely increase the challenge for 60 seconds, then return to the normal pace for 60-120 seconds, and repeat up to 6 times.

Interval training is better than cardio for fat loss. Cardio just doesn’t stand a chance against the faster, shorter, more effective fat loss workouts.

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked fat burning interal training workouts have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Fat burning interval workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig’s bodyweight interval circuits help you lose fat without any equipment at all.

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I’ve long preached the value of weight bearing exercises and interval training. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you would have come across it many times.

Heck, there’s even a whole category dedicated to it

And, I talk about it a lot in the Fat Loss Black Book as well, with all of the research in the world to prove it’s effectiveness.

Yet, people still want to stay with the boring ‘old cardio… even though research dictates that it doesn’t work anywhere near as well for fat blasting like interval training does.

Are you still wondering what you should do?

Are you still thinking that the “old school way” is the way to go?

Why not try something DIFFERENT?

You’ll enjoy the results that it brings… trust me.

Is it just me or do the people that I see slaving on the cardio deck look out of shape? How about the “aerobic” queens, do they look the way you want to look?

Could it possibly be that we’ve been misled this entire time?

Is steady state, long term cardio the answer to our fat loss woes?

If you’ve gotten this far, I’m sure your either wondering what I’m talking about or have been that person I’m talking about above and are looking for a better way.

Let me assure you: there is a better way.

It’s called interval training and if you haven’t given it a shot, you could be missing out on one of the most important fat loss discoveries in the last decade.

What Is Interval Training?

Interval training involves doing cardio at different speeds. More specifically, you’ll sprint for 15 seconds to 1 minute and then slow down and recover for 15 seconds to one minute. Now, there are many different ways and forms of interval training and there is no way that I could possibly cover them all in one sitting.

However, let me show you a quick and dirty 10 minute routine that is guaranteed to get your metabolism roaring.

The Simplest Form of Interval Training.

Find a recumbent bike and do a 2 minute warmup. Then, level up the resistance until it’s really tough to pedal and go as fast as you can for 15 seconds to a minute. Level back down, slow down, and recover for the same time period. Level up again and repeat this cycle until you reach 8 minutes of total workout time. Do 2 minutes of cool down and your done…

Why Interval Training Works

Interval training (as well as weight training) helps to increase what’s called Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption. In other words, your body uses more oxygen because it has to recover more.

Oxygen consumption is a good indicator of metabolic rate and if you are using more oxygen on a daily basis, it’s safe to say that your metabolism has increased (if only temporarily).

Did you know that you can have this metabolic effect for up to 72 hours AFTER you’ve finished exercising with interval training?

Did you know that the metabolic benefits of steady state cardio disappear within 30 minutes of you finishing your workout?

Exactly… which category would you prefer for your body to operate in.

Give interval training a try, you won’t be disappointed in the results.

Many people come to this site looking for information on diet and exercise… and most of the time… I go for the “overview” approach.

I try to give you the knowledge… I “teach” you to fish… I don’t give you the fish.

You know.

But today, I’m gonna show you a great weight loss cardio workout that just about anyone can do and it is guaranteed to raise your metabolism and shed body fat…

… as long as you aren’t totally eating like crap

My Weight Loss Cardio Workout:

I do this at least 3 times per week to great success… the “afterburn” effect really kicks in.

Total time — 10 minutes

Jump on a recumbent bike and warm up for 2 minutes at a moderate level…

… then increase the level and begin to peddle faster… at maybe half a sprint for one minute

… back it down to your initial level and “recover” for a minute

Rinse… repeat…

Sounds easy doesn’t it. Believe me, it’s easy in practice but once you get going a few weeks… those half sprints can turn into full sprints and then the fun REALLY begins…

And it only takes 10 minutes per day.

I’d do it after my weight training, though… although it can be done all alone.

For a better idea of more workouts like these that you can use… make sure to check out Turbulence Training by Craig Ballantyne. His fat burning workouts are just what the doctor ordered…

So there you go, one weight loss cardio workout for you to incorporate into your routine.