The Mind Over Body Matter Letter

I hear a lot of people asking about “toning” and how much weight they should use…

(start excerpt)

The key to burning the most calories through weight training AND triggering the highest “afterburn” potential revolves around the amount of WORK (the scientific definition) you do. In the bodybuilding realm, they like to call it volume.

So you want proof, huh? No problem:

The First Law of Thermodynamics

This law states that the change in the total energy of a system is equal to the change in the amount of work done by the system minus the amount of heat generated by the system:

dE=dW-dQ

dE = change in total energy of a system
dW = change in work done by the system
dQ = change in heat generated by the system

(Now, for you physics or engineering types, I realize that this equation is generally a partial differential equation. We are simplifying the analysis greatly… )

Now, this is a little calculus and I am making it extremely basic.

Okay, if we say that the change in the energy in a person is going to be zero (we aren’t eating any food at the moment and heat lost due to radiation, convection, and conduction is zero).

By making these assumptions, we can say:

0=dW-dQ or dW~dQ (~ means “is proportional to”)

So, we can say that the change in work done (lifting) is proportional to the change in heat generation. Since heat generation is directly proportional to the amount of calories burned, we can say that the change in the amount of calories burned is proportional to the change in the amount of work done by a person.

Of course, if we say that we aren’t doing any work or burning any calories due to working out at the very instant we start to exercise, we can say that the amount of calories burned at the end of our weight training is proportional to the total amount of work done during the workout.

If you remember from 9th grade science:

Work = Force x Distance (US units)

So, our key is to maximize the amount of work done during weight training. If you use a weight of 20 lbs and can do a maximum of 20 repetitions (let’s say the weight moves 2 ft up and down during a repetition). In this example our work done equals 800 lb-ft of work done (20lbs X 40ft)

What if we go heavier, say 40 lbs and we can do that 12 reps (40lbs x 24ft = 960lb-ft)?

What if we go even heavier, say 65 lbs and we can do 8 reps (65lbs X 16ft = 1040lb-ft)?

Even heavier, 80 lbs, 4 reps (80lbs X 8ft = 640 lb-ft).

In this example, we can see that the 65 lb weight actually allows us to perform the most work; and, for calorie burning purposes, should be the weight we work with (after warming up correctly, of course).

A note on “toning”

It’s probably the biggest crock ever. Most people only try to “tone” when they exercise for fear of their muscles growing uncontrollably. It’s not easy getting big, trust me. If it was, every person you see in a health club would be large. Gaining a significant amount of muscle mass takes time, commitment, and a SURPLUS of calories (did I mention we are going to be working with a caloric deficit?).

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I hope this helps you understand more on how to effectively select a weight for maximum fat loss…

For more great info, check out the Fat Loss Black Book

Here’s another “extreme” video for your viewing pleasure from “Rocky IV”

You know, you can read every tip, trick, and fat loss technique in the book (mine, if you want)…

… but there’s no substitute for hard work.

Yesterday’s workout was a little different for me.

No weight training… but a really long bout of medium intensity interval training.

Look, break the monotony in your workouts. Get a little creative.

One of the things about the Fat Loss Black Book resides in it’s ability to TEACH you the mindset and methodologies to create your own powerful fat loss workouts.

Let’s face it… having the actual workouts is great… but what happens when you need to change gears.

Exactly.

So yesterday, I went bike riding… with a twist.

Over half of the 10 mile ride resulted in me pulling someone on roller blades behind me… up and down hills no less.

Needless to say, I was pretty beat afterward.

And hungry too. Starving in fact.

Think of the different ways that you can push yourself to the next level. You don’t have to be “extreme”, but you definitely should always be trying to take yourself to another level.

Check out this video for an example of “extreme”… maybe it’ll give you a few ideas for your next workout.

If you’ve been looking for a few new ways to do push ups… I’ve got you covered.

Of course, like all of the videos I post, this isn’t the end all movie… but… it’s got some great advice

Make sure to check out Craig’s Turbulence Training

Why is it that getting started sucks SO bad for most people?

Why is it that people can go for a week or two… only to end up right where they left off?

Maybe it’s time…

If that’s the case, let me show you really quickly how you can sidestep the “time” issue.

Look, no excuses… excuses are for wimps and losers.

If you want to get in better shape… lose body fat… whatever…

… make it happen.

Figure out what your roadblocks are… get informed… and get going.

Here’s another cross training video. One thing to note, you don’t have to necessarily be able to do the plyometrics in order to do any type of aggressive training… in fact, I’ve seen research that says that power lifting type exercises will do more for your vertical leap and your metabolism than box jumps.

I’d probably stay away from them until your fitness level is a little higher… but even then… I don’t think the effort is really worth it considering the overall effects that we are looking for.

However, if you’ll notice, the entire workout is BANG, BANG, BANG… one thing after another.

Remember, take some of these ideas and use them in your workouts…