Are you going to the gym because you want to lose weight? Do you spend time doing cardio work, such as running on a treadmill, using a stair step machine, or working out on a elliptical machine?

If your goal is to lose weight by doing cardio, you might want to pay attention, because it’s been my experience that the majority of the people who do cardio could burn more calories cleaning the house. Not only that, they’d have a clean house at the end of the hour, too.

Part of the problem is that the mainstream advice couldn’t be more wrong about how to correctly workout to maximize fat loss. I did a little self experiment, though I already had a pretty good idea of what to expect, that will help shed some light on what the best approach to cardio is, if you want to lose weight.

My calorie burning cardio expirement.

There is a better approach, and I want to show that approach to you. In this article, I will use a few of my workouts and the actual calories burned and fat calories burned to help demonstrate how to get the most from your workout.

Let me start by explaining what I did. I took three different kids of workouts and compared the results. The comparison was made between high intensity interval training (HIIT), long slow distance training (LSD), and medium distance interval training. I chose these three methods, because the first two, HIIT and LSD have been at the center of a debate over the last few years, and there is a great deal of controversy as to which is better for weight loss.

I also added middle distance interval training, so that we could see how this method to compared to the others. I recorded each session and wrote down the duration of the workout, my heart rate, how many calories I burned, and the total fat calories burned. I used my Polar FT60 heart rate monitor for this comparison test.

This experiment is not exact, but it doesn’t need to be either. It just needs to be consistent, so we can make an intelligent comparison between the three workouts. The point is, don’t worry about the exact numbers used here. Your caloric burn is different than mine, your heart rate is different than mine, and your fitness is different the mine. The conclusions that we draw are more important than the actual numbers used.

Fist, so we are all on the same page, let’s take a look at what I mean when I say LSD, HIIT, and MDI.

Is HIIT The Best?

High Intensity Interval Training is akin to sprint training. Essentially, you run very “hard” and then you rest and repeat the effort. The important thing to remember when doing HIIT is that “hard” means at or close to your maximum effort. That’s why I say it’s like sprint training, you have to really bust your behind and work at your greatest potential. On level of 1-10 in terms of effort, HIIT is an 8-10, when done correctly.

One commonly used method of HIIT training is to work hard for 1 minute and then recover for 1 minute. For fat burning purposes, it is best to slow to a jog during your recovery period rather than stopping entirely. You will burn more calories this way. This work and recovery cycle gets repeated for the duration of the workout.

You can do HIIT training on a variety of exercise equipment, if you don’t want to run. I like bikes and elliptical machine for this kind of workout. It’s not important what piece of equipment you chose, it’s only important that you reach a level of effort of 8-10.

A Benefit of HIIT Training

One thing that many people don’t realize is that an intense workout causes the body to burn calories after the workout, which is often referred to as the after burn effect. Exercise is a process of breaking down the body and building it back up, but stronger. When you do intense exercise, the body break down effect is much greater and there is a greater need for repair. The energy that goes into this repairing process burns additional calories, so hard exercise can have a fat blasting effect for hours after your workout.

Both HIIT Training and middle distance interval training are intense enough to give a good afterburning effect.

The Bad About HIIT

Because of the intense nature of HIIT, your body will need time to recover afterwards. It is not practical to do HIIT everyday, and it’s difficult, even for very fit people, to do HIIT for a long duration. So, to burn more calories, you cannot simply do more HIIT without overtraining. Because of this, there are calorie burning limits to HIIT.

Some very misinformed people will try to convince you that doing more HIIT is the answer to weight loss stalls, but they are sorely mistaken. Their recommendation will lead to overtraining and overtraining is counterproductive to fat loss.

How Did HIIT Score?

My HIIT workout followed this pattern: 1 minute of a hard run followed by 1 minute of an easy recovery jog. I did this for a total of 23 minutes.

Time: 23 minutes, no measured warm up

Heart rate average: 158

Heart rate max: 168

Calories burned: 315

Fat calories: 31

LSD for Fat Loss

Now, just to be clear, when I talk about LSD for fat loss, it has nothing to do with illegal drugs. So, I am not suggesting you find the local drug dealer and start doing drugs to lose weight. Rather, I am referring to long slow distance training (LSD).

LSD training is the most common approach to cardio training in most commercial gyms. It’s often called steady state training, because you exercise at the same pace for your entire workout.

LSD training is not very intense. The goal of LSD training is to exercise for long periods of time, and to do this we need to avoid burning out, so training is slower and easier. It is best to do LSD training at an intensity level somewhere around the 4-7 range.

The Good About LSD

The best things about LSD is that most people can do some form of slow training. They can jog, walk, or even ride a bike for extended periods of time, once they have built up a little bit of strenghth and endurance.

Also, LSD is not terribly intense, so the it is much easier to recover from. In fact, many athletes use LSD training as a recovery workout after previous intense workouts.

The Bad About LSD

With the good comes the bad. Because LSD is not a high intensity exercise, there is less post workout repair needed. So, we will burn fewer calories post-training in the recovery process. The main benefit to LSD is the calories burned while doing the exercise, because relatively few are burned afterwards as a result of the workout.

How did LSD stack up?

Since this was an LSD workout, there was relatively small variation in pace and heart rate throughout the entire workout.

Time: 46 minutes, no measured warm up

Heart rate average: 122

Heart rate max: 131

Calories burned: 396

Fat calories: 99

Is MDI the best fat burning cardio exercise?

Middle distance intervals are not very popular with the fitness crowd. You are more likely to see track athletes and middle distance runners do these types of interval workouts. They are similar to HIIT in that there are work periods and rest periods, but different in that the work periods and rest periods are much longer. For example, a good program for soccer is 5 minutes of work with a 2 minute recovery jog.

When doing MDI, the important thing to remember is to try to maximize the effort during the work period. I do this by measuring the heart rate, but it can be done be estimating your work effort like we talked about with HIIT. An effort of 7-9 is the right range for MDI.

Benefits of MDI

You can burn a lot of calories with an MDI workout. Due to the pace, you wind up with a workout that is relatively short, but covers a pretty good distance.

Also, like HIIT, there is an afterburn effect from doing MDI. This means you will continue to burn calories during the post-workout “healing process”.

Downside to MDI

The downside to MDI is that it’s hard. Not many people like to push themselves that hard for that long.

How did middle distance intervals stack up?

I wanted to make sure the duration of the workout was exactly the same as the HIIT test, so this workout was done for exactly 23 minutes. That was a bit of an uneven number, so I did 4 sets of 4 minute intervals with a recovery jog of 1 minute between each set. I ended the session with a 3 minute interval, so that I finished exactly at the 23 minute mark.

Time: 23 minutes, no measured warm up

Heart rate average: 160

Heart rate max: 167

Calories burned: 321

Fat calories: 32

So what does this mean and how do we know which one is best for burning fat?

First, let me point out that each workout burned a lot of calories. However, the LSD workout was twice as long as the HIIT and MDI workouts, and that the results were not twice as good. In short, LSD is not an efficient workout.

There wasn’t a whole lot of difference between HIIT and MDI. For athletic training purposes there are differences, but for fat loss, there aren’t.

Also, since I cannot measure the calories burned in post exercise recovery, it is reasonable to assume that both HIIT and MDI workouts actually burned a few more calories than I show. This is due to the after burn effect. And while the numbers are not huge, it is safe to assume that so our total calories burned in the HIIT and MDI workouts are relatively similar, and close to the equivalent of what was burned in a much longer LSD workout.

LSD burned a higher percentage of fat. It burned 25% vs. the 10% burned by MDI and HIIT. But, you have to devote more time to an LSD workout to see the benefit. So, the question becomes is all that extra time worth burning a few more fat calories? In my mind, it’s a rather small gain for all the extra time you have to spend to get the benefit.

Which brings us to the big conclusion: HIIT and MDI are more efficient and give us a great way to burn calories. But, they are too demanding to do everyday. LSD can be done everyday, but you better clear you schedule because you will need more time. Unfortunately for many people long workouts 6 days a week are not an option.

Ultimately, you have to ask yourself two questions. Can you convince yourself to do hard training like HIIT and MDI? And, do you have time to do long workouts like LSD? If you workout with weights, too, you probably don’t. Combining weights with LSD makes for a very long workout.

Now that you know how to do cardio training to burn the most amount of fat possible, you are ready to become a fat burning furnace. Just pick an exercise you like, such as biking or running, and go out there and do it.

Like adult fitness, teen fitness is important for physical and mental health. But as kids grow up the level of physical activity tends to decline. For teenagers to be healthy they need to perform at least 60 minutes of moderate exercise a day. However, keeping fit and healthy is not always a priority for teenagers coping with the pressures of adolescence.

The teenage years are a great time to introduce the importance of regular exercise. Patterns of behaviour that begin during adolescence are likely to continue through to adult life. Young people should be encouraged to enjoy physical activities that offer variety and enjoyment and are suitable for their age.

It is found that inactive teenagers have higher levels of body fat, lower levels of fitness and are more likely to suffer depression. Schools are assigning less time for teens to participate in sport so exercise alternatives need to be found outside of education.

Going to the gym will help teenagers to maintain fitness. Several gym membership packages include entrance to swimming pools and exercise classes offering a wide variety of physical activity. Yet some 13-19 year olds will find it difficult to commit to a structured gym environment and membership may be expensive.

Team sports are great for kids this age to achieve the recommended levels of physical exercise.

Most schools offer regular recreational and competitive team activities. By introducing competition into exercise, teens will be motivated to work harder and be the best in the team.

Teens should be encouraged to play a variety of sports that can be played all year round. Team games are fun and teenagers enjoy exercising with friends. Group sports can be continued out of education so look out for local recreational teams and leagues.

Not everyone is interested in competitive sport so introduce teens to different activities such as karate, dance or skateboarding as kids at this age like to try new things. Even if a hobby isn’t physically demanding it will help to maintain fitness.

Physical activity must be matched with healthy eating and for adolescents a balanced diet is imperative. Adolescence is a time of rapid growth and the major dietary requirement is for energy rich food. The body needs to get the right amount of nutrients through a balance of starch, dairy, fruit, vegetables and proteins.

During puberty teenagers body concerns are intensified and studies have reported that teenagers are more likely to become unhappy with their weight. Maintaining levels of nutrition are important and if kids need to lose weight then cutting down on fat and sugar based foods is a way to do so.

Regular physical activity increases the likelihood of teenagers remaining healthy in adulthood. They should find ways to be active everyday as the onset of chronic diseases like diabetes can begin to develop early in life. Teens can keep active by going to the gym or playing team sports. Simply walking to school will promote fitness.

If you want to learn how to lose fat fast I wouldn’t recommend fasting, not only is it unsafe leaving you with low energy levels but in most cases it can cause you to gain even more weight.

Even if there is a family history of obesity it does not mean that you can’t lose weight, it is possible to control weight loss once you follow through with some basic fat loss secrets:

Here are seven effective fat loss secrets you need to know about if you want to lose fat fast and healthily:

1. Brisk walking is an excellent form of physical activity and a great fat burner. A recent study found that a 10-minute session of brisk walking a day, five days a week can give you the same results in calorie burning as five half hours walks a week. The secret is to have five and not three 10 minute sessions a week – the trick is short and frequent.
2. Eat five or six small meals a day. You will lose fat faster if you eat small regular meals a day instead of infrequent and large meals. A breakfast, a lunch, a main meal and two small between-meal snacks is ideal.
3. You will lose fat faster if you follow through with a reduced calorie diet. Aim for around 500 to 1000 calories a day, reduce simple carbohydrate foods (biscuits, cakes, sweets) and increase complex carbohydrate foods such as wholemeal breads, wholemeal pastas and wholemeal rice.
4. There is convincing evidence that eating slowly can lead to fat loss.
5. Eating an hour or two after exercising encourages the metabolism of the food rather than just its laying down as fat as the metabolic rate is generally speeded up during this time. Equally walking after you eat can boost the body’s natural response to food and burn more calories.
6. Have small amounts of alcohol if you want a flat stomach. Alcohol contains simple carbohydrates which lead to weight gain.
7. Drink more water. Aim for at least six glasses of water a day to remove toxins and excess sodium, plus it can even help fill you up. Have a glass of water just before a meal and another sipped slowly during the meal.

A nice 6 pack is something that really draws attention. For those who have 6 pack abs it is nice to get those looks of admiration and know that all the work you put into them is paying off. For those of you just looking longingly, there is good news.

You can have 6 pack abs. It takes work and dedication, but you have all the necessary tools to give yourself your own 6 pack that will get attention. Learn the two main keys that you will need to get your mid section in shape and you will be well on your way to getting those 6 pack abs of your dreams.

Nutrition

The first step in the process of building a 6 pack is getting your diet on track. You need to cut out the fat and other food items that cause you to gain fat, retain water and bloat.

You probably will not be surprised to hear that you need to cut out those refined carbs – white flour, bread, pasta. You also need to cut sugar and salt as much as possible from your diet. These foods are known to increase fat gain and will cause bloating in your stomach which will hide your stomach muscles.

You should aim to eat five to six mini meals everyday. Do not skip a meal. This way you will stay full and not feel hungry or have cravings. Eating like this will also help you to keep your metabolism up so your body will burn calories more efficiently.

Exercise

Diet is only half of the equation here to get 6 pack abs. You also need exercise. You actually need three different types of exercise.

Cardio, also called aerobic, exercise brings your heart rate up. It helps to turn your body into a fat burning machine. It is the best exercise for getting learner all over. You want to do cardio about 3 to 5 times per week. Make sure you are pushing yourself and working hard in each cardio session.

Strength training helps you to build your muscles. Muscles are fat burners. They burn fat even when you are not working out. You should do strength training at least two times per week. Make sure you are pushing yourself here, too.

You also need to do target exercises that work your stomach muscles. These help to bring out the definition in your 6 pack. You want to work all three areas of the stomach – upper abs, lower abs and obloquies.

Nutrition and Memory

Proper nutrition is a public health concern. The Centers for Disease Control, Environmental Health Division estimates one-third of the world’s population is deficient in micro-nutrients such as iodine, iron, vitamin A, zinc, and folate. The Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals reports that levels of magnesium and zinc were below the recommended daily allowance in the United States. Women were also low in vitamin B6, vitamin E, and calcium. Approximately 40% of elderly Americans and Europeans are vitamin and mineral deficient.

Proper nutrition can affect many cognitive functions. Folic acid is one of the most common nutritional deficits seen in neuropsychological disorders and may be a major factor in depression. Vitamin B12 has a similar role as folate in the metabolism of neurotransmitters. Folate and vitamin B12 may have an effect on the way antidepressants work. It has been found that depressed patients on a fluoxetine regimen who are deficient in these nutrients are less likely to respond to fluoxetine.

Nutrient supplementation when there is a dietary shortage has been shown to help memory and attention performance. Cognitive function improved after one year of taking a modest mixture of vitamins and minerals in otherwise healthy elderly adults. Slowing of cognitive processes is multifactorial. Therefore, a multidimensional approach, including dietary changes and nutritional supplements should be considered when approaching this problem. Reduced dietary fat, cholesterol, and increased servings of antioxidant fruits and vegetables are recommended as part of an overall approach to improving brain function.

Improving the nutritional intake of undernourished children to the recommended daily allowances (RDA), improved performance on non-verbal intelligence tests. Children and adolescents have significantly shown an increased ability to concentrate, focus, comprehend new information, and have improved memory skills following nutrient supplementation with iron, zinc, dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), and extract of Bacopa monniera.

Phosphatidylserine, acetyl-L-carnitine, vinpocetine, and Gingko biloba extract have shown their worth as cognitive supplements in clinical trials. Combinations of these herbs have also been shown to be effective in improving memory and attention. Gingko and vinpocetine improved memory in terms of neural speed and reaction time which is an indication of increased working memory. Improving nutrition with a combination of herbal supplements decreased need for medication by 50% in individuals with Bipolar Disorder I. Patients had an overall reduction of symptoms of 55 to 65%.

When you exercise in order to lose weight, you may find that your weight loss stops at a certain point. That may mean you have reached plateau and you may not know what to do. We are going to discuss some way that you can use to overcome plateau in your exercise so that you can lose more weight.

What is plateau? It is the slacker mode that you have when you go to the gym every day and your weight change is at stagnant phase.

According to a Hollywood trainer, Jeanette Jenkins, you can burn more calories if you know how to properly exercise. For example, some may go to the gym for 30 minutes and burn 300 calories. But with the right techniques, you can do the same and burn 600 calories. That means you can double your calories burned.

– While you are resting during your weight lifting session, add cardio exercise onto it. For example, you can do 25-30 jumping jacks or alternating knee lifts during your rest. This will increase your calories burning.

– You can combine upper and lower body exercise together. For example, you may do biceps curls with dumbbells. At the same time, you can do stationary lunges.

– If walking on the treadmill is your game, you can shuffle while walking. For example, you can do 30 minutes of power walk and include five intervals of side shuffles. Each set last one or two minutes.

– You can wear a weighted vest. It will double your calories burning while you are exercising.

– When you do the weight training, do the drop sets. Start with the heaviest and gradually decrease. But when you reduce weight, you will need to increase repetitions. For example, you can start with the heaviest for 10 reps and end with the lightest for 25 reps.

– If you can, increase the weight to be more than the most you usually do. If your maximum was 80 pounds, make it 85. You will see big difference when you go beyond your limit.

Gym workout routines for women are specially categorized as there are certain physiological differences between a man and a woman. A woman needs to work out on her gym routine so that she can benefit the most. However, the workout routines should answer the following questions:

* First, how to select the best and convenient place for the workout

* How to kick-start the workout routines efficiently

* How much time needs to be invested in exercising every day

* What aspects one should consider while opting for a exercise schedule

The workout schedules which would help you to lose weight safely and comfortably are as follows:

*Workout schedule 1: Exercises should tone up each and every muscles of the body. In fact, this first routine would be very beneficial for the beginners who have very little time to spare in such work-outs. You must use the first five days of week in carrying out this routine. The first 3 days would be concentrated in weights whereas the next two days would be concentrated in cardio.

* Workout schedule 2: It can also be referred to as the split schedule. However, this routine would help you to reap huge benefits at a very steady pace. As per this exercise your lower and upper body part gets involved in intense work-out. It would help you to lose weight quickly.

*Workout schedule 3: In this routine you exercise to lose weight from targeted areas. In this routine you can exercise with weights for 5 days and get indulged in cardio for 2 or 2 days.

Further, you must be cautious that your workout schedule is effectively toning up your muscles, helping you to lose weight and burn fat etc. It should not matter what your goals are but you should focus on specified exercises to tone up your body and lose weight at a steady pace.

The Cardio King

Change it up

One of the most important aspects to a cardio workout is changing it. Most people get bored with exercise simply because they pop these DVD’s in and do the same thing everyday. Imagine if you had to read the same book everday, would that be fun. No way, so why would you do the same workout everyday. Most people don’t realize what they are doing. You have to make it fun in order for it to work.

Try to have at least 4-6 different exercises.

Intensify

Make sure the you are reaching your target heartrate. If you don’t you are not getting the most out of it. Why do something just to do it. Your goal is to burn fat and it is real difficult to do that without reaching your target zone.

Take it outside

Don’t just stay in the gym. Change it up and take it on the run. Try doing some intense walking or some bike riding. Play some basketball in the park. Make it fun and interesting, that’s the only way you will keep it up.

I hope these two tips help to intensify your cardio workouts. Make sure that when you finish it, you say man that was a great workout. If you don’t you could have done much better.

Weight loss for men over 40 would be quite different from younger men. The process of metabolism in an older man is usually low. Due to the lack of activities and aging, men over 40s easily usually gain weight. In order to burn fats and obtain a toned physique one should take up proper nutrition plan and a healthy workout regimen.

Secret Diets And Workouts For 40 Plus Men To Burn Fat And Get Toned

* Cardio workouts are the most touted exercises for losing weight healthily. There are various exercises such as running, swimming, hiking and brisk walking, which can be performed by men over 40. These exercises produce lots of metabolism in your body, which consequently burn fats easily. Excessive fat burning produces much heat in your body. It is always advisable to drink lots of water for maintaining the temperature. You should drink at least 10-12 glasses of water daily for shedding those extra pounds.

* Men over 40 can also perform Yoga for weight loss. Yoga postures revitalize your body and relieve anxiety efficiently. You can perform this exercise from the comforts of your home.

* Acai Berry diet is the most competent nutrition plan for weight loss for men over 40. You should take up this diet plan for producing metabolism. Acai berries not only encourage fat burning but also help your body to suppress hunger. It discards fats permanently from your body.

* Colon cleansing helps in eliminating harmful toxins from your body, which consequently cleans up your colon. A healthy colon is the key for obtaining a healthy body. Detoxification is extremely important for removing those stubborn fats from your abdominal area.

With so many weight loss plans in the market, it’s difficult to know which one works and which doesn’t. One of the most popular plans is the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet. Since it has been first published a few years ago, it has been used by tens of thousands of people worldwide and enjoys a wide popularity. Its simple and easy to do program has attracted many men and women who have failed to lose weight before with much more complicated and harder weight loss plans.

But is the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet any good or is it just an example of clever marketing?

Just like any weight loss plan, Fat Loss 4 Idiots is not perfect and it doesn’t work for everyone. However, the plan does work for most people. In fact, the vast majority of the many people I’ve spoken with were very successful with it. So, the bottom line is that Fat Loss 4 Idiots does work for many people.

However, this diet isn’t right for all health and fitness goals for the simple reason that it’s primarily based on nutrition and has very little to do with exercising. For some people this is a blessing: you get to lose weight and don’t have to spend time at the gym or running outdoors which is great if you’re strapped for time or just don’t like working out. However, if one of your fitness goals is to tone some body part or another, then you will need to add some physical activity to the diet’s eating plan. Otherwise you will lose weight, but not increase muscle mass.

All in all, I believe that Fat Loss 4 Idiots is a good diet and recommend it for achieving a simple, easy, and fast weight loss.