How to Lose Fat Fast: Stay Away From Cardio By Kyle Bohannon

Walk into most gyms around the country and you will see an endless number of treadmills, ellipticals, and bikes being used by those looking to lose fat. Walk in 3 months later and those same people are churning away like a hamster spinning its wheels, looking no different than before. Typically spending 30-minutes to 1 hour or more doing traditional cardio, these people are wasting their time and their energy. These individuals will then resort to a starvation diet, eating such a small amount of food that they end up sick and depressed with ZERO results. Their strength levels drop off significantly and the body begins wasting away, burning valuable muscle tissue to survive. The next thing you know they have kicked that nasty goal setting habit, and are back to pounding down Twinkies and Ho-Ho's So what is the solution? How can you burn away slabs of fat, while getting stronger and more athletic in the process? How can we increase heart rate, maximize exercise post oxygen consumption, save time, and get you to your goals faster? Here is a breakdown of my top 5 secrets to melting the fat off and becoming stronger and healthier.

1. Sprints- If you asked me what one exercise could help you burn fat, gain strength, increase power, and improve overall athleticism, I would answer without hesitation sprints. If you perform them correctly, you'll also feel better after each session than you ever did after a traditional cardio session, and sprinting is just plain awesome. I suggest you find a hill to perform your sprints on in order to slow you down and improve your form, decreasing your chances for injury. Perform sprints 2-3 times a week and be very conservative with reps. Start with about 4-5 sprints of 20-30 yards each session, adding in 1 sprint every other time. Keep rest times to a minimum. I also highly suggest that you don't go all out during your first few sessions. Build up the intensity over the course of about 5 sprint workouts.
2. Complexes- Another highly effective approach to losing fat and becoming more athletic is by performing complexes. A complex is plain and simple, the process of choosing 1 or more tool, whether it be bodyweight, a barbell, kettlebell, sandbag, etc., and performing 4-6 exercises with the same weight back to back without rest. The weight used should NOT be heavy. A sample barbell complex would look like this: 1A) Deadlift 4×10 1B) Bent Over Rows 4×10 1C) Push Press 4×10 1D) Back Squat 4×10 Resting 45-90 secs between sets. Feel free to adjust the exercises and rep combinations as you see fit.
3. Walking- This may surprise many, but walking is a highly forgotten about tool in achieving results. It's benefits come from the fact that it is really low intensity, thus causing your body to burn fat and preserve muscle, and it provides an easy way to burn a few extra calories. Throw in it's restorative/recovery benefits and the relaxation it can bring, and I can't imagine why someone wouldn't be doing it routinely. Shoot for 5-7 times a week for 30-60min.
4. Weightlifting- While it's not hard to get a guy to train with weights, with most women it is a different story. They are afraid that it will make them "bulky" and leave them "looking like a guy." While the reasons why this is incorrect are too extensive for this post, sadly, the girls who you can't convince other wise will never reach the true potential of their dreams. Weightlifting will help you gain muscle, that will increase the amount of calories you burn, and gain strength that will enable you to get even more benefits out of the sprints and complexes discussed above.
5. Rest- This final secret, isn't really a secret, and should go without saying. Rest, next to nutrition, is perhaps the most important aspect in your quest to lose fat, gain muscle, and become more athletic. Yet, people still fail to get an adequate amount of sleep and rest, and shot gun coffee and energy drinks just to make it through the day. Getting 7-9 hours of sleep a night should be something you make a priority. If you fail to get enough sleep your body will begin to produce an excess amount of cortisol, a stress hormone known to burn muscle in place of fat when in a state of chronic fatigue. Definitely not a recipe for success.

With a smart nutritional plan, if you follow the secrets listed above, you will no doubt achieve your goals.

No Nonsense Fat Schorching,

Kyle Bohannon, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist
http://www.TrainStrive.com
http://www.CincyBootCamps.com
kyle@trainstrive.com

Kyle Bohannon is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and owner of Strive Training, a private strength and conditioning facility located in Cincinnati.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6414186