Five Tips for At-Home Holiday Fat Burning

In this issue I want to focus on some useful tips you can implement for staying lean or losing body fat over the holidays.

1. Focus on Strength Training:

Short, intense strength training workouts using multi-joint "primal" movements such as squats, lunges, pressing and pulling will give you more 'bang for your buck' than long, slow cardio workouts. If your goal is fat loss I suggest you turn up the intensity by using supersets, for example: pair up lower body and upper body exercises, or pushing and pulling exercises, and move back and forth between each exercise in the pair. Enjoy the burn!

2. Get your workout in at home: 

I've always been a big fan of basic barbell training using compound exercises for getting stronger and leaner, but I also realize that not everyone has access to free weights. I also know that the holidays can be a difficult time to make it to the gym regularly. The good news is you can still get a great workout at home using little or no equipment! By performing challenging bodyweight exercises (such as variations of pushups, squats, chinups, lunges, dips, burpees, and various core exercises) in a circuit training workout, you can maintain your strength while burning fat during your holidays this year. This should leave you with no excuses!

3. Use Interval Training: 

There's an old saying, "You can't out-train a bad diet." However, some research subjects claim that interval training CAN help you lose fat even if you're indulging a little over the holidays. Let's face it, we all know that we are going to surrounded by large meals and too many treats this month, so we need to use every method at our disposal to help us avoid belly fat - and research has shown us that interval training is the best system to do that. (ALSO, you can use bodyweight exercises in circuit format to burn fat without equipment in place of intervals.)

In the email I sent you on Monday I told you about the new "Holiday Fat Loss Workouts" ebook Craig just released. In it he explains interval training and describes several great body-weight workouts. You can check it out at:

HOLIDAY FAT BURNING

He still has it on sale for $20 until tonight at midnight if you're interested. I like his approach when it comes to fat burning and I recommend his training material.

4. Sweat before you eat: 

Studies have shown that your body can handle extra calories (especially carbs) better after exercise. If you know you have a big meal coming up, plan your workout as close as you can before you eat. You will be less likely to store fat... however, don't use this as an excuse to over-indulge!

5. Set up mini-challenges for yourself: 

Having a competition to train for can be a huge motivator for your fitness program. But you don't need a big contest to take advantage of this motivational tactic. Just set yourself up with small weekly challenges to help you stay consistent with your workouts.

Here are some examples I got from the Man Of Steel challenge (by Zach EvenEsh and Jim Smith): perform 100 Burpees in 10-15 minutes; or Bear Crawl 400 meters in under 4 minutes; or do 75 parallel bar dips in less than 6 minutes. In the new year I was actually planning on posting a Weekly Top Form Fitness Challenge for my subscribers... I'll let you know.

6. Bonus Tip- Keep it SIMPLE!

It doesn't have to be complex to be effective. Many fat loss programs are either too easy or too complex and some are impossible to do at home. That's what I liked about Craig Ballantyne's products... basic and effective. He has been creating these types of workouts for over 10 years for Men's Health and for his thousands of online clients. Again, you can take a look at his program here:

HOLIDAY FAT BURNING == Sale expires at midnight.

Just say NO to excessive cardio, and say YES to results!

Stay Fit and enjoy your holidays!

Josh Hewett

PS - If this is something your interested in, the 75% off sale ends TONIGHT at midnight, EST  (Sorry everyone... sale is now over; but it's still worth checking out this program!)


Be confident in the changes you are making and you will succeed.

Don't Let Your Fitness Turn to Fatness!

It’s important to make time for regular exercise in your weekly routine. But what I want talk about today is directed at those who may be doing too much of a good thing. A woman came in for her free initial consultation with me this week to review her current routine and get set up on a new program. One of her main concerns was that although she was doing cardio several times a week and following a healthy diet, she was still carrying extra body fat and felt “soft”.

I see this a lot. The problem was that she was performing too much cardio and little to no resistance training. If your goal is fat loss, your primary mission is to increase your metabolism. A well designed resistance training program will develop more lean (muscle) tissue, which will not only make you appear more fit and toned but it will significantly boost your metabolism. This will help you burn more calories and fat all day long, even at rest!

However, performing excessive cardiovascular activity (ie-jogging, cycling, elyptical trainer) can rob your muscles of needed nutrients, and may even break down your lean tissue. Therefore, you need to make resistance training a priority, and avoid doing too much cardio.

So what should your workouts look like? Well, a great type resistance workout is called circuit training, and it involves training several exercises back to back with minimal rest in between. Usually you will want to train different muscle groups, so that you aren't fatiguing the same area with each successive exercise (such as upper body then lower body, alternating). Focus on the big calorie burning movements in a range of about 8 to 12 repetitions. A sample program could look like 2 circuits of:

• Pulldowns or Chinups


• Back Squats


• Pushups


• Lunges or Step Ups


• Rows


• Deadlifts


• Overhead Press

You could also use fewer exercises and perform a third circuit if you choose.

You can still perform cardiovascular exercise, after your circuit training or on a seperate day, but you would want to use a technique called interval training. This involves performing your cardiovascular activity with alternating periods of low intensity and high intensity, but for a shorter duration. This type of training not only burns more calories but it helps preserve lean tissue and boosts fat burning hormones. You end up burning off more fat in a shorter workout!

Check my newsletter for more fat burning tips or feel free to contact me with any questions.

Stay Fit,

Josh