Fat-Loss Circuit Training

Fat-Loss Circuit Training – Now is the time to try this revolutionary fat-burning, metabolism-boosting training technique!
By Nick Nilsson

Experience a training technique so powerful you can literally
FEEL your metabolism firing up and burning fat!
Want to burn off that holiday weight gain as quickly as humanly possible? Fat-Loss Circuit Training is the BEST place to start.

Fat-Loss Circuit Training is a program of my own invention. I developed it for losing fat quickly. It’s challenging but very effective!

It’s also one of the core components of my extremely powerful   program available at “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss program.

Fat-Loss Circuit Training is very simple once you get the hang of it, but it can be one of the most demanding (and most extraordinarily effective) styles of training you can do.

If you’re familiar with normal circuit training (with timed, light-weight intervals), please put aside any notions you might have of how this program works. You will not only be harnessing the muscle-building and metabolism-stimulating power of intense, full-set weight training (NOT the typical light-weight, timed intervals of normal circuit training), you will also be incorporating the great calorie-burning effects of cardiovascular training.

The proper combination of the two styles (weights and cardio) into one workout is, quite simply, phenomenal for fat burning.

In order to use Fat-Loss Circuit Training, you will need access to both weight equipment and cardio equipment (and/or benches or stairs), preferably located in fairly close proximity to each other.

This type of training is harder to do in a crowded gym as it will involve you moving back and forth quickly between different pieces of equipment. If someone is waiting to use your cardio machine the moment you step off, it will defeat the purpose of the workout. This technique is best used in a fairly uncrowded gym where you have more freedom to use equipment or, better yet, in a home gym with weights and cardio equipment and no one waiting for anything!

If you do work out in a crowded gym, I will tell you exactly how to get around it.

How The Training Works:

- Essentially, this is combined circuit/interval training.

- You will be going back and forth between your weight training exercises and one cardio exercise for the duration of the workout.

- Your rest period for weights will be your cardio and your rest period for cardio will be your weights.

- You will be doing some sort of activity for your entire workout without any break!

This combination is very effective for a number of reasons:

- It forces your body to burn calories continuously during the workout.

- It utilizes resistance training and cardio training so you get all the benefits of both in one workout.

- By forcing your body to work like this, you dramatically increase your metabolism leading to increased fat burning long after the workout (more so than either weights or cardio alone).

- It saves time – you get both your weights and cardio in the same amount of time as your regular workout.

- You will still be able to use heavy weights in your weight training, helping to preserve muscle mass.
How To Do It:

Step 1 – Set Up

For the most efficient workout possible, try to have most or all of your exercises pre-set and ready to go. The less time you spend on preparation during your workout itself, the more effective that workout will be, especially since you want to be continually active throughout the workout. You can use any type of cardio that is convenient and enjoyable to you, be it a machine, stair stepping, or even a skipping rope.

If you are working out in a crowded gym, try to claim an area for yourself and focus on dumbell exercises. You won’t have to wait in line to use any weight machines that way.

If you don’t have access to convenient cardio machines, you’re going to have to go low-tech. You’ll need to do stair-stepping (stepping up two stairs then back down works well), bench-stepping (step up onto a flat bench or Step platform then back down) or rope-jumping (be sure you’re not close to anyone if you choose this). These approaches work just as well as cardio machines and allow you to perform this training style in a busier setting.

Step 2 – Warm-up

Do a few minutes of low-intensity cardio as a warm-up. You may wish to do a few light sets of a few of the exercises you’ll be working with before you start into it though. Don’t tire yourself out, just get a light sweat going.
Step 3 – Start with 30 – 40 seconds of moderate intensity cardio.

This could be setting a stair machine to a level that is not easy but is not so challenging that you’re going to exhaust yourself right away. Watch the timer on your machine and go for approximately 40 seconds (I say approximately because there will generally be a slight lag time when you step on and off).

Many cardio machines have a “rest period” feature where you can leave the machine on and it will not erase your program while you have stepped off. Normally, this is about 2 minutes. This should be enough time to complete your weight set.

If you are using a machine such as a treadmill or stair machine that you will leave on with the timer running, just watch the time counter on the machine and keep track of when you get on it to get the designated period. It may require a little mental math! You can also use your own stopwatch or timer on your watch to keep track (this is easier). Start the timer when you start the cardio.

Many machines also have a feature that runs through a series of time periods. I’ve found on the StairMaster, if you set the length of the session to 20 minutes, this results in a 40 second time period making it perfect for judging your cardio periods.
Step 4 – Do a set of weights.

Go as quickly as you can to your first exercise. Do a set of the first exercise on your program for the day. Do this with no rest, going from the cardio immediately to the weights. Do all your reps until you start to approach muscular failure.

While this is definitely still intense weight training, don’t push yourself to muscular failure as you would in your regular training. Due to the high training volume we’ll be doing in this program, pushing to failure on every set will compromise muscle recovery.

Also, be very sure to use proper form and tempo when lifting the weights. Don’t rush your weight sets – perform them with the same form and speed as you would if you were doing a regular set in your training. Fast, light or sloppy weight sets are NOT what we’re looking for here.
Step 5 – Go right back to the cardio.

Get back to the cardio and do another 40 seconds of moderate-intensity cardio.
Step 6 – Repeat the cycle for the duration of the workout.

You will be going back and forth continuously between cardio and your weight training exercises, using the cardio as the rest period between your weight sets. What this means is that over the course of your workout, you’ll be burning calories via cardio and weights AND you’ll be working your muscles with intense, heavy weight training as well. It’s tough training but very effective!
Notes:

- As you improve your cardio ability, you can choose to increase the intensity of your cardio training between sets. You may wish to start at a lower level and gradually increase the resistance over the course of the workout or start at a higher level and keep it there. It is perfectly acceptable to keep it at a steady, moderate level, however.

- This Fat-Loss Circuit technique can be used with nearly any form of cardio exercise as long as it is convenient to go back and forth with the weights. The real key here is to maintain activity for the entire workout.

- Keep your workouts to no more than 45 minutes at the very most when doing this type of training. Any more than that and you will be breaking yourself down too much. It’s an extremely demanding form of training as you’ll be working every major energy system in your body. You will also find it will crank your metabolism up pretty seriously!
For a sample workout to follow, taken directly from my “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss”ebook, please click on the link:

You will be able to print this workout and take it to the gym with you to try out.
Want to order “Metabolic Surge” right now for the low price of only $29.95? Click on the following link to order:

Your Free Sample Workout

Your new body is waiting for you!

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of” all available at (BetterU). He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

Hey Jag252 here Nick Nilsson is one of the most knowledgeable trainers in the fitness industries today. The other thing I like about Nick is he always comes up with new versions of old exercises and workouts and how to get more from them. I highly recommend you take a look at what he has to offer you will not be sorry.

Protein for Fat Loss And Muscle Gain by Nick Nilsson

Protein is an extremely important nutrient whether your goal is to lose fat, gain muscle or just tone yourself up. It is the main structural nutrient in your body, making up the bulk of your muscles and organs. Protein is essential for proper hormone function and immune system health. Most importantly, for our purposes, protein is used for building and repairing muscle tissue.

When you are trying to lose fat, you reduce your calories. Unfortunately, your body views fat stores as more precious than your muscle tissue and will tend to eat up muscle tissue before it goes to fat for energy. This physiological adaptation used to protect our ancestors from famine but works against us now.

This is very unfortunate because muscle tissue is a great calorie-burner. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn even when you’re doing absolutely nothing! Protecting your muscle tissue makes fat loss so much easier, it will amaze you. Not only that, it will help you keep that fat off permanently!

What can you do to protect your muscle tissue?

The first thing you can do is exercise. Exercise, especially resistance training, provides a stimulus for your body that sends it a signal saying “keep this muscle, you’re going to need it.”

The second thing you can do is provide your body with enough protein. This can be in the form of food or supplements.

Good food sources of protein include chicken, fish, eggs, lean meats, legumes (beans), soy, and dairy products. Protein supplements are derived from food sources but are concentrated for convenience and effectiveness.

How much protein do you need?

The standard recommendation for athletes is between 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (or 0.5 to 0.7 grams per pound of bodyweight per day), though some research indicates a ratio as high as 2 grams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (0.9 grams per pound) is beneficial. This means if you weigh 150 pounds, you should try to eat between 75 and 105 grams and up to around 135 grams of protein per day.

Essentially, you should experiment with your protein intake to find out what works best for you. As far as importance in your supplement program goes, I would rank protein as next in importance to a good multi-vitamin.

When I made my first grand attempt at fat loss, I made the mistake of neglecting protein and it cost me. Don’t make the same mistake I did!

Metabolic Surge For Rapid Fat Loss  by Nick Nilsson

How To Lose Fat NOW

How To Lose Fat NOW – A Basic Fat-Loss Program That You Can Put To Work Today!
By Nick Nilsson

So you want to lose fat but don’t know where to start? This program
will get you moving in the right direction…weight training, cardio,
nutrition and supplementation…and get you results NOW!
So you want to drop some fat but you’re not sure of what the best way is to get started?

Right now, I’m going to give you a short guide that will get you moving in the right direction…an exact training program (done 3 times per week) covering weights and cardio, as well as what to eat, how much to eat, and what supplements you need and don’t need.

Let’s get right to it!
STEP 1 – FOOD QUALITY

For fat loss, WHAT you’re eating is just as important as HOW MUCH you’re eating. Think of it it way…you can lose weight eating ONLY 1000 calories worth of chocolate pudding every day…but how do you think you’re going to feel eating nothing but chocolate pudding!

It’s VERY important to eat good quality, nutritious food when you’re trying to lose fat. Your body needs nutrients to function. Without good nutrition, your body will react in two ways: first, it will shut down your metabolism to try and conserve nutrients. Second, it will set off RAGING cravings to try and get you to eat more nutrients!

Focus on unprocessed foods, as close to their natural state as possible. Unprocessed foods are more nutritious and easier for your body to digest and work with. This simple change can make a big difference to your fat-loss efforts.

Here’s the deal…contrary to popular thought, a calorie is NOT a calorie. The popular scientific consensus used to be (and still is according to some people) that all calories are created equal. That it didn’t matter what you ate in terms of nutrients (fat, carbs and protein), as long as the total calorie intake was below a certain point, you would lose fat.

Unfortunately, that is NOT the case and it’s common sense – what do you think would help you lose fat better…that 1000 calories of chocolate pudding or 1000 calories of lean chicken breast, vegetables and brown rice? Quality of food DOES matter and it can mean the difference between success and failure.

My advice: for 1 week, take a small notepad wherever you go and write down EVERYTHING you eat. And I do mean EVERYTHING – even if it’s just a snack or a little nibble of a cracker, write it down, as well as how much of it you ate. Remember, this is just for one week – you don’t have to do this for the rest of your life so be honest about everything you eat!

At the end of the week, look at what you’ve eaten and put a checkmark beside everything that is unprocessed (a good rule of thumb is anything that can be found on the outside aisles of the grocery store, lean meats, fish, eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts, potatoes, whole grains, legumes, etc.). This is a good visual cue to see exactly how you’re doing with your food quality.

If you see that more than half of the foods have checkmarks beside them, you’re doing much better than average already! Ideally, you want to get that number of checkmarks as high as possible.
STEP 2 – FOOD QUANTITY

Now that you’ve looked at WHAT you’re eating, it’s time to turn your attention to HOW MUCH you’re eating. Even the highest quality, nutritious food can make you fat if you eat too much of it. So to lose fat effectively, you basically have to eat less food.

There are many, MANY methods and formulas for figuring this out but, bottom line, ALL of them are really just “best-guesses” – even the scientific formulas that work out your requirements to the single calorie are just guesses. These guesses are based on plenty of data, mind you, and they can be very helpful in determining a good starting point. But if a formula says you need X number of calories and you eat that and you still aren’t losing fat, obviously that number isn’t the number for you.

Here’s a very simple rule of thumb for estimating a STARTING POINT for determining your caloric intake to lose fat: take your weight in pounds and multiply it by 10. For example, if you weigh 175 pounds, that would give you a starting point of 1750 calories per day.

Go back to that week-long list of foods that you wrote down (from the previous point) and plug those foods into the database on this site (it has a HUGE number of foods that you can track):

http://www.calorieking.com/foods/

Add up your calories for the whole week, divide that by 7 (to get your average caloric intake per day) and see how it compares to number you get from the simple formula I described above.

If it’s higher, you need to eat less food. If it’s lower and you find you’re STILL not losing fat, you may need to eat even less than that.

I would NOT recommend going below 1000 calories per day for food intake at the VERY lowest. When you start getting that low, you run into problems because your body isn’t getting enough energy and nutrients from the small amount of food you’re eating. This is doubly true when you’re exercising as well. Your body will react by slowing your metabolism and burning up lean tissue (like your muscle mass). This will put a stop to fat loss and can be dangerous!
STEP 3 – WEIGHT TRAINING

One of the first things people ask me when they want to lose fat is “how much cardio should I do.” When I respond by telling them how much weight training they should do, they always look at me like I’m crazy.

But here’s the bottom line: if you go into an aerobics class and take a snapshot of the people in there then come back 6 months later and take another shapshot, chances are VERY good that most of the people in the class haven’t made any significant changes to their bodies.

Sure, cardio training burns calories, but it doesn’t reshape your body and it doesn’t build muscle mass to same degree as weight training. This is true for both men and women.

** And a note specifically to the ladies, when I talk about muscle mass for you, I’m NOT talking about big, bulky bodybuilder muscles…I’m talking about the sleek, toned muscles that give your body the curves and shape you’re looking for! Without THAT kind of muscle mass, you may get smaller but you still won’t have the shape you’re looking for.

If you want to lose fat, you should weight train at least three times per week (e.g. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday). I like to recommend total body workouts each session for beginning trainers as it helps the body to learn the exercises faster and build strength and muscle faster.

Here’s what a typical resistance training session would look like:

3 sets of back
3 sets of chest
3 sets of thighs
2 sets of shoulders
2 sets of hamstrings
2 sets of biceps
2 sets of triceps
2 sets of calves
2 sets of abs

Take about a minute rest in between each set and aim for about 8 to 10 reps per set.

The MOST important thing to note here with rep ranges is that those 8 to 10 reps are a GUIDE NOT A TARGET. The idea is to choose a weight that makes it tough to complete those 10 reps. The idea is NOT to take a weight that you can easily do 10 reps with, do 10 reps then stop regardless of whether the muscle was really worked or not. To make progress, you need to push yourself.

I cannot TELL you how many times I’ve seen people diligently counting their reps as they whip through an exercise then stop before they even put a dent in their strength levels. When I ask them why they stopped so soon, they always tell me “that’s how many reps it says to do on my program.”

Don’t be afraid to push yourself! THAT is where the real results are!
STEP 4 – CARDIO TRAINING

Even though you may think I’m opposed to cardio training judging by what I wrote above, that is NOT the case! Cardio definitely has a place in a fat-loss program.

I have three main issues with cardio training for fat loss:
1. It shouldn’t be the main focus of a fat-loss exercise program when it so often is.

This is a point I mentioned above – I believe weight training should be the focus of an exercise program for fat loss. Not only is it more effective for fat loss, there is actually LESS chance of injury than with the typical repetitive-movement cardio activities (anyone who has tried to take up jogging when they’re 20+ pounds overweight can attest to that!).
2. It’s normally done with low intensity and for long periods of time, which does NOT boost the metabolism.

The REAL key to losing fat is ramping up your metabolism to burn calories ALL THE TIME rather than just when you’re exercising. By keeping intensity low, you only burn calories DURING exercise, not so much after. But when you boost intensity, your metabolism gets cranked up and you burn more calories ALL DAY.
3. It’s typically done WAY too much.

In order to get results with typical long-duration cardio, many people do it upwards of 5 or 6 and even 7 days a week! This is fine if you’re an athlete training for an endurance competition but if you’re a busy person (as many people are), you just don’t have TIME to sit on a stationary bike for an hour a day.

Couple that long duration and high frequency with a repetitive movement and you not only have greater chance of injury, you also have greater chance of boredom (which sometimes means giving up on exercise altogether because “it just doesn’t work for me”).

My recommendation is always to use interval training instead of the long-duration cardio training. It can be done MUCH faster (10 to 20 minutes), boosts your metabolism for long periods AFTER training, and finally, it actually helps your body hang onto muscle tissue while burning fat.

There are two ways to include cardio in with the weight training program I described above.

1. Do your cardio training immediately AFTER your weights.

When you do it this way, don’t eat anything after you do weights – just go directly into your cardio after a few minutes rest. You only need about 10 minutes of training to really make a dent in your fat stores. This has the advantage of allowing you to get all your training done all at once (in the gym 3 times a week and that’s it).

2. Do your cardio training on separate days or separate sessions

This is a good way to go in that you won’t be tired from the weight training when you do the interval training. You may need go a bit longer in your sessions (e.g. 15 to 20 minutes) when done on its own. This method does have the advantage of giving your metabolism a separate boost in addition to the weights. When doing it this way, you can do cardio on its own on Tuesday and Thursday, for example.

Either method is very effective! The real key is working hard at the training.

NOTE: DO NOT do interval training every day! It may work well for a little while but you will very quickly overwork the body, which will stop your results.
STEP 5 – SUPPLEMENTS

When I refer to supplements here, I’m NOT talking about fat-loss pills. These pills are not the answer for losing fat. Your own natural metabolism IS and it’s WAY more powerful than any pill.

When I refer to supplements, I’m talking about supplements that help SUPPORT your body nutritionally, not send it into a hyper-alert state that fries your nervous system.

When training to lose fat, here are the supplements I highly recommend:

- Protein Powder – to help with rebuilding and repairing muscle
tissue and keeping the immune system functioning well

- Multivitamins – to help you cover all your nutritional bases
- Vitamin C – helps repair joints, is a strong antioxidant and boosts the immune system
- Calcium/Magnesium – for your bones and also for muscle contractions…it’s hard to get enough of these nutrients when reducing caloric intake

These are the basics, as far as I’m concerned. It’s critical to give your body ample nutritional support when trying to lose fat.

For more information on supplementation, check out:

CONCLUSION:

These 5 simple steps should get you started on your way to losing the extra fat. Here are they are in review:

Step 1 – improve the quality of the food you eat
Step 2 – eat less food
Step 3 – start weight training
Step 4 – include some cardio training
Step 5 – use supplements to support your body

Go through the list step-by-step and you will on your way to fat-loss success!

And if you’re interested in a more detailed fat-loss exercise and nutritional program, be sure to read about my book It’s a program that lays out (in great detail!) 36 days of training, eating and supplementation to maximize fat-loss. It’s a powerful, very comprehensive program!

——————

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including “Metabolic Surge – Rapid Fat Loss,” “The Best Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of,” “Gluteus to the Maximus – Build a Bigger Butt NOW!” and “The Best Abdominal Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of”

Metabolic Surge For Rapid Fat Loss

 

Jag252

Hi Jag252 here

Welcome to everything for your fitness, fat loss and muscle gaining goals. Exercise, nutrition and everything related I review and evaluate as many online programs I can and then pass on to you the information you need.

jag252