You need to understand this right now if you are going to get the most out of your exercise programme. There is no such thing as spot reduction. The technique does not and cannot work. Ever!

It is crucial that you understand this point because a lot of people waste their time at the gym targetting their abs or thighs or biceps or whatever with intensive weight training exercises only to be disappointed with the end result. The reason they are disappointed is because they don’t know what you and I know. It is not possible to target the loss of fat from one particular part of your body.

What does happen when you target specific parts of your body with high intensity resistance workouts is that you stimulate the muscles used in a particular exercise. This has no effect on the fat stored in the cells in or around that part of your body. You cannot burn fat from your biceps by training your biceps, you cannot burn fat from your stomach by training your abs and you cannot get rid of the fat from your legs by training them with weights.

Hopefully after those four paragraphs I have got the message across. I’m sorry to go on so much but this message is really important.

So, one more time. Fat is simply a way for the body to store fuel for whenever it feels it needs it. The body will decide to use up fat from different parts of your body in any order it likes, whenever it wants to. You cannot influence where the fat is used up from.

The reason I advocate the use of intensive resistance or weight training exercise is for the overall fat loss effect. As we have discussed before in our previous myths, lean muscle mass is metabolically expensive to the body. The more you have the more fuel your body needs to use up in order to maintain it. Your goal therefore is two-fold when training with heavy weights. You want to build up muscle to burn off fat and you want to develop lean muscle mass in specific parts of your body in order to look good. It’s that simple.

So remember, use a properly structured free weight training program which is designed specifically to stimulate muscle growth. The exercises should use low to moderate repetitions but should be performed at a high intensity level.

As we said in myth number 7, don’t be afraid to train like a body builder, it is by far the quickest way to lose the fat and get the body shape you desire.

This is “Myth #8″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -
Fat Loss Myth #7 - Train too Heavy, Get Too Big
Fat Loss Myth #6 -Exercise Slowly and Burn Fat Faster
Fat Loss Myth #5 - A Fat Burning Diet Requires No Exercise
Fat Loss Myth #4 - Lose the Carbs, Lose the Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #3 - Lose Fat by Eating Less Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #2 - Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 - Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

With images in their heads of huge muscle clad bodies prancing around the free weight room, newbies to the World of fat loss exercise stay clear of anything that looks like weight training for fear of taking on this appearance themselves. This is especially true of the ladies.

The real story though is that if you are looking for a toned, lean muscle bound low fat body then intense weight training is exactly what you should be doing. There is one simple reason why weight training is important for lat loss, and that is that it promotes the development and maintenance of lean muscle mass.

Why do you want to promote the development of lean muscle mass? I’ll tell you.

First. Muscle tissue is what we call metabolically active. The percentage amount of your body which is made up of lean muscle tissue has a direct effect on the amount of calories your body burns even when you are resting. This is known as the basal metabolic rate. The mitochondria in your muscles, which is where nutrients you take in are converted into energy are stimulated when you train intensely with weights. The more they are stimulated then the more energy they require which means they burn up more nutrients. In other words the more lean muscle tissue your body consists of then the more fat you will lose.

Second. A nicely defined muscle toned body looks good! Surely one of the main reasons for losing fat is to end up looking good in the mirror or on the beach. If you don’t develop a decent amount of lean muscle tissue then you will end up with a smaller body which consists of less fat but it won’t have that fit and healthy look that comes from having cut muscle definition. So, low body fat levels is good, of course it is, but you also need to have a good amount of muscular development to go along with it.

Ok, so now you’re thinking that what I started out by saying at the beginning of this myth has been contradicted by what I just said about muscle development being crucial aren’t you?. You’re back to thinking that I want you to bulk up like a night club bouncer aren’t you? Well, get that image out of your head right now! The truth is that muscle development happens over a long period of time, not overnight. You will see changes to your body shape happen gradually and you will come to anticipate what is happening to your body well before it actually takes place. This is especially true for you ladies out there because as we have seen before, muscle development is primarily triggered by the hormone testosterone which is present in the female body in much lower quantities. Unless you are incredibly gifted at a genetic level then the fear of becoming a bulky mass of muscle is just completely irrational and you should not worry about it at all.

So, in conclusion, if you want to lose fat quicker and end up with a great looking toned and cut body that you would be proud to show off on the beach then it is essential that intense weight training exercise becomes part of your fitness regime.

This characteristic is the tendency for the body to continue burning fat well after the initial exercise is complete. If you add this amount of fat loss to the fat loss you achieve during the exercise itself, then the overall fat loss is greater than that of the low intensity workout which may itself last as much as three times longer. This is because after the low intensity workout the body doesn’t continue to consume fuel for anywhere near as long.

The high intensity short duration workout causes the body’s fat burning metabolism to spike, kick starting it into high gear. This short term shock causes the body to work extra hard and crucially requires that calories are expended for several hours afterwords in order to recover.

It is true that the during the exercise the primary fuel source will be carbohydrate, but overall the amount of calories burned off during, and crucially, following the session will be higher than that of the more traditional low intensity workout. After having ignited the fat burning metabolism, the body continues to use up fuel even when you are resting. This is just not the case with low intensity exercise as the fat burning metabolism never gets that initial spike.

There is another benefit of following this advice too. What would you rather do, work quite hard for 15 to 20 minutes or work slightly less hard for 40 to 45 minutes? I don’t know about you, but my time is precious and if I can achieve better results in a shorter amount of time by working a bit harder, then that’s what I will do.

Also, there is the possibility that exercising for longer gives you more chance of sustaining an injury and a low intensity exercise regime does not promote muscle development. We know from some of our previous myths that having a decent amount of lean muscle fibre enables your body to be more efficient at burning off fat. So, in short, work hard with high intensity workouts for 15 to 20 minutes at a time using interval based cardio exercises and you will lose fat at a much increased rate.

This is “Myth #6″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -
Fat Loss Myth $5 - A Fat Burning Diet Requires No Exercise
Fat Loss Myth #4 - Lose the Carbs, Lose the Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #3 - Lose Fat by Eating Less Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #2 - Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 - Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

These so called diet experts might sell a lot of books and DVDs off the back of this empty promise, but let me tell you right now, they are selling you snake oil, and I’ll tell you why. A diet without exercise will see your body’s metabolism gradually slow down, and if you have read myths 1 to 4, you will know that this is not a good thing. If you want to lose fat, then you need to keep your metabolism high so that your body will use up its excess fat as fuel. A slow metabolism promotes the storage of fat and the breakdown of lean muscle fiber. This is exactly the opposite of what you are trying to achieve. If you set yourself up with an exercise program suitable and structured just for you, then your muscles will thank you because you will be enabling them to hang on to that all important lean muscle fiber. We have mentioned before that muscle is nutritionally expensive. This means that the more muscle you have, then the quicker you will use up those calories.

So, in other words if you reduce your calorie intake too much without exercising, you will gradually waste away your muscle. Don’t forget that this almost becomes a self fulfilling prophecy too, because the less muscle you have, the less your body will be able to burn up the calories. Consequently the opposite is also true. If you stick to a healthy fitness program at the same time as a healthy fat burning diet, you will maintain your lean muscle fiber and this in turn will help you burn up and lose the fat.

There’s another thing too, and we have visited this in the earlier myths as well. A prolonged, large reduction in calorie intake triggers the body’s defense mechanisms, one of which is a desire not to starve. Your metabolism slows down, leading to the storage of more fat and the break down of lean muscle mass.

So, what should you be doing? Well, you should reduce your calorie intake to just below that which is needed to maintain your weight. Add into the mix a healthy, structured exercise program and you will lose fat the healthy way. If you do it this way, then you will use up extra calories but you will also promote the maintenance of your body’s lean muscle tissue which will help you lose fat quicker.

Remember to include both resistance exercise as well as cardio exercise to get that all round fat burning, muscle maintaining effect.

This is “Myth #5″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -

Fat Loss Myth #4 - Lose the Carbs, Lose the Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #3 - Lose Fat by Eating Less Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #2 - Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 - Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

The problem is that carbohydrates have got themselves the nasty little tag as a ‘fat storing’ nutrient. The fact of the matter is that if you eat too much of ANY type of food, your body will tend to store it as fat.

So, the truth is that of course carbohydrates CAN make you fat just like over consumption of any other food group. What you have to ensure is that you get your carbohydrates from the correct food group and in the right amounts. Let’s face it, your body needs all sorts of different foods in order to operate at full efficiency, so carbohydrates should not be anything to be worried about. As long as you stick to a couple of basic guidelines, you won’t go wrong with your carbohydrate intake.

First - Don’t eat too much carbohydrate. This should be a straight forward lesson to understand and put into action because it applies to everything you eat! If you take on board more calories than your body requires then you will start to store the excess as fat. Carbohydrates are a source of food for your muscles and your brain, but the body can only process so much at a time. You should aim to make around 45% - 55% of your total daily calorie intake carbohydrate based.

Second - Source your carbohydrates wherever possible from natural high fibre foods and whatever you do avoid refined carbs. All carbohydrates when broken down by the body end up as a type of sugar called glucose and this is what your body uses as fuel. However, your body is more efficient at breaking down some foods than others. As a general rule of thumb, the faster the body is able to break it down, the more likely it is that it will end up being stored as fat. This is mainly because your body may not be ready for the fuel at that point in time. It can only use
so much at a time remember? If it isn’t ready to use it immediately, then it will store as fat. Also, if your body absorbs a large amount of carbohydrate over a short period of time this can stimulate the production of insulin, which slows down your fat burning metabolism and so fat storage is encouraged and you also get the added side effect of food cravings.

As I said, avoid refined products such as white rice, white bread, sugary cereals and anything made from white flour. The refining process removes all the bran and germ turning the product white. The trouble is, that by removing these things, a lot of nutrients have also been removed making them more likely to be processed quickly by the body and stored as fat.

So, make sure you get your carbohydrates from unrefined sources, such as fresh vegetables, especially green vegetables, oatmeal, whole grain bread cereals and rice, sweet and normal potatoes, fresh fruit, yams, and low or non-fat dairy products. All of these items have all of their original goodness left intact and are broken down more slowly by the body when eaten as part of your normal meals.

This is “Myth #4″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -
Fat Loss Myth #3 - Lose Fat by Eating Less Fat?
Fat Loss Myth #2 - Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 - Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

I suppose if you are reading this article you are the type of person who has, or who desires to have a lean, toned, and on the whole, fat free body. More than likely you will have the understanding that if you reduce your fat intake then you will store less fat in your body, thus over time you will reduce your body fat content. It does seem like a sensible approach doesn’t it? Surely if you take on board less fat through the meals that you eat, then that would mean you lose fat from your body mass right?

The fact is that general diets which advocate restricting the general intake of fat as part of your regular meals are at the least ineffective and in a lot of circumstances they actually have the opposite effect to that which you are trying to achieve, i.e. weight loss. Let me give you a few good reasons why this is the case.

- Low fat diets have a higher sugar content. If you are following a calorie controlled low fat diet, then you will naturally have to replace the calories you lose through the restriction of fat with other things. This will normally mean replacing the fatty items with things like fruit, bread and pasta. While these things are lower in fat, they actually have quite a high sugar content. Your body uses sugar as a fuel but it is processed and used pretty much immediately. If you are not in a position to use up this fuel, then your body will simply store it as fat anyway.

- Low fat diets make you feel hungry and increase the probability of cravings. The fat you get from your normal meals or dietary fat, plays a big part in making you feel full after each meal. Obviously, if you feel fuller after your meals the chances of you craving a snack between meals is reduced. Also, if you replace dietary fat with foods which contain more sugar then your blood sugar levels will fluctuate much more than normal. This means you will have less energy during the day and can also lead to snack craving as well.

- Low fat diets reduce levels of testosterone. One of your aims is likely to be an increase in lean muscle tissue and testosterone has a big part to play in this process. Any increase in lean muscle tissue you achieve has an effect on fat loss. Testosterone also has an impact on your ability to burn fat so it stands to reason that a reduction of dietary fat, because it has a negative impact on testosterone levels isn’t a good thing.

- Low fat diets make you store more fat. We have discussed this phenomonon in our previous two myths. Fat is one of the measures that the body uses to determine if there is a plentiful supply of food available. If you reduce your dietary fat intake, then your body reacts by slowing down the metabolism, burning fat more slowly and breaking down lean muscle tissue.

There are some guidelines you should stick to with regard to dietary fat intake. At no time should you reduce this to below 10% and an ideal target for dietary fat content is 15 to 20%.

The key to this whole message is the type of fat you consume.

You may have heard of saturated and unsaturated fat. As a general rule, saturated fat intake should be kept to a minimum. These types of fats are generally solid at room temperature and so exist in things like meat and cheese etc. Those types of fat that exist as a liquid at room temperature are the ones you should make sure you keep at a healthy level. These are the unsaturated fats and can be found in many foods such as fish, avocado, nuts, seed oild and olive oil among many others.

This is “Myth #3″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. To read the previous Myths, click on the following links -
Fat Loss Myth #2 - Lose Fat by Eating Less?
Fat Loss Myth #1 - Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

Actually, on the face of it, the logic doesn’t seem that faulty at all does it? If I eat fewer meals throughout the day then I will reduce the amount of calories my body takes on board. That means that my body will then have to start using up its fuel reserves which we know are stored as fat. That means I will lose fat and lose weight. In fact, you should be aiming to do the exact opposite of the above. It is certainly a good idea to alter the frequency of meals you eat during the day. However you shouldn’t reduce the frequency, you should increase it!

Our bodies have come to develop some very sophisticated defense mechanisms over the thousands of years we have been roaming the earth. However we have actually only been able to develop farming methods and other food production methods that allow us to have a continuous source of nutrition quite recently. In the past when we had to go out and hunt for our food it may not have been that easy to find and so we may have had to go for long
periods of time with no calorie intake at all. As discussed in myth number one the defense mechanism which keeps us alive during times of starvation starts to burn fat slower and actually starts to break down our lean muscle mass as a way to obtain valuable protein. This response comes into play much quicker than you might imagine. In fact your body starts to react in this way after you have been without food for as little as three or four hours. By sticking to the regular three meals per day routine, there will be several periods during the day where your body is in defense mode.

In order to promote weight loss and lose fat more efficiently, the number of meals you eat throughout the day should be increased in order to maintain a higher than normal metabolism for a longer period of time. Most people would typically consume two or three meals every five to seven hours. For example you might start with breakfast at 8am followed by lunch at 1pm (5 hour gap) and an evening meal at 8pm (7 hour gap). Don’t forget there is then another 12 hour gap before you eat breakfast again. It is easy to see why you might get hungry between meals and resort to raiding the fridge for a snack. This is because your metabolism starts to drop and so does your blood sugar level.

But what if you were to eat smaller more regular meals throughout the day? By consuming five to seven meals every two to three hours, your body comes to believe that its food supply is plentiful. It will therefore make more energy available to you and it won’t be too concerned with storing fat or using up your lean muscle for protein. Also, by allowing your body to release more resources for use as fuel rather than storing them up as fat, you will feel more energetic throughout the day. You will also notice that any snack cravings you may have had before should also disappear as your blood sugar will be kept at more consistent and healthy levels.

This is “Myth #2″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. Follow the link for Myth #1 - Drop the Calories, Drop the Fat?

However, have you ever wondered why this approach isn’t that successful for most people? The answer is simple, it doesn’t work. The assumption uses faulty logic which doesn’t take into account the fact that your body alters how it works depending upon the situation it is in. If your goal is to permanently lose your body fat, then reducing the amount of calories you eat by a large amount is counterproductive and may even be harmful.

So what does your body change to make the logic faulty? Well, your body has complex defense mechanisms that swing into action in all sorts of different circumstances. If you suddenly reduce the amount of calories you take on board, then your body thinks it is being starved and so starts to slow things down in order not to burn up fuel as quickly as it normally would. Your body’s goal in doing this is to keep you alive when food is scarce. It is true that the body will start to consume fat stores when the amount of food available to it is low, but in order to keep you alive for longer, it decides to burn fat at a much slower rate. In fact, your metabolic rate can in extreme circumstances be reduced by up to 40%.

There is worse news though for those of you thinking that a crash diet like this will help you reduce your body fat content quicker. The lack of calories means that you will start to lose muscle too. So, if you are thinking that when you lose the fat, your muscle tone will be more defined, think again. So why does this happen? Well, muscle is expensive in terms of the amount of resources the body is required to expend in order to sustain it. Consequently, in times of starvation, the body will start to break it down and get rid of it, thereby freeing up much needed protein for use elsewhere. The weight you lose during a crash diet may actually consist of up to 50% muscle tissue. By crash dieting, you will end up achieving the exact opposite of what you intended. You will start to lose muscle tissue, but you will lose fat at a much reduced rate.

So what should you be doing? In short, take some hints from how your body works. In the end, your body is much better at deciding how to use up the resources you feed it than you are. Don’t reduce your calorific intake by a substantial amount in a short space of time, but instead lower your calorie intake by a smaller amount over a longer period of time. Around 15 - 20% below what you need to eat to maintain your current weight is about right.

Fat Loss is a marathon, not a sprint. Focus on losing body fat gradually. By taking this approach, your metabolism won’t crash and you will achieve the result you are looking for. Which is the preservation of lean muscle tissue and a steady reduction of body fat over a longer period of time. You will also feel much healthier and more energetic as you won’t be starving yourself. You will never achieve these results with a crash diet.

This is “Myth #1″ in our “12 Myths of weight loss” series. Stay tuned for more in the series soon!

HITT stands for “high intensity interval training” and it works exactly the way it sounds like it does. It involves working out at very high intensity levels in intervals ranging from light to moderate, as opposed to continuously the way you do with traditional cardio routines. HITT first came about as a way to combat an irksome problem when it comes to calorie burning and fat loss. When you work out too regularly at the same intensity, your body actually begins to get used to things, and once this happens, you don’t burn as many calories as you otherwise might. HITT helps mix things up so that you get the most out of your workout every single time. The downside to HITT is that the level of intensity makes it something that is not necessarily a suitable choice for those with heart issues or other cardiovascular concerns.

On the other end of the spectrum, you have low impact cardio. Low impact cardio is a good choice for those who are new to exercising, people who are pregnant or excessively overweight, or those who simply dislike more strenuous high impact exercise and find they can’t stick with it. It is also ideal for people who have chronic issues that affect the joints, bones, or connective tissue, (such as arthritis or osteoporosis) because it does not involve all the jarring and jostling that traditional cardio exercises like jogging or running do. Like other forms of cardio, low impact cardio also is key when it comes to helping you lose weight, burn off extra calories, and get in better shape.

So which one is the better choice? It honestly depends on what your needs, preferences, and limitations are. If you’re looking to lose the maximum amount of fat possible through your cardio routine, and don’t have any physical limitations that would make you a better candidate for low impact, then HITT would be best as it optimizes fat loss and has a greater level of post workout calorie burn. However, if your joints or bones are a concern, or you’re a beginner, then it would be preferable to begin with low impact cardio and go from there. You can also combine and alternate the two to really maximize your routine.

Each person’s body requires a certain number of calories in order to perform its daily functions, no matter what their lifestyle may be like. Even if you simply spend the day lying in bed watching television, your body is still burning calories in order to breathe, circulate blood, think, digest your food, flip the channels, and much, much more that most people rarely if ever think about. This figure in terms of the number of calories required is known as your basal metabolic rate (or BMR) and is relative to several factors, including a person’s height, weight, and age.

In addition to your BMR, your body also burns additional calories in relation to whatever activities you do throughout the day. All activities burn calories, even low-key activities you don’t normally consider such as walking, driving to work, or doing light housework. Some certainly burn more than others, like working out strenuously or running, but they all burn fuel regardless. Add your calories burned through activity throughout the day to you BMR, and you have your total amount of “calories out” for the day.

“Calories in” come from the foods you consume, of course. As with activities, some foods account for more calories than others. When you consume more calories than you burn a day, you gain weight. When you consume fewer calories than you burn a day, you lose weight. When you consume the same? Your weight stays constant.

Now that you know the basics of how and why you may gain or lose weight, you need to know the basics as to how many calories a pound of fat is actually worth, which is more or less 3500 calories. This figure is the same whether the pound in question is going on or coming off. If you want to burn a pound of fat a week, then you need to create a calorie deficit of roughly 500 calories a day in order to meet the 3500 calorie deficit necessary, and this is best done through a combination of calorie-cutting and increased calorie expenditure through physical activity.

However, as with any diet method, it’s important to remember to make healthy choices. Choose your calories wisely, prioritizing fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats. Eliminate junk food from your diet, or at the very least, cut way back on your intake of it. Do this in tandem with an exercise regime that allows for 20-30 minutes of continuous exercise at least 5 days a week. It’s also important to remember to discuss any potential diet or exercise program with your doctor before deciding once and for all that it’s the right one for you.