We all want to get a flat stomach fast, and sometimes life throws us in a situation where we end up eating a monstrous meal that’s straight from the devil’s kitchen. Maybe it was your birthday, or you met up with an old friend, or you just felt like dropping the reigns of dietary control for a night. It happens to all of us – I’m certainly no exception.
First, the good news. A high-calorie meal that’s replete with fat and carbs can boost hormones, such as leptin, that can elevate your metabolism. But this is only true if you’ve been following an effective diet leading up to the binge. And yes, short periods of overfeeding can help put your body in fat-burning mode, but the good news ends there. So I’ll tell you how to offset the damage from a late-night indulgence.
In order to melt body fat, you can’t do things halfway. When your goal is fast fat loss through exercise you must generate the highest metabolic cost possible. It’s imperative to full-body workouts in order to create an oxygen debt which, in turn, stimulates your body to burn more calories and fat (especially after you stop training). Most people just jog on a treadmill or maybe run a few sprints to burn fat. Think of any typical cardio exercise and I’ll bet it’s a lower-body exercise (sprints, jogging, biking, hiking, etc). But there’s a much better, faster way to see your abs. (Don’t forget, eating the right foods is essential, too.)
While training, the key is to do high intensity cardio that stimulates your upper- and lower-body muscles in the same workout. If you just run, no matter how fast, you’re only get half the results you could be getting if you simply added in an upper body exercise. The problem is, people don’t equate upper body exercises with cardio so they don’t know how to supercharge their fat loss.
Recently, I was hanging out in Venice with some colleagues when a guy showed up and started talking training with me. He had a typical male body, about 5’11” and 170 pounds. In other words, you never would’ve mistaken him for an MMA fighter, much less a bodybuilder. So it’s no surprise that he wanted to add muscle to his frame.
“I want to gain muscle, but I don’t want to wake up looking like Arnold or anything,” he said. Then he asked for advice on how to train to pack on muscle. “But not too much of it.”
Men want more muscle; women typically don’t. When a guy sees a mixed martial arts fighter such as Georges St. Pierre, or a model on the cover of Men’s Health, he knows he needs to gain muscle. However, when a woman sees a body like Jennifer Garner had in Elektra, she typically thinks, “I’d like to tone up and look like that.” In reality, Jennifer had to gain muscle to get that lean, sexy look. Toning up is nothing more than losing fat and building a little muscle.
Whether you want to look like St. Pierre or Jennifer Garner in Elektra, your goal should be to gain muscle and lose fat – build lean muscle, in other words. Since women have a fraction of the testosterone men have, they don’t need to worry about packing on extra muscle.
When it comes to burning fat, I’ll bet you’re overwhelmed by all the conflicting data out there. Even experts like me have to sift through the data with a critical eye. That’s where research comes in handy because, in theory,…
It’s been said a million times by fitness experts and regular folks. I’m sure you’re tired of hearing it, but I’ll bet you feel the same way as I do: I hate to diet. Being a “foodie” by nature makes…
Everyone wants a lean, sexy core. Whether you’re male or female, a defined midsection is what separates an average body from an incredible body. There’s no honor in sporting big guns and cannonball delts if you’ve got a spare tire.…
Of all the upper body exercises that you can choose from, the pull-up ranks at the top of the list. That’s because it builds strength and size in your upper back, arms, and gripping muscles. Specifically, I’m referring to the…
A colleague of mine recently asked me what I think the future of training will be. Of course, that’s a loaded question. It depends on who the target market is. I knew, however, that he was talking about the 18-40…