Stop Doing Crunches!

I know you've gotta be tired of doing crunches at the end of every workout with nothing to show for it. I put together a quick video showing you four new exercises that you can add to your workouts to help improve core strength and build those six-pack muscles.



Keep in mind this is a great workout to build core strength, but if seeing your six pack is your goal you've got to have low body fat. It's a three step process:

1. Do this workout

2. Cut out the junk food and eat clean - see clean eating 101

3. Burn off the extra fat covering up your abs - see the backyard cardio workout.

Can You Lose Weight Simply By Not Eating, or Do You Have to Workout?

Q: This question has always been bugging me. If you don't eat, is working out really needed to lose weight?



A: You absolutely need to eat! Otherwise, your body will go into a "starvation mode" which slows down your metabolism and stores the food you eat to keep you alive. The problem here is you will lose a little weight, then it will come to a halt and your health will suffer. So it's not worth it.



You can still lose weight without exercising (it's called dieting) but you run into another problem - if you aren't exercising you will lose muscle which will slow down your metabolism and slow down your weight loss.



You can lose weight faster with exercise because your metabolism will speed up by buiding muscle. The added muscle will cause your body to burn more calories and you'll lose weight - so and instead of skin and bones, you'll end up with lean toned muscles.


So while you can lose weight without exercising; not eating is never recommended. You should exercise and eat right for best results. You can actually raise your metabolism even higher by eating small portions often throughout the day, just keep your total calories in check.


If you liked this make sure to check out Clean Eating 101

Accomplish Your Fitness Goals With One Easy Step

You know, getting in shape really isn't that hard. It's no secret - all you gotta do is exercise and eat right. You know that. Everyone knows that. Then why is it that so many people are unfit and unhealthy?

It's really quite simple. It's not what you know, it's what you do. Like I said everyone knows to exercise and eat right but so many people are out of shape and their health continues to suffer because they are not doing what they already know they should be doing.

Watch this video to see how one simple action can lead you to success and see how failing to act will cause you to fail every time.



Please leave your comments below.

A New Spin on Interval Training for Weight Loss

It’s no secret diet and exercise are two essential ingredients to natural weight loss. The problem for many is they don’t have a plan to reach that goal? If you run a mile you’ll burn approximately 100 calories. The problem with running a mile is it’s like doing 1000 to 1500 reps of impact double your body weight. That’s a lot of stress on your joints.

If you weight 200 lbs you’re doing 200 lbs x 2 or 400 lbs each rep; and remember you’re doing 1000 to 1500 reps. That’s a lot of forces put on your joints which can put you at high risk for injury.

Switching to the bike can take the stress off but you’re still doing a ton of reps to burn a measly 100 calories.

If you’ve read a few of my blog posts you probably know I believe interval training beats traditional steady state cardio for fat loss. If you’ve tried it you probably agree too. Switching to intervals doesn’t necessarily mean using a bike or treadmill though. Try a circuit using dumbbells, kettle bells or even body weight to burn the calories and keep the stress off the joint.

For a quick and effective body interval workout try the Backyard Cardio Circuit.

Clean Eating 101

If you’re like most people, when you want to lose weight or tone up you already know what to do - diet and exercise. The problem for most is they don’t have the most effective plan to reach that goal. It’s not as complicated as you think.

It starts with the diet. The problem with traditional diets is they are hard! Whether it is counting calories, or always feeling hungry or never having the satisfaction of eating your favorite foods. Forget diets and focus on clean eating to not only lose weight and tone up, but also for maintenance.

Here’s a quick and easy way to eat clean:

1. Eat a big breakfast. This gives you energy when you need it and you have all day to move around and use those calories for energy rather than let them sit and convert to fat.

2. Eat small meals every 2-3 hours. This is as easy as eating breakfast, lunch and dinner, which a small snack between. This keeps the metabolism revved up and helps and prevents you from overeating at your next meal.

3. Eat a small late night meal before bed. You don’t need all those calories from a high sugar or high fat meal sitting all night to convert to fat. Stick with a small meal of lean protein and fruit or vegetables along with healthy fats.

4. Eat only Lean protein, Whole grains, Fruits and Vegetables and Healthy Fats.

5. Follow these instructions 90% of the time for best results.

While I don’t expect you to adopt each and every one of these five habits overnight you can focus on one right away. Once you master it, move on to the next. If you do this, you’ll cut automatically cut out the junk and never feel full. You’ll feel happy, full, have more energy and get in shape once and for all.

Short on Time and Need and Effective Workout

Q: I need to start building muscle and getting back in shape. Can you give me a daily routine of exercise that takes a half an hour?

A: Try full body strength circuit to build muscle, save time and boost your metabolism to keep you burning calories all day. Follow this up with a quick cardio circuit to burn even more calories in a short period of time. This program can be done with just your body weight so you can do it anywhere. Just make sure to keep the intensity high to ensure you're getting the most from your time.

Strength Circuit: watch video

Squats
Squat Jumps
Reverse Lunge Left Leg
Reverse Lunge Right Leg
Close Grip Push up
Dynamic Plank
Single Leg deadlift Left Leg
Single Leg deadlift Right Leg

Do each exercise for 30 seconds each; repeat 3 times with little or no rest between exercises.

Cardio Circuit: watch video

Jumping Jacks
Hi Knee Jog in place
Burpees
Mountain Climbers

Do each exercise for 30 seconds each; repeat 3 times with little or no rest between exercises.

If you like this, make sure you check out this Time Crunch workout.

Don’t be a Treadmill Idiot

As a kid nothing seemed to bother me, EVER, but now it seems people are ticking me off left and right. Maybe I’m getting old and crotchety, but it seems at least once a week in the gym I’m guaranteed to see something that just ticks me right off.

You know what ticks me off? When I’m in the gym and I see people doing things they have no business doing. For example, last week I saw a woman walking on the treadmill at a 15% incline doing something like 5 or 6 mph and holding on for dear life. Every time she took a step her entire body would jerk because she was holding on so damn tight and going way too fast.

Why in the heck do you need to be going that fast at that elevation when you can’t do it properly? I’m trying to figure this one out because honestly I have just don’t know why people do this. I’m not picking on this poor woman; I see all kinds of people doing this. For some reason this is a common thing to do in gyms. My guess is they think the faster they go and the higher the elevation; the more calories they burn. Okay that’s true, but the only if you actually do the work. The machine thinks you’re busting your tail doing the work, not halfway doing it and halfway getting pulled along. So all those calories it says you’re burning; you are not.

A quick remedy to this problem: Lower the grade and take the speed down. It’s that simple. Let go of the hand rail and stand straight up while walking or running. If you can’t perform the exercise without holding on or standing straight up, you need to slow down or bring the incline down until you can. If you want to burn those extra calories then add short intervals every two to three minutes; where you increase the speed or the incline for only 30 seconds or so at a time. This will add more intensity to the workout and allow you to keep proper form so you actually burn those extra calories.

Now go out and have a great workout, but don’t let me catch you being a fool on the treadmill.

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Weight loss and muscle building??

Q: I want to lose weight the natural way without supplements. First of all I am 5ft 9in and I weigh 240 and I want to lose weight and build muscle. I don't want big muscles but lean body muscle and I asked a trainer and they said I need to do more reps and less weight on the machines.

My question is what do you recommend? How many reps should I do? how much weight should I use? How long should I do this for? (like how many minutes) please help me.

A: While bodybuilders do high reps and low weight to lose the last bit of fat and keep the muscle they have this isn't your best option. You still need to build muscle first and you have way more fat to lose than they do.

For every pound of muscle you have your metabolism increases enough to burn an extra 50 calories a day. If you added just 5 pounds of muscle that is 91250 calories burned or about 26 pounds that's without diet or cardio!

You can see how important strength training is, but using heavier weights (something you can lift 6 to 12 reps is better for you) since you are not a bodybuilder and have more muscle to build and more fat to burn than the average bodybuilder. Use a weight you can do at least six times but no more than 12 times per set. Lift for 45 minutes three times per week.

For best results do squats, deadlifts, bench press, military press, barbell rows, and lat pulls to get the most bang for your buck because these work the largest muscles and build muscle quicker and burn way more fat.

For additional fat burning try cardio intervals such as the backyard cardio circuit after weight training or on other days.

7 Secrets to Successful Weight Loss

Because I want you to succeed in quest to lose weight, tone up and feel better, I’m going to share with you 7 secrets successful people use to reach their goals.

Does this sound like you?

Someday when I have the time, I’m going to start exercising.
Someday when I have the money, I’m going to eat healthy.
Someday when I’m in shape I’ll start going to the gym.
Someday, someday, someday…

It’s been said that,

It’s been said that, “Someday is the eighth day of week, the only day that never comes”.

Okay so, now that I have your attention here’s those success secrets; and actions you can take:


1. Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Go to the gym when you’re tired. Eat healthy meals when everyone else is eating junk.

2. They get the job done whether or not they feel like it. Take a jump rope and resistance band and workout on vacation.

3. They set goals, write them down and read them daily. If you haven’t done this…please do it today!





4. They never blame circumstances or other people. I don’t care if you do the shopping in your household; it’s your job to influence the person who does. Get healthy foods in to your house and in front of you one way or the other.

5. They start with a dream, turn the dream into a goal, and make a plan to reach the goal. Start with a dream and write it as a goal. If you need help with a plan e-mail me at tony at workoutquest dot com

6. They spend time with other people who have done what they want to do. If you want to lose weight, find someone who has done it and ask them what they did. If you don’t know anyone check this out Steven’s story then find a trainer who specializes in weight loss and hire them to help you. Don’t use the excuse that it’s too expensive either. Where talking about your health and your quality of life. Find some other area to cut back on if you need to.

7. They use momentum. The first week of exercise it hard, but it gets easier by week two, and it’s a habit by week four. Avoid starting and stopping and keep that momentum rolling. If you can’t do a full workout keep the momentum going by doing the No Excuse Workout.

Remember, application is the key. These secrets only work if you apply them.
I’d love to hear some of your favorite success tips in the comment section below.