What do you think of ab machines?

Q: I’d really like to know what you think of the exercise machines out there. I just bought the Ab Circle. What do you think about it? Is it worth keeping? Do those things really help? I’d greatly appreciate your take on this and others that you know.

A: Okay, here's the deal. All ab devices are tools to strengthen the muscle. You already have one of the best tools available which is your own body. So is an ab machine needed? No. Is it useful maybe.

If you’re looking to trim your waistline and tone your abs, you need three things. Limiting yourself to just the ab machine will strengthen your abs, which is good but won't burn off the layer of fat covering the muscles.

Here's the three steps you need to take.

1. Do full body resistance training including exercises that work the core. Building muscle will boost your metabolism which helps you lose fat around your entire body.

2. Cardio exercise. Preferably high intensity exercise. Which gives you the best return on your time investment for fat loss.

3. Supportive nutrition. You can do all the cardio and ab work in the world but if you eat like crap you'll never achieve the results you want. See clean eating 101.

So to sum it all up, if you’re looking for results you gotta do more than ab work to get the results you want; even with the best tool

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

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.

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.

Boost Metabolism for Weight Loss

Q: How can I increase the speed of my metabolism so I can lose weight faster?

A: Exercising will do it; more specifically strength training. Building a pound of lean muscle raises your metabolism enough to burn about 50 extra calories a day. This may seem insignificant at first, but if you gain 5 pounds of muscle you will burn 91,250 extra calories over the course of a year which equals roughly 26 pounds. This is without any added cardio or diet plan.

Also try to eat three small meals plus three small snacks in between. Skipping meals or going too long between eating puts you in starvation mode which slows your metabolism. Eat something every three hours but keep total calories in check.

For more Free fit tips, motivation and special offers sign up for our free newsletter at workoutquest.com

Time Crunch

Q: I’ve been missing workouts because I don’t have time due to my new work schedule. Can I still get good results working out only two times a week?

A: If you’re only working out twice a week that may be enough to maintain, but if you’re still looking to improve shoot for at least three days a week. Make a serious effort to make your health and fitness a priority in your life. Do your best to get in and stay in the habit of doing all your workouts. When you get in the habit of skipping a workout here and there it becomes all too easy to let a week or two go by without working out.

Even if you can’t complete your full workout do your best to work hard for 15 minutes. This may not seem like much but it keeps you in the routine of being consistent and not skipping your workouts. Since you only have 15 minutes some days you need to make it count. Spend as much of your time working and rest as short as possible. Here’s an example of a lower body workout:

1 minute Squats
1 minute Bulgarian Split Squats right leg
1 minute Bulgarian Split Squats left leg
1 minute SL Deadlift Right Leg
1 minute SL Deadlift Left Leg

Repeat 3 times

This workout also has a cardio component because the circuit doesn’t allow for rest, so your heart rate will remain elevated giving you a 15 minute cardio workout as well. However if you need rest take it when needed, but keep it to a minimum as your goal is to do as much work as you can in a short period of time.

Overweight and Need to Lose Bodyfat

Here’s a question I was recently e-mailed about needing to lose weight.

Q: I am currently 214 lbs at about 34% bodyfat and I need to lose some fat.
Here is my plan:

I'm going to start a low carb diet and train with weights four times a week. Here’s the weight training split:
Mon: Chest and Back
Tue: Legs
Wed: Off
Thu: Arms and Abs
Fri: Off
Sat: Full Body Circuit
Sun: Off

I'm also going to start walking for 45 to 60 minutes every morning but I'll make sure to keep my heart rate in the fat burning zone.

Is there anything you'd do to upgrade or modify this?

A: From your program I’m guessing you haven’t read my blog. At 214 with 34% bodyfat you’ve got about 72lbs of fat to cut back on, so pretty much any program will work as long as you're burning more calories than you take in, but since you’re looking for an upgrade let’s see how we can improve your program.

If you’re looking for fast results I'd start by throwing this plan out and starting over from scratch. Here’s what I recommend you do:


Stop it with the body part split. You’re not a bodybuilder so you don’t need to hit each muscle with its own day. Besides you’re goal is to lose fat and your arm day won’t burn much fat or elevate your metabolism much. Instead switch to and upper lower split three times per week for a higher caloric burn and a better use of your time. Day 1 do upper body compound lifts such as rows, pull downs and presses on Day 2 rest, Day 3 do lower body exercises such as squats, lunges, and deadlifts. Day 4 rest and day 5 back to upper body. Keep alternating between upper and lower body exercises. Next week you’ll do two lower body days and one upper body day.

For cardio stop the doing the fat burning zone workouts. Besides there are several studies showing that low intensity aerobic work does almost nothing for fat loss. To get more bang for your buck switch to high intensity interval training three times per week, it burns more calories while you are doing it, burns more calories after you have done it (EPOC) and in every single head-to-head study is shown to be more effective than steady state cardio.

For your diet know that carbs aren’t bad. Making some changes aren’t a bad idea though. Switch to whole wheat pastas and breads and brown rice and load up on vegetables. Most important stick to correct portion sizes. Don’t forget high protein foods such as lean turkey, chicken and fish and healthy fats. Make sure you’re not drinking your calories either. Swap sodas and high calorie coffees for water.

Overall this plan should help you lose 1-2 lbs. of fat a week. For more tips check out my blog and workoutquest.com.

I’m Not Losing Weight, Why?

Q: Six months ago I started doing cardio to lose weight. I began walking 30 minutes three times a week, now I’m running 60 minutes five days a week. I feel like I’ve been putting in a lot of time, but I haven’t lost any weight in the last two months, why?

A: To continue to lose weight you may need to adjust your training regime. The problem is the fact that your body adapts to the stimulus you give it. If you lift weights, for example your body responds by getting stronger allowing you to lift heavier weights; if you eat only two meals per day your body adapts by slowing your metabolism (not a good thing if you want to lose weight) so you don’t starve. When you do aerobic training as in your case, your body becomes more efficient at running, so your body requires less energy to complete the task, resulting in less caloric burn.

When you started running 60 minutes it used to be very hard, on an intensity scale of 1 to 10 it might have been an 8 or 9 (meaning it’s harder), now that you’ve conditioned yourself it may only be a 5 or 6 (meaning it’s easier). So to continue to improve you have to workout harder and harder to achieve weight loss. To do this you can run longer, add hills or go faster which will bring your intensity back up to an 8 or 9. If weight loss is you goal, there’s no fun in running 70 minutes up hill to burn the same amount of calories you used to burn in 60 minutes on flat land.

While you can increase the time of your run to burn more calories, to make your workout more time efficient my recommendation is to add hills or speed increases. The best way to do this is with interval training, which will be a little harder, but saves you a lot of time and gets a much better result. If you can currently run 30 minutes you'll add work intervals such as small hills or all out sprints (level 9 or 10) for 60 seconds every four minutes.

As you improve from month to month gradually decrease your rest interval time from 3 minutes to 2 minutes and finally to 1 minute. The shorter rest intervals will keep your work intervals feeling hard; a level 8 or 9. As you get better conditioned you can also add steeper hills and faster sprints keeping it at a level 9 or 10 and you’ll never stop burning fat.

Example:
Minutes 1-3 normal pace
Minute 4 sprint or hill (level 9)
Minutes 5-7 normal pace
Minutes 8 sprint or hill (level 9)
Minute 9-11 normal pace
Minutes 12 sprint or hill (level 9)
Minutes 13-15 normal pace
Minute 16 sprint or hill (level 9)
Minutes 17-19 normal pace
Minutes 20 sprint or hill (level 9)
Minute 21-23 normal pace
Minutes 24 sprint or hill (level 9)
Minutes 25-27 normal pace
Minute 28 sprint or hill (level 9)
Minutes 29-30 normal pace

Is 15 Minutes of Cardio Enough?

Question: I can only get 15 minutes of cardio work in, is it worth my time?

Answer: Definitely. The American College of Sports Medicine and the American Heart Association recommend healthy adults do 30 minutes five days per week at a moderate pace or 20 minutes of vigorously intense cardio a day three days per week to maintain health and reduce the risk for chronic disease. Even 15 minutes produces positive benefits.

There are a couple of ways to get a great cardio workout done in 15 minutes. The first is doing interval training. Although it’s a bit more challenging, you burn more calories and improve your endurance faster than when you workout at a moderate intensity. To do it, work at intensity higher than your regular pace for one minute then slow down for one minute of recovery. Repeat the pattern for 15 minutes. This can work whether you are jogging, cycling, rowing, stair climbing or to name a few.

The second option is adding cardio cycles into your resistance training workouts. Instead of sitting there for 30 to 60 seconds between your sets, try jumping rope, doing mountain climbers or squat thrusts between your sets to keep your heart rate up and burn more calories. Cardiovascular workouts don’t have to be done on a machine in their own workout; it simply means to work your heart and lungs. This type of workout is guaranteed to give your cardiovascular system a great workout and doesn’t take any more time than you’re already working out.

Train Smarter, Not Harder

Q: I feel like I’ve been slaving away for hours on the treadmill for several months, but my weight won’t budge. What do I need to do to start seeing results?

A: If you feel you’re not getting a fair return on your time investment spent on the treadmill take a step back and look at your overall program. Is it solely cardio training? What intensity are you training at? How often do you train? Do you do any resistance training? How are your eating habits? These are just a few questions to think about because if you’re not seeing results chances are something is being out of balance.

If you’re looking to lose weight and you’re not doing any resistance training you are making a huge mistake. All the time I hear people tell me they only do cardio and once they lose weight then they will start lifting weights. Why? Stop limiting yourself to the number of calories you burn during the workout itself. What’s more important is the number of calories you burn after the workout. Weight training helps you lose weight faster than traditional cardio because not only do you burn calories during your workout, once you’ve completed your workout your metabolism stays elevated for some time increasing caloric burn, something that doesn’t happen with traditional steady state cardio. For more see Achieve Faster Fast Loss.

As far as the treadmill goes try including high intensity interval training. The benefits are faster fat loss and shorter workouts. Similar to resistance training this style of training is great because you burn calories after you workout is complete as well as the workout itself. For more on high intensity interval training see Burn Fat Fast.

Remember, what you do outside of the gym counts too. Eating small frequent meals can also give your metabolism a boost. Japanese researchers took two groups and fed them the same amount of calories for a two week period. The first group ate only twice a day and the second group ate six meals per day. The group eating only twice a day lost more muscle and the group eating six times per day lost more fat.

To lose more fat and retain your muscle plan to eat every three hours and keep meals small. Include weight training and high intensity interval training at least three times per week to maximize your results.

Which is the Best Cardio Machine to Do?

This is a question I tend to get a lot, but I cannot fully answer it without first asking for more information. First what is your goal? Do you compete in triathlons, recreational soccer, flag football or are you looking to reduce your waistline for your class reunion? Do you have bad knees or back? Do you find one machine more enjoyable than another? These things all determine which machine is best for you.

The more specific your exercise is to what you are preparing your body for, the better you’ll be prepared. For example your body gets better at running by running not getting on an elliptical or rowing machine so opt for the treadmill more often than not. If of course you are looking to drop a few pounds any form of movement is beneficial so mix it up to avoid boredom.

If you have bad knees or you are overweight and are looking for a cardio machine a stationary bike or elliptical machine work well because they keep the stress off your knees. Walking on a treadmill may be okay, but running puts more stress on the knees and may cause you pain, so limit time spent running. If your problem area is your back, the recumbent bike is a great choice because it gives you support for your back while you ride.

After you’ve addressed your specific goals and problem areas if any, it all comes down to doing something you enjoy. If you absolutely can’t stand the rowing machine, stay away from it. Don’t force yourself to do something that you don’t like because you’re less likely to stick with it. For some there is no best machine so take your exercise outdoors.

Time Crunch

Q: I work long hours and have a family and just can’t find the time for exercise. How can I finally get in shape without cutting back on work of family time?

A: You’re not alone. One of the biggest excuses for not exercising is not having enough time. With work, school, families and other activities I understand your time is limited time and you only get 24 hours each day. One simple solution is cutting back on the amount of television you watch. According to Nielsen Media Research, Americans watch an average of 4 hours 35 minutes of TV every day. You can start with just 30 minutes of exercise a day, which leaves 4 hours and 5 minutes to watch TV or be with your family. Because this is a home workout with minimal equipment you can even do this with your family.

You can easily complete this routine by doing it throughout the commercials breaks of a 30 minute television program. You can also record your favorite shows, skip the commercials and then use the extra time to exercise. Do this program before you watch and use TV as your reward for working out, just make sure to skip the commercials which will save you time. Alternate daily between day 1 and day 2.

Day 1

Commercial Break 1 – Superset 1
1A. Body weight lunges (make harder by pausing in the down position for 4 seconds)
1B. Pushups (make them harder doing the T-stabilization pushup, where you turn into a side plank between each rep)

Commercial Break 2 – Superset 2
2A. Hip Bridge (increase difficulty by adding a 4 second hold at top or doing single leg bridge)
2B. DB Row (increase difficulty by holding 4 seconds at top)

Commercial Break 3 – Superset 3
3A. Plank Hold (increase difficulty by raising one arm or leg off the ground or both)
3B. Russian Twist (add a medicine ball to challenge yourself)

For each superset do the first exercise for 8-10 reps followed by the second exercise for 8-10 reps. Repeat as many times as possible during the commercial breaks, up to 4 times each. If you’re doing the workout before your shows make sure you rest 60 seconds after you complete all your sets in each superset before moving to the next superset.

Day 2

Commercial break 1 – Superset 1
1A. Mountain Climbers
1B. Jumping Jacks

Commercial Break 2 – Superset 2
2A. Burpees
2A. Plank Hold

Commercial Break 3 –Superset 3
3A. Speed Squats
3B. Squat Hold

For each superset do the first exercise for 20 seconds followed by 20 seconds of the second exercise followed by 20 seconds of rest. Repeat as many times as possible up to 3 times for each superset.