Total Body Sculpting Tips

Total body sculpting is the key to burning more fat and transforming your body. You must make a major commitment to strength training. Not only will your body's composition improve (less fat, more muscle), it will improve your overall health (including bone density).

Follow these 3 body sculpting tips

1. Strength training should be tailored to your body type. We all have a body type due to heredity and lifestyle choices. A fitness assessment is important because a personal trainer identifies postural weaknesses and muscle imbalances. The fitness program is then tailored to fit your needs. Without this assessment, you are "shooting in the dark."

Achieving optimal muscular fitness requires flexibility, strength, endurance, power, and speed. These components should be included in an integrated training program.

Because of lifestyle habits, the dominant side of the body develops more than the non-dominant side. And, if certain patterns or muscular actions are performed repeatedly, muscles develop more in either the front of the body or the back of the body. As a result, some muscles become tight, lengthened or weak.

An integrated training program focuses on 3-dimensional muscular balance. This is done by training in all 3 planes of motion. This will help overall strength, burn more fat, prevent injuries and enhance everyday living.

Opposing muscle groups should be in balance. Focusing more on exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, shoulder presses and bench presses will help you do this. Using more unilateral (one-leg, one-arm) exercises also improve muscular balance. Lunges, step ups and dumbbell exercises fit this category.

So, muscle-building is a never ending process. It is much more than haphazard weight training programs with no design. You need at least 3 weight training workouts per week, 20-50 minutes per session (depending on your training maturity and goals).

2. Your cardio exercise should aid in your fat loss and not waste away your precious muscle mass. Your cardio exercise should:

--Improve heart health
--Burn calories (during and after your workout)
--Burn fat
--Spare muscle mass

Keep your cardio workouts at about 20 minutes. That's all it takes to help you reach your goals. And, it will keep you from the boredom and muscle-wasting that's built into long cardio sessions.

Intense interval cardio workouts will increase your body's growth hormone. Research has also proven that the benefits of anaerobic exercise (like sprint interval cardio) is superior to aerobic exercise for fitness and heart health.

3. Eat for fat loss. You must eat enough to build muscle and burn fat. A balanced diet which contains the macronutrients (carbs, protein, fats) is best. You should calculate your calorie needs for reaching your goals. Starvation diets will not work. Nutritious calories are critical to build muscle.

For instance, you should eat protein with every meal. Protein is critical for rebuilding muscle tissues after workouts. Protein also helps you control calorie intake because you stay fuller for longer.

It is also a good muscle building tactic to eat protein before and after strength workouts. Protein drinks (particularly whey) work well for this purpose.

Work hard to build the body you want and need!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
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Her Fitness Hut
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Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

5 Tips to Speed Up Your Fat Loss Results

Speed up your fat loss results by using more effective training methods. Everyone wants to burn body fat and get their lean bodies on as soon as possible.

Its not enough to just exercise every day. You MUST do the right kind of exercise to get the fat-burning results you want. And, you need to eat for muscle gain and fat loss.

Here are 5 proven fat-burning tips to give you faster fat loss results:

1. Superset strength training burns fat better than traditional strength training. Pair two non-competing exercises such as bench press and dumbbell rows, completing each exercise back to back without rest. Another good pair to superset would be squats and standing shoulder press.

Supersets allow you to do more work because one muscle group can rest while you work the opposing muscle group.

Doing a second workout during the day (even a short one) keeps growth hormone levels high throughout the day. This will give you even more fat burn.

So, you could do one 25-minute workout in the morning and another 25-minute workout in the afternoon. This will give you better fat loss results than doing one 50-minute workout.

2. Tone your body better and faster with explosive strength training. This type of training will burn fat and tone your body like never before.

Lifting weights explosively is an advanced form of exercise and shouldn't be done by beginners or youngsters. Your body should have the needed stabilization and strength before beginning explosive lifts.

Especially at the start of the lift, explosive lifting can be done for exercises like bench press, push ups, leg press, shoulder press and calf raises.

3. Do interval cardio sessions instead of long cardio sessions. All it takes is 20 minutes of intervals on the treadmill, grass or stepmill. This method will burn more fat than doing 60-minute cardio sessions that wastes away your muscle mass.

4. Circuit bodyweight cardio sessions are very effective fat-burners. Combine 4-5 bodyweight strength exercises, 8-10 repetitions each. Do this circuit 2-3 times and the fat will burn off your body.

5. Jumping exercises really burn the fat and tone your body, especially if done at full speed. Squat jumps, pike jumps, side-to-side hops, front-to-back hops, jump rope, jumping jacks and box jumps will all get the job done. Its important to learn proper jumping and landing techniques to avoid injuries.

Use these training methods to burn more fat, lose more weight and get your lean body on---faster!

Go to work and start changing your body.....be sure and download my FREE Report below to Burn Fat Faster!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

12 Fat-Burning, Body-Changing Exercises

Let's face it...you want to burn fat and change your body to lean and healthy.

And, you want it to last....no more going back and forth with weight loss and more weight regain!

You must work hard to change your body. There's no getting around this fact. I will not deal with eating habits in this article. I'm pretty sure you know that you have to eat the right things (most of the time) to change your body.

I recommend using these exercises these ways to get the most fat-burn and calorie-burn:

---interval-type rotations (such as 30 seconds to 1 minute exercise, 1 minute walking)

---use 1 exercise as a stand-alone workout (especially full body exercises)

---group 4-5 exercises into a full body strengh workout

---use 2-3 of the bodyweight exercises as a bodyweight cardio session

---use 1 exercise for an interval cardio workout (such as sprints)

Any one of these options will give you a challenging, intense workout. Keep changing it up to avoid boredom, plateaus and repetitive-type injuries. Workout times of 20-30 minutes are enough the get the job done.

Research at Duke University, directed by Dr. Cris Slentz, supports high-intensity exercise for better fat loss. The eight-month study showed that people could lose weight with exercise and no dieting. Those who exercised intensely (especially using interval training) lost much more fat than those who exercised moderately.

According to the research, the high-intensity exercisers had these advantages over the low-to-moderate intensity exercisers:

--more release of fat from cells
--more fat used as fuel during exercise
--increased metabolic rate after exercise

So, here are 12 Fat-Burning, Body-Changing Exercises:

1. Bench Press combined with Medicine Ball Chest Pass - Do the bench press on a bench or stability ball, 5-6 repetitions. Follow up the press with 8-10 two-handed medicine ball chest passes at full speed.

2. Dumbbell Squat-Bicep Curl-Shoulder Press - Do this exercise with correct form. This is one of the best full body exercises.

3. Medicine Ball Front Chops or Diagonal Chops - Burn more of the dreaded abdominal fat with the medicine ball front or diagonal chop. This exercise is also a great full body exercise that you can do as a regular strength exercise or full-speed exercise. Because of speed and intensity, full speed exercises help you burn more fat during and after your workout.

4. Jump Rope - Intervals with the jump rope is one of the best body sculptors available. When you get good, do full speed intervals. Also try one foot, alternating feet, slalom, etc.

5. Clock Lunges - Clock lunges work your body in all planes of motion. Lunge with your right leg at 12 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock. That’s 1 repetition for your right leg. Lunge with your left leg at 12 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 7 o’clock and 6 o’clock. That’s 1 repetition for left leg. Maintain upright posture throughout to improve core strength.

6. Steps Ups with Rotation (front and side) - The step up is one of the best exercises to strengthen your glutes and tone your leg muscles. Weakness in the gluteus medius can result in knee and back injuries. Weakness in the gluteus medius also contributes to instability when you walk, run and jump. As, you finish the step up, rotate your torso holding a medicine ball.

7. Overhead Barbell or Dumbbell Squats - Do this squat holding the barbell or dumbbells with straight arms overhead. Keep your torso upright throughout the exercise. Start with lighter weights if needed. Its important to do this exercise correctly to avoid injuries.

8. Pullups combined with Triceps Dips on Bars - I am including this pair as one superset. You must include bodyweight pullups in your exercise routine! The pullup is one of the best exercises you should be doing!

If you haven't done a pullup since grade school, you need to bring the pullup out of your workout closet! If you can't do any, start doing 1 pullup and progress (assisted pullup machine or a spotter are also options).

The pullup is not just a back muscle exercise. Pullups work your lats (and other back muscles), core, shoulders, arms, chest, biceps and improve grip strength.

With triceps dips on bars, keep your hands by your side and don't lean forward when doing the exercise. Your core will also get work during this exercise. Add weight to increase difficulty when needed.

9. Bulgarian Split Squat-Bicep Curl-Shoulder Press - This is a great combination exercise. The bulgarian split squat is one of the best exercises out there (and tougher to do than you think). It builds strength (including core strength) and stabilizes the legs and hips. It is important to perform the exercise with upright torso.

Descend into the squat until your front leg is parallel to the floor. In this position, do the curl and shoulder press. That's one repetition.

10. Sprints- This is one of the best ways to do your interval cardio. You can sprint on grass, inclines, stadium steps or with a vest. Just make it progressively tougher.

11. Barbell or Dumbbell Squats combined with Squat Jumps - Do a set of 5-6 squats and follow it immediately with 8-10 full speed squat jumps.

12. Dumbbell Squats with Bentover Rows - Do the squat and immediately follow it with the row. Squats are proven musclebuilders and fatburners. If you're trying to build up back muscles and burn back fat, bentover dumbbells rows should be in your routine.

Bentover dumbbell rows allow you to work your lats using heavier weights. Your lower back will be worked more if you row with both arms at the same time. You will also work your obliques in the process.

Go to work and start changing your body.....be sure and download my FREE Report below to Burn Fat Faster!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

2 Top Tips to Control Binge Eating

Control your binge eating during the day by eating smarter and more often. This will also help you control your caloric intake.

Here are 2 Top Tips to Control Binge Eating:

1. Eat small meals about every 3 hours (never skip breakfast) to keep your energy levels high and metabolism ramped up. Building muscle will also speed up your metabolism. Frequent meals keep the hunger pangs away.

2. Another way to control your hunger pangs is to eat protein with every meal. You don't need to do protein shakes...just eat the right foods.

Research has proven that protein keeps blood sugar levels more steady and helps you feel fuller for a longer period (slower digestion). Protein also keeps the hunger hormone (ghrelin) in check so your hunger doesn't spike so high.

Eat more protein to repair tissues and build muscle....I have always said to get your nutrition mainly from food...there's plenty of protein in the foods we eat...Good food sources for protein are:

lean beef, lean chicken, fish, eggs, milk, cottage cheese, yogurt, cheeses, beans, peas, nuts and seeds. If you are vegetarian, there are plenty of protein food sources for you.

If you feel fuller for longer periods, you will eat less and you won't binge eat if your hunger pangs are "not out the roof" when you do eat. Use your eating smarts!

Remember to drink enough water during the day! You will slow down your fat loss and weight loss efforts by dehydrating your body. Drinking enough water will also help to control your hunger and flush toxins from your body. Aim to drink about half your weight in water every day. Foods and drinks with water would count as water consumed.

Eat to stay healthy and reach your goals!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
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Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Don't Lose Water Weight, Burn Body Fat

Change your body's composition to more muscle mass and less fat to lose the weight for good. You will lose more than just water weight.

Keep fat loss as your main goal when trying to lose weight. It takes longer to transform your body's composition, so be patient. Its worth the wait. Quick weight loss gimmicks will leave you frustrated and heavier in the longrun.

Don't just lose water weight. Burn body fat and lose weight!

If you lose 20 pounds in 10 days using severe calorie restriction with no exercise (you probably won't have the energy to exercise), just about all of that weight loss will be due to lost muscle mass and water weight!

The problem is further compounded if you gained weight without exercise. The composition of this weight gain is mainly fat and water retention. I have seen individuals with up to 70% body fat!

One big cause of water retention is too much salt consumption (sodium). If you eat many processed foods and not many whole, natural foods, your sodium consumption is too high---and you will take on more water weight.

So, you find yourself regaining this weight quickly when you begin to eat the carbohydrates, proteins and fats that your body needs. Why? Because you will also replenish water stores in your body's cells.

Increase your muscle mass to permanently speed up your metabolism. Muscle is metabolically active tissue and your body has to work harder to maintain muscle. You need to build a lean body that will give you good health and one that will last through the years of your life. If you rush the fitness process, it won't work!

You can maintain/increase muscle mass (and body fat decreased) throughout your life with weight training and cardio exercise. Weight training also helps to keep your bones strong (preventing osteoporosis).

Lose your weight the right way to avoid the "yo-yo effect" of rapid weight loss and even more weight gain.

You must maintain the right amount of caloric deficit to consistently lose weight. Severe calorie restriction for too long will lead to fat storage (your body's survival mechanism) and health problems.

Lose as little water weight as possible so your body is forced to burn more body fat. These two steps will help you do this:

1. Eat small meals of whole, natural foods every 3-4 hours. Also, eat protein with every meal. Protein will help you feel full for a longer period and help repair and rebuild your muscles.

2. Exercise regularly with strength training and short interval cardio sessions. Too many long, slow cardio sessions will eat away at your muscle mass.

Don't become frustrated when one week you lose 5 pounds and the next week you lose no pounds. Muscle weighs more than fat. Check your body fat percentage.

You could be burning fat, building muscle and losing inches. Your body shrinks (becomes leaner) because muscle takes up less space than fat. You will lose the weight at the right time.

Be patient and eat right, build muscle, burn the fat and lose the weight! This process will give you a lean, healthy body.

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

10-Minute Fat Loss Plateau-Buster Workouts

Break through your fat loss and weight loss plateau by varying your workouts.

If you have been doing the same workout for months, try my Free 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts and start burning fat again!

Your body has the amazing ability to adapt to your workouts and bring your fat loss and weight loss progress to a grinding halt. You MUST be willing to vary your workout routine every 2-3 weeks to keep your body guessing. Actually, you could vary your workout every workout session in different ways (like changing intensity).

Vary your workout intensity with short bursts to burn fat faster. The more intense your workout, the more fat you will burn. Stop spending 2-3 hours in the gym. Quality workouts are the key to fat loss and weight loss success.

Research at Duke University, directed by Dr. Cris Slentz, supports high-intensity exercise for better fat loss. The eight-month study showed that people could lose weight with exercise and no dieting. Those who exercised intensely (especially using interval training) lost much more fat than those who exercised moderately.

Start making progress with your weight loss and fat loss again and don't stop. You CAN have that lean and toned body you want. But, you have to be willing to follow expert guidance. Be willing to try new things that you might not think will work. You can get a great workout in 10 minutes!

This is not some quick weight loss idea. These are tough workouts that will start changing your body. And you won't use fad diets and starvation tactics to only lose weight. You will get solid nutritional advice designed to help you develop good eating habits for a lifetime.

Actually, fad diets will place you further away from your weight loss goals as you yo-yo back and forth with lost weight and even more weight gain! A "quick weight loss only goal" is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals!

Set your mind to have a long-term vision about burning fat, losing weight and transforming your body. Afterall, you want long-term health and fitness, right? Get started today!

Download your FREE 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts now!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Top Fat-Burning Workout Method

Do you have less time to workout because of life changes? Or, has your fat loss and weight loss progress stalled? Use this top fat-burning workout method to shape and tone your body better and faster.

Kick your fat-burning into higher gear with complex strength training. This method burns fat better than traditional strength training. Complex strength training should not be tried by beginners or those with inadequate body strength. It is a high-risk, high-reward type of superset strength training.

If you want to burn more fat, add higher intensity to your workouts! Complex strength training will force your neuromuscular system to adapt to new training stimuli. This will help improve your fat loss and weight loss results.

Power, or speed strength (how fast your muscles can produce force) is one of the best ways to improve your workout efficiency. Plyometric exercises help you to increase power. When plyometric exercises are paired with a similar strength exercise, your strength and body shape will improve faster.

Complex training to improve strength supersets a power exercise with a biomechanically similar strength exercise. An example would be pairing repeating full-speed squat jumps with barbell squats. The barbell squats would be performed 1-2 minutes after the squat jumps to get maximum neuromuscular adaptations.

You would do a set of full-speed repeating squat jumps (8-10 reps). Rest 1-2 minutes and then do 3-5 barbell squats at 85%-90% of 1 rep maximum. This is an advanced training method and should not be performed by those who do not have adequate stabilization strength and muscular strength.

Exercises like the squat works the major muscle groups. To recruit more muscle fibers during workouts and improve your fat loss success, focus more on multi-joint or compound exercises like the squat, deadlift and rows.

Compound exercises will help you burn more fat because of the intensity of working large muscle groups in your body. You will also burn more calories and fat after your workout.

Other strength and plyometric exercises can also be superset this way (such as shoulder press/explosive medicine ball 2-handed upward throw and bench press/explosive medicine ball two-handed chest pass).

Complex training to improve strength is designed to increase strength throughout the full range of motion. Start burning more fat today!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

10 Daily Weight Management Tips

Once you lose weight, you have to maintain the body you've worked so hard to build.

Hopefully, you lost weight the right way by burning fat and consistently losing weight.

Even if you did a quick weight loss program or fad diet (which I don't recommend), you might be able to build on the momentum and start doing things that will lean out your body. Its never too late to build muscle and eat right.

Those who have succeeded at transforming their bodies from fat to lean have health and fitness practices that they do on most days. It becomes a lifestyle. Where have you heard that before?

It really is that simple. You become what you habitually do, whether good or bad.

So, you need to establish what works for you to stay lean and keep the weight off.

Here are 10 Daily Weight Management Tips:

1. I am a snacker and always have been......that can be good or bad depending on the type of snacks I eat and how much. Its good to eat small meals every 3-4 hours but you still have to eat the right foods.

2. How much do you eat? Research shows that people will underestimate the amount of calories they eat.

According to the True Results Health Honesty Survey, 46 percent of those surveyed are not honest with family members and 32 percent admit to lying to doctors. True Results is a team of leading weight loss experts based in Texas.

"Lying about your health and fitness, if even only a few times per year, can signify a fundamental issue in your ability to achieve your health goals," said Jessica Diaz, nutritionist and exercise physiologist for True Results. "Numerous studies have shown, the key to achieving any health or fitness goal is support from those around you and that cannot happen if you're not honest with yourself or others."

Its a good idea to journal your eating habits until you have a handle on what and how much to eat.

3. Have an active lifestyle. This is a critical step to help you lose and manage your weight. Keep your fat-burning enzymes working during the day by standing and walking as much as possible. All movement burns calories.

4. Don't eat empty calories. Loading up on sugary drinks or foods are not very nutritious and they leave you wanting to eat more in just a short time.

5. Drink more water to help you eat less. Drink daily about a half an ounce of water for every pound of body weight (150 pound person would drink 75 ounces). Since your muscles are comprised of about 70% water, don't dehydrate yourself. During exercise, drink about a cup of water for every 15 minutes of exercise.

Water-based foods such as fruits and vegetables count toward water consumed. When you don't drink water, try beverages such as unsweetened tea. Limit the sodas.

6. Get adequate sleep. You must get enough sleep or your body won't work properly. Researchers have found that the less sleep the test subjects got, the higher their body mass index. The shorter sleep time altered the subjects hormone levels, energy decreased and appetite increased.

7 Strength training is critical to lean out your body. Do strength training 3 days a week. Do full-body strength training to burn total body fat and build muscle mass to boost your metabolism. "Spot reduction" strength training won’t work and you must do more than cardio exercise to transform your body.

8. Interval cardio will burn fat and not waste away your muscle mass. All it takes is 20 minutes per session, 2-3 days a week.

9. Eat a balanced diet based on the macronutrients (healthy fats, carbohydrates, protein) before progressing to more advanced eating strategies like carb cycling. Eat enough to burn fat and build muscle. This will eliminate starvation diets.

For instance, you should eat protein with every meal. Protein is critical for rebuilding muscle tissues after workouts. Protein also helps you control calorie intake because you stay fuller for longer.

10. Get the help you need from other people. Get an accountability partner such as a spouse, friend or personal trainer. You can challenge each other to exercise and make good food choices.

Consistency is the key to maintaining your lean and healthy body. Come up with your own list and stick to it!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Burn Fat During and After Your Workout

Burn more body fat during and after your workout by using effective training methods. Don't waste time with long, boring workouts that give you small results with fat loss and lasting weight loss.

The more intense the exercise (like circuit weight training and interval cardio), the more calories and fat you will burn during and after your workout.

Exercise Post-Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) causes your body to burn more calories and fat after a tough workout. Your body has to work harder to get back to its pre-exercise state.

Its not enough to just exercise every day. You MUST do the right kind of exercise to get the fat-burning results you want.

Here are 6 proven fat-burning training methods:

1. Tone your body better and faster with explosive strength training. This type of training will burn fat and tone your body like never before.

Lifting weights explosively is an advanced form of exercise and shouldn't be done by beginners or youngsters. Your body should have the needed stabilization and strength before beginning explosive lifts.

Especially at the start of the lift, explosive lifting can be done for exercises like bench press, push ups, leg press, shoulder press and calf raises.

2. Superset strength training burns fat better than traditional strength training. Pair two non-competing exercises such as bench press and dumbbell rows, completing each exercise back to back without rest. Another good pair to superset would be squats and standing shoulder press.

Supersets allow you to do more work because one muscle group can rest while you work the opposing muscle group.

3. Do interval cardio sessions instead of long cardio sessions. All it takes is 20 minutes of intervals on the treadmill, grass or stepmill. This method will burn more fat than doing 60-minute cardio sessions that wastes away your muscle mass.

4. Circuit bodyweight cardio sessions are very effective fat-burners. Combine 4-5 bodyweight strength exercises, 8-10 repetitions each. Do this circuit 2-3 times and the fat will burn off your body.

5. Jumping exercises really burn the fat and tone your body, especially if done at full speed. Squat jumps, pike jumps, side-to-side hops, front-to-back hops, jump rope, jumping jacks and box jumps will all get the job done. Its important to learn proper jumping and landing techniques to avoid injuries.

6. Doing a second workout during the day (even a short one) keeps growth hormone levels high throughout the day. This will give you even more fat burn.

So, you could do one 25-minute workout in the morning and another 25-minute workout in the afternoon. This will give you better fat loss results than doing one 50-minute workout.

Use these training methods to burn more fat, lose more weight and get your lean body on!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

10 Steps to Shape Up Your Health and Body

If you have been inactive for a long time, your health could be worsening. Take steps to eat better, burn fat, lose weight and improve your health. This will give you the best chance to live a healthy, quality life. You deserve it......you will feel better and look better.

If you are overweight or have too much body fat (a skinny person can have too much body fat), your body is not as healthy as it could be. Start making changes today!

Here are 10 steps you can take TODAY to start shaping up your health and body:

1. Identify your fitness goals and determine why your fat loss and weight loss efforts have failed or succeeded in the past. You also have to get your motivation right for your exercise program to work for you. This step takes you being "very honest" with yourself! Sometimes it is a painful process.

2. It is crucial that you improve your body composition (less body fat % vs. more lean mass %). Where are you fat? Excess abdominal fat has been shown to be a precursor to diseases such as cancer.

3. You need to know your body measurements (chest, arms, neck, hips, waist, etc.). Consistently strength training your total body will help you burn fat and shrink your body.

4. What's your health history? You might need a doctor's clearance before you can begin an exercise program.

5. What are your eating habits? Part of your fitness assessment will look at what you are eating, how you are eating and changes that you need to make.

6. What is your basal metabolic rate? Don't know? This rate helps you set the daily calories you will need to reach your fat loss goals.

7. Have you had low back pain for some time? If so, you probably have postural problems that need to be corrected. Schedule an appointment with your trainer.

8. Had any muscle spasms or "knotted muscles" lately? Then, you need to improve your flexibility. A fitness assessment will tell you where your muscles are tight, lengthened or weak.

9. When's the last time you checked your resting pulse rate? Your resting pulse rate will tell you how hard your heart is working in a resting state. For instance, my resting pulse rate was 58 beats per minute the last time I checked it. That's pretty low. When I was at peak condition as a college athlete, my resting pulse rate was 54-56 beats per minute.

10. You might have to start out slowly getting in shape. Try walking 30 minutes a day for a week. You will need to progress to regular strength and cardio training to transform your body to lean and toned.

You have to start taking steps to improve your health and body. Do it today!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

10 Back-To-School Exercise Tips

Now that school has started and the Labor Day holiday is over, its a good time to get your exercise program back into high gear.

Let's get right to it.....here are 10 tips to get your exercise going:

1. Set realistic goals such as restarting your active lifestyle, burning body fat (losing inches) or losing 1-2 pounds a week.

2. Start today with a 20-minute walk. Do this walk every day, somewhere, at some point (the mall, at work or the park works). You can break it up into two 10-minute walks if you want. Also, start today with your great meal plan full of nutritious, whole foods that you like!

Start today with your food journal and get your friend to be an accountability partner.

3. On Day 2, start a 20-minute cardio routine or sport that you like such as biking, jogging, tennis, soccer, swimming, rock climbing, basketball, flag football, etc. Do this fun cardio 3 days a week.

4. On Day 3, begin doing a 20-minute bodyweight strength exercise workout. You need to build lean muscle in order to burn fat and speed up your metabolism. Do your bodyweight exercise routine 3 days a week.

Reward yourself each week with something like a full body massage or a special meal. Also, measure your progress each week (i.e. check body fat percentage and weight).

5. Schedule a fun activity each week such as a hike, bowling, jump rope, soccer or a walk at the lake. If you do something like this more than once a week, that's even better. The purpose is to stay active with enjoyable activities.

6. Take up a group exercise class or bootcamp. These activities are great for support and fun.

7. Start training for a 5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon or triathlon. The challenge will be fun and body changing if you cross-train.

8. Buy an exercise video that you like and get moving again! This saves you time by not having to go somewhere to workout.

9. Buy a medicine ball and stability ball. These are fun, demanding exercises that you can do before work, after work or while watching television.

10. Get your exercise kickstarted with my Free 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts! These are perfect if you want to get the most out of a tough, short workout.

One more tip: Find a promo code on a laptop and get as much class time online, so you can free up more of your schedule for exercise!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
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Eat Smoothies to Help Burn Fat

Smoothies are a great choice for healthy, energizing snacks during the day. Just blend smoothies at night and take them to eat during the day. They will save you money and are perfect on-the-go snacks or meals.

Forget about the 100-calorie snack packs and sugary treats for snacks. They leave you unsatisfied, under-nourished and wanting to eat even more.

Eat the wrong snacks and it could blow a hole through your fat burning and weight loss goals. Empty calories leave you, well, empty and looking for your next meal too soon.

3 Foods to Eat to Burn More Belly Fat

You could be gaining weight because of your snacks between meals. It doesn't have to be that way.

What you eat for snacks can mean the difference between out-of-control weight gain or weight loss management/fat loss.

The American Dietetic Association also recommends healthy snacking. Snacks bridge the gap between meals and can help you eat less at regular mealtime.

Going too long between meals can cause you to load up on sugary carbohydrates to get quick energy. These types of snacks are usually high in calories, not very nutritious and cause rapid ups and downs in blood sugar levels (you will crash).

Here are 2 great smoothies to eat as snacks:

APPLE PIE SMOOTHIE

--1 frozen banana
--1/2 peeled, chopped apple
--1 cup apple juice
--1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
--Pinch of nutmeg

Blend. Great substitute for applesauce! Control the consistency by adding more or less chopped apple.

BASIC FRUIT SMOOTHIE

1 quarter strawberries, hulled
1 banana, broken into chunks
2 peaches
1 cup orange or peach or mango or apple juice
2 cups ice

Blend.

Drinking more water during the day will also help you eat less. Aim to drink half your weight in water every day. So, if you weigh 160 pounds, drink about 80 ounces of water every day.

If you want more delicious smoothie recipes, download your Free Smoothies book now!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
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Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Keep Weight Loss Off with High Intensity Workouts

If you want to burn fat and keep weight loss off, add higher intensity to your workouts! Do more challenging exercises, more often, to force your neuromuscular system to adapt to new training stimuli. This keeps you from plateauing and improves your fat loss and weight loss results.

Challenge yourself with exercises that test your balance, coordination, strength and flexibility! This might require that you put that old favorite workout on the shelf and try something new!

Here are 3 high intensity workout tips to burn fat and keep weight off:

1. Add more one-legged strength exercises such as power step ups, single leg squats, Bulgarian split squats, lunges, single leg good mornings and single leg medicine ball exercises to your workout routine.

These types of exercises are more intense than two-legged exercises. Doing these exercises with circuit weight training using supersets (with lighter weights) adds even more intensity to your workout.

One way to build more muscle mass (and speed up your metabolism) is through heavy weight lifting. “Heavy” is relative to your body weight and strength.

According to the research, doing this type of weight lifting will give you exercise-induced testosterone increases. Of course, this will help you build muscle mass. Women can lift heavy weights without fear of getting too bulky!

So, how much weight is heavy enough? Your repetition range for exercises should be between 3-5 (you would have a difficult time lifting these repetitions). You would typically do 4-5 sets of each exercise.

Doing some of these exercises with your eyes closed will improve limb position sense (proprioception), balance and will help you burn more fat and calories! Balance training also improves your core strength.

One last strength training tip would be to do combinations of one-arm and one-leg exercises such as single leg squat-to-single arm shoulder press.

Free Report: How to Knock 20 Years Off Your Body. You will learn the top ways to naturally increase your testosterone levels.

2. Add more intensity to your workouts by exercising your body in all 3 planes of motion to improve multi-planar balance and add intensity.

An example would be a grouping of walking lunges, side lunges and transverse lunges.

Want more intensity? Exercise on different surfaces such as grass, sand, astro-play and soft surfaces to add more intensity.

3. Do cardio blasts between weight training sets. This is a very intense form of exercising. You will get great fat burning results.

Cardio blasts could work this way: between each weight training exercise set, do 30-45 seconds of a high speed cardio exercise like jump rope, mountain climbers, sprints or squat jumps. Try to do the whole 20 minute workout without any rest between exercises.

Add intensity, challenge yourself more and watch the fat melt away!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs