10-Minute Fat Burning Workout--Cure for Monday Blahs

Get over your Monday blahs with a free 10-minute fat burning workout.

Do you workout at a slow pace most of the time? Speed it up and see more results. In my opinion, sprinting is one of the least used exercises done by general exercisers. Sprints help you burn fat faster. Sprinting is one of the best ways to help get your total body lean and toned.

Matter of fact, go ahead and do two 10-minute workouts---one strength workout and one interval cardio workout. There are two ways you could do this:

--strength training workout, rest 5-10 minutes, interval cardio workout (or vice-versa)

--morning strength training workout, evening interval cardio workout (or vice-versa)

Research proves that two 10-minute workouts will burn more fat and calories than one 20-minute workout. Doing a second workout during the day keeps growth hormone levels high throughout the day. This will give you more body fat burn.

Transform your body's composition to more muscle and less fat to keep weight loss off for good. That's easier said than done but you must keep fat loss as your main goal when trying to lose weight.

Increase your muscle mass to permanently speed up your metabolism. Muscle is metabolically active tissue (fat is not) 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.

I do 10-minute workouts often. They work to burn fat and keep boredom away (especially with cardio). When I do 10-minute workouts, I will usually do 3 of the workouts with at least 5 minutes rest between sessions.

If you do interval cardio workouts on treadmill:

--Run fast, 1 minute
--Walk, 1.5 minutes
--Do this rotation for 10 minutes

If you run intervals outdoors on grass or astro-play turf:

--Sprint 60 yards
--Walk back to starting line
--Sprint 60 yards
--Do this rotation for 10 minutes

Running outdoors is much tougher because you do all the work and you have to go against wind and generate your own momentum. My preference is to exercise outdoors. You don't need a gym membership. You can do this program at home or anywhere you like.

Download your FREE 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts now! There are strength and cardio workouts in the e-book.

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

Injured Shoulders Affects Workouts, Fat Burning and Movements

I hurt my left shoulder joint about 2 weeks ago (playing ball) and its been tough to do a strength workout without pain. It has affected my fat burning potential because of subpar workouts. My shoulders are involved in every movement.....Running sprints hurts too.

Exercise injuries are as much a part of exercising as, well, exercising. And, some, like shoulder and hip injuries, hurt with every movement. Rest and recovery is part of the answer to relieve my shoulder joint pain. If I ignore the pain (as some do), it could lead to a more serious degenerative shoulder injury.

So, I'm having to follow the advice I give to clients about exercise injuries! Don't play around with shoulder injuries Mark.

The shoulder girdle is very important to your body's core structure, stabilization and efficiency. And, shoulder injuries tend to cause other injuries.



When it comes to any injury, prevention is critical. A typical injury I see in clients and others is many times related to soft tissues (i.e., tendons, ligaments, muscles, etc.).

Treatment of any soft tissue injury during the first 24-72 hours is important to offset any further injury and inflammation. The general rule of thumb is to use the R.I.C.E.R. principle (REST, ICE, COMPRESSION, ELEVATION, REFERRAL FOR MEDICAL ASSISTANCE).

So, I thought about some of the shoulder injuries that people incur during workouts, playing or accidents:

1. Frozen Shoulder - This condition affects the shoulder joint capsule. Joint stiffness and loss of movement are the primary symptoms. Anti-inflammatory medicine and physical therapy are usually needed.

2. Shoulder Tendonitis - This condition does not affect the joint capsule but does affect the muscles and tendons of the shoulder joint. Pain, weakness and inflammation accompany shoulder tendonitis. The two main causes are degeneration and wear and tear.

Since the shoulder is a very tendinous area, it receives very little blood supply. Massage is often used to increase blood flow and oxygen to this area.

3. Rotator Cuff Injury - This can be a muscle strain or tear due to heavy lifting or excessive force being placed on the shoulder (such as wear and tear from throwing a ball). The larger the tear, the harder it is to lift or extend the arm.

As with tendonitis, pain, weakness and inflammation accompany rotator cuff injuries. This condition also does not affect the joint capsule but does affect the muscles and tendons of the shoulder joint. Rotator cuff injuries can sometimes take months to heal because of the lack of blood supply to this area. Massage is needed.

4. Shoulder Impingement Syndrome - It is caused by the excessive squeezing or rubbing of the rotator cuff and shoulder blade. The pain is a result of an inflamed bursa sac over the rotator cuff, and/or inflammation of the rotator cuff tendons, and/or calcium deposits in tendons due to wear and tear. Shoulder impingement syndrome can lead to a torn rotator cuff.

Taking anti-inflammatory medications for a short period of time will treat the pain, but it will not treat the problem and symptoms will come back. You may have to try different medications to see which one will work for you.

Daily stretching in warm water will also help. You should try to reach your thumb up and behind your back. Rest is critical---so no intense exercising or throwing balls. Also, don't do any activity where your elbow moves above shoulder level.

For most people, medication, stretching exercises and rest will do the trick.

If the symptoms do not go away after using anti-inflammatory medicines, your doctor might give you a cortisone-type injection. Cortisone is a very potent anti-inflammatory medication which can weaken muscles and tendons.

So, it should be used only in serious situations. Many times, professional athletes will take cortisone injections to "play through the pain" during the season (to temporarily put off needed surgery).

Your doctor might also perform an MRI or arthrogram to check for a rotator cuff tear. If the rotator cuff is torn, surgery will probably be needed to repair it.

Prevention of Shoulder Injuries

It takes an integrated training program to lessen the chances of shoulder injuries. There are no guarantees, but taking the following steps can help keep your shoulders injury-free:

1) Poor Technique: Bad throwing/exercise motion habits will certainly lead to shoulder problems. When fatigue sets in, the shoulder problems increase. It is critical to learn proper throwing/exercise motion technique.

2) Flexibility: Adequate flexibility is important for every part of the body and especially so for the shoulder. Freedom of movement for the pelvis, trunk, scapula, and humerus are important. For the rotator cuff, balancing the forces centering the head of the humerus and freedom of movement is critical.

The rotator cuff muscles are dependent on good positioning of the scapula for effective control. Bad positioning of the scapula results in decreased ability of the shoulder muscles to produce power. Static stretching for flexibility should not be done prior to training or athletic competition (a dynamic flexibility routine prepares the entire body best for exercise or competition).

3) Core Strength and Stability: All movement begins with the core, so it is essential to strenghen and stabilize it. For the shoulder, the important areas are the lumbar spine, cervical spine and the scapulothoracic joint. If these areas are not stable, extra loading and strain is passed on to the shoulder joint.

4) General Muscle Strength: Once the body's core is adequately strengthened and stabilized, the body's limbs should then be strengthened. A strong core maximizes limb strength and power.

5) Use "The Rotator." There are many gimmicks and gadgets out there that you shouldn't waste your money on---"The Rotator" (by Joint Mechanix) is not one of them!

"The Rotator" is designed to improve your shoulder's performance. I have personally used "The Rotator" and it is great for increasing shoulder flexibility, strength and range of motion.

It is critical for you to have a full range of motion in the shoulder to facilitate strength and power. It can also be used to rehabilitate range of motion and rotator cuffs. Since we all use the throwing motion, swinging motion and repetitive shoulder motions exercising, "The Rotator" would be a great investment.

The most convenient thing about "The Rotator" is that it allows you to safely and correctly self-stretch your shoulder. You don't have to "figure out" what to do because it comes with complete, easy instructions.

"The Rotator" will help you start treating your shoulders better!

Workout hard and safe!

Mark Dilworth at My Fitness Hut

Belly Fat with Normal Body Weight--Danger Zone

Too much belly fat is never a good thing and puts you in the health danger zone--even if you have normal weight. Don't feel satisfied with a "beer belly." Burn off your "beer belly" to look and feel better.

Hopefully, your overall health and fitness goal is to burn body fat and lose weight permanently. And, place a high priority on burning belly fat for this reason:

According to the International Journal of Obesity (and many other sources), butt fat is healthier than belly fat. Their research shows that belly fat increases risks of heart attack, stroke, diabetes and premature death.

Women tend to carry too much fat on the butt, hips and thighs while men tend to carry too much belly fat. The research showed that women with more butt fat/thigh fat than belly fat have better blood sugar levels, blood fat control and slower fat turnover (prevents inflammation and promotes metabolic health).

There are generally two types of body fat:

1. Subcutaneous fat is found just underneath the skin and may cause dimpling and cellulite. Cellulite causes skin to dimple, pucker up or lump up. There are many factors that determine whether you have cellulite---your genes, gender, skin thickness and amount of body fat all play a part. There are no quick fixes for cellulite.

Visceral fat is located in the abdomen and vital organs (such as the liver) and it can be deadly. It can also infiltrate your muscles and heart. Even if you are skinny, you can have visceral fat.

A “skinny fat” person is one who is skinny with high body fat. Studies have shown that frequent yo-yo dieting increases visceral fat. Yo-yo dieters also regain the lost weight (and even more) because yo-yo diets slow down your metabolism.

Work to shrink your waist size. Researchers from the American Cancer Society warns us about the deadly risks of having too much belly fat.

Eric J. Jacobs, PHD, American Cancer Society strategic director, and his colleagues found that people with very large waists (47 inches or larger in men, 42 inches or larger in women) had approximately twice the risk of death compared to those with the smallest waists (35 inches in men, 30 inches in women) during the study period.

And, this is the interesting part about the study: it didn't matter if the person was normal weight, overweight or obese (according to body mass index).

“We found a pattern showing that expanding waist size was linked to a greater risk of dying regardless of body weight,” said Jacobs. “Similarly, people with the smallest waist sizes had the lowest risk. The take home message here is watch your waist size regardless of your weight.”

You need to know where you are fat no matter what your Body Mass Index (BMI) may be. Too much body fat is not good even if you have a good BMI.

If you don't combine healthy, managed nutrition with consistent weight training and interval cardio exercise, you probably have high body fat even if you are a skinny person (probably due to genetics).

Many people are confused about what BMI means as it relates to body fat. It is just one tool to use when you are looking at your health. Scientists use BMI as a research tool to make objective comparisons as to how fat a person is. A person with a BMI of 25 or above is considered overweight and a BMI over 30 is considered obese.

Body Mass Index uses a person's height and body weight to measure a person's fatness. This method has some limitations because it doesn't consider a person's body type (slim, muscular, etc.).

For example, a fit person with high muscle mass will tend to have a high BMI which suggests that the person is overfat. This person would actually be fit and healthy with low risk for fat-related diseases.

So, even though you might use BMI as a starting point, a person's level of fatness is best measured using a direct method. Two methods used are under-water weighing and skinfold measurements. Under-water weighing is not readily available to most people. Having a skinfold body fat test done by a fitness professional is convenient and reasonably accurate.

Regular exercise, low body fat and increased muscle mass are all factors that should outweigh any health risks suggested by a higher BMI.

Here is an example of the importance of burning body fat:

I met a man in the health club who had lost about 80 pounds through calorie restriction dieting. The 80 lost pounds is great but he had a problem---he had lots of loose skin hanging on his body. Why? He did no strength training! That left him with high body fat and embarrassing loose skin (i. e., skinny-fat).

Commercialized weight loss programs lead people to focus too much on weight loss and not enough on fat loss.

A healthy body is one that is "lean and toned." It may take a little longer but you will love the results. And, the results will be permanent if you continue to exercise regularly.

This man has now begun to lift weights and hopefully he can shed the loose skin (body fat). If you're trying to get in shape, take a three-pronged approach---healthy, managed nutrition, weight training (3 days a week) and interval cardio (2-3 times a week). This approach will give you the hard body you want. And, you will be healthy!

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut!

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

Squat Exercise Builds More Muscle, Burns More Fat

Are you trying to lean and tone your full body? If so, you must do full body strength exercises like the squat. You will get more fat burn doing shorter workouts--if you use more full body strength exercises.

Some form of squat exercise should be a part of every strength workout you do. The squat will help you build more muscle, burn more fat and speed up your metabolism. The squat will not injure you if you do the exercise correctly.

Learn how to do the barbell squat exercise to prevent injury.

If your fitness goal is lean and tone, you will lose inches from your waist, hips, neck, arms, legs, etc. and your body fat will decrease by doing full body strength exercises. You should take these measurements at least once a week to measure your progress.

Don't worry about the weigh scale at first. Since muscle weighs more than fat, your weight might even go up a little at first. But you will be on your way to acheiving PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS AND FAT LOSS because your lean muscle mass will gradually replace your burned fat mass. And this will help speed up your metabolism.

There is probably no other exercise that has a greater impact on your body's musclebuilding, metabolism and energy expenditure (deadlift is also a great exercise).

This means your legs (especially quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes), abdominals and lower back are targeted. Even your arms and shoulders will feel the effects of the exercise.

I would recommend doing squats without machines or weight belts. This will force you to learn how to stabilize your body without artificial support. And, there's no reason to "max out" on squats. There are other ways to calculate your one-rep max on the squat exercise.

If you are not able to perform squats with barbell or dumbbell weights because of injury, then start with bodyweight squats.

There are many variations of the squat exercise. Some are: barbell squats, dumbbell squats, bodyweight squats (pictured above), one-legged squats, Bulgarian split squats, side squats, prisoner squats, sumo squats, sissy squats, hack squats and front squats.

They are all good to work into your routine at some point. Keep in mind that one-legged exercises are more intense than two-legged exercises.

Here are 3 reasons to do squats and burn more fat:

1. 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.

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.

2. You will tone your bulky and shapely fast twitch muscle fibers better with the squat exercise. I am talking mainly about your butt, hips and thighs. Everyone wants to shape these areas.

3. Work your core with squats. Research shows that the abdominal muscles are engaged more when doing squats than they are doing many of the more popular ab exercises.

Your lower back will also get quite a workout. If you do the exercise correctly, you won't injure your low back.

The are many other reasons to do the squat exercise. Include some type of squat in every strength training workout.

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut!

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

Burn Body Fat without Fat Burn Supplements

You can burn body fat without spending money on fat burn supplements. These supplements either do not work or will only give you a short-term boost at best. Some of these supplements could harm your health!

Here are 4 ways to burn more body fat and lean out your body:

1. Make frequent changes to your workout program. Here are some examples:

---vary the workout intensity, repetitions and rest periods
---change the duration of your workouts
---change your exercise routine (try new exercises) every 1-2 weeks
---use different methods such as supersets, circuits and blasts
---use very little machine weight exercises and cardio machine routines (machines do too much work for you)

You don't have to workout for hours per session to get huge fat loss results! Shorten your weight training workouts to 50 minutes or less and ramp up the intensity. Shorten your interval cardio workouts to 20 minutes. Research has proven that short bursts are very effective fat burners.

Do as many compound strength exercises (with weights or bodyweight) standing up as possible. These types of exercises work major muscle groups and many times are full-body strength exercises. Squats, deadlift, lunges, standing bentover rows, squat-to curl-to press and bench press are great examples. Full-body core exercises like planks and side planks work well also. Spend less time posing on "mirror exercises" like bicep curls, calf raises and tricep extensions.

2. Shorten and intensify your interval cardio workout. Too many long, slow cardio sessions wastes time and eats away at your muscle mass. Short, intense interval cardio sessions also burn more fat and calories during and after your workout.

Some examples of good interval cardio exercises are:

--sprints on the ground (flat or incline)
--jumping jacks
--squat jumps
--stair stepper
--bodyweight exercises

3. Make needed changes to your eating habits! Its possible to have layers of fat on top of your muscles. Eat whole, natural foods. And, track your calories in a journal until you have a good idea of how you need to eat to burn fat.

Don't ruin great workouts by eating bad food with a million calories.

It will be easier to eat right if you plan your meals for the week. And, instead of eating out during the day, pack your food. This will protect you from binge eating and haphazard eating (i.e. grazing).

4. Take your fat loss to a higher level with jump (plyometric) exercises and workouts.

If you're having trouble sculpting your butt, hips and thighs, try more plyometric training. Plyometric workouts are advanced workouts. You need to perfect jumping and landing techniques or you will injure yourself. And, if you have knee and low back problems, high-speed plyometric training is not for you.

Effective fat burners are jump rope, squat jumps, lunge jumps, depth jumps, jumping jacks, tuck jumps, side-to-side hops and front-to-back hops.

Use these fat burners to lean out your body and keep the weight off!

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut!

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

How to Burn Stubborn Body Fat

Start your fat burn adventure by burning total body fat. Never do "spot fat reduction," such as targeting abdominal fat. Spot reduction won't work.

The overall goal should be for you to have a healthy, lean body and not just great looking legs or abs.

Here are some common body fat areas that are sometimes hard to lose:

--belly fat,
--butt/hips/thighs fat,
--low back fat and
--upper back arm fat

Any of those fat areas sound familiar? I think we all have dealt with one or more of those stubborn fat areas. Do you know what to do about it?

First, stop wasting money on fitness gadgets! You don't need them to burn fat and lose weight.

Second, don't spend any more money on fat loss and weight loss pills. You don't need those supplements either. And finally, forget about quick weight loss programs. They don't work long-term and that's why they are called quick!

This is what you need to do to burn total body fat:

1. Start a healthy meal plan filled with whole, natural foods. Fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat diary products and whole grains fit the bill. Severely limit sugars, fast foods, processed foods and foods in a box or bag.

Base your daily caloric intake on your basal metabolic rate, your daily activity and your goals. This way, you won't eat too much or too little (severe calorie restriction).

You need to maintain a caloric deficit on most days to burn fat and lose weight consistently.

2. Drink only water and unsweetened drinks most of the time. Drink about half your body weight in ounces every day. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, drink at least 75 ounces of water every day. This will improve your health and help with weight loss.

3. Start building muscle mass and burning fat at the same time. You must change your body's composition to more muscle and less fat. This will speed up your metabolism and help you burn more calories every day.

You don't need to be a body builder but you need to burn the fat (to an acceptable body fat percentage) on your body and build muscle mass.

And, you must do more than cardio exercise to change your body's composition. "Cardio only" will not lean out your body.

Your body will also shrink because muscle takes up less space than fat. Over time, you will begin to lose weight and the weight will stay off. Do full body circuit strength training 3 times a week, about 30-40 minutes a session. When you get really good at it, 20-minute strength training sessions will be enough to get the job done.

4. I recommend doing interval cardio sessions (about 20 minutes a session) 2-3 times a week. Sprint interval cardio works best, especially on inclines on grass.

Bodyweight exercise interval cardio also works well. You might have to work up to being able to do 20-minute interval cardio sessions. If you are doing 60-minute cardio sessions, don't! It is wasting your time and precious muscle mass.

5. If you have stubborn fat areas like lower ab fat, you can do extra strength exercises on cardio days to address those areas. Aim to burn total body fat first and local area fat second.

Be sure and download your Free Dumbbell and Medicine Ball 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

5 Effective Fat Burning Training Tips

Effective workouts are the key to fat loss and weight loss success. You can burn fat, lose weight and tone your body without doing long, boring 2-3 hour workouts!

Don't fall for the many weight loss gimmicks coming your way. Makers of weight loss pills, fat burn supplements and quick weight loss plans continue to get rich because people "buy in" and buy the products!

As a personal trainer, I know that it doesn't take 300-400 repetitions and 2 hour workouts to reach your fitness goals, whether its fat loss/weight loss or muscle growth/weight gain.

It takes you having a fitness program tailored to your individual needs. And, in any case, you can accomplish your goals with 4-5, one hour (or less) training sessions per week. Over-training will leave you broken down and injured.

Injury risks like torn anterior cruciate knee ligaments, achilles tendon strains/tears and hamstring pulls can be lessened with proper training.

Here are 5 effective and 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.

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

a. 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.

b. Exercise regularly with strength training and short interval cardio sessions. Rotate light and heavy lifting days (2 heavy, 1 light). And, 2-3 days of interval cardio is enough.

Don't become frustrated when one week you lose 6 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 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut!

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

Weight Loss Success Made Simple

Weight loss success starts with you getting the right information. Its that simple---wrong information followed leads you to long-term weight gain and fat gain.

You MUST know what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Once you have the right information to achieve fat loss and weight loss, you MUST work hard, make adjustments, persevere and make no excuses.

How many times have you followed your meal plan and exercise program all week and then blown it on the weekend by going on an eating binge? If that's you, then you need to make adjustments.

Staying on your fat loss and weight loss track through all the events of life can sometimes throw you off kilter.

Are you still doing the same poorly designed workouts and getting the same "little or no success results" from your workouts? This can leave you feeling overwhelmed and ready to give up!

And, if you haven't yet figured out how you need to be eating, you need a meal plan to follow. It takes more than just working out...if you burn 500 calories during a workout and later eat 1,200 calories, you are just "spinning your wheels" and not making progress.

Its time for you to take positive steps every day to burn fat, lose the weight and shape the lean body you want! Don't let anything hold you back. Past weight loss failures are just that---the past. Get the right plan and follow it (keep reading to see a great plan).

You have to be willing to follow expert guidance and feedback to reach your fat loss and weight loss goals. Be willing to try new things that you might not think will work. And, be realistic about your goals.

You will never reach your weight loss and body toning goals if they are unrealistic. Some of us just don't have the genetic makeup to look like cover models. That's okay! You can set a goal to look and feel the best that YOU can. That's a realistic goal.

By now, you must know that fad diets will never work for you long-term, unless you count "going in circles" as progress.

Fad diets place you further away from your weight loss goals because you will yo-yo back and forth with quick weight loss and more weight regain!

A "quick weight loss only goal" is a short-term fix for your weight problem and will not ultimately help you attain your goals. Establish eating and exercise habits that will help you burn fat and lose weight for a lifetime.

Set your mind to have a long-term vision about burning fat and losing weight--a health-first vision.

And, get motivated to make it happen---through all the ups and downs. Successful weight loss motivation usually begins when you have become motivated to improve in other areas of your life as well.

I'm not a psychologist, but I am a human. I know that when I am "messed up" in other areas of my life, it can sometimes be hard to exercise regularly and lose weight or maintain weight. Its also easier to eat those fatty "comfort foods" that pack on the pounds quickly.

Here are 4 tips for you to reach your health, fat loss and weight loss goals:

1. Fear is a huge obstacle for some, like fear of setting goals because of fear of failure. According to experts, setting low goals or no goals means you don't have to live up to high expectations.

2. When you have tried everything and nothing has worked, its easier to just give up. Don't give up. Keep trying. All it takes is the right exercise and nutrition program to help you succeed.

3. Remember, weight loss is about improving your health. In an About.com poll, 65% of site visitors said they were losing weight for appearance. And, only 35% said they were losing weight for health. That's why quick weight loss programs (with no long-term benefits) continue to sell out.

4. You can't be perfect. Consistent (and smart) exercise and healthy eating will give you a healthy, toned body. Period. Don't stop no matter how long it takes!

Here's some other motivational tips.

You can reach your fat loss and weight loss goals! Stay with it---YOU are worth the time and effort!

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

Smoothies for Pre-Workout and Post-Workout

Smoothies are ideal for pre- and post-workout nutrition. This will help you build more muscle mass. You have to eat enough of the right foods to rebuild your muscles bigger. Even if you gain weight, you will be leaner because muscle takes up less space than fat.

The rigors of weight training breaks down your body and you need proper nutrition and rest to rebuild your body bigger and better. Protein consumption, in particular, is critical if you want to build muscle.

How to Use Smoothies for Workouts and Snacks

1. Pre-workout nutrition should mainly include carbohydrates and proteins. During intense training, your body depends on fuel from glycogen made from the carbohydrates that you eat. The body can't use fat for fuel during high intensity exercise because there is not enough oxygen available.

3 Foods to Eat to Burn More Belly Fat

Consuming smoothies 1-2 hours before a workout will build up your glycogen stores. When your glycogen stores are low, your performance will suffer.

Research has shown the effectiveness of pre-workout protein drinks (such as whey and casein). Your muscles get 2 times as much benefit from a pre-workout protein drink compared to having just a post-workout protein drink. You can add protein to your smoothie drink.

2. Post-workout nutrition is important to help your body recover from intense exercise. You don't need to eat immediately after your workout but there is a 45-minute window where replenishing your body's fuel (carbs, protein, fats) will optimize your tissue's repair and growth.

The post-exercise meal should consist of carbohydrates, protein and a small amount of essential fats. A drink, such as a smoothie, is good because it is quickly digestible. A ratio of 2g carbs/1g protein is what you need.

3. Protein provides the main building blocks for your muscles. Daily protein needs should be calculated according to body weight (not by percent of calories). Daily protein targets (grams per pound of body weight) are:

--Recreational exerciser, adult 0.5-0.75
--Competitive athlete, adult 0.6-0.9
--Growing teenage athlete 0.8-0.9
--Adult building muscle mass 0.7-0.9
--Maximum usable amount by adults 0.9 (your body will excrete excess protein)

For example, if you weigh 190 pounds and want a high protein intake (0.9 gms/lb), you'll need 171 grams of protein. Protein should be eaten with every meal to insure adequate supply during the day.

Drink daily about a half an ounce of water for every pound of body weight (180 pound person would drink 90 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.

For exercise lasting more than one hour (or during games), a sports drink with carbohydrate and protein is needed.

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

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).

You can use healthy, delicious smoothies to help manage your weight. Many times, you may be looking for healthy snacks or meal replacements to control your calories while maintaining your energy during the day.

Here are 3 smoothies you can use:

CHERRY BERRY SMOOTHIE

1 cup low-fat cherry yogurt
1/4 cups cranberry juice
1 cup frozen, pitted cherries
3/4 cups frozen, unsweetened blueberries

Combine the yogurt and cranberry juice in a blender. Add the cherries and berries. Blend until smooth. Makes about 2-1/2 cups, serves 2.

BLUEBERRY-BANANA SMOOTHIE

2 bananas
1/2 cups blueberries
1 cup plain yogurt

Peel bananas, slice and place on a cookie sheet. Put in freezer and freeze until solid. Remove from freezer and place in blender. Slice berries and add to blender. Pour in yogurt. Blend until smooth. Pour into glass and serve.

BERRY BLUE SMOOTHIE

2 cups fresh or slightly thawed frozen blueberries
1 (8 ounces) container low fat vanilla yogurt
1 (6 ounces) cups milk
1 (12 ounces) can pineapple juice
3 tablespoons honey
12 to 16 ice cubes

Place all ingredients, except the ice cubes, into container of electric blender and blend on high until smooth. With blender running, add 2 to 3 ice cubes at a time through the center opening in the lid until all ice cubes have been added. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately. Makes 4 servings.

It doesn't take many ingredients to make smoothies, so you will definitely save money. There are over 100 recipes in the book and it is FREE!

Download your free Smoothies Book now!

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

25 Fat Loss Tips to Help You Stop Weight Cycling

Stop your weight cycling (yo-yo weight loss and regain) habit. Stop going in weight loss circles and damaging your health. Start transforming your body by burning fat and inches.

Here are 25 Fat Loss Tips to get you started on the way to blasting the fat and getting the lean and toned body that you want and need:

Commitment to the Fat Loss Process

1. Make a commitment to a lifetime of fitness. This commitment trumps all other fitness commitments. Without it, you will always fall prey to the inevitable obstacles and pitfalls along the way.

2. Be willing to change your eating habits! Since you must eat to survive, get ready to change. Get rid of the fad diets. Start planning your own meals using a mix of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

3. You MUST change your body's composition! You must increase muscle mass to become a “fat-burning machine.” You don't need to be a body builder but you need to replace the fat (to an acceptable body fat percentage) on your body with muscle mass.

4. You must do more than cardio exercise to change your body's composition. "Cardio only" will not lean out your body. Too much cardio will waste away your muscle mass.

5. Make a commitment to full-body strength training. Among other things, it builds muscle mass, speeds up your metabolism (the body has to work harder to maintain muscle) and helps improve your bone density. And, you’ll look great!

See my article 10 Fat-Burning Strength Exercises.

Use Common Sense to Help you Burn Fat

Like many things in life, fat loss comes down to you applying common sense like:

6. If you severely limit candy, donuts, cookies, sugary drinks, calorie-packed desserts and other sugary products (while continuing to exercise), you will burn belly fat and lose weight.

7. Walk as much as possible (i.e., stay active during the day), exercise 4-5 days a week, stay with your meal plan at least 90% of the time and you will burn fat and lose weight.

8. If you don't replace bad foods (like sugary foods) with good foods like fresh fruits, you will probably continue to eat massive amounts of sugary foods. Try the replacement method--it works.

9. If you don't REALLY COMMIT to improve your quality of life with exercise, healthy nutrition, active lifestyle, etc., you probably won't change your bad habits for very long.

10. If you continue to try every new fad diet that hits the market (to get quick weight loss), you will continue to see your weight yo-yo and your health worsen. Make the commitment to fat loss with regular weight training and cardio exercise. In time, this will burn fat, give you a lean body and good health!

See my article Burn Fat, Lose Weight with Short Workouts.

Don't Choose to Believe Lies about Weight Loss

c. There are many lies about fat loss and weight loss out there! Why? Because businesses are trying to make money off of you and they'll lie to you to get it. You have to make a choice to believe those lies.

The Federal Trade Commission identified these lies:

11. "LOSE WEIGHT WITHOUT DIET OR EXERCISE!" This is idiotic! Achieving lasting fat loss and weight loss takes work. Take a pass on any product that promises miraculous results without the effort.

12. "LOSE WEIGHT WITH OUR MIRACLE DIET PATCH OR CREAM!" You’ve seen the ads for diet patches or creams that claim to melt away the pounds. Don’t believe them. There’s nothing you can wear or apply to your skin that will cause you to lose weight.

13. "BLOCK THE ABSORPTION OF FAT, CARBS, OR CALORIES!" Doctors, dieticians, and other experts agree that there is no magic non-prescription pill that will allow you to block the absorption of fat, carbs, or calories. The key to curbing your craving for those "downfall foods" is portion control. Eat less and better when you do eat.

14. "LOSE WEIGHT PERMANENTLY! NEVER DIET AGAIN!" Even if you’re successful in taking the weight off, permanent weight loss requires permanent lifestyle changes like regular exercise and good meal plans. Don’t trust any product that promises once-and-for-all results without ongoing maintenance.

15. "LOSE WEIGHT NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU EAT OF YOUR FAVORITE FOODS!" Beware of any product that claims that you can eat all you want of high-calorie foods and still lose weight. Losing weight requires smart food choices. Filling up on healthy vegetables and fruits can make it easier to say no to fattening sweets and snacks.

Doctors, dieticians, and fitness experts agree that the best way to burn fat and lose weight is to eat higher quality calories, exercise regularly and increase your daily activity. Don't look for shortcuts! Work hard and smart!

Boost Your Metabolism to Burn More Calories and Fat

If you want permanent fat loss and weight loss, continually boosting your metabolism will help you burn more calories and fat. Metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories you'd burn if you did nothing all day (or the amount of calories your body needs to maintain itself). You will use this rate, your activity and goals to determine how many calories you need each day.

Although you don't need to strictly count calories, you do need a good idea of how many calories your body needs every day. Calculate your Calories Needs Here.

16. Do not skip meals. Eating every 3-4 hours keeps your metabolism and energy humming during the day. Starving yourself or severely cutting your calories will only slow your metabolism and cause you to store fat (your body's survival mechanism). Eating only 1,000 calories a day for too long will damage your metabolism.

17. Regular exercise (cardio 2-3 days a week/weight training 3 days a week). Building muscle mass will speed up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to maintain muscle.

See my article Lose Weight Without Losing Muscle Mass.

The more intense the exercise, the more calories you will burn during and after your workout. So, high intensity interval cardio and circuit weight training will give you more fat burn and calorie burn. Breaking up your workouts also works well to speed up metabolism (i.e., two 20 minute workouts instead of one 40 minute workout).

18. Eat protein with every meal. Your body has to work harder to digest protein. This burns more calories and also helps you eat less during the day. Protein is also critical to repair and build muscle after a tough strength workout.

19. Eat good carbs like fresh fruits and veggies. Again, your body has to work harder to digest these foods and you feel fuller for a longer period of time.

Eating fresh fruits can help you cut out the excess sugar in your diet in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Dr. David Ludwig, a Harvard endocrinologist, who is widely cited by obesity researchers, says that sweetened drinks are the only specific food that clinical research has directly linked to weight gain. "Highly concentrated starches and sugars promote overeating, and the granddaddy of them all is sugar-sweetened beverages," said Ludwig, who runs the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital in Boston.

20. Get enough sleep and stay away from long-term stress. These two imposters will wreck your metabolism and health!

Take Action to Burn Fat Now!

21. Do something you love. What physical activity do you love? Are you in an "exercise rut?" Forget all the exercise theories and articles! Just get started with an exercise activity you love and do this activity for at least 30 minutes on most days. Before you know it, you will have started exercising regularly again.

22. You don't have a meal plan yet? Here are some things you can start doing today to improve your eating habits:

--Drink only water or unsweetened drinks for beverages
--Severely limit candy, cookies, pastries, junk food and processed foods
--Eat at least one fruit or vegetable with every meal
--Eat protein with every meal, such as eggs, fish, nuts or lean chicken/beef/turkey
--Eat small meals, every 3-4 hours
--Start writing down what and why you eat to hold yourself accountable

23. Tell a friend about your immediate plan to start getting fit. It helps to have someone hold you accountable and its even better if that person will join you. You need help to accomplish your fat loss and weight loss goals. That could be a trainer, a friend, a spouse or other family member. Research proves that those who have weight loss buddies are more likely to succeed.

24. So, you're too busy to exercise? Not! Take advantage of "DEAD TIME" during your day and exercise. Twenty minutes of exercise here and 20 minutes of exercise there works just fine.

25. Are you afraid to set goals for fear of not reaching those goals? Since you need to take action, set a temporary goal of "just getting started exercising." You can set an appointment with a trainer to help figure out the rest.

Do these type things on a consistent basis and you will get the fat loss and weight loss you want!

Download your FREE 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts now! There are strength and cardio workouts in the e-book.

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

Clock Lunges Sculpts Butt, Hips and Thighs

Add clock lunges to your exercise routine to better sculpt your butt, hips, upper legs and lower legs and help them look better in 3-D space!

Many of you do forward lunges, reverse lunges and walking lunges. These exercises work your lower body in one plane of motion (sagittal). I don't see enough people doing side lunges and transverse lunges.

You will need adequate core strength to keep your body upright during the lunges.

When you do the lunges, don't let your front knee go past your toes and don't let your back knee touch the ground on the descent. Also, don't let the front thigh go past parallel to the ground.

To work your hamstrings more, lunge out further with the front leg. A shorter lunge will work the quadriceps more. Most people need more hamstring strength to prevent knee injuries.

If you will do clock lunges, you are covered in all 3 planes of motion, your legs will look better and they will be more balanced.

Do clock lunges this way (bodyweight, medicine ball or with dumbbells):

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 your left leg. Maintain upright posture throughout.

Get after 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

Cardio/Core Workout Burns Ab and Total Body Fat

If you want to do extra core strength work to build your six pack abs and burn more fat, mix in some core strength exercises on your cardio training day.

I recommend that you do your cardio session on a separate day than your strength workout because interval cardio drains you. My clients will use this type of workout all the time to vary cardio workouts and burn more abdominal fat and back fat.

A good interval cardio/core workout only takes 30 intense minutes (10 cardio, 10 core, 10 cardio) to complete but it is a proven fat burner. You don't have to do a million ab crunches to see results.

For example, research shows that the abdominal muscles are engaged more when doing squats than they are doing many of the more popular ab exercises. And, all it takes is bodyweight squats.

Squats require stablization in the body's core muscles in general, not just the abs. The other benefits of squats (strengthens quads, gluteals, hamstrings,etc.) are well known. So, the next time you do squats, brace your torso (like getting ready to take a punch) and work on those abs.

Some other exercises that will work your core are lunges, standing shoulder presses, inverted rows, pushups and step ups.

Isometric exercises also work your core and burn fat without much movement.



Isometric exercises are very underrated and are great for building muscles, stabilizing muscles, building strength, improving power and burning fat.

Isometric contractions can be described as a type of muscle contraction where your muscles develop tension without changing length. For example, pushing against a wall and holding for 30 seconds causes an isometric contraction.

You should strength train your muscles with all contraction types (eccentric, isometric, concentric). All muscles function eccentrically (reduces force or deceleration), isometrically (stabilizes force) and concentrically (produces force).

Isometric exercises cause most if not all of your muscles to work during an exercise. The stability ball plank exercise (pictured above) is a great example. To do the plank, you get into position and hold for a period of time (like 20 seconds). So, many core exercises are great isometric exercises.

So, here are some good isometric bodyweight exercises:

1. Deep Knee Bends and Hold 10 seconds

2. Stability Ball Plank, 20 second hold

3. Bridge, 20 second hold

4. Pushup and Hold 20 seconds

5. Side Plank, 10 repetitions each side, 10 second hold

6. Captain Chair Knee Ups and Hold 10 seconds

7. Ab Curl Ups and Hold 20 seconds

And, remember, it does no good to burn 500 calories if you later eat 1,000 calories. In other words, you have to keep up with your nutrition goals or no workout will give you the results you want.

Try a cardio/core workout and burn more fat!

Download your FREE 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts now! There are strength and cardio workouts in the e-book.

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

6 Behaviors that Limit Fat Loss and Weight Loss Success

If you have been unsuccessful with your fat loss and weight loss, improve by making needed changes. If you do the same things over and over, you will get the same disappointing results.

Fat loss and weight loss management is a simple process---if you do it day in and day out. Its a process like any goal you are trying to reach. You don't reach your goals overnight. And, you didn't gain that weight overnight---it was a process too.

There are reasons why this country has an obesity epidemic. All of the reasons have to do with behavioral habits.

Here are 6 Behaviors that can Limit Your Fat Loss and Weight Loss Success:

1. Overeating

Control your hunger during the day so you don't overeat when you do eat. Do this by eating small meals every 3-4 hours to keep your energy and metabolism active. And, binge-eating is always looming....

The Mayo Clinic defines binge-eating disorder as follows:

"Binge-eating disorder is a serious eating disorder in which you frequently consume unusually large amounts of food. Almost everyone overeats on occasion, such as having seconds or thirds of a holiday meal. But for some people, overeating crosses the line to binge-eating disorder and it becomes a regular occurrence, shrouded in secrecy.

When you have binge-eating disorder, you may be deeply embarrassed about gorging and vow to stop. But you feel such a compulsion that you can't resist the urges and continue binge eating.

Although binge-eating disorder is the most common of all eating disorders, it's still not considered a distinct psychiatric condition. But if you have binge-eating disorder symptoms, treatment can help you."

2. Too little exercise

Regular strength training and interval cardio sessions are a must if you want to change your body. You also need an active lifestyle to keep you healthier and happier.

3. Sedentary lifestyle

So, if you have a "sit-down" job, I would recommend that you move more.

Research proves that when you sit, your fat-burning enzymes basically shut down....when you stand during the day, those fat-burning enzymes go to work for you!

Try to stand as much as you can during the day and take walking breaks and lunches to activate your fat-burning enzymes! Any activity is good to go along with your regular workouts. All movement burns calories.

4. Negative attitudes

Negativity affects every thing you do in life. Always look for the best in every situation and get rid of the "negative vampires" in your life. Hang with positive people. We all need all the help we can get.

5. Limiting behaviors

Are you sabotaging your fat loss and weight loss efforts? For example, if you are trying to break bad eating habits, why do you keep junk food and sugary foods in your kitchen pantry? If its there, you will eat it!

6. Following bad weight loss advice

You may need a personal trainer to help you visualize success and individualize your fat loss and nutrition program. Its hard to change your body all by your lonesome.

Whatever the reasons are for you being overweight, YOU can change your behavioral patterns that limit your success! You can start taking positive steps today to improve your health, burn fat and lose weight.

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

Cardio that Torches Butt Fat

You can use cardio to torch the butt fat and overall body fat----just do the right type and intensity. Top cardio exercises to torch butt, hips and thigh fat are:

1. Sprint Intervals: Sprinting activates and shapes the bulkier, shapely fast-twitch muscle fibers. Just check out the sprinters during the Olympic trials. You may not go to that extreme, but you get the idea. Do your sprints on grass (flat or incline), sand or astroplay turf. Don't run on concrete, asphalt or other hard surface.

Full speed shuttle run intervals, such as cone drills, burn fat and improve your quickness, agility and dynamic balance.

If you play soccer, it is a great change-of-pace exercise activity. Basically, you sprint and jog the whole game.

2. Leg Circuits (also a strength and/or power exercise).

3. Intervals on Stepmill or Stadium Steps

4. Intervals on Treadmill with incline

5. Intervals on Bike (preferably outside)

When you have a choice, choose non-machine cardio. That way, you won't have a machine generating momentum for you. Don't go beyond 30 minutes on a cardio session---20 minutes is better because you can push yourself harder.

Leg circuit cardio is great because you can incorporate exercises like squats, lunges, step ups and jumps. And, to get even more fat burn, do some of these exercises as full speed power exercises. Make sure you have mastered proper jumping and landing techniques before incorporating power exercises into your cardio routine. Again, all it takes is 20 minutes per session.

Its pretty simple. Just do 2-3 days per week of intense cardio and you will tone and sculpt your butt, hips and thighs!

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

Step ups, Pullups, Shoulder Presses, Rows and Bench Presses

Yes, that was my workout Saturday....After a long week, I was thinking about what to do for a workout. So, I just picked exercises I liked. Total workout time: 35 minutes

Here is the workout:

--Step ups 5 sets/10 reps each leg (knee high platform) superset with Pullups, 5 sets/8 reps
(Rest 1 minute between supersets)

--Bench Press, 4 sets/8 reps superset with Bentover DB Rows, 4 sets/8 reps
(Rest 1 minute between supersets)

--DB Shoulder Press, 5 sets/10 reps
(Rest 30 seconds between sets)

--Cooldown - 10 Minute walk, moderate pace

This type of workout will burn fat every time. You may need more rest time between supersets. All the major muscle groups are worked and its very intense.

Just burn body fat (lose inches, shrink your body). Check your body fat percentage once a week to see if you need to make adjustments.

Quality of movement in doing your strength exercises should come before trying to increase the amount of weight you lift in those exercises. Doing this will avoid injuries due to incorrect execution of an exercise.

Performing a weight (or resistance) exercise incorrectly can cause pain in your joints, back or other unintended areas. For example, the squat or lunge should primarily work and strengthen the glutes,quadriceps and hamstrings. If you feel unusual pain or stress in your back or knees, this could signal injury or incorrect performance of the exercise.

What about the core work you ask? Your core will be challenged big time with this workout. Be sure to keep your torso braced (as if getting ready to take a punch) when you do repetitions.

Full body workouts will always strengthen your core and other "weak links" while training the other parts of your body.

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.

Standing dumbbell shoulder presses are absolutely a great core exercise. You will feel the pressure on your torso. Just make sure to stand upright as you do the repetitions. If you can't stand upright, the dumbbells are too heavy.

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.

What about cardio? This type of workout will double as a strength and cardio workout so you maximize your time. Its okay if you want to do a short 10-minute interval cardio session.

The main point? Do your workouts hard. Don't get too caught up in what to do. There are tons of exercises to choose from that will help you work every muscle group during a workout. Get busy working hard and smart!

Download your FREE 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts now! There are strength and cardio workouts in the e-book.

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

Normal Weight with High Body Fat Harms Your Health

Even though you may be "normal weight," you may still have too much body fat. This will negatively impact your health. So, you can't just concentrate on the weigh scales.

You need to know where you are fat no matter what your Body Mass Index (BMI) may be. You can be skinny with high body fat (skinny-fat). You may also be normal weight obese. Too much body fat is not good even if you have a good BMI.

If you don't combine healthy, managed nutrition with consistent weight training and interval cardio exercise, you probably have high body fat even if you are a skinny person due to genetics.

Its good to know your weight but body fat percentage is much more important as it relates to your health.

Your body's composition (fat mass and muscle mass) is the key to real body transformation. Your BMI would be a good starting point.

Body mass index looks at overall body fat, whereas body composition reveals where you are fat. Belly fat (visceral) is the worst kind of fat and it has been proven to spread toxins into the internal organs which leads to health problems such as heart disease and cancer.

In a study led by Eric J. Jacobs, PhD, American Cancer Society strategic director, Pharmacoepidemiology, researchers examined the association between waist circumference and the risk of death among 48,500 men and 56,343 women age 50 and older who had taken part in the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort, a subset of the larger Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II).

Participants filled out detailed questionnaires about their health and lifestyle, and also measured their waist size with a tape measure. They were then tracked for 9 years.

“We were interested in looking at waist size because it’s strongly correlated to fat tissue in the abdomen, which is the most dangerous kind of fat issue,” said Jacobs.

Jacobs and his colleagues found that people with very large waists (47 inches or larger in men, 42 inches or larger in women) had approximately twice the risk of death compared to those with the smallest waists (35 inches in men, 30 inches in women) during the study period.

And, this is the interesting part about the study: it didn't matter if the person was normal weight, overweight or obese (according to body mass index).

“We found a pattern showing that expanding waist size was linked to a greater risk of dying regardless of body weight,” said Jacobs. “Similarly, people with the smallest waist sizes had the lowest risk. The take home message here is watch your waist size regardless of your weight.”

Read the following in this Mayo Clinic article:

1. Yes. You can have a normal weight, but if your body fat percentage is high enough, you may be considered obese — a situation known as normal weight obesity. Normal weight obesity means you may have the same serious health risks as does someone who's obese. Obesity is defined as having an excessive amount of body fat — not as weighing too much.

A formula called body mass index (BMI) is used to determine whether you're at a healthy weight for your height. But BMI doesn't tell the whole story because it doesn't measure body fat. So you may have a normal BMI while your body fat percentage is high enough to increase health risks.

2. Like obesity, normal weight obesity may increase your risk of serious health problems, including:

--Heart disease
--Diabetes
--Abnormal cholesterol level, in which your triglyceride level is high, but your HDL ("good") cholesterol level is low
--High blood pressure
--Metabolic syndrome

Its the same story---eat right, burn fat, lose weight. Download your free reports below to get started!

Be sure and download your FREE Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start burning fat and building muscle mass.

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

Fun Cardio that Burns Fat

I would rather not do cardio exercise but since it is beneficial for fat burn and heart health, I do it. And, I only do exercises that I like.

Why do something that you hate? So, make your cardio as fun as you can and keep it short and intense.

Here is an example of someone making cardio fun:

I saw a woman having fun doing her cardio and she was burning major calories and fat.

This woman was lifting weights and dancing around like crazy between sets. Of course, I asked her what she was doing (hoping not to get slapped!)...she just smiled and said, "I'm doing my cardio exercise between weight training sets." I call these cardio blasts. This is one of the best ways to burn fat.

Trust me, the pace of her dancing was fast with full body action! It was everything you want your fat-burning cardio exercise to be. She was creative with her exercise.

So, you see, you don't need a treadmill or elliptical machine to do cardio exercise! All you need is 20 minutes and an activity that you enjoy doing. Use your imagination---just like that lady I saw at the club.

Here's another example of fun cardio:

Change up your cardio exercise with a run, jump and step routine....some of you don't get significant results with fat loss because you do the same thing most of the time.

Running, jumping and stepping are some of the best ways to tone and shape your body.

You don't need any machines---just get your body ready for some very intense exercise. If you have knee or low back problems, this type of workout is not for you....

Here goes (do this circuit twice):

--Run, 30 seconds full speed
--Walk, 1 minute
--Squat Jumps, 10, fast
--Walk, 1 minute
--Step Ups (knee high platform), 10 each leg
--Walk, 1 minute
--Run, 30 seconds full speed
--Walk, 1 minute
--Jumping Jacks, 1 minute, fast
--Walk 1 minute
--Mountain climbers, 30 seconds, fast
--Walk, 1 minute
--Run, 30 seconds full speed
--Walk 1 minute
--Jump Rope, 1 minute
--Walk 1 minute
--Walking Lunges, 10 steps each leg

You won't get bored with this run, jump and step cardio routine....and you will burn calories and fat like crazy!

If these exercises are not fun to you, replace them with exercises you enjoy. Cardio can be fun and fat-burning at the same time!

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut!



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

Speed Up Your Fat Loss Results in 2012

Speed up your fat loss results by using more effective training methods. Burn body fat and get your lean body sooner. I'm not talking about just weight loss here......

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 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut!



Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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