Summer Goal, Fat Burning

Summers are basically my time to shine in the cardio world.  After spending most of the year trying to bulk up and gain muscle, it is a goal of mine to try and go a few months of trying to cut back some fat.  So far this summer I have been steadily made progress towards my goals, and I know that some of you are hoping to do the same.  With cardio excersizes at our disposal, we all look for additional ways to try to get that extra fat off, but what exactly, and how exactly can we help do that?

The Most Important

Of course the most important way is not from a supplement.  After testing various ways to try and boost my metabolism and cut some fat, I have finally found one method that has worked great for me, as well as others.  High Intensity Interval Training (or HIIT) is a great way to fire up your metabolism, shock your body, and make you sweat.  It’s great for those of us that dont really have the time to spend running for a couple of hours, but still would like the same results.  HIIT can be done in many ways, but the most common form is running (and on the treadmill).  Basically we start with a nice long stretch to get our muscles warm and ready for the workout, this is important because with the intense training we are about to go through, we dont want to get hurt!  Next, we follow this simple pattern, a 30 second walk, and then a full 30 second sprint (for those on treadmills, I usually go from a 3mph walk, to a 10.5mph sprint).  Doing this for 9 total minutes (so thats 9 walks and 9 sprints) for our first session, you should be ending both tired, and sweating like crazy.  Continue this process every other day, and tack on an extra minute after every 3rd session, peaking at a total of 14 total minutes, and you will see your goals being achieved in no time.

How does it work? By walking, then pushing a hard sprint (at a pulse of about 160bpm), we are shocking our body, and studies have shown that this process actually burns more fat than traditional running.  I wont go into all teh gory details of who did the research, when and how, but type in HIIT in google and you will be filled with info in no time.

H – Two – Ohhhhhh

Our bodies are constantly filled with water…actually, our bodies are mostly water. Water has many great benefits to our body, that EVERYONE needs, especially those of us looking to pack on some lean mass, or even loose some weight.

Wanna loose fat?? Without enough water, the kidneys can’t function properly. When this happens, some of the load is transferred to the liver. The liver metabolizes stored fat for energy. If the liver is doing some of the kidneys’ work, it burns less fat, so drink up!

Some are afraid to drink a lot of water because they are afraid to ‘retain water’. However, contrary to popular belief drinking water can actually help you shed excess water weight. When water is in short supply, the body, thinking there’s a shortage, begins storing it away for later use. This water is stored in extra cellular spaces. In other words, your skin starts looking soft and puffy.

Diet

Of course you dont need me to tell you another important thing is dieting, but with all of the diets out there, which is the best??  To be honest, its hard to tell because every body is different.  Some of us benefit from high fat, low carb diets, while some of us benefit from high protein, low fat diets.  Its crazy, from my experience, to think that one diet will work for everyone.  I have tried various different methods, and the one that has worked for me is staying with a high intake of protein, which I do anyway for retention of muscle mass, and keeping my carb intake low (no pasta, only multigrain bread).  My suggestion is to go a few months on one type of diet, and my suggestion is to try the low-carb diet first.  Eating 5 small meals a day will help kickstart that metabolism, and staying with a low calorie intake (about 2000 calories a day for normal healthy adults as advised by the fda) should take care of your dieting needs.

The most productive exercises are simple and compound

…Ah yes, the famous quote by IFBB Pro Markus Ruhl.  Summer time to most is a time to take vacations, relax, party, and take nights on the town, but to me, Summer is the important time of the year, where I strive to become more fit and start loosing weight that i purposely gained througout the year.  Now I understand some of you are re-reading that last line and wondering if I meant to write it, or if im just plain stupid.  I can assure you I meant to write it, and can contest with most that I am clearly not stupid.

A behavioural pattern characterized by compulsion, loss of control, and continued repetition of a behaviour or activity spite of adverse consequenses

It’s funny; you search the internet for a definition of addiction, and about 90 percent of the results have to do with drugs, alcohol, and negative uncontrollable behavior.  However, in my case, my addiction drives towards the composition of my body.

Being overweight in my adolescence, I was in desperate need of a change in my life, a need to start hacking away at the ice that had formed around my confidence.  I was active in martial arts, but it never was enough, as my habits prevented me from looking more like an athlete, and less like a tire.  Eventually I was turned on to bodybuilding by one of my friends, as well as one of my martial arts instructors, both of whom were deeply in love with the sport, and devote most of their life to it.  Eventually my cashflow started flowing out of my savings, and into weight lifting equipment….the journey began!

Strutting around my basement with short shorts and a colored beater was probably not the most flattering of sights, but hey I figure that eventually I would fill out just right, and when I looked down, I would see less belly, and more feet.  In an effort to not die my first time handling weights, I started doing whatever I remember seeing people in the movies do, of course that ment start bench pressing 100 times and doing curls, nothing more.  It wasn’t until the next morning, when i couldn’t itch my own butt when I realized that I should probably look more into what I was trying to do, and start doing it the right way.

What the heck, I just worked out yesterday, but I still look the same

Of course my ignorance had this glorified idea that I would wake up the next day a changed man, but after staring at my shirtless self in front of a mirror at various different angles I realized that i still was carrying around my duffle bag belly and cone shaped chest.  It is safe to say eventually I started doing more reading and research to find my way to bettering my life.  Eventually I lost weight, and started packing on some mass, and in turn, was gaining some more confidence.  It has been great, and has even given me the opportunity to get my friends involved, and for me to be able to train them in achieving the same goals that I have.

So what is the goal of this blog?  Fitness isn’t easy, and its always great to get some feedback on others on how they achieved their goals and how they plan to continue.  As I continue my journey, I want to share some feedback with you, and answer questions you may have, so stay tuned for some reviews on supplements, and a journal of my workouts!