It’s no news that shedding fat is hard work. I mean, if it was easy, there would be no such thing as cottage cheese bum, or cankles, or double chins, and everyone would look rocking in a bikini or board shorts. But we all know that isn’t the case. If you’re reading this, consider yourself one of the lucky ones – you’re well aware of the challenges of fat loss and you’ve taken the initiative to find some tips. Well search no more. Here are a have a few tricks to speed up your weight loss and have you turning heads in no time.
1) Incorporate your entire body in your workout
Instead of focusing on specific muscle groups, try using ALL your muscle groups. Why? You can get more done in less time, AND it fires up your metabolism. Try setting up a circuit for your workout, alternating lower body exercises with upper body exercises. This works ideally because while you do your upper body exercise, your lower body gets to rest and vice versa. I do a full body workout at least once a week for a metabolism boosting change of pace.
2) Replace cardio with workout finishers
Chances are if you’re at the gym, you probably want to get the most out of the time you spend there. Studies show that cardio can actually lead to weight gain because it increases your appetite. For example, if you burn 400 calories on the treadmill, but consume an extra 500 calories that day because your appetite increases, you’re actually working backwards. If this is ideal to you then by all means, climb on a treadmill and start sweating. For those of you who want to make significant progress at the gym, I suggest you give workout finishers a try.
The idea of workout finishers is to combine the metabolic effect of interval training without cardio equipment. They take less time to do, but you do far more work during that time. Sounds great, right? You probably won’t think so while you’re doing them – they’ll have you gassed in no time! But with the results you’ll see, burpees (my personal fave workout finisher,) will soon be your new best friend.
3) Switch to single limb exercises
Single limb exercises are more calorie expensive – yet another way to burn more calories in less time. Try switching from a DB incline chest press to a single arm DB incline chest press. Because there is an uneven distribution of weight, your abs will fire in order to keep your balance. That’s right, not only is it a chest exercise, it’s also a workout for your core. (You’re welcome.)
4) Be active on your days off
No, I don’t mean heading to the gym for yet another high intensity workout. I mean that just because it’s your day off, doesn’t mean you have to sit on the couch watching sports. Try doing something you enjoy for 30 minutes, whether it be playing with your kids, taking your dog for a walk, playing tennis with a friend; basically anything that’s more active than doing nothing. (You don’t burn calories watching others burn calories…just sayin 😉 )
I dare you to incorporate these 4 simple steps into your regular workout regime…see how much progress you can make.
And oh by the way, here’s a cool workout finisher from my pal, Mike Whitfield he calls ‘Three’s Company’
Time yourself for 3 minutes and complete as many rounds as possible:
- 3 burpees
- 3 lunge jumps (per leg)
- 3 x body mountain climbers (per leg)
Have fun and burn more fat while you’re at it 🙂