How to Boost Natural Fat Loss

As a trainer, I find that many clients are willing to put in the fitness and exercise component while struggling with the nutrition component of their health program. If you experience the same thing, this article is for you.

It is important to realize that nutrition plays a bigger role in fat and weight loss than exercise and physical training. There are many ways to boost metabolism and working with a personal trainer will help you to incorporate as many strategies as possible into your daily routine.

The following are a few techniques to boost your fat loss efforts:

Engage in aerobic exercise for 30-60 minutes MOST days of the week and an additional 15-30 minutes in the afternoon/evening. My peers in the fitness industry may suggest less time per week but I find that the body is designed to be active daily and maintaining a strong workout schedule boosts the metabolism. Always remember that you can break your workouts into shorter sessions to meet your schedule and personal obligations.

When exercising, use interval training and weight training sessions at least three times a week. Both techniques push the body to use carbohydrate and fat stores in the body. Weight training also builds lean muscle mass which increases your metabolism.

If you are performing weight training and cardiovascular exercise in the same day, weight train first because it will burn carbohydrates for the first 30 minutes so that the calories you burn during cardiovascular exercise will come from fat.

Always look for ways to be active throughout the day. Walking up the stairs instead of using elevators and walking as much as possible throughout the day will add up to meet your fitness goals.

Exercise in the morning when you can because it will help to control your appetite all day long and decrease food cravings.

Do not hold your breath and breathe deeply during exercise because your body needs oxygen to effectively burn fat and boost your metabolism.

Once you have the fitness component in place, you should take a look at your dietary habits to boost your metabolism.

First of all, drink water, water, and more water. Drinking cold water throughout the day actually encourages your body to get rid of excess water, increases your body’s core temperature which stimulates your metabolism and promotes cleansing of the body.

Always eat breakfast and eat 5-6 smaller meals a day (every 3 hours).

Eat the majority of your calories earlier in the day when your body is active and able to burn more calories than during sleep.

Avoid empty-calorie foods and beverages like sodas or alcohol which dehydrate your body, slow your metabolism, do not satisfy your hunger, and add to the calories you have to burn later.

Whether you want to boost your metabolism to increase fat burn or boost overall energy, make sure you consult a professional like myself and gradually incorporate the tips I am sharing with you to reach your goals. Don’t forget to avoid stress and sleep well (7-8 hours) to improve your results.

A Word About Goals

When it comes to physical preparation, most athletes don’t know where to start or what direction to take. They go through the motions of training, but they’re unfocused and rarely leave their comfort zones. If they want to get to the next level, however, their activities must be much more focused and intense.

I’ve found that setting goals for my athletes has really given them the direction they needed. If you have goals in mind, like playing your sport in college or professionally, you tend to organize your life so you can meet them. Here are six keys to meeting your expectations.

1 Write your goals down. Until you put them on paper, they’re just ideas, and everybody has ideas. Once you write them down, you can start taking the necessary steps to reach them.

2 Put them where you can see them. Write your goals on posted-notes and stick them on the bathroom mirror. Look at your goals every day when you wake up and before you go to bed.

3 Set long- and short-term goals. While tracking your progress from week to week, you should never lose sight of why you are working so hard in the first place.

4 Make your goals measurable. I hear a lot of athletes say, “I need to be better overall.” How can you tell if you are better overall? For a baseball player, the proof might be improving your batting average by 100 points, increasing your RBI totals or making better plays in the field. These things are actually measurable.
5 Do what is necessary to achieve your goals. If you can’t find time in the day to develop your skills, such as batting practice or dribbling a basketball, wake up earlier. You’re competing against millions of athletes for that scholarship. Make the time.

6 Stay focused and keep your goals in mind with everything you do. If you lose concentration doing something simple, like jumping rope, you’re going to lose concentration in a game.

US Army Makes Changes to Physical Fitness Standards

The United States Army will make changes to their Physcial Fitness Standards.

A revolutionary new physical readiness test will shorten your run distance, eliminate sit-ups, change the way you measure push-ups and add three new events.

In addition, a new combat readiness test may replace one of the two PT tests soldiers do each year.

The changes — the first to the PT test since its inception in 1980 — stem from a nearly yearlong effort by Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, deputy commanding general for initial military training, and Frank Palkoska, director of the Army Physical Fitness School. He and a team of 16 fitness and nutrition experts have built a new test centered on five events:

• 60-yard shuttle run

• 1-minute rower

• Standing long jump

• 1-minute push-up

• 1½-mile run

I will have tips on how to past the Army PRT in upcoming blog posts.