By Tom Venuto Author of Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle
Maximize Your Fat Loss Efforts by Combining
Cardiovascular and Strength Training Exercises
So you have decided to start weight training to bulk up and tone those muscles. You signed up for a gym membership and you are ready to work out. Good for you! But before you begin your new strength training program, you might want to educate yourself about how to lose fat and build muscle while maintaining a healthy diet. Many people decide to only concentrate on one goal, whether it be losing weight, gaining muscle or dieting. But focusing on all three will give you the toned, healthy body that you’ve always wanted.
Most of the time, women want to lose fat and men want to build muscle. Women tend to shy away from weight training for fear that they will become too muscular and appear manly. Women are also more likely to try to lose fat by turning to fad diets and other unhealthy means. Men, on the other hand, tend to be so focused on bulking up that they don’t think about losing fat or eating a healthy diet. Men tend to make the mistake of eating large amounts of calories, mostly in the form of starchy carbs and fatty foods, which only leads to a lower metabolism and more weight gain. They may get the big, bulky muscles they want, but they also get new layers of fat to cover those muscles!
No matter what your ultimate body goals are, though, the secret to reaching them is combining cardio exercise, strength training and a healthy, well-balanced diet. In fact, each of these things will work with the others to help you get the best possible results in the shortest amount of time.
Changing your diet should be your first step. We’re not talking going on a crash diet or cutting out an essential nutritional element, such as carbs, from your meals. These extreme measures may help you lose fat initially, but in the end you will be in worse shape than you were before, because no one can sustain that kind of diet for very long. On top of that, it’s simply not healthy to deprive your body of the things that it needs. Your goal should be to establish an all-around health conscience diet. This is not something that you will do for a few months and then go back to your old ways. This is a lifestyle change that you will maintain for years to come, if not for the rest of your life. Your diet should help you lose fat, gain muscle and raise your metabolism.
Some things you should cut out of your diet are:
- Refined, processed carbs, such as white bread, pasta and white rice. These are too easily digested and send your insulin levels too high, crashing your metabolism and sapping your energy.
- Artificial sugars, such as those in fruit juice, soda and candy. If you must have sugary foods, limit them to once or twice per month.
- Fried foods, which are high in trans and saturated fats that quickly turn into fat and clog your arteries.
Your diet should mostly be comprised of lean meats, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. After you adopt a healthy way of eating, you’ll find that you have more energy to work out, which will help you reach your goals even faster!
Your next step should be to establish a strength training routine. Yes, a routine, which means that you do it at least three times per week, every week. When you combine a healthy diet with weight lifting, you maximize fat loss and raise your metabolism. The fact is, weight lifting or resistance training can boost your metabolism by 200-300%, burn fat all day—even when you sleep—and boost the results of your cardio exercise.
If you are a woman and are hesitant to start strength training because you don’t want to bulk up, you need to realize that the chances of this happening are very, very slim. Women’s bodies are not made to build large muscles, and the women you have seen with huge biceps and thigh muscles are likely on some type of steroid to get that way. So strength training three times a week will certainly not give you manly muscles. What it will give you is sleek, toned arms, legs and abs that you’ll be proud to show off.
Following the following exercise tips will also help you maximize your results and achieve your goals faster:
- Before your workout, snack on some fruit to give you energy, as opposed to complex carbohydrates. Eating carbs will cause your body to burn the wrong fuel, so to speak. You are trying to burn fat for fuel, so snacking on carbs would defeat this purpose.
- Limit your strength training session to 20 minutes. This is all you need to raise your metabolism, build muscle and raise your heart rate.
- Do your cardio exercise directly AFTER your strength training session. Doing so will burn two to three times for fat during your cardio, since your metabolism will have increased during strength training.
Remember that getting the body you want is not just about losing fat, gaining muscle or dieting—it’s about doing all three! So changing to a healthy, well-balanced diet and incorporating strength training into your exercise routine will help you achieve your goals and supercharge your results!
About the Author
Tom Venuto is the author of the #1 best seller, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle: Fat Burning Secrets of the World’s Best Bodybuilders and Fitness Models. Tom is a lifetime natural bodybuilder and fat loss expert who achieved an astonishing 3.7% body fat level without drugs or supplements. Discover how to increase your metabolism and burn stubborn body fat, find out which foods burn fat and which foods turn to fat, plus get a free fat loss report and mini course by visiting Tom’s site at: www.BurnTheFat.com
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