Super Bowl Half-Time Tabata Workout

This fat-burning Tabata circuit will help to combat some of those extra calories during the Super Bowl.

There are four quarters during the game, which leaves you with some extra time to kill. You know if you just sit there and wait, you’ll munch on more fattening snacks than you need to, so get on up and perform a 4-minute Tabata circuit in each quarter.

There are four exercises in each circuit, which you are going to perform for 20 seconds each with only a 10-second break in between. Once you reach the end of one complete circuit, repeat from the beginning to complete two whole circuits.

First Quarter Tabata – Upper Body

• Plyo Push-Ups
• Renegade DB Rows
• Pull-Ups
• Shoulder DB Press

Second Quarter Tabata – Lower Body

• Squat Down Curl and Press
• Plyo Lunges
• DB Deadlifts
• Walking Lunges

Third Quarter Tabata – Total Body

• Burpees
• High Knees
• Bear Crawl (in both directions)
• Jump Squats

Fourth Quarter – Core Strength

• Plank
• Mountain Climbers
• Bicycle Crunches
• V-Ups

Make sure you warm up before and cool down and stretch after this challenging workout.

Time to Torch those Holiday Calories

The celebrations are over, the gifts are all unwrapped, there are traces of cookies, cakes and chocolates and protruding out from underneath it all are the tell-tale signs of much indulgence.

I’m talking about that ever-expanding holiday waistline.

Well, there is no better time like the present to step up and get back into shape.

We all know the key to losing weight and fat loss is to create a negative energy balance and the best way to do this is by keeping your metabolism revved up even at rest. The best way to do this is by building lean tissue and creating an intense metabolic response that will not only burn some calories during your workout but will keep you burning them for hours afterwards.

High intensity interval training (HIIT) is the answer to this dilemma and is best performed after your weight training workout. As a post-workout workout, HIIT will boost your metabolism for hours and hours. Because this type of workout is so effective, you will be spending less time in the gym but getting twice the results and faster.

It won’t take you more than three hours per week to make significant changes if you are following a sound nutrition plan. The old saying of work smarter not harder…well it just isn’t the way it really goes when it comes to positive training outcomes. Yes, you will work smarter, which is why you can spend less time during the week in the gym, but you will be working harder than what you may have been (or never have) before.

Performing the workout below three times per week with at least a day off in between each workout will help you get fitter faster.

Post-Workout High Intensity Interval Training

Warm-Up

• Jump rope 5 minutes
• 360 degree bodyweight lunges x 5 each side
• Overhead Squats with stick x 10
• Isolateral Butt-Bridges x 5 each side
• Inchworm x 10

Resistance Training

These supersets should be performed for 2 to 3 sets of 8 reps with a 60-second rest in between.

Superset 1

• Thrusters
• Back Squats

Superset 2

• Deadlift
• Bent-Over Barbell Row (supinated grip)

Superset 3

• Lateral Lunge to Overhead Press
• Push-Ups AMRAP (as many reps as possible in 30 secs)

Intervals can be done on your favorite piece of equipment or with burpees or a jump rope. Choose whichever will challenge you the most without compromising on safety for 30 secs of work at 85-90% of your heart rate reserve followed by 60-second rest. Repeat this 10 times.

If you are feeling up to it, throw in 3 sets of supersetted ab work like ball rollouts and pikes for 15 reps each. Finish with some stretching and be sure to refuel afterward.

Using Brown Fat as a Treatment for Obesity and Diabetes

Obesity and diabetes are often linked in what is becoming one of the deadliest combinations in the obesity epidemic hitting America and indeed the rest of the world.

To get to the bottom of the rise in this epidemic, researchers at the Joslin Diabetes Center conducted a study on brown fat found in mice. Brown fat is unlike common white fat as it burns energy rather than storing it and discovering a pathway to stimulate it into action could be instrumental in fighting obesity and weight-related diseases.

This study identified two molecular pathways that cause brown fat cells to grow:

“We used different drugs to stimulate or block the signaling pathways that we thought were important. The result was that we defined the two pathways. We found what goes to what to cause something to happen to the cells.” ~  Dr Aaron Cypress, October issue of Endicronology.

Previous studies have also identified these two molecular pathways as an important piece of the puzzle.

“With a more detailed description of the pathways leading to (brown fat tissue), there can be more focused attempts to develop interventions using brown fat as a treatment for obesity and diabetes.”

One intervention could be to grow brown fat in a laboratory and transplant it into the bodies of people who need it. Another could be the development of drugs to stimulate brown fat growth.

Over the years, the two lead researchers involved in this study have shown that brown fat is more abundant in children and especially those who are thin and closer to puberty. They have also proven that brown fat in adults, while not as abundant, is active and could be stimulated into action.

Remember: brown fat burns energy, so the more you have, the more calories you burn.

“Brown fat burns energy. It is a special tissue. These studies have opened up a new avenue for the treatment of obesity and its related disorders. This study will help us deepen our understanding of brown fat formation and could in the future, combined with other information that we have learned, be used to develop drugs or other interventions for obesity.”

Source:

Joslin Diabetes Center. “Combating obesity and diabetes: Researchers identify pathways leading to activation of ‘good’ fat.” ScienceDaily, 23 Sep. 2011. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.

Weight Loss Starts with a Plan

So you want to lose weight, but don’t know where to start.

With so much information out there and so many diets to choose from, it’s enough to put you off the whole idea before you even begin.

Knowing where to begin is half the battle.

Rather than signing up for a whole new way of living, let’s take it one step at a time. What your main concern here is living a much healthier life. So, let’s begin by replacing old habits with new, healthier ones that are realistic and will help you reach your goals of weight loss.

The first thing you’re going to need is a journal – whether it’s the old-fashioned kind that requires a pencil or an electronic version that requires a computer – it’s your choice. But one thing is for certain, writing everything down will help you stick to your healthy goals.

One of the biggest mistakes everybody makes when trying to lose weight and live healthier is trying to do it all at once. Instead, set yourself mini-goals that are realistic and will gradually lead to improving your life for the better – forever!

Let’s start with a list of mini-goals for eating healthier:

Mini-Goals for Eating Healthy

• Plan to eat 5 to 6 smaller meals a day
• Plan my meals in advance
• Make a weekly shopping list to support my new healthy eating plan
• Shop for healthy food
• Eat a healthy breakfast
• Eat a healthy lunch
• Eat a healthy dinner
• Eat more vegetables
• Eat more fruit
• Eat at least two healthy snacks a day
• Only eat healthy carbs (whole-grain bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, beans)
• Eat more fish
• Eat less packaged, processed foods
• Eat less sugar and HFCS
• Drink more water
• Drink less soda
• Eat less junk food (chips, candy, ice cream, cookies)
• Eat only at my scheduled meal times and stop eating out of habit, boredom or stress
• Eat more home-cooked meals

This list gives you an idea of the kinds of mini-goals you want to set for yourself. You will want to set up some sort of scale for each mini-goal, because you can’t tackle everything all at once. Even though you have 20 mini-goals, you’re not going to achieve them all in the first week. Start with the easier goals and rank them with a ‘T’ for ‘Today’ – these are the goals that you’re going to tackle immediately. Other markers on your scale can include ‘W’ for ‘Next Week’ or ‘M’ for ‘Next Month’ and for those more challenging goals that require a little bit more planning, you can assign them a ‘C’ for ‘Challenged but Committed.’

Mini-Goals for Improving Fitness

• Start each morning with at least 15 minutes of exercise
• Go for a brisk walk at lunchtime
• Go for a brisk walk after dinner
• Spend more time standing up – this includes getting up more often at work and during your kids’ sports practice
• Take up an active hobby
• Find a workout buddy
• Start hanging out with healthier friends
• Invest in some workout equipment like dumbbells, kettlebells, stability balls and resistance bands

Mini-Goals for Healthy Living

• Get more sleep every night
• Practice patience
• Practice being more positive
• Find more ways to laugh
• Get angry less often
• Give up bad habits like smoking
• Give up getting drunk with friends on the weekends
• Forgive yourself and others more often
• Practice deep breathing and other relaxation techniques

Now take five of your ‘T’ mini-goals – the ones that you want to start immediately and create a separate list – These are my five mini-goals for this week.

I’m going to choose:

This Week’s Five Mini-Goals

• Get more sleep every night
• Start each morning with at least 15 minutes of exercise
• Drink less soda
• Only eat healthy carbs (whole-grain bread, brown rice, sweet potatoes, beans)
• Make a weekly shopping list to support my new healthy eating plan

Then enter into your journal how you plan to achieve those goals:

This Week’s Plan of Action

• I am going to switch off the TV half an hour earlier and get ready for bed = an extra half hour of sleep every night.
• I am going to wake up 15 minutes earlier every morning and exercise.
• I am going to find a 15-minute workout plan that I know I will stick to.
• I’m going to invest in a yoga mat and some dumbbells to get started.
• I am going to start buying whole wheat bread instead of white bread.
• I am going to drink more water and green tea instead of pop.
• I am going to write out my regular shopping list and replace packaged goods with healthy, wholesome foods.
• I am going to reward myself at the end of the week with one can of my favorite soda.
• I promise not to get down if I miss one of my goals this week. Instead I will persevere and plan to succeed next week.

At the end of the day, tick off each entry you’ve added to your journal. You won’t believe the sense of accomplishment you will feel. It’s like ticking off things on that ever-growing To-Do List. And it’s a great way to stay motivated.

There are other markers you may want to add to your journal entries to help keep you on track and to monitor your success. Making a note of the little accomplishments you make every day is incredibly rewarding and will keep you motivated. For example, ask yourself these kinds of questions on a daily basis:

• What vegetables did I eat today?
• What fruit did I eat today?
• How much fiber did I eat today?
• How much protein did I eat today?
• How much exercise did I do today?
• How much junk food did I eat today?
• How much time did I dedicate to myself today?

This is just a basic guideline of how to get started and what questions you will want to write down and ask yourself. It will keep you honest, helps to track your success and identifies areas where you need to improve. Try it! You’ll be surprised by the results.

Sculpt Your Body and Burn Fat

If you want to challenge yourself and burn some calories, here’s a workout that will do just that.

This is a full body workout based on a timed circuit that is sure to test your mettle. Working on each exercise to failure or as many reps as possible (AMRAP), start with three sets of each round. As you get stronger over time, increase the number of sets to five, further increasing the intensity by bumping up the weight you’re using.

You can perform this workout three times a week. Make sure you are following a high-protein nutrition plan to feed and assist your muscles in repair. With a higher intake of protein, you will burn more fat, while increasing your lean muscle mass. And not that doesn’t mean huge muscles. It simply means you will sculpt your body to reveal the hard-earned muscles you have developed over time.

Begin each workout with the mobility warm-up listed below and finish each circuit with a cool down of 5-10 minutes of light cardio and some stretching for active recovery.

Warm-Up

• 10 Overhead Squats (little to no resistance)
• 20 X 360 Degree Lunges (10 each side)
• 10 Spiderman Crawls (5 each side)
• 10 Inchworms
• 16 One Leg Toe Touches (8 each side)

AMRAP Workout

45 seconds work each exercise, 15 seconds rest for transition to next exercise

Round One

• Thrusters (front squat to overhead press)
• Stiff Leg Deadlifts
• Dumbell or Kettlebell Alternating Snatches
• Rest 60 seconds

Round Two

• Lateral Lunge with Hammer Curl
• Walking Push-Ups
• Figure 8 Medicine Ball Weaves (from a seated position, alternate weaving a medicine ball over and under each leg as you flutter each leg up and down on)
• Rest 60 seconds

Round Three

• Jump Lunges
• Burpees
• Rocca Press for Shoulders (begin in a pike position on your toes and hands shoulder-width apart, perform a push-up, keeping the pike position and only lowering from your upper body, bringing the top of your head towards the ground)
• Rest 90 -120 seconds then repeat from the top.

If It Doesn’t Come from Mother Nature, Don’t Eat It!

Eating healthy whole foods is always better than stocking up on low-fat, sugar-free synthetic, processed foods like low-calorie potato chips and other snacks.

These enticing products could be the very reason why you’re not losing weight. A recent study published in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience looked at low-fat foods made with synthetic fat substitutes to see if they had any effect on long-term weight loss and subsequent weight gain.

“Our research showed that fat substitutes can interfere with the body’s ability to regulate food intake, which can lead to inefficient use of calories and weight gain,” said Susan E. Swithers, PhD, the lead researcher and a Purdue psychology professor.

The scientists ran tests on rats that were fed either regular high-fat Pringles or low-fat Pringles with the fat substitute called olestra that has no calories and is indigestible by the body.

The group of rats that ate the low-fat Pringles with olestra consumed more food, gained more weight and accumulated more fatty tissue than the group that only ate the regular high-fat Pringles. This weight gain did not change even after the chips with olestra were removed from the rats’ diet.

“Based on this data, a diet that is low in fat and calories might be a better strategy for weight loss than using fat substitutes,” Swithers said. However, she warned that it can be difficult to extrapolate laboratory findings about rats to people, even though their biological responses to food are similar. The study was conducted by Swithers along with Purdue psychology professor Terry L. Davidson, PhD, and former Purdue undergraduate student Sean Ogden.

The mechanics behind this finding is that the brain is simply tricked into believing that is eating a fatty or sweet substances based on how the food tastes, which in turn, signifies a large number of calories. The body reacts by producing more saliva, more appetite hormones and changing metabolic behavior. Fat substitutes like olestra contributes to this effect on the body.

Other studies have proven that similar food substitutes like saccharin and artificial sweeteners can increase weight gain and body fat and change metabolic reactions to food.

It is no coincidence then that the increased consumption of these artificial substitutes over the past 30 years parallels the rise in obesity in the US. Your best course of action is always to buy healthy, wholesome foods and avoid artificial food.

If it doesn’t come from Mother Nature, should we be eating it?

“Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet,” Swithers said. “Eating food which is naturally low in fat and calories may be a better route than relying on fat substitutes or artificial sweeteners.”

Booty Butt Kicker

A perky butt is something you need to work hard to achieve and once you reach that point, you need to work equally hard to maintain.

Gravity is not kind to the glute area and this is why we need to dedicate at least two days a week to training this muscle group. Of course, you can’t work the glutes without giving the legs a workout too, so there’s some incentive and an added bonus for all those sweat hours you’re about to invest.

This is a timed circuit that should be performed straight through, resting only to change positions or exercises. At the end of the circuit, take a long deserved break of about two minutes, sip on some BCAAs to keep those muscles pumped and burning fat and start over for a total of 3 to 4 sets.

Booty Butt Kicker

Side Lunge Slide – 3 – 4 minutes each side

Assume a speed skater’s stance with your outside leg on a towel. Make sure your other leg, your anchor leg, has a firm grip on the floor so that you don’t accidentally find yourself in the splits! Ouch! With a straight back and tummy tucked in tight, slide the outside leg out until your knee is at a 90-degree angle, then slowly pull the leg back in to return to the beginning. This one you’ll feel in your inner thigh too. Take your time on this one as it requires some balance and poise. Use your arms to help with balance. Repeat for 3 to 4 minutes then switch sides and repeat on the other leg.

Plié Squats – 1 minute

You can use a dumbbell. kettlebell or medicine ball for this exercise. Holding the weight in both hands, standing with a straight back and feet in a wide stance and toes pointing outward, knees slightly bent. Inhale as you bend the knees in a controlled fashion and lower you body until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Pushing your body up, keeping your back straight and the weight in your heels, straighten the legs. Repeat for one whole minute.

Chair Pose to Reaching Lunge – 1 – 2 minutes

This is a combo move that involves some plyometrics for some explosive movement that will help elevate your heart rate and burn more fat. Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, lower your butt down as if you’re about to sit in a chair (you can use a chair or bench behind you for more support, but don’t touch the seat). From this position, you’ll power out from the left leg, sending it back, bending the front leg for a full lunge, reaching the arm out in front as you establish the position. Jump back up into Chair Pose and repeat on the opposite leg. Keep alternating between legs for one to two minutes.

Plyo Lunges – 2 – 3 minutes

Standing with feet shoulder-width apart and hands on your hips, jump into a lunge, then hop up and switch legs. Keep alternating legs for a full two to three minutes.

Squat to Warrior III – 4 – 5 minutes

Starting in a full squat, raise yourself up, kicking the left leg back and tilting your body forward reaching the arms out in front of you to balance, keeping the core strong and parallel to the floor. Return to a full squat position and repeat on the opposite leg. Keep alternating between legs for a full four to five minutes.

You can repeat this circuit for a total of 3 to 4 times. If you aren’t a little wobbly after this workout, then you’re doing something wrong!

Combatting Diet Crabbiness

Dieting can wreck havoc on your nerves and cause mood swings, especially in those in-between-meal moments.

That is why eating several small meals spread out throughout the day is a good idea to help manage these mood swings and keep your blood sugars level.

Mood swings are caused by fluctuations in serotonin levels in the brain, which often occur when someone hasn’t eaten or is stressed out. Research out of the University of Cambridge is now showing that these same regions of the brain affected by serotonin levels are the same regions of the brain that control anger.

Although reduced serotonin levels have previously been implicated in aggression, this is the first study to show how this chemical helps regulate behavior in the brain as well as why some individuals may be more prone to aggression. The research findings were published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Researchers altered the diets of the people participating in this study from serotonin-depleted days with no tryptophan to placebo days with normal amounts of tryptophan. This protein, tryptophan, is needed for the production of serotonin. Reactions to this manipulated diet were scanned via MRI images and notes were taken on behavioral changes, particularly in facial expressions.

“Using the fMRI, they were able to measure how different brain regions reacted and communicated with one another when the volunteers viewed angry faces, as opposed to sad or neutral faces.”

The MRI showed regions of the brain that were affected by low serotonin levels to experience weaker signals that control emotional responses to anger.

The subjects of this study were pre-screened to determine their normal response to anger and aggression. Those who exhibited higher levels of anger were affected worse by the lower levels of serotonin and the absence of tryptophan in their diets.

Dr Molly Crockett, co-first author who worked on the research while a PhD student at Cambridge’s Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (and currently based at the University of Zurich) said:

“We’ve known for decades that serotonin plays a key role in aggression, but it’s only very recently that we’ve had the technology to look into the brain and examine just how serotonin helps us regulate our emotional impulses. By combining a long tradition in behavioral research with new technology, we were finally able to uncover a mechanism for how serotonin might influence aggression.”

How to Burn 500 Calories

If you can burn 500 calories in one workout, you can expect to lose a fair amount of weight.

When it comes to burning calories, the magic number has always been 500 calories.

Whether you’re cutting 500 calories from your diet or finding a workout that guarantees a 500-calorie burn, 500 calories a day adds up to 3,500 per week and this is the magic number you need to hit in order to burn 1 pound of fat a week.

Although there is new evidence coming to light that questions this belief, it is still a good starting point and an ideal goal to set yourself when you’re first embarking upon your weight loss journey.

Here are some activities you can do to burn 500 calories:

Weight	150 lb	200 lb	250 lb	300 lb
Jogging	1 hour	48 mins	38 mins	37 mins
Walking 4 mph	2 hour	110 mins	85 mins	1 hour
Bicycling	55 mins	42 mins	33 mins	28 mins
Elliptical	51 mins	35 mins	27 mins	24 mins

Killer Workout for Abs that Pop!

Probably the most popular area that people want to improve is their waistlines. Everybody wants six-pack abs!

Besides putting in the work and dedicating a chunk of training time solely to ab work and core strength, cardio and clean eating are two crucial elements that most people overlook. If you want to look cut and shredded, you need to make sacrifices in the kitchen.

On a regimented daily basis, you need to stop eating:

• Sugar and anything the contains sugar
• White flour (bread, pasta, cakes and pastries)
• White rice
• White potatoes
• Deep fried foods
• Processed foods
• Refined foods
• Most vegetable oils (unless they’re healthy MUFAs)
• Too many fruits and fruit juice
• GMO foods

On a regimented daily basis, you need to start:

• Drinking more fresh, filtered water
• Eating more vegetables, especially dark, leafy greens (low in carbs)
• Eating more Omega3 fats and MUFAs like extra virgin olive oil
• Eating more protein
• Eating more organic food options
• Eating more wholegrains and wholesome foods
• Eating smaller meals more frequently

In order to show off those six-pack abs, you need to reduce your BMI and that means fat-burning cardio and high intensity interval training. Long cardio sessions are becoming a thing of the past. Science is now pointing to short-burst, high intensity interval training as the safer, more efficient option to work out.

Once you’ve got your fat burning and nutrition sorted out, next comes the grueling ab training. Here’s a killer workout that you should incorporate 2 to 3 times a week for well-developed abs. The secret is to use weighted training for your ab routine.

Killer Ab Training for Abs that Pop!

Hanging Leg Raises with weight between your legs or ankle weights – raise legs to 90-degree angle and repeat till failure

Barbell Roll Outs – using a barbell with 5 to 10 lb weights, start in a jack knife and roll out to a push-up position. Then squeeze in your abs and roll back to the starting position. Repeat for 10 – 12 reps.

Cable Crunches – using cables with a rope attachment, kneel down with your back to the machine – pull the weight down while folding in at the waist to engage the abs. Repeat for 10 – 12 reps.

Plank – hold this position for 30 to 60 seconds.

Double Press-Ups – lying on an incline bench with a barbell with 5 or 10 lb weights – move into a chest press and transition all the way up into a shoulder press to finish, straightening up your body. Roll down and repeat for 10 – 12 reps.

Once you’ve completed one circuit, take a 2-minute break and sip on some intra-workout Aminocore. Then complete another 2 circuits for a total of 3.

Make sure you fuel your body afterward with a high quality whey protein isolate shake for rapid recovery and increased lean muscle.

Originally published @ FITLODE.COM