The take home message of that post was to never forget that fat loss is simply a matter of burning more calories than you consume on a daily basis.

Although the total amount of calories you burn daily depends on several factors, including your basal metabolic rate, activity level, job duties, etc...obviously the easiest way to increase this number is through exercise.  This is where the confusion begins.

With all the fitness magazines, online resources, tv products and recommendations by unqualified people (who are basing their strong opinions off misinformation they've acquired over the years), it's no wonder so many suffer from what I call 'paralysis by analysis' when searching for the perfect fat loss workout.

In other words, there's so many options that people don't know where the hell to start or who to listen to.  I encourage you to let go of everything you THINK you know about losing body fat and getting lean and open yourself up to more advanced tactics.

The best way to get ahead at anything in life is to take a look around and check out what everyone else is doing.  Then, do the exact OPPOSITE.

Seriously, you walk into a gym and what do you see?  Dozens of fat people reading magazines and talking on their cell phones while they pretend to 'workout' on the elliptical.  Why do you think they're still fat?  To get different results, you'll need to take different actions.

Also, start challenging everything you hear in regards to fitness and fat loss.  If someone is giving you advice, you need to ask yourself what makes them qualified.

Sure, fancy degrees are great - in fact, I have to admit I totally beat my Doctor of Pharmacy degree to death because I think it makes me unique as a personal trainer and fitness expert.  And it does, but that's still not a good enough reason for you to believe everything I say.

I'd take it one step further and ask yourself if these so-called fitness experts and fat loss gurus actually have a killer body themselves.  I think it's extremely hypocritical to say:  "Well, I know how to get people into great shape, I just choose not to do it myself."  I call BS...

Okay, so now that you know you shouldn't be listening to about 999 out of 1,000 people and you should only be following the information on this blog (wink), let's look at some out-of-the-box ways to put your fat-burning into serious overdrive.

Here's 7 of the absolute best techniques you can use to make your workouts more effective at burning fat, adding lean muscle and boosting metabolism - all of which will help turn you into a fat-burning machine.

--> Use metabolic resistance training.  The best way to describe this is weight training on crack.  Emphasis will be on compound movements (using more than one muscle group per exercise), multiple exercises performed back-to-back with little to no rest and short breaks in between sets.

--> Lift heavier weights.  Here's where we get into the whole 'letting go of what you think you know,' as I can imagine some of you will fear lifting heavy weights will turn you into a bulky version of Incredible Hulk overnight.  Trust me when I say we all (that goes for the girls as well) need to challenge our body by lifting heavier weights.

--> Use explosive reps and plyometrics.  Remember, we have to train like an athlete to look like an athlete.  Learn to use jump training in place of your standard cardio workouts and I guarantee you'll love the fat-burning results.  Many of my advanced workouts in the membership area will incorporate explosive weight training also, which really takes your body to another level.

--> Use shorter rest periods.  For optimal fat loss, I like to keep rest periods to about 30 seconds - maybe 45 to 60 seconds if the workout is super intense and produces a lot of lactic acid.  By forcing your body to continue working when you're short on oxygen, you'll effectively boost post-workout metabolism, which is probably the single most important factor in achieving greater fat loss.

An added bonus is that you can tear through these workouts in 15 minutes or less - anything longer really leads to a sharp decrease in intensity level and therefore, diminished returns for your efforts.

--> Stop focusing on reps.  Most of my workouts will have you performing an interval or strength training exercise for a given number of seconds, not reps.  The reason for this is because we know from research that you have to subject your body to specific levels of time under tension (TUT) to achieve specific results.

Take strength training for example.  Most people who count reps (ie 3 sets of 8 reps) are falling short of the optimal fat-burning TUT, which is about 45 seconds.  Switching the emphasis to TUT alone can skyrocket your metabolism, since most people are nowhere near this duration on any given exercise.

--> Cash in on hybrid training.  I've discovered that some of my absolute best (and most challenging) workouts are the ones where I get really creative and blend metabolic weight training with interval cardio and plyometrics.  Now we're hitting up multiple energy pathways, we're using varying rep speeds to account for both slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers and totally putting our body through total chaos.

--> Combine, Intensify and Kick A*s.  Take all of these advanced fat loss workout tips, combine aspects of each technique into almost every workout you do and attack these workouts with serious intensity.  The end result is a lean, tight and athletic body that torches stubborn fat around the clock.  You may end up resembling Brad Pitt in Fight Club, if you're not careful.

Your Coach,

Brad Campbell

Here are 5 awesome reasons interval cardio will change your body fast and make you colder than a polar bear's toenails (now that's cool)....

1) It's quicker. If you are constantly reassuring yourself you're too busy to workout...and if 45 minutes sounds like an eternity to commit to exercise, then start working out for 7 minutes using high intensity intervals.

I won't bore you with technical research that backs up this recommendation. Instead, I'll just say I've maintained a single digit body fat percentage working out as little as 7-11 minutes 3-4 times per week using interval-based training!

If you think this sounds too good to be true and there has to be a catch, let me say that this will be pretty much the most uncomfortable 7ish minutes of your life.

The key is INTENSITY and extremely short rest periods, which force you to repeat these demanding 'rounds' over and over again when you're nowhere near ready to be doing them. The bright side is as soon as you start, you only have a few minutes left.

2) Mental toughness.  You're probably starting to see a theme to my workouts- challenging, intense, efficient, effective and confidence-building! It's hard to explain until you've actually done it....but, pushing yourself way past your comfort level really changes the way you view life.

All of a sudden that annoying phone call you have to make Monday afternoon is a piece of cake because your brain becomes programmed to conquer these challenges that are thrown at you.

You realize that nothing you do in a given day is near as hard as the workout you put your body through and this really opens you up to becoming more productive and positive in other aspects of life.  That's a pretty sweet secondary effect to working out if you ask me....

3) More fat loss. Again, intervals do a nice job of burning calories and fat during a workout, but the really cool thing is the calories and fat this type of training burns up after you finish the workout.

I compare this to making money while you're not actually at work. Wouldn't you like to lose body fat while you're at home hanging out with the fam, watching a movie? Intervals done the right way will grant you this luxury.

4) Won't STRIP lean muscle. Because interval training is generally performed in short, intense spurts of 30 sec to a couple of minutes....you are actually working your body in a way that favors muscle growth.

This type of anaerobic training is very similar to weight training. Also, because the duration is much shorter, you will be less likely to burn valuable muscle tissue for energy. On the other hand, long, slow-paced cardio workouts can strip your body of metabolism boosting muscle mass (think marathon runners) if you overdo it.

5) Keeps things refreshing. Intervals can be performed in so many different ways, making it ideal for anyone who is bored with their standard exercise regimen.

My favorites include sprinting, explosive jumps, shadow boxing with dumbbells and using the 'old-school' exercise bikes (the ones with moving handles to work the upper body as well).  Any activity you can think to do HARD for a short duration, follow with a rest period and repeat several times...works great.

If you're new to interval training, start slow and perform the 'working' part of the interval workout at about 60% effort. After 2 weeks, increase this to 70%, and so on until you can perform the intervals at near 100% effort.

I recommend using intense intervals in conjunction with total body (highly metabolic) weight training workouts and 1 or 2 standard (slow and steady) cardio sessions for a comprehensive, "body fat can kiss your new and improved skinny butt goodbye" exercise program.

For an exact outline of how to schedule your weekly workouts for best results, just check out this video:  weight loss workouts.

Okay, so having said all of that...is high intensity interval training the ONLY way to go for EVERYONE out there?  Absolutely not.  There are still major benefits associated with long, slow cardio workouts that cannot be matched with interval training.

On top of that, intense interval training is just not practical for everyone.  True beginners, extremely overweight people, those with certain injuries and others who really enjoy the more traditional (long and slow) cardio workouts....all would be best suited to stay with the slow-go cardio.

For everyone else, however, make sure interval training becomes a staple in your overall exercise program!

Your Coach,

Brad Campbell

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