Fat Burning!    

      Want to know the fat-burning secrets from America’s leading personal trainers? The following 13 tips and tools are components for a successful fat burning program that you can incorporate one step at a time.

      1. Warm up before a strength training session – Warming up increases blood flow to muscles by about 55 percent, giving you better muscle contraction. Just five minutes of walking or cycling will meet this requirement. Warming your body up also lowers your body's perceived exertion of how hard your exercise session is.

      2. Vary your cardio exercises – Alternate between at least two or more cardiovascular activities like walking/cycling, kickboxing/step aerobics or running/swimming. This will optimally develop your cardiovascular fitness, keep your exercising fun and help you avoid over-training and injuries.

      3. Incorporate several cardio techniques – Use a combination of continuous, interval, circuit and Fartlek (speed play) training. For example, if you have been walking the same path at the same pace every day, begin to incorporate bursts of acceleration intermittently. The underlying principle is that change is what keeps the body progressing, making improvements and burning fat.

      4. Plan your workouts in phases – Organize your workouts into a cyclic structure. For example, for two to three weeks, exercise at a lower intensity for 45 to 60 minutes, and then, for the next two to three weeks, perform 20 to 30 minutes at your highest intensity. The following few, workout at a moderate intensity for 30 to 45 minutes. This cycling of workout structures will help your body become more efficient at fat burning.

      5. Circuit train – Perform several strengthening exercises interspersed with a short cardio segments. For example perform a leg press, lateral pull-down and abdominal crunch followed by 3 minutes of cycling. Then repeat another 3 strength exercises followed by 3 minutes of walking. Circuit training has a lower dropout rate, is an efficient calorie burner, increases muscular strength and decreases body fat.

      6. Strength train with multi-joint exercises – Choose exercises that work more than one muscle group at a time. This will give you the most mileage per exercise. Examples include squats with an overhead press, stationary lunges with bicep curls, or walking lunges with lateral raises

      7. Exercise first thing in the morning – Morning exercisers have a higher likelihood of showing up. Later in the day, the odds that you’ll skip your workout increase as interruptions arise and fatigue sets in. Morning exercise also helps regulate your hormone response, telling your body to release fat and kick start your metabolism.

      8. Eat a “primer” meal prior to working out – Having a small, balanced meal prior to exercise will help you burn fat. After you eat, your blood sugar rises and exercise acts like insulin to help regulate blood glucose. Eating will also give you the energy for a more intense workout – you will therefore burn more calories.

      9. Train with intensity – To get the full benefits of exercise, you must graduate from the “pink weights” and moderate walking. Do not be afraid to increase your resistance and challenge your muscles and cardiovascular system. In order to change, you have to push your physical limits beyond what you are accustomed to.

      10. Stay hydrated -- In order for fat to be metabolized, it must first be released from the fat cell and then be transported by the bloodstream where it is shunted to the liver and other active tissues to be used as fuel. If you are in a dehydrated state, the liver has to come to the aid of the kidneys and can’t focus on its role of releasing fat. A general rule of thumb is to take your body weight and multiply it by .55 to estimate how many ounces of water you should consume daily. You should consume at least 8 to 16 ounces of water during your workout, especially if it's hot or humid.

      11. Exercise using bursts of acceleration and recovery. Research shows that heart rate variability is the greatest predictor of health. To train for the greatest heart rate ranges, perform bursts of activity throughout the day. For example, you can sprint out to the mail box, run in place for 60 seconds or burst up 3 flights of stairs. Your metabolism will remain raised after the burst (known as the after burn) and will remain elevated for up to an hour or more depending on how intense the burst was.

      12. Journal - writing down your goals, having a mission, recording physical activity and logging food consumed are a proven way to get results. Those who commit goals to paper and write out a plan have a higher success rate. You can use a journal that is specifically developed to walk you through the fat-loss process like the one available at your local RST Diabetes Prevention Program or use a new blank document or notebook to record your feelings, successes, obstacles and achievements

      13. Exercise with a buddy -- Your chances of sticking to an exercise program are higher when you enlist a significant other to exercise with you. Having accountability to a partner is more motivating than exercising alone. Choose a partner who is important to you, who shares in your goals and is of a similar physical ability (or slightly better).

      Start by incorporating one of these 13 tips. Choose the one you are ready to tackle and do so relentlessly until it’s a natural part of your life and workout routine. When you have mastered it, choose another item on the list. As the weeks go by, you can watch your body transform before your eyes!