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Adopting the Training Mentalitiy for Fat Loss Success

Included in our goals for you here at Four Star Fitness is to assure that you are successful in achieving your fat loss goal in the shortest period of time using the most effective methods in the safest manner possible.

While the information we regularly provide you here on the website provides an important component of your overall program, the determining factor of your ultimate success lies in your mind set.

Now I’m not one for a bunch of psycho-babble, and I’m sure you’ve read or heard enough about goal setting that you could give your own seminar on the topic. What I’d prefer to do is to provide you with a process that you must use in some way, shape, or form to achieve your fat loss goals. Failure to do so will only result in your experiencing a greater level of frustration than you need to (some is actually good for you…more on that later), it will take longer to achieve your fat loss goals, and you may even quit before you give yourself a chance to be successful.

So let me ask you a very simple question. When is comes to your fat loss program, are you working out or are you training?

To some that may seem like a matter of semantics, but in the real world of successful fat loss, they are very different approaches to exercise with very different outcomes.

Many people go to the gym and workout on a regular basis. Good for them. But how many of those people do you think are really successful in their quest to lose fat, improve their appearance, or generally improve their health. The reality is that very few ever get to where their desires try to lead them. They’re just working out.

They go to the gym every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and basically do the same exercises, the same program, with the same mental intensity, and get the same result…usually none. After all, if you aren’t progressing, you’re regressing.

“You are where you are because that’s where you want to be.”

I wish I could remember who said this because this quote sums it up quite nicely for most people. The MWF’ers (Monday, Wednesday, Friday folks) don’t improve and don’t change. They are comfortable with their current efforts and either are kidding themselves into believing that they’re working toward a goal, or they’re just too afraid of what it may actually take to achieve their fat loss goals.

Let me provide you with a dose of reality. Losing fat is a very simple process, but it’s also represents a tremendous challenge for most people. In your case, it may be the hardest thing you’ve ever done. It’s also one of the most satisfying achievements when you hit your fat loss goals. So if you’re serious about hitting your fat loss goal, here’s XX steps to help you adopt a training mentality.

1. Determine your target

To be effective with your fat loss programming, you need to have a meaningful target. This may be a specific date or event that’s important to you such as an upcoming vacation, class reunion, or even bathing suit season. The tendency is to have some sort of loose goal in mind without a target that culminates in lack luster results due to inconsistency in your behaviors that dilute your efforts. Selecting a target creates a sense of urgency to concentrate your behaviors in to one massive all out assault on your fat loss program. Try to limit your target to period of three to four months to maximize your efforts.

2. Develop your written plan of attack

Many folks think they have a plan, but if it’s not written down, you have nothing. Writing down your plan of attack makes it real, and it makes it important. A written plan also allows you to make calculated adjustments rather than just “winging it” and hoping it works. Your plan of attack should include not only your exercise program, but it should also include your eating plan, the days you will not be hitting the gym, and any other issues that may influence your outcome such as planned family time, business travel, and even planning your grocery shopping. If you’re unsure how to proceed with your exercise and eating programs, consider starting with one of the predesigned exercise programs here at Four Star Fitness combined with Mike Roussell’s Naked Nutrition Guide. This portion of your overall training program should take no more than a couple hours to create an adequate plan of attack.

3. Execute your plan of attack

No plan is perfect, so don’t even try to create a perfect plan. It’s more important to get started as soon as possible. Don’t wait until Monday, don’t wait until next month, don’t wait until there’s a good time to start. There never is a good time because something always comes up. Do it now. Execute your plan of attack starting today.

4. Track everything

Start at least two journals – one for your exercise program and another for your eating plan. Write down everything you do in your exercise program journal and write down everything you eat in your eating plan journal. Make yourself accountable and be detailed. Note any influences in your plans from your mood, sense of well-being, and preparedness for your exercise program. Tracking each component of your training plan assures that your actions will be purposeful in regard to hitting your target as you eliminate those behaviors that don’t support your intended plan and those that do are reinforced.

5. Measure key indicators

The mirror lies. We tend to see what we want to see or not see what is really there. In most cases, women will see themselves as having more body fat than they desire. Men on the other hand tend to think they look a lot better than they actually do, so don’t trust your eyes. Measure those key indicators that mean the most such as waist size, limb girth, body fat, and scale weight. Measure every two weeks to be sure you’re on track for hitting your target. A two week period gives the body enough time to adapt to your current program to assure progress without going to too long just in case you’re going in the wrong direction should your plan be ineffective.

6. Adjust your plan and continue

As I said before, no plan is perfect, and most training programs require ongoing adjustments or tweaks to keep things moving effectively toward your target. Don’t make random adjustments. It’s not uncommon for fitness enthusiasts to jump on the “workout of the month” bandwagon thinking that something they read is a better plan than the one they are using. Stay the course and only adjust your program based on your key indicators. If you are dropping body fat and maintaining your muscle, stick to your plan not matter how great the next great plan may seem. If your fat loss stalls or you begin to lose essential muscle mass, you may need to make adjustments in your training program AND your eating program [see How to adjust your Training program based on key indicators]. The important thing here is to make the necessary changes to move forward without breaking your mental and metabolic momentum. Most people quit before they’ve given themselves enough time to make significant progress toward their target.

It really is a simple process, yet it is also one of the more challenging aspects of one’s “fitness life”. As with all successful endeavors, it requires sacrifice and persistence, but when you adopt the mentality that you are training with a purpose and not just working out, your results will make the time and effort all worth it.

Mirror Mirror on the Wall

My Top 5 Methods to Maximize Fat Loss with Interval Training Without Going Crazy

By now, we all know that interval training is superior to steady state aerobic training for fat loss. If you don’t then read on for some mental nutrition to bring your exercise program into the 21st century.

The problem with most exercise programs is that they aren’t too creative and tend to get boring very quickly. One of the best methods to maintaining interest in your training and assure compliance is to plan variation into your energy systems training.

Here’s my top 5 methods to perform interval training from least favorite to most favorite to keep your program fresh, interesting, and challenging

#5: Stationary Equipment

Stationary equipment in this case would the stationary bike, the stairclimber (AKA, step-monster), the treadmill (AKA, the road to nowhere), or any combination or variation of these torture devices from Hell.

This is my least favorite form of training of any kind and in my opinion least effective form of interval training.

Why?

In most cases, we’re limited as to how much muscle mass we activate at any one time. Consider the stationary bike. The primary muscles involved are the quadriceps and very little else. To get a big EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, a marker of increased fat loss after exercise) and a big fat burning response between workouts while you rest, we need to create a large metabolic disturbance. Most stationary equipment demands less of your muscle mass to produce the effort.

What about the treadmill?

The treadmill actually provides the user with a propulsive assist meaning that you get an extra push forward because the ground is moving under you rather than you moving across the ground.

Stationary equipment may also lead to overuse syndromes and joint pain due to its lack of variation in movement pattern causing repetitive stress on the joints and unnatural stride lengths.

#4: Sprinting

When referring to interval sprinting programs, we’re referring to running at your best speed for a particular time or distance. For instance, we could go out on a 400 meter track and perform 200 meter runs at your best 200 meter running speed with a 200 meter walk in between.

Why is this better than the treadmill?

Well, it’s ground-based for starters meaning that you are responsible for all the propulsion to get yourself around the track. Sprinting also heavily involves all the lower body musculature as well as heavily stressing the trunk and lesser demands shoulder girdle muscles. That’s a lot of muscle all at once.

More muscle = greater training stimulus = greater EPOC = faster fat loss

Here’s a couple example sprint workouts:

Distance-based interval sprinting

[Dynamic Warm-up]
Run 400 meters at your best speed
Rest 3 times as long as it took to run 400 meters
Repeat this 3 times
Perform this protocol 1-2 times per week
Add one 400 meter each week for 3 weeks and then retest your best 400 meters

Time-based interval sprinting

[Dynamic Warm-up]
Run at your best speed for 30 seconds
Rest for 90 seconds
Repeat 6 times
Perform this protocol 1-3 times per week
Reduce your rest time by 10 seconds each week for 3 weeks

#3: Body Weight Circuit

If you want to kick sprinting up a notch, go for a body weight circuit. The advantage here is that we can directly involve all of the major muscle groups by simply selecting an appropriate series of exercises.

You can perform each exercise for time or a series of repetitions and then move directly to the next exercise. The key here is to make each exercise challenging for the duration of the set and then follow it with an exercise for a different movement pattern or body part. This keeps your intensity of effort very high and prevents local muscle fatigue from limiting your efforts.

After each series of exercises, rest one to two times longer than it took to complete the entire circuit and repeat for 3-4 circuits.

Here’s an example body weight circuit:

Squat jumps x 20 reps
Push-ups x 20 reps
Lunges x 20 reps (10 each leg)
Inverted Rows x 20 reps
Rest and repeat 4 times

You can also call up all those silly exercises from elementary school gym class and integrate them into your circuits:

Burpees x 30 seconds
Jumping Jacks x 30 seconds
Bear Crawl x 30 seconds
Crab Walk x 30 seconds
Rest 2 minutes and repeat 4 rounds

The possibilities are endless.

#2: Barbell Complexes

A barbell complex is a series of barbell exercises, each performed for a set of repetitions, completed without a rest period between exercises. In essence, you’ll pick a barbell of appropriate weight and not leg go of it until the series of exercises is over.

The advantage to this type of activity is similar to the body weight circuit except with the barbell we can really up the intensity levels by using big exercises like cleans, squats, deadlift, and various presses.

Here’s an example barbell complex;

Deadlift x 6
Romanian Deadlift x 6
Barbell row x 6
Front Squat x 6
Military Press x 6
Back Squat x 6
Rest 90 seconds and repeat 4 times.

As your conditioning improves, you’ll need to make the complexes more challenging to assure progress and to burn more body fat. Here’s xx methods to make it more challenging:

Increase the weight and decrease the reps by one each week for 3 weeks.

Use the same weight and decrease the rest period by 10 seconds each week for 3 weeks.

Use the same weight and increase the total number of complexes by one each week for 3 weeks.

After you’ve tried each method above for 3 weeks, switch your exercises and repeat the sequence.

#1: Super-Circuits

Why is this method #1?

Because now we can do anything we want and draw on all of our other methods to create one giant super-circuit.

Here we can combine agility drills for the more athletically inclined, body weight or barbell exercises, jumping drills, calisthenics, rubber band resisted exercises, odd object lifts, or sprinting all in the same circuit.

Here’s one I did recently:

Deadlifts x 6 reps
Band resisted sprint accelerations x 10 reps
Feet Elevated Push-ups x 20 reps
24” Box Jumps x 10
Inverted Rows x 20 reps
50# One-arm Sandbag Farmers Walk for 20’ x 6
Rest 2 minutes and repeat 4 rounds.

Perhaps it’s time to get off the stationary bike or the treadmill and do something better to strip the fat away quicker than you’ve ever thought possible.

Remember to be creative, keep your intensity high, rest and repeat.

Perform your interval training sessions 1-2 times per week and increase to 3-5 times per week as your conditioning improves.

Not naturally creative enough to come up with your own ideas? Select from our list of creative circuit ideas and exercises and even watch them on video. This is real fitness!!

Female Fat Loss Failure: Too Much Pink

A series of events occurred over the last couple of days that prompted me to write this article.

Event #1: My wife returned from a business trip to Las Vegas (hey, it REALLY WAS a business trip). For her flight home, she bought a couple of magazines that included fitness magazines marketed to women. Unfortunately, during some down time, I picked them up and scanned through them. I tore out all the pages with quality information on them, but I seemed to have misplaced it. (”it” meaning one page…actually it was part of one page, but you get my point).

Event #2: A new female client expressed her frustration with her lack of progress with her previous exercise program as she stated, “Even though I was doing my Pilates and yoga classes three times a week and following a diet that I read about in the magazines.”

Event #3: A friend mentioned that she’s not seeing the results that she’d hoped from her exercise program. She mentioned that she’s doing as much as an hour of aerobic exercise and another hour of strength training. After inquiring what she’s actually doing, she mentioned that she’s using the exact same program that she started 2 years ago and is using the exact same weights as when she started her program that she got from a fitness magazine.

Does anyone see the common connection here?

The media that is supposedly designed to help women achieve their fitness goals, improve their health, and help them feel better about themselves is actually sabotaging their efforts.

Women are being misguided, mislead, and misinformed.

How?

Too much pink.

Let me explain.

When I was in high school there was a study in which a police station painted their holding cells a color called Baker-Miller Pink. What they found was that this color of pink (about the color of bubble gum) had an aggression reducing effect on violent or aggressive arrestees.

I actually attempted to duplicate this study myself as part of my science fair project (hey, I took woodshop too!) where I had guys randomly stare at a Baker-Miller Pink card or another colored card for several minutes and then tested their strength. The subjects had no idea what was supposed to happen but in a majority of cases, when staring at a pink card, strength was reduced even if the pink card was chosen first which ruled out fatigue as a factor (Got an “A” in science that year too).

Does it work in the real world?

Well, there are actually football teams that paint their visiting locker rooms pink in an effort to suck the aggression out of their opponents, so maybe it does.

But my point is that women are failing because there’s too much pink in the magazines.

Not literally but figuratively.

Here’s what I mean.

If you take all the components that make up a successful fitness program designed to promote fat loss and lean muscle gain but softened it up to make it seem kinder, gentler, and less threatening, that’s what the women’s fitness magazines are doing.

I do know why they do it that way.

It sells more magazines than teaching women the reality of changing their bodies and becoming more physically fit.

However, in doing so it perpetuates myths and misinformation that prevents successful fitness programming for women leading to countless frustrated female fitness fanatics.

I would hazard to guess that if the women’s magazines changed their ways and told the truth, they’d sell fewer magazines, but there success stories would increase 100-fold.

What the women’s magazines need are some BALLS! (yeah, well write your own article)

If I were made editor for a day for The Ladies Day Shape Health Self Fitness Home Journal, here’s how I’d change it.

1. Raise the intensity of the strength training

One of the reasons women fail at achieving their goals is that they don’t know how hard they’re supposed to work. NO MORE PINK 3-POUND DUMBBELLS ALLOWED!

When it comes to strength training, if the training program says to do 12 reps, it means to use a weight that will allow you to perform 12 reps with good technique. If you can do 13, you need to use more weight.

Before you even think it, don’t give me any crap about not wanting to get muscle bound. You gals lack the hormones to gain huge amounts of muscle. Besides gaining large amounts of muscle is far from easy. Most GUYS have trouble gaining large amounts of muscle over a period of years with the intention to do so.

2. Teach the reader the importance of progression

You must strive to be stronger this month than you were last month. You must make the effort to do more work in the same amount of time. If you aren’t progressing, you are regressing. If you aren’t progressing, you aren’t changing.

3. Drop the word “Aerobic” from the women’s fitness vocabulary

You’ve been brainwashed to think that aerobic exercise = fat loss. It doesn’t. It simply means that your energy needs are being met by the aerobic energy system. This type of exercise is rarely effective as a primary method of exercise in fat loss programs even though you’ve been told that ad nauseum.

4. No more Touchy Feely, Mind-Body Exercise programs

Yes, you may enjoy that type of program that falls in the yoga or Pilates exercise category. Rarely does anyone make significant impact in their ability to lose fat with this type of exercise. See #1 above. If you must do it for fun, go ahead and then do something productive.

5. Forget about programs to slim body parts, firm something, or lift something

Exercises claiming to slim your hips, firm your butt, lift your breasts, and tighten up the lose skin on the back of your arms rarely if ever do so. Focus on exercises that emphasize total body movements like squats, deadlifts, lunges, step-ups, presses, and chin-ups (you can learn to do them if you want it bad enough). These stimulate your body to build metabolically active muscle and burn more fat AFTER you exercise. If you want proof, one research study that used 3 full body exercises increased metabolism and fat burning for over 39 hours after the workout was over.

6. Teach women that eating fat doesn’t mean that it turns to fat

This is really misguided thinking left over from the 80’s and 90’s. It results in eating sugar-filled “fat free” foods, large portions of carbohydrate that raise insulin levels and increase fat storage or even eating insufficient calories to promote fat loss. Metabolism is the rate at which you burn food. If you don’t eat enough, and that includes healthy fats, you essentially slow your metabolism and that means no fat loss.

I could go on but this is an article, not a book.

Think LESS Pink.

The Myth of Maintenance

There was an interesting comment in the forum recently about training for maintenance. My response was that you’re either getting better or getting worse. Given the opportunity, the body will try to become more energy efficient at a given level of effort, so trying to maintain isn’t a realistic concept as it relates to your training program.

For instance, if you walk four miles in an hour burning 100 calories per mile and maintain that pace and distance, the body will eventually become more efficient and actually burn fewer calories each mile. To “maintain” the caloric output will require an increase in distance or an increase in intensity (i.e., walk faster).

We also have to consider that in situations where training takes place at high intensities, such was with strength training or high intensity interval training, periods of unloading or detraining must take place to allow the body to restore its adaptive reserves. In other words, “getting worse” isn’t always a bad thing.

Your goal should really be a consistent increase in your work capacity, strength, endurance, flexibility, or whatever abilities that are related to your goals over the long term. If you were to graph your training sessions over several months to several years, you should see a wave-like line that shows periods of progressively higher peaks followed by shallow valleys with each peak of the wave being higher than the last.

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