Below is an interview about cardio workouts done by Craig Ballantyne. This presents a great example of how cardio workouts are typically misused by exercise enthusiasts in their attempts to lose body fat. You’ll never get those six pack abs if all you keep doing are the same boring cardio routines over and over. Expand your thinking, and shrink your waistline!

Cardio Workout

Everybody assumes that you must do endless hours of cardio workouts to get ripped six pack abs. But this is simply not true. In fact, if you quit wasting so much time with boring slow cardio routines and change your workouts much more strategically, you will get those six pack abs much faster than you thought was possible!

Let’s look into how one female cardio workout fanatic finally lost her excess belly fat and revealed her six pack abs with the help of the innovative Turbulence-Training workouts!

Craig: C-J, let’s start with a bit of background on yourself and what your goals were when you discovered interval-training and strength training.

C-J:
Ok, I’m a female in my middle 30’s and your typical office professional who spends many long hours in front of the computer.

With regards to fitness and nutrition, I grew up realizing the importance of being active and staying healthy. So while I’ve stayed active for most of my life, I recently realized that I still had a lot to learn about both training and nutrition.

When I first discovered the Turbulence-Training Workouts, I was looking for an improvement in body composition. I had been introduced to weight training a year or so earlier and had made some really good progress, but had gone past that “new stimulus” effect, and really needed something different to kick my results up again and break the plateau.

Craig: How were you doing before?

C-J:
Well, during grad school and working full-time I let my fitness slip for the days and evenings tied to a computer, and the joys of eating at restaurants once or twice a day. I had gained about twenty pounds and was at my heaviest weight ever at about 160 pounds. Once I finished night school, I added exercise and nutrition back to my priority list and lost those twenty pounds, mostly from running five days a week.

The 2nd stage started when I discovered weight training. I was at about 142 pounds at the time and about 28% body fat. After about six months I lost another 8-10 pounds and 7% body fat.

So when I started the Turbulence-Training program, I had already made decent progress as I was down to about 133 pounds and 21-22% bodyfat.

Craig: What were your workouts like before Turbulence Training? Why did they not work as well? How have you since improved upon those workouts?

C-J:
Before Turbulence Training, I was a “same-pace” cardio fanatic, and I ran 3-5 miles three times a week and strength trained using a four day body part split routine. This plan worked ok for about six months or so, but then I just stalled out and the plateau set in. I’m not exactly sure what the culprit was, but I just knew that I needed a different type of workout program to try.

So when I first started strength training and interval workouts I was skeptical that such a short workout only three times per week would be good enough. I soon realized that strength training and intervals kept the intensity levels higher during EVERY workout, so the 3 days and 2 super sets were actually much more efficient than my four day body part split and three days of running. I also got on an interval training program and reduced my slower “same pace” cardio runs to about one day a week.

Craig: How have the interval workouts and strength training helped you improve your shape? What benefits and results have you achieved? What are your improvements compared to your before stats?

C-J:
I am definitely stronger, leaner, and faster than before.

Strength wise, I can finally do chin-ups and pull-ups, something I’ve always wanted to be able to achieve. I have also improved my 5k time by two minutes. I also finally have the muscle tone and athletic body shape that I have always wanted.

When compared to my before stats, I have had to throw the scales out the window and use the mirror and compliments I’ve received as my guide since I have gained a few pounds of lean (but sexy) muscle so the scale weight hasn’t changed much even though my body composition has improved. Also, my clothes have gotten looser and smaller and I’m also making fairly significant strength and speed gains. I can also actually see a visible six pack of abs now, which has always eluded me!

Craig: How do you feel in terms of energy and strength?

C-J:
My strength gains are most exciting to me, since I typically have high energy/endurance. I particularly like how my strength gains have transferred to improved running and biking.

The amount I can lift in the gym just sort of evolves, but when I can climb hills on my bike that I used to be forced to walk, and finish 5k runs in times that were once way out of my reach, it feels pretty damn good!

Craig: What features do you like about TT-style strength and intervals?

C-J:
It is fun, time efficient, and intense. Plus it works like crazy! When I am in the gym, I know that I am making the most efficient use of my time.

Craig: Did you change your eating plan with the guidelines?

C-J:
Not a whole lot, but some. I was on a pretty good eating plan when I started TT strength and intervals, but I am constantly learning about making better food choices and looking to change things slightly here and there. Incorporating a post-workout recovery shake and getting as much variety as possible have been the biggest changes in my nutrition habits since I started the program.

Craig: What would you say to others that ask you about your workouts? Do you get a lot of comments from people?

C-J:
When people ask me about my workouts, I try to hold back some excitement so I don’t come off as a wild fanatic and overwhelm them.

I have had quite a few comments from others in my gym, either noticing how hard and smart that I am working out, or complimenting me on my progress. One woman even pointed me out and said “I want thighs like that!” to her friend. How cool is that!

It is always enjoyable to see friends or family or even co-workers that I haven’t seen in a while because they always remind me of the great progress I have made. It’s also exciting that I can show off my flat stomach now too with the sexy little six pack!

The best compliment I get now is in the form of imitation. Others want to know exactly what I do and ask me for tips to help them. They see that it works, want to know how I have done it, so they can try to apply it to themselves.

Craig: Thanks C-J! Keep up the great work with your time-saving Turbulence Training fat-loss workouts.

See below for a special free report on more effective cardio workout alternatives that will have you losing body fat much faster from now on.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Geary

I’ve been traveling a lot for business in the last year, and I’ve noticed that most people totally fall off their fitness routines while traveling…

Eating Healthy At Restaurant

In fact, eating out at restaurants frequently is one of the biggest reasons why so many people fatten up while traveling.  It’s almost damn near impossible to eat healthy when you dine out, UNLESS you follow a couple simple tricks that I use to make every restaurant meal healthier, reduce calories, and not lose control.

Here’s a few tricks you can use to eat healthier and stay lean even while traveling on business or eating out any time for that matter…

The 3 most important things to avoid that are EVERYWHERE at restaurants are:

• the deep fried foods
• the refined starchy foods
• and any sodas, juices, or other sugary foods (except whole fruits, which are great)

This eliminates the major food sources that do the worst damage in our food supply – the evil trans fats, refined vegetable oils, refined starches, and processed sugars.

This means trying to skip the table bread, skipping the french fries (that come with every single sandwich on every menu known to man), and reducing all of the heaping portions of rice and pasta that are often loaded on the plates as well.

Instead, try to order just meat, side vegetables, and a salad, asking for the vegetables or salad as a substitute for the typical fries, rice, or pasta that the meal probably comes with.

Almost every restaurant I’ve ever been to will always allow me to substitute veggies or a side salad for the fries or chips that almost always come with sandwiches or burgers.

Side note:  It always amazes me how many people scrutinize me because I substitute veggies for fries by telling me that I’m “not living” because I won’t eat fries…

Yet they are always the first to complain that they are overweight and have “tried everything”, yet can’t get in shape.  I’m not sure why so many people think eating french fries equals “living it up”… I’m all for moderation with many things, but if there’s 2 things that should be totally removed from everyone’s diet because these foods are simply that evil… it’s fries and sodas!

Take a look at the typical difference this simple substitution makes between choosing smart and doing what most people do…

Most people will eat a meal out such as this:

• Sandwich or burger
• fries or chips
• soda or other sweetened drink

A MUCH smarter alternative for a leaner, healthier body is very simply this:

• Sandwich or burger
• veggies or salad
• unsweetened iced tea or water (no diet drinks — unless you like to drink poisonous artificial sweetener chemicals that actually make you fatter).

These 2 simple substitutions save at least 400 – 900 calories EACH time you dine out (depending on drink refills and fries portion sizes)… AND you’re cutting out the most harmful foods to your body as well by avoiding the trannies and high fructose corn syrup.

Also, it may be rare to find this in most restaurants, but if you can find some that offer much healthier grass-fed beef burgers, it’s a much smarter decision compared to grain fattened beef.

Side note:  a little-known way to eat full portions of rice, pasta, and breads and actually get away with it without packing on the bodyfat is to make sure to schedule a high intensity full body resistance training workout before your scheduled meal time.

Sometimes it may be hard to fit the workout into your schedule right before the meal event, but if you can, the meal can be your “post-workout meal“, in which case, your body can handle a higher amount of carbs than normal to help replenish the muscle glycogen depletion you had during the intense workout.

A cardio workout WON’T cut it for this… it must be high intensity resistance training to deplete enough muscle glycogen to handle restaurant portions of carbohydrates.

I hope these dining out tips help you choose smarter and healthier next time you eat out.

I’ll give you some cool workout tips for staying in great shape while traveling in a couple days.

Til next ezine,
Don’t be lazy… be lean.

Mike Geary
Certified Nutrition Specialist
Certified Personal Trainer
Founder – TruthAboutAbs.com & Busy Man Fitness .com