Perth Boot Camp For Women Fat Loss

Perth Boot Camp Instructor Warns about the Weight Gain in Winter

2009-06-07T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there, TC here your Perth boot camp instructor for the women boot camp in Perth. Winter is fast approaching and by now 50% of the people who started exercising to lose weight in the new year have fallen off the wagon according to past trend. And I predict that there will be more who will be falling off the wagon come this winter in Perth. Yes sure sure it's nice to sleep more and be lazy because the winter provides a very good "excuse". Start all over again in 2010.

But be warned! Can you afford to gain any more weight for the next 6 months until 2010 comes.

The fat cell increases in its size when you gained weight. As body fat continue to increase, cell size increased to a certain upper limit where they will start to increase in numbers. Sounds scary! You get more fat cells.

The worst part is that once the fat cells increased in numbers, the numbers can never be reduced even if you lose weight. They will only shrink in their size.

If you are gaining weight, start doing something now before your body start manufacturing more fat cells. If you are obese already, all is not lost because you can still shrink your fat cells by losing weight. With the 1/2 the population in Australia being overweight and obese, you don't want to add to the number and add more burden to the health system. Hey do you part and start losing fat with us at our Perth boot camp.

Train Hard Eat Healthy Look Good

Perth Boot Camp Instructor Reveals 6 Exercises that Sucks

2009-05-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the list of exercises that just don't work and just bloody waste of time.

1. The Ab Machine

When it comes to working off the muffin top, most people think about crunches and sit-ups. Hell yes the abs bloody hurt when you load up the weight stacks on this piece of machine. In fact, I seen people queuing up to hammer their bellies with this crap equipment.

Crunches and sit-ups only promote excessive flexion of the lumbar spine and tend to cause neck and back pain. Now, make it worse by doing it in a similar fashion with this machine in a seated position moving your spine in a unnatural front to back manner. Hey Ab King Pro you see in late night informercial sucks too.

The true function of the ab muscles is to stabilise the spine statically and dynamically to be able to maintain a neutral and straight line position from your hips to your shoulders in all 3 plane of movements (front to back, side to side and rotational).

For best results for hard solid abs, ditch this machine as well as Ab King Pro and focus on basics that works. They are all variations of planks and russian twists.

2. Weight Loaded Back Extension Machine

Back extension machine is just as bad as the abdominal machine. Why? First of all, many desk-bound individuals have tight hips and inactive/weak glutes. As a result, they are using too much of their "back" muscles in many movements. Loading up on this machine will just overload the lower back muscles causing more stress leading to high potential of wreaked back.

Instead, focus more on hip extension movements that strengthen your butt rather than continually overloading the spinal erectors. Plus, adding in corrective stretching for the hip flexor complex, the hip rotators, and the hamstring complex that opens up your hips and alleviates excessive spinal flexion and compressions is literally exactly what the doctor ordered.

Furthermore, this exercise only train your body in one plane of movement in a fixed path and as a result does not work on your stabilisers.

So what do you do instead? Focus on compound movements such as deadlift and Good Mornings that do not put all the stress on the lower "back" Be sure to use the correct techniques. If unsure, please get a qualified personal trainer who knows what he is doing to help.

3. The Hip Adductor/Abductor Combo

This is an all-time favourite among the female gym goers who is desperate to get rid of the thunder thighs or cellulite situation. I know many of you are totally convinced that this combo is going to work for ya and finally you can fit into your jeans. But the truth is that it does not work even if you can crank out a thousand reps.

I've say this before and going to say it again.

"Spot Reduction Does Not Work"

Seriously, no amount of direct inner or other hip-thigh work will burn that ugly fat covering that sexy toned musculature everyone wants to see so let it go.

Solutions: Stop all the excuses and clean up all the junk diets and start eating lean proteins, healthy fats, and fruits and vegetables every 2-4 hours.

4. Leg Press

For most people, it's easy to choose the leg press over squats. Afterall, they work the same leg muscles. Not true. It's mentally and physically more draining to perform the squats than the leg press. You want results, you got to work hard my friend.

The problem with the leg press is that you can't train your core muscles hard and functionally just by lying down. Sure you get strong legs but you get weak core muscles that do not work synergistically with your legs. The leg press may well be a major contributiing to the increased number of fitness enthusiasts that hurt their backs. People always use way too much weight and use poor form resulting in brutally compressive forces on the spine.

Want a nice pair of legs and flat mid section?

Go Back to basic: SQUAT, SQUAT, SQUAT

5.Leg Extension

This is definitely a bodybuilders' favourite exercise. For most women who don't aspire to be a bodybuilder or even want to be working out 2 hours a day, you better off doing compound movement exercises to recruit more muscles and burn more calories. With the leg extension, you'll be just working on the quads (front part of the thighs) and compared that with lunges with dumbbells you'll be working your quads and bum. Which is better?

It has to be the lunges. Work more muscles and burn more calories and save time.

6. Elliptical Trainer/Cross Trainer

If you're super unfit or really really overweight, then this elliptical has some use for you. Other than that, it's useless. Sure it's easy on the knees but this machine trains you a limited range of motion and does not burn as much calories as it claims.

At the end of the day. if you can read a dam magazine while on an elliptical, how much benefit do you really think you will get from this overpriced waste of space?

What should do instead for best results? Do high-intensity interval training run to see the best results.

Did you notice a common trend in all the exercises?

Yeah you're right. They required the use of MACHINE!!

So Get Off those damn useless machines and get back to BASICS. Why do you need those expensive gym membership anyway? Focus on functional movements using free weights such as kettlebells, bands and medicine ball and train with INTENSITY. Not only do you ramp up your metabolism and start losing fat, you prevent yourself from turning into a hunchbacked.

Train Hard Eat Healthy Look Good

P.S. Want a safe, functional and fat burning workout? Why not join us at the boot camp in Perth?

P.S.S. What other exercises do you see people doing in the gym that make you cringe? What other exercises do you absolutely hate? What exercises have gotten you (or your clients) hurt in the past? Please share your personal experiences by posting a comment to this blog post, thanks!

Perth Boot Camp Workout of the Week

2009-03-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

This boot camp exercise is called the "Push Press" and it can be done anywhere with a strength band. And this strength band is not like the type of physio rehab band. This band is a high-intensity band that we used in our women boot camp that help provides intense boot camp training.

This boot camp exercise works the whole body saving you time. it works the legs ( the bum), core and the triceps and shoulders. It's a winner. can't go wrong with this exercise. You don't have to think about using different exercises to work different muscles groups.

Hey for the women boot camp members you can do this in your off days or while you on the road. So no excuses for no workout.

Train Hard Eat Well

Perth Personal Training

Perth Boot Camp

Bad News For Veggies Eater

2009-03-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

It's just about impossible to gain weight just by eating veggies. I mean seriously, you'd have to eat a LOT of THEM.
BUT...

Salads are a different story altogether. Why is it that every time people want to get rid of their belly fat they break out the salad bowls and start eating like a rabbit?

Thing is, MOST salads people eat are loaded with fat and calories. It's as if people think bacon, cheese and ranch dressing suddenly have amazing fat burning properties when they're on top of a couple of carrots and broccoli.

Look, you probably don't really want to know how much damage you did the last time you ate "healthy" and went to the salad bar for lunch.

But what's done is done. Here are the tips you need to remember the next time you order one. They are from the Head of R & D at Prograde Nutrition, registered dietitian Jayson Hunter:

1) Ask for the dressing on the side and dip the tongs of your fork in the dressing and THEN pick up some salad. It gives you just enough flavor and keeps your calorie intake under control.

2) Choose a salad that has grilled protein in it such as chicken or fish. Remember, it should be GRILLED and not fried.

3) Sorry, leave off the cheese and bacon bits. You know why ;-)

Train Hard Eat Well
TC
www.perth-women-bootcamp.com.au
www.tcpersonaltraining.com

Eat Breakfast for Fat Loss

2009-03-14T19:05:00.000-07:00

For a long time, we been told to eat our breakfast. And most people would probably not be sure exactly why we should eat our breakfast. Well I have very good reason for you to eat your breakfast if you want get into great shape.

It's been found that women who eat their breakfast tend to have a lower BMI (body mass index) than women who don't eat their breakfast. That means women who eat breakfast weigh less. But I believe it would be healthy breakfast.

One of the reason given is that women who eat breakfast eat lesser throughout the day compared to those non-breakfast women. Doesn't it make sense? If you end up eating less, you less likely to gain weight and more likely to weigh less. So if you want to start looking better eat your breakfast. Remember every little things you do help.

You can read more about Damaging Effects of not Eating breakfast HERE.

Train Hard Eat Well
TC
Perth Boot Camp Coach

Boot Camp Instructor for Supreme Court Garden on Wednesday

2009-03-14T09:59:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is Sarah and I'm a qualified Exercise Physiologist having completed a Bachelor of Science (Exercise and Health Science) at The University of Western Australia. I also have two years experience working as a personal trainer and gym instructor for the Shire of Kalamunda, writing programmes for and instructing clients in the use of fitness equipment. I have had specific experience instructing the Boot Camp programme at the centre and really enjoyed pushing people to their limit.

I enjoy keeping myself fit, although trying to schedule it in around Physiotherapy studies isn't easy! My weekends usually include tennis, swimming and the occasional workout if I missed one during the week. Being active is a huge part of my life and I love encouraging others to do the same.

Fat -Killer Workout

2009-01-11T19:51:00.000-08:00

This is a very time-efficient and tough workout that only requires 4 minutes of your time. Well you can chose to do 8 minute if you want.
Okay this is how it works, do 20 second of Burpees and rest for 10 seconds.
(Note: Do your burpees on a grass patch that will reduce impact on your joints. Doing on hard surface such as concrete floor is going to kill your knees.)

After 20 seconds of break, do 20 seconds of push-ups followed by a 10 seconds rest.

Watch the video below on how to do the killer burpees

Watch this video below on how to do your push ups

Okay the whole workout go like this:

Set 1 - Do as many burpees as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

Set 2 - Do as many Push-Ups as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

Set 3 - Do as many burpees as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

Set 4 - Do as many Push ups as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

Set 5 - Do as many burpees as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

Set 6 - Do as many Push Ups as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

Set 7 - Do as many burpees as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

Set 8 - Do as many Push Ups as possible in 20 seconds
Rest - Do nothing for 10 seconds or jog for 10 seconds

And all this takes only 4 minutes but they're tough.
If you're fit enough, do 2 rounds (or 16 sets) for more fat burn.
Hey let me know how you feel after doing this.

Train hard and Train Smart
TC

New Coach: Danny Lum

2009-01-07T23:06:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! We have a new coach for the Bootcamp next week and he is Danny Lum. He is very experienced in fitness and graduated from The University of Western Australia with a Honours degree in Sports & Exercise Science. I had knew him back when I was in Singapore 4 years ago doing my ASCA Strength & Conditioning Certification course.
When I first know him, he looked very serious and yes he actually still look very serious. But when he start laughing or smiling it's kind of comical. So please poke fun at him when you see him at the camp.

More About Him
He was in the Commando and was very much involved in martial arts. Hmm...that's why he's so serious huh.
But don't worry about him been a commando, he won't get you to do crazy commando stuff.
He will give you a great workout experience because of his in depth knowledge about exercise science and the experience in fitness.

Train Hard and Train Smart
TC
Perth Women Bootcamp

Should You Consume Any Food after workout?

2009-01-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

Yes you should after an intense workout like the one we have at Perth Women Bootcamp in College Park, Nedlands. And it would be best to have the post-workout food within 45 minutes after a intense workout. Why 45 minutes ? Well doesn't have to be exact. It's important to do that because research had found that the body absorbed the nutrients best during that 45 minutes. Anything roughly after that, the absorption will be sub-optimal. And you will be setting your body up in a catabolic state which will mean that your body will break down protein in your muscles.

This would be detrimental to your overall recovery because your muscles instead of being repaired for damage induced by the workout they further break down. The result is you never recover from the last workout when you start your next workout maybe 2 days later. Then it will get worse as you go on like this because your muscles are never repaired and you eventually becomes very tired and worse of all lower your metabolism. And lowering your metabolism will cause your body to gain weight easily and finding fat loss a challenge.

For effective fat loss and improved metabolism, it is paramount that muscle tissue is preserved as much as possible. And to do that, you got to have that post-workout recovery food to effectively help you take on the next workout with minimal fatigue and muscle soreness.

What is a Great Post Workout food?
The carbs to protein ratio should be 2:1. The carbs should allow quick digestion so that the protein can be quickly transported to the body for repair. The best form of protein recommended here based on research is Whey Protein Isolate because it is readily digested, absorbed and used by the body. How much protein then? Research indicate 14gram of protein and the carbs should be of low fibre content. Why low fibre? Fibre will slow down the absorption. But fibre should be included in every other meal to slow down sugar release so that your body can burn more fat as a fuel.

So What's the Take Home Message Here?
If you're working out hard and wants to see result and make your effort count, you got to consume a post-workout recovery food that is make up of protein and quick-digesting carbs. If not, what's the point of working out so hard when research shows that people who don't consume post-workout food end up gaining more fat, lower their metabolism, and recover slower.

Some suggestions: One egg white would give you about 6.1 gram of protein and a banana would give you about 27gram of quick digesting carbs.
If you find it hard to eat after a workout, you might look over what my friends at ProGrades have for you.

Don't just train hard. Train Smart!
TC
Perth Women Bootcamp

Making a Healthy Snack for Fat Loss

2009-01-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

Hey this is something you wanna watch to give you an idea how you can really make a healthy and refreshing snack for maximum fat loss in less than a minute. Yes it's less than a minute. So no more excuses not to eat frequently because it can't take up much of your time and you don't have to be a great cook to make the wrap. Okay! I called it the "Perth Women Bootcamp Wrap.

The ingredients are:
Deli Turkey Breast (can be Roasted beef, grilled chicken breast)
Cherry Tomatoes (x 3)
Capsicum (1/4)
Alfafa Sprout (2 tablespoons)

You can't really go wrong with this wrap. You can bring it along to work and have it as a morning or mid afternoon snack.
If you find this blog useful, why not sign up for it on your right that says "Get Your Free Women Bootcamp Newsletter". And feel free to share this blog with your friends.

See Ya in the Camp!
TC
Perth Women Bootcamp

What's your Fitness Goal in the New Year?

2008-12-26T04:14:00.000-08:00

Very soon, 2008 will pass us by and we'll welcome 2009 although some will not look forward to the gloomy economy of 2009. Wheather or not the economy is good or bad, I feel that looking after your body should always be a priority. It's easy to understand why but often people overlook the importance having a healthy and fit body. With a strong body, you'll perform and think better at work and be able to leave good impression when you go for your job interview with the energy you got. Well there is a whole lot of other good stuff you already know.

Before you even get into your workout gear in 2009, think about what you really want to achieve in 2009. It's very crucial that you don't miss this step. Why? With no destination, there is no road map. You may probably heard about or done all these goal setting stuffs and may think it's about sheer determination and just some positive self-talk that do not work. I urge you to read on because it's about asking yourself why you want those goals or the desired changes you wish for. And you want your goals to serve you and goal setting is also about taking personal responsibility.

I can't stress enough that the Number One "pitfall" is not setting any meaningful goals. This is a surefire way to FAILURE! I seen many who did not set goals get nowhere and eventually gave up. Not that they did set goals, they set very vague goals. What are vague goals? The following are examples of vague goals:

I want to lose some weight.
I just want to tone up.
I want to be fitter.

Do you get what I mean? All the goals above cannot be measured and are very subjective and would definitely be considered as vague goals.

So what's a meaningful goal? It is objective and clear and can be measured quantitatively. The following are examples of meaningful goals:

I want to lose 10kilo of body fat
I want to achieve a 15% body fat body
I want to be able to run a marathon

You get the idea now? Meaningful goals have values to it and very clear. If you have not set any goals for 2009 I urge you to do so now. Because you'll never do it on another day. Write your goals on a piece of paper you will look at everyday.

When you set you goals, keep this in mind "There are no unrealistic goals but only unrealistc deadlines". So go ahead set yourself some goals and have a look at them for a minute.

Ask yourself very honestly why are those goals very important to you?

If you can't answer these honestly to yourself, you going to find it hard to achieve your goals. Remember you want your goals to serve you and not you serving your goals.

I remembered I had a client who wanted to lose weight and I asked her why.

She said:"It's obvious I'm overweight and I need to lose weight."

Then I went further by saying:"there is no crime in been overweight and it's not wrong to be overweight."

She later confused that she wanted to look good so she can meet people and feel loved.

It's important to find out the true reason and let that be the catalyst and motivation you can draw from.

Setting goals can be scary as well for some people because they can't envision themselves the way they want to be. Maybe because they don't think they deserved to be in great shape and that's probably why people set vague goals. I personally had clients who were afraid of the thoughts or images of themselves in great shape. If you can't picture yourself in great shape, how can you achieve it? According to a book called Psycho Cybernetics 2000, we cannot distinguish the difference between the subconscious and conscious mind and our subconscious mind dictate most of the things we fail to achieve. And I personally believe that sometimes we do have self-defeating thoughts in ourselves that we aren't even aware of. Really sometimes we do talk ourselves out of trying to do the things we needed to do in certain situations. Things like:" I should give up exercise because I am so unfit to begin with and I hate it." I'm sure you heard something like that before.

In order to stop the self-sabotaging, you got to catch yourself in that negative self-talk and stop that "head-thrash". Because all those "head-thrash" are going to stop you from realising your goals in the new year. Well of course, it will take more than just positive self-talk such as "Exercise is going to make me fitter and I love it".

"All the things we achieved are things we have first of all imagined"

David Malouf, Australian Writer

According to Bobbe Sommer(author of the book I just mentioned), all these logical thinking and verbal self-talk take place in the left brain which works in tandem with the conscious mind. And the subconscious mind is paired with the right brain which Bobbe Sommer called "the theater of imagination". If you could not imagined yourself to be in a certain state you wish to achieve, all those logical thinking or positive thinking or even willpower is not going to overcome all the barriers such as bad eating that sabotages your fitness goals. You need to able to visualise yourself to be in the desired state you want to be. If you can't see yourself in a situation, it's never going to happen. To engage you right brain and program your subconsious mind, practise mental imagery in a quiet place everyday in a relaxed state. Visualise with as much detail as possible in the way you want yourself to be.

Let your goals serve you and act as if you are already reached your goals.

Happy New Year!

Don't be a Quitter in 2009

Women Bootcamp

Looking Back at the First Women Bootcamp

2008-12-24T01:06:00.000-08:00

Today is the last workout day of the Perth Women Bootcamp in 2008 and everyone turned up on the morning of Christmas Eve with the same level of enthusiasm they had in the first session. The Perth Women Bootcamp started off in late November 2008 with 5 participants. I must say it’s quite a difficult month for most people as many find it pretty hard to achieve any meaningful goals let alone motivate themselves to start exercising. I wasn’t very hopeful to get anyone at all in the camp but somehow I was fortunate enough to have 5 very motivated ladies enrolled in the boot camp. If you asked me why I started the boot camp in the first place I would say that it’s because of Ingrid, the first bootcamp member, who signed up for the bootcamp online. Then she got her friend Gabby to come along and somehow I ended up with 5 people. I was going to start the boot camp even if I got only one bootcamp member for the month even though it‘s not going to be cost-effective for me. Believe me! I was going to do it and I done it before with the fitness camp with 1 or 2 members for several weeks in the winter and you can see why I was very thrilled to start off with 5 members this time. I was very pumped to help everyone of them in every possible way to get the most out of this camp.

When I started this bootcamp, I slowly came to realize that people have an impression that a bootcamp workout would have people crawling on the ground under barbwire, doing crazy amount of pushups, lifting giant ropes above their heads and addressing their boot camp instructors as corporal of Sergent. Or even get yelled at as “recruits”. But it’s not the case with the Perth Women Bootcamp as everyone is treated with great respect and is worked hard according to her own individual ability. And I’m sure the women bootcamp members would agreed with me. Look at the following videos. It has none of those things that people thought a bootcamp would have.

In my opinion, it’s been great start for everyone at the Women Bootcamp. One member, Dr Leonie, told me that she could have put on a couple of kilos easily this month had you not done the bootcamp in December. Despite the festive season, she lost 2.4kg, 2% bodyfat, and a total of 19cm off her right arm, right thigh, waist and hips. In fact, everyone in the bootcamp had lost centimetres off their body despite not being able to follow the boot camp eating guidelines 100%. It’s not hard to understand why everybody found it hard to stick to the healthy eating guidelines towards the end as I would find it hard as well due to all the overwhelming social events (work Christmas party, friends’ party, etc) that had came up this month. The healthy eating guidelines are not some calories restrictive or starvation diet that some people I spoke to thought it would be. It’s meant to educate everyone how to eat healthy and lose and maintain fat lost permanently and at the same time everyone can apply the eating guidelines into their lifestyles to ensure long-term success.

In the end, I think everyone had worked hard enough to offset the less than perfect eating to lose centimetres off their bodies. And I’m glad that everyone in the bootcamp will have a headstart to 2009.

To all the Women Bootcamp members, I would like to thank you for your participation and the hard work that you all put in. And I hope you had enjoyed the women bootcamp experience and I’m sure you will be able to build on the momentum and find it easier to get back on track to a new body in the New Year 2009!

Hey enjoyed your victory with a few drinks and see ya soon! I’ll be looking forward to my wife’s chocolate cheese cake and enjoy the evening with a few drinks and recharge myself for 2009.

Merry Christmas!
TC

5 Surefire ways to prevent weight gain during the Christmas Holidays

2008-12-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

Here is the 5 sure fire ways to help you prevent weight gain before the New Year. This is the busiest period where everybody gets really busy with the Christmas preparation and easily the time many people would fall off the wagon and start gaining weight. People are trading in their workout commitment for more time for Christmas errands and events. Don't let that be you. Why? It is a huge mistake to risk losing the lean muscle mass and strength that you have worked so hard to gain. Your resting metabolism rate accounts for 60-75% of your total daily calorie intake and losing lean muscle mass will actually lower your resting metabolism rate which in turn will cause your body to burn less and less calories day by day. This means that you will be at a greater risk of easily gaining excess weight on your body. Plus, losing the strength will mean your performance will be sub par the next time when you get back to work out and you will find it a lot harder to gain your strength back than to lose it! So should you resign yourself to eminent weight gain that seems to affect everyone? Not really because there are smart and effective ways, both from exercise and daily activities, to help you maintain and stay in tip top shape during the Christmas holidays. Just follow the simple strategies below to prevent the dreadful holiday bloat!

1) Accumulate your workout throughout the day

The number one excuse most people have is not having enough time to do exercise. Often times, people will say they don't even have 20 minutes for exercise. Well no more! When it comes to expending calories, your body cannot recognize difference between 100 squats done in a row or 100 squats done in a day. I'm sure you can get quite a few free moments throughout the day like waiting between the time after you put in the turkey into the oven and taking it out. You will be surprised how many free moments you have in a day that you can sneak in something like 10 squats, 10 burpees, 10 pushups and 10 rows. Using these method throughout the day will lead to big numbers and results in more calorie burning and lean muscle building effects. Have a target! Go for 100 squats, 100 pushups and 100 burpees or something else.

2) Do multi-joint compound movement exercises

Forget about doing all your time-wasting biceps curls, triceps extensions/French curls or shoulder lateral raises. They are termed singled-joint movement exercises because the movement occurs in only one joint. The problem with single-joint exercises is that it would be very time consuming to perform all the single-joint exercises required to get a whole body workout.

3) Perform at least a intense strength training workout once a week

Studies show that one intense strength workout a week is enough to help maintain your current strength and lean muscle mass. For maximum fat burning effects, perform three full body strength training sessions per week and three cardio interval training sessions on non strength-training days.

4) Be on your feet most of the time

Stop using all the machines that has made us all incredibly all of shape and overweight. You should still drive to the shopping malls and do your Christmas shopping. But you can certainly find opportunities to burn more calories by parking your car further away from the shopping malls, forgoing the escalators or lifts and walk more on your feet. And carry your own shopping bags for more calories consumption!

5) Engage in more outdoor holiday activities

If you're in the hot summer of Australia, and heading to the beach for some social outing during the Christmas holidays, don't just lie around and drink your booze. Have some fun by bringing a football or volleyball and played some games or just get into the water and have a swim. Talk about burning awesome amount of calories without thinking about it!

Train Smart !
TC
Perth Women Bootcamp

Building the Ultimate Circuit Training For Rapid Fat Loss

2008-11-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

In the past the cornerstone of most resistance training workouts has been performing exercises in a straight set of format. Essentially, this means you perform a certain number of reps for a given exercise or you perform as many reps as possible for a given exercise and then you rest anywhere from 30 seconds to five minutes based on your training goals before repeating this set a certain number of times based on your goals. For more of a fat loss and lean muscle gain emphasis shorter rest periods are ideal. For more of a strength or power emphasis, longer rest are prescribed.

So. what's the problem with this format? Well, though straight sets are extremely easy to comprehend for people new to fitness, they are also an extremely inefficient way to order your exercises. In most commercial gyms you'll typically see someone perform three sets of 10 reps for let's say the bench press or dips. They pump out 10 reps, go to the water fountain, talk with some buddies, watch a couple of highlights on ESPN or staring at MTVs, and then gingerly walk back to the bench area to hit up their second set. In general, most people, guys in particular, tend to take about 3-5 minutes between sets. Well, it does happen to ladies when they hang out together in the gym.In the case of the three sets of 10 on the bench that means it would take up to 15 minutes to complete only one movement pattern (a horizontal push). That means you'd need at least an hour to perform four different exercises!

A much more effective and time-efficient approach to ordering your exercises is ultilizing the alternating set format. Here you'll perform one exercise, rest for a short period of time, then perform another non-competing exercise, rest for a short period of time, and so forth. Alternating sets allow you to work different areas of your body when you would otherwise be resting with the straight set format. Plus, by working another area of your body with a non-competing exercise you allow your body to recover from the previous exercise(s). The result is imporoved training economy and density: more work accomplished in less time, the cornerstone of any sound fat loss program. There are several ways to perform alternating sets outlined below:

Supersets: Alternate between two different non-competing exercises (e.g. upper body and lower body such as push-ups and lunges)
Trisets: Alternate between three different exercises (e.g. push, pull and lower body such as push-ups, rows and lunges)
Circuits: Alternate between four or more different exercises

In my opinion circuit training would be in the best options compared to supersets and triceps because it's time-efficient in working the whole body. Why? Let's examine my favourite circuit training template using timed set intervals:

The 50-10 Five Exercise Circuit. You will alternate between 50 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest for all five exercises in the following 5-minute circuit:

Exervise#1- Squats

Exercise#2- Dips

Exercise#3- Single-Leg Hip Extensions

Exercise#4- Pull-ups

Exercise#5- Leg Raises

Perform this circuit up to 4 times for a 20-minute total body fat burning workout.

Bascially, in the same 15 minutes that it took to get in three sets on the bench you could have gotten in three sets of five different exercise for a staggering toatl of 15 work sets! Plus, the intensity on each exercise will be just as high as in the straight set format becasue in this five exercise circuit you will have full recovery with over 4 minutes befire you return to any given exercise (just as you did with the straight set format described earlier).

To recap, the key to creating the optimal hormonal environment for fat loss is to perform each exercise with maximal intensity while separated by brief rest periods in order to accumulate a high volume of total body work in the shortest amount of time possible. Circuit training provides for the best of both worlds and is thus simply unmatched for simultaneously maximizing fat loss and lean muscle gain. Use the following template I use with my many boot camp clients for some killer, yet simple fat loss circuits:

Exercise#1- Double-Leg

Exercise#2- Push

Exercise#3- Single-Leg

Exercise#4- Pull

Exercise#5- Core

I'll be sharing some more great circuit training workouts from my bootcamps in the weeks to come ;)

Be Inspired and Train with Belief!
TC
www.perth-women-bootcamp.com.au