Cardio Training

Start your fat burn adventure by burning total body fat. Never do "spot fat reduction," such as targeting abdominal fat. Spot reduction won't work.


The overall goal should be for you to have a healthy, lean body and not just great looking legs or abs.

Here are some common body fat areas that are sometimes hard to lose:

--belly fat,
--butt/hips/thighs fat,
--low back fat and
--upper back arm fat

Any of those fat areas sound familiar? I think we all have dealt with one or more of those stubborn fat areas. Do you know what to do about it?

First, stop wasting money on fitness gadgets! You don't need them to burn fat and lose weight.

Second, don't spend any more money on fat loss and weight loss pills. You don't need those supplements either. And finally, forget about quick weight loss programs. They don't work long-term and that's why they are called quick!

This is what you need to do to burn total body fat:

1. Start a healthy meal plan filled with whole, natural foods. Fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-fat diary products and whole grains fit the bill. Severely limit sugars, fast foods, processed foods and foods in a box or bag.

Base your daily caloric intake on your basal metabolic rate, your daily activity and your goals. This way, you won't eat too much or too little (severe calorie restriction).

You need to maintain a caloric deficit on most days to burn fat and lose weight consistently.

2. Drink only water and unsweetened drinks most of the time. Drink about half your body weight in ounces every day. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, drink at least 75 ounces of water every day. This will improve your health and help with weight loss.

3. Start building muscle mass and burning fat at the same time. You must change your body's composition to more muscle and less fat. This will speed up your metabolism and help you burn more calories every day.

You don't need to be a body builder but you need to burn the fat (to an acceptable body fat percentage) on your body and build muscle mass.

And, you must do more than cardio exercise to change your body's composition. "Cardio only" will not lean out your body.

Your body will also shrink because muscle takes up less space than fat. Over time, you will begin to lose weight and the weight will stay off. Do full body circuit strength training 3 times a week, about 30-40 minutes a session. When you get really good at it, 20-minute strength training sessions will be enough to get the job done.

4. I recommend doing interval cardio sessions (about 20 minutes a session) 2-3 times a week. Sprint interval cardio works best, especially on inclines on grass.

Bodyweight exercise interval cardio also works well. You might have to work up to being able to do 20-minute interval cardio sessions. If you are doing 60-minute cardio sessions, don't! It is wasting your time and precious muscle mass.

5. If you have stubborn fat areas like lower ab fat, you can do extra strength exercises on cardio days to address those areas. Aim to burn total body fat first and local area fat second.

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut and start burning fat and building muscle!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
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