Tabata Protocol - The Fast Approach to Interval Cardio

Have you ever heard of the "Tabata Protocol"? It isn't a brand new way of performing cardio, but it is rarely discussed in fitness circles anymore. It is really too bad, because I think many people could benefit tremendously by incorporating it into their fat loss routines. It is very similar to Craig Ballantyne's, turbulence training, but done in shorter time frames.

The Tabata Protocol? What Exactly Is It?

The Tabata Protocol was a high-intensity, short interval workout that was intended as an interval routine for the Japanese Speed Skating team. Named after the head coach, Izumi Tabata, Ph.D., who was the former researcher at Japan's National Institute of Fitness and Sports, this fat loss workout has been found to be extremely effective.

So How Is This Interval Routine Different?

The entire routine takes about 13 minutes, but this includes only 3-4 minutes of very intense work. The routine involves 6-8 hard intervals that last 20 seconds each. Alternate with 10-second rest periods. Add in five minutes each of warm up and cool down, and, you’re done!

How on Earth Can 3-4 Minutes Burn Body Fat?

The secret to this type of short-term intense interval training is that it speeds up your metabolism and keeps it there for hours after you’re done. Burning fat for hours after the workout leads to very effective results. Keep your muscles healthy, because your body burns fat instead of muscle tissue.

Short Does Not Equal Easy!

Just because it’s short, it’s not exactly easy. It needs to be done right, and you need to commit to this type of program to see the results you’re looking for. Top athletes have to work hard to get through it, so stick with it and don’t become easily discouraged by how hard it is to get into it. Your aerobic and anaerobic abilities will be better, making you a better athlete, no matter what your sport is.

Practically Anything Goes With the Tabata Protocol Workout.

The choices are nearly limitless for this method of cardio workout. Try an exercise bike, an elliptical trainer, or a track. Pretty much the only poor choice is a treadmill, only because it takes too long for the treadmill to adjust to different speeds and these intervals are so short. Anything that allows you to reach an intense level of exertion quickly will work perfectly.

The Tabata Protocol Will Improve Your Skills In Your Chosen Sport

Whether you’re a boxer, a basketball player, or a gymnast, intense interval work can improve your abilities. Athletic performance at any level will improve as a result of using these methods in a committed way.

How You Can Fit This In With Your Regular Workouts

This isn't the type of training that you will want to do every day or even every other day. Intense interval training like this is effective, but can really tax your system. If you workout this hard every day you will be so worn out it will be easy to skip working out altogether. Don't make this mistake! Aim for 2-3 days per week to see maximum results.

 

Losing Weight: Overcome Five Psychological Factors Causing Your Belly Bulge

Anyone who has ever lost weight will tell you that the process is not easy. Many say that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," and in a similar way, the road to weight loss is paved with chocolate fences and mountains of candy.

That being said, most of us realize that to lose weight, we need to perform some manner of exercise, eat a balanced diet, and somehow manage to sustain this new lifestyle. Almost all of us seasoned dieters start out with the best of intentions, only to be found facedown in a plate of syrupy pancakes a few days later. Why is this? Are there psychological factors that may be hampering our attempts to shed our wobbly rolls?

Here is an overview of the top five psychological factors which may be hindering your diet attempts, as well as some advice as to how you can overcome them:

The Failure Factor

Especially if you feel like you have been on and off the diet wagon several times, you might be stuck in an emotional cycle of failure. You failed on your last diet, you actually gained weight on the diet before, and so you pretty much know that it is only a matter of time before this new diet fails, right? Wrong! This is a new day and a new diet. Your previous failures are in no way related to this current attempt. Ensure that you have written down a list of goals to remind yourself of why losing weight is so important to you. This way, if you find yourself straying from the balanced diet trail, you will have added motivation to continue.

The Comfort Eating Factor

Most of us have at one time or another come home from a bad day of the office, and raided the refrigerator to find some solace. If you are constantly medicating your mind with food, your balanced diet is unlikely to work. Try to find other ways of relieving stress, like exercise, reading, relaxation, or journaling, to take the emotional emphasis away from your food.

The Depression Factor

If you find yourself feeling low, sad, or depressed most of the time, these feelings could be preventing your diet and exercise regime from working optimally. Perhaps you feel too tired to exercise, or maybe you find yourself lacking the energy required to prepare healthy, balanced meals. Depression is a serious illness, and it is very important to seek help and treatment from a health professional.

The Binge Factor

One of the major problems with fad diets, or unsustainable diets, is that they make you feel horrible. After a few days or cabbage soup and celery sticks, you might find yourself binging on every unhealthy food source you can find. The main thing you can do here is to ensure that you have done some research prior to beginning the diet. If the plan involves cutting out a food group or replacing one food group with another, the chances are that this won't work for you. Choose a well-balanced diet founded on a good nutritional premise, and put the binge factor to bed for good.

The Stress Factor

Stress is at best unhealthy for our bodies, and at worst terrible for our weight! Stress raises our cortisol levels, which essentially means that we end up storing fat much deeper in our bodies than we might suspect. Reducing stress means that we reduce sugar cravings, depression, or binge cycles. Try relaxation, yoga, meditation, or deep breathing exercises to alleviate stressful feelings.

Losing weight is not as simple as just the diet and exercise. Take steps towards eliminating psychological factors, and you will find that your mind and body feel lighter and happier!

Discover how to make weight loss a realistic proposition without hours of toil and exercise.

Get the latest unbiased reviews of the best weight loss products available for instant download on the internet.

Visit http://healtholatry.com/reports/category/weight-loss/ for more details.

Best Elliptical Trainers – Best Elliptical Machines Reviews

One of the best pieces of equipment to own for workout is the elliptical trainer. It´s used these days instead of the treadmill, because they bring workouts of lower impact and they are quite effective for anyone that wants to train.

Stop Injuries to the Joints

The effect of the elliptical trainer on your joints is something to consider when choosing the best option for you. Another thing is making sure that you will get the best cardiovascular workout that you need, to meet the training needs optimum for you.

The elliptical trainer can achieve that without having the need for other training equipment.

The price of the elliptical trainer is another thing to consider when making a choice. Keep in mind the budget and the maximum price you can afford and respect it. You can easily go too far when you want to buy an elliptical trainer, because you usually want the best option available.

But some elliptical trainers can cost up to thousands of dollars, so you should be sure that you can afford that. Unless you are training to become a bodybuilder or a marathon runner, most budget elliptical trainers should be more than sufficient for most people. Budget elliptical machines usually cost less than $500 and should be quite affordable.

When you review training equipment, you should make sure they have features like handles for upper body training, adjustable incline, quiet operation, adjustable resistance and a stride length of around 21 inch. It should also have warm up settings and cooling off period as safety features.

Elliptical trainers with handrails aren´t usually considered the best ones. This is because handrails can prevent the user from having the best workout overall.

A warranty is another thing an elliptical trainer should have when you buy it. A normal warranty should be 1 year for labor and up to 3 years for the parts.

Check out the best elliptical trainers online. Discover where to buy the best elliptical machines online.

Fight the Flab: Lose Your Body Fat Fast

Wee early in the morning, you are looking at the billboards on your way to work. Not so many fat people on them are there? For most people, shedding excess fat is not easy. It takes commitment, motivation, and lots of hard work. One of the hardest parts about attempting to rid your body of the unsightly fat rolls is actually finding a healthy plan to help you do so.

Though you might not realize it, there is a definite difference between losing weight and losing fat. Losing weight refers to dropping physical poundage, whereas fat loss is actually a reference to the reduction of some of the stores of fat which might well be situated on your tummy, thighs, butt, and arms. Blasting your body fat will make you feel much healthier, look much better, and dramatically increase your confidence.

Here are some strategies designed to help you lose body fat fast:

Increase Your Protein Intake

Increasing your protein intake is almost synonymous with decreasing your carbohydrate intake. Protein breaks down into amino acids, which help you build muscle mass, and in the process, more energy is burned processing it. This means a double whammy for your body; you reduce your fat reserves, and tone your muscles at the same time. Eat leafy green vegetables, fresh fruits, lean meats, and poultry for optimal results. Complex carbohydrates are fine in moderation and will actually provide your body with a great source of fiber. Complex carbohydrates include: Cereal, brown rice, and some pastas. Just be sure to exclude starchy carbohydrates and high-fat foods, and you will be on your way to losing some serious fat cells.

Exercise

It sounds boring, but long-duration, low-intensity exercise really does burn fat - and quickly! Aerobic activity is by far the best kind to do. Walking is especially good because it's easy to do, and most people can walk for quite some time without getting tired. It also spares the all-important muscle mass, which is particularly important if you are not a big protein eater. If you walk at a constant speed on the treadmill, not only will you burn general fat, but you will also tone your butt muscles at the same time, as an added bonus!

Drink More Water

Drinking 6 -8 glasses of drinking water each day will not only decrease your appetite; it will also flush out waste products and toxins from your body. If you replace your usual soda drink with water, you will drastically reduce your sugar intake. Diet soda, though it contains no actual sugar, has been found to carry harmful chemicals which can negatively impact your attempt to burn fat.

Take Time Out between Servings

You might not realize that it takes around 20 minutes after you have eaten for your body to register that it's full. That horrible bloated feeling that comes from having eaten too much is a direct result of unintentional overeating. If you can eat your food and wait 20 minutes to decide whether or not you are sated before ordering the next course, you will prevent unnecessary food entering your body, eventually being stored as fat.

Losing fat will make you feel great about your body, enhance your confidence, and also allow you to show off some of the buff muscles you have built during your time at the gym!

Discover how to make fat loss a realistic proposition without hours of toil and exercise.

Get the latest unbiased reviews of the best fat loss products available for instant download on the internet.

Visit http://healtholatry.com/reports/category/fat-loss/ for more details.

How do I control cravings and stop eating to wrong food?

 One of the hardest things to control when you are on a diet are food cravings. The fact that your food is restricted makes you want the wrong food all the more. And the food types we crave are always the ones that will not help you lose weight like bread, cheese, chocolate, ice cream and peanuts. So what do I do to stop my cravings for the wrong foods.

The first thing I do is make foods that I crave unavailable or at least difficult to get hold of. I clear the food cupboard and fridge of anything that is going to tempt me into a food binge. This makes it difficult for the family person but the diet will be a team effort anyway so they will understand.

The second thing to do is surround yourself with permitted foods that you can freely snack. For a low GI diet you can stop your cravings with fruit and fresh vegetables. On a low carb diet like Atkins you can have small pieces of sliced ham in the fridge to munch.

The problem of course is that will not stop you craving for the wrong foods. You may be eating something healthy like a stick of celery but your mind is focussed on cheese or bread. What you have to do is train your mind to crave the good foods instead of the bad ones.

To start with choose a fruit that you enjoy eating. Take the humble apple. Now I like apples and I eat a lot of them but they are what you would call an ordinary food to eat. What I do is say to myself that It is not just an apple. I picture it as a crunchy fresh apple with a glossy red skin that has a bright sweet tangy flavour. Can you taste that apple. By picturing your allowed food in this way again and again you will find yourself craving the right sort of food.

To try this with another fruit imagine a mandarin. But look at it this way. This mandarin just falls out of its peel and smells of the juice that it contains. When you bite into it the mandarin juice floods your taste buds with fantastic flavour. So if you are having problems controlling your food cravings try this tactic.

How to Find Your Fitness Level

To find the right diet plan or diet e-book for you, you need to know your fitness level. These three tests will show you how to assess your fitness level without even leaving your house.

Check Your Heart Rate

First, check your heart rate to see if it is in a healthy range. A normal, healthy resting heart rate is usually around 60 beats a minute. To find what your resting heart rate is, check your pulse while you are still lying in bed. Find your pulse on your wrist with your index finger and middle finger. For 15 seconds count how many beats you feel. Multiply that number by four and you have your at rest heart rate.

If you find that your heart rate is quite a bit above 60, you may be somewhat out of shape and should aim for cardio exercise plans to strengthen your heart, as well as burn fat fast.

Checking Weight and BMI

Your weight and BMI or Body Mass Index should also factor into your diet plan.

Many people don't weigh themselves properly, and this gives them an unreal image of their fitness level. To get a correct weight, weigh first thing in the morning. Do it naked and make sure that your scale is on hard, level ground. This will get you the most accurate weight possible.

Body Mass Index uses your accurate weight to show the percentage of body fat in relation to your lean muscle mass. Here is the formula for calculating your BMI:

1.      Take your height and multiply it, in meters, by itself and write that number down.

2.      Divide your weight, in kilograms, by the number you just wrote down.

3.      The total will be your BMI.

To decide if your BMI is in a healthy range, compare your number to these figures:

·         Below 18.5 is underweight

·         20-25 is considered a normal BMI.

·         Above 25 is considered an overweight BMI.

Tailor your workout plan and diet to the information you glean from these tests. If you are very overweight and strenuous exercise could cause injury, you may want to start with a diet that doesn't require exercise; for example, this fatloss4idiots review. If you feel that you are a healthy weight and these tests tell you otherwise, consult with your doctor.

 

Lose Fat Fast With Realistic Goals

Setting goals is a good way to see improved results no matter what you do with your life. Of course the same is true of fat loss. This is how to lose belly fat.

Goals mean you have something to aim at. If There is an identifiable reason attached to your diet and exercise you are more likely to succeed.

But you really must be sure to set yourself honest targets. Unattainable targets mean you might not hit them early on and you will probably give up before you have given the diet a chance.

Long term goals are fine but targets for the near future are needed too. Creeping along losing a small bit of fat at a time is a much better strategy for success.

As you achieve these mid-range targets on the way they will push you more towards your final goal. As you see the little amounts of weight coming off and the improvements that this brings with it you will be able to see your body being at an optimum weight. You will also start believing that it is a thing that you can finally achieve.

The intermediate time scale and thus your intermediate measure of achievement cannot mean getting on the scales every day. This is not how to lose stomach fat. A much better thing to do is to weigh yourself every 2 weeks as your actual weight rises and falls from day to day. The body will have time to adjust and you will be able to observe measurable results.

By weighing yourself every day the daily fluctuations may show that your weight has not changed. Or worse because of fluctuations it could even appear to have gone up.

If you don't weigh yourself for 14 days and stick to your weight loss program the end result is not the same. This won't be as dis-spiriting as going at it the other way.

A good system is needed so check out the Burn the Fat Feed The Muscle review and start today.

How to Beat a Diet Plateau

You may have lost a lot of weight already, and you’re ready to lose more, but the scale just doesn’t seem to budge. You’re at a diet plateau. There are many reasons why a body stops losing weight even when the diet plan is still going strong. There are also many ways to push through a plateau to lose more weight.

Why You’re Stuck

Though the causes may vary, there are two major factors that create a weight plateau: ideal weight and complacency.

Your ideal weight is the weight that your body thinks is best, no matter how you may feel. This weight is predetermined by genetics, body type, and muscle mass. For most people, once they reach this ideal weight, there’s not much they can do. If the person pushes on and forces the body to lose more weight, it may rebel and gain the weight right back.

Complacency is a much easier foe to overcome. It comes about when what was once challenging becomes common. The lack of challenge sets your body in plateau mode.

What You Can Do

To move past a plateau, you need to re-examine your goals and weight loss plan.

First, examine your weight. Are you at your ideal weight and didn’t even realize it? Consult your doctor and assess your fitness level to see if you may simply be at the end of your weight loss journey.

If you decide there are still pounds to lose, consider creating more of a challenge for your body. Exercise longer, add new challenging moves, or learn a new exercise that works different muscles than you are used to.

No matter what you do, do not go into starvation mode to lose more weight. This can damage your metabolism and your body. Face your plateau with a healthy outlook and your body will respond to your efforts. Try a complementary diet plan, like this FatLoss4Idiots review.