I thought I'd better start with the TT Beginner level workout. I have trained for years, but these bad boys are completely different to anything I have done before.
After a unique body weight calisthenic warm up, I started the workout. To be fair to Craig, who has spent years developing this system, I wont list the exercises, but the whole workout took me @ 20 minutes.Not long you might say, I'd agree. Three supersets!! (supersets are 2 exercises performed back to back with no rest between them)
Three supersets of 6 exercises.What's unique about this system is that the exercises hit opposing body parts. For example, the first superset is a leg exercise, followed immediately by a chest exercise. Complete the required repetitions, rest for 1 minute, then perform 2 more supersets. I bet you that it will be the most intense 9 supersets you will do.
This style of training raises your metabolism for around 48 hours after exercising, so you can see where the fat burning effect comes in.
However, just to ensure that maximum fat loss is achieved, it's time for some interval training.
Interval training is a style of doing "cardio training" that is 9 times more effective at burning fat than traditional "steady state" aerobic training. To perform intervals, begin with a warm up @3-5 minutes, then you perform intervals of work & "rest".For example, after your warm up, you would perform a work interval of say 1 minute, then a "rest" interval, at a much lower intensity of any thing from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. You normally perform 6 rounds of these intervals.
Today I did my intervals on the bike, my work period was 1 minute, my rest period was 1 minute and I did 6 rounds. Twelve minutes,plus 6 minutes of warming up & cooling down( 3 minutes each).
There you have it, 40 minutes of training in the most effective fat burning style.
Oh, did I mention, it's good fun too! Click here to find out for yourself
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Day 1 of 60 of the TT twitter transformation contest
Thursday January 15th 2009.Starting weight 379lbs.
Here is my before picture.As you can see, I'm too sexy for my shirt!!
I have trained for a number of years, the old style bodybuilding way,using standard routines that you would find in the Muscle & Fiction mags. I was always in a bulking phase too!
Now I'm 47 this year, and although the weight has not proved troublesome, until a knee injury last August, I really need to drop weight.
I now have a sore left knee, and because my body is accommodating the injury, I suffer from backache occasionally as well. Unfortunately, occasionally is getting more and more frequent.
Like most muscle heads, I lived in denial, I lift regularly, so I can eat what I want.
In reality it doesn't work that way.That has been a painful lesson to learn, and the biggest shock was seeing me reach 379 pounds.
I have owned Turbulence Training for a couple of years, and occasionally used the workouts, so I am aware of how intense they are.Like most people,I have searched for the "miracle cure" for weight loss, and all the research I have done has convinced me that Turbulence Training is the way to go.
The 60 day challenge has come just at the right time for me, so I hope you enjoy reading about my progress.
Friday, 16 January 2009
Late Breaking News!
At the last minute Craig Ballantyne decided to do another Twitter Transformation Contest inside of the regular Turbulence Training Transformation Contest. Here's what you need to know... 1) You can do both the regular TT Transformation Contest and the TT Twitter Transformation Contest at the same time. 2) The Twitter Contest starts today and lasts 60 days. The deadline to submit your "Before and After Photo" and Essay is March 20th, 2009 (60 days from tomorrow). 3) There are cash prizes and Membership give-aways for this contest. I hope this gives you the incentive you need to start transforming your body - and your life - today! For all of the details about this contest and how you can win big money by burning fat, go here.
Hold The Front Page: I am taking part in the 60 day transformation, follow my progress on this blog and on Twitter
Hold The Front Page: I am taking part in the 60 day transformation, follow my progress on this blog and on Twitter
Monday, 5 January 2009
10-Minute Fat Loss Workouts By Craig Ballantyne, CSCS,
Word count: 1295Related keywords: cardio, fat loss, workout, exercise routine, burn fat, lose weight, weight loss, Men's Health, intervals, bodyweight exercise
10-Minute Fat Loss Workouts By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, TurbulenceTraining
Last week I helped Men's Health magazine on a piece about getting workouts done fast. Personally, I think you can get a great body-changing workout done in minutes.
How fast?
I'm talking 10-minutes.
By now, I'm sure you're asking...
How do you lose fat in only ten minutes?
or
What about the rule that it takes 20 minutes of cardio before you start burning fat?
Well, first of all, as I have said before, the whole idea of afat-burning zone or a magical fat-burning time period just doesn't fit with the common sense approach to fat loss.
People can lose fat without doing any cardio at all - so its clearthat you don't have to workout for at least 20-minutes with your heart rate at 60% of your maximum heart rate. Fat loss is far simpler than that - and I'll show you some basic workouts below that crank your metabolism and help you burn calories when you are not exercising.
Second, the results of your training occur outside of the gymrather than during the workout. That's why the before-mentioned "increased metabolism" is so important. If you put the right "turbulence" on your muscles in 10-minutes, you can change your body - without even thinking about doing cardio.
So let's look at the first fat loss in a hurry workout - a10-minute bodysculpting workout. Let's say you only have 10 minutes to do your workout today - what should you do?
In this case, you need to combine a warm-up, strengthtraining, and interval training all into one. So our efforts arebest put forward on bodyweight training.
And you don't have time for isolation work. Instead, you need tohit three "hot zones" on the body for maximum metabolism boosting: push muscles, pull muscles, and legs.
By doing so, you'll hit all the other muscle groups at the sametime. So you'll do a circuit of soemthing like:
1A) Prisoner Squats (advanced option: 1-Leg Squats)1B) Pushups (advanced option: Spiderman Pushups)1C) Inverted Rows (advanced option: Pull-ups; easy option:Stick-ups)
In the first round of this circuit, you'll go through it easy.Perform 25% of the maximum number of reps you can do for each exercise. So if you can do 20 pushups, do only 5 in the firstwarm-up circuit. That's a warm-up circuit.
Then you'll do as many circuits as you can in the remainder of the 10 minutes. Just go back-to-back-to-back on these 3 exercises. You can rest after the rows/pull-ups for 30 seconds if necessary, but that's it.
You'll be pleasantly surprised with how you feel at the end of the 10-minutes. And your metabolism will be elevated for a much longer period than if you trained in the fat-burn zone for 10-minutes.
Okay, now here's another option, moving into some dumbbell work. The following superset trains the entire body, and focuses on the 3 hot zones.
1A) DB Squat (8 reps per set)1B) DB Chest Press (8 reps per set)
Use light weights for one warm-up set, and then do as many sets as possible in 10 minutes for the rest of the workout.
In any case, if you find yourself with another 10 minutes, you can up the fat-burning ante by doing 10 minutes of intervals. This too is far more effective for fat loss and fitness than 10 more minutes in the "so-called" fat-burning zone.
Do 3-5 minutes of exercise-specific warm-up.
Then do your intervals for 30 seconds followed by 30-60 seconds of rest. Repeat 3-6 times. Then cooldown.
Okay, now let's get greedy and assume we have 30 minutes for our workout. We'll be close to getting maximum results with this"marathon" duration workout.
First, hit up the bodyweight circuit mentioned above. Do thistwice, nice and easy. That will take 5 minutes off the clock.
Then move into your strength supersets. Following the lead above, you'll look to train the entire body with only 2 moves. It's not always easy, but fortunately you can do 2 supersets in thisworkout. The strength training will take about 15 minutes as you'll do 3 sets of 8 per exercise with no extra rest between sets - just long enough to switch exercises.
1A) DB Split Squat (If you have a barbell, use it instead of DB's)1B) DB Row
2A) DB Romanian Deadlift 2B) DB Incline Press
Then finish with intervals. For this workout, try another program. Start with a warm-up, then do each "work" interval for 45 seconds, and rest 60 seconds between each interval. Do 4-6 rounds and finish with a cool-down, of course.
I could go on and on with these fast fat loss workouts...and ofcourse I do, in the Turbulence Training e-book.
I'll follow up on this article in the future, passing along some ofthe exact Turbulence Training workouts that I use with my clients to get the most results in the least amount of time.
Until then, train hard, train safe, and train better than everyoneelse in the gym.
Sincerely,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MSAuthor, Turbulence Training
P.S. Is a lack of time stressing you out?
"No time to exercise" is the #1 reason most people don't exercise consistently. In fact, a lack of time stresses most people out for many reasons - whether it's a lack of time to prepare good food, exercise, or be with your family.
That's why I created Turbulence Training to be the most efficient and effective fat loss program out there.
The warm-up is applicable to your workout, not some 5-minute waste of time on the treadmill.
The strength training supersets shave minutes off your wait time.
And the intervals cut your cardio in half, or more.
About the AuthorCraig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment,Click Here
10-Minute Fat Loss Workouts By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, TurbulenceTraining
Last week I helped Men's Health magazine on a piece about getting workouts done fast. Personally, I think you can get a great body-changing workout done in minutes.
How fast?
I'm talking 10-minutes.
By now, I'm sure you're asking...
How do you lose fat in only ten minutes?
or
What about the rule that it takes 20 minutes of cardio before you start burning fat?
Well, first of all, as I have said before, the whole idea of afat-burning zone or a magical fat-burning time period just doesn't fit with the common sense approach to fat loss.
People can lose fat without doing any cardio at all - so its clearthat you don't have to workout for at least 20-minutes with your heart rate at 60% of your maximum heart rate. Fat loss is far simpler than that - and I'll show you some basic workouts below that crank your metabolism and help you burn calories when you are not exercising.
Second, the results of your training occur outside of the gymrather than during the workout. That's why the before-mentioned "increased metabolism" is so important. If you put the right "turbulence" on your muscles in 10-minutes, you can change your body - without even thinking about doing cardio.
So let's look at the first fat loss in a hurry workout - a10-minute bodysculpting workout. Let's say you only have 10 minutes to do your workout today - what should you do?
In this case, you need to combine a warm-up, strengthtraining, and interval training all into one. So our efforts arebest put forward on bodyweight training.
And you don't have time for isolation work. Instead, you need tohit three "hot zones" on the body for maximum metabolism boosting: push muscles, pull muscles, and legs.
By doing so, you'll hit all the other muscle groups at the sametime. So you'll do a circuit of soemthing like:
1A) Prisoner Squats (advanced option: 1-Leg Squats)1B) Pushups (advanced option: Spiderman Pushups)1C) Inverted Rows (advanced option: Pull-ups; easy option:Stick-ups)
In the first round of this circuit, you'll go through it easy.Perform 25% of the maximum number of reps you can do for each exercise. So if you can do 20 pushups, do only 5 in the firstwarm-up circuit. That's a warm-up circuit.
Then you'll do as many circuits as you can in the remainder of the 10 minutes. Just go back-to-back-to-back on these 3 exercises. You can rest after the rows/pull-ups for 30 seconds if necessary, but that's it.
You'll be pleasantly surprised with how you feel at the end of the 10-minutes. And your metabolism will be elevated for a much longer period than if you trained in the fat-burn zone for 10-minutes.
Okay, now here's another option, moving into some dumbbell work. The following superset trains the entire body, and focuses on the 3 hot zones.
1A) DB Squat (8 reps per set)1B) DB Chest Press (8 reps per set)
Use light weights for one warm-up set, and then do as many sets as possible in 10 minutes for the rest of the workout.
In any case, if you find yourself with another 10 minutes, you can up the fat-burning ante by doing 10 minutes of intervals. This too is far more effective for fat loss and fitness than 10 more minutes in the "so-called" fat-burning zone.
Do 3-5 minutes of exercise-specific warm-up.
Then do your intervals for 30 seconds followed by 30-60 seconds of rest. Repeat 3-6 times. Then cooldown.
Okay, now let's get greedy and assume we have 30 minutes for our workout. We'll be close to getting maximum results with this"marathon" duration workout.
First, hit up the bodyweight circuit mentioned above. Do thistwice, nice and easy. That will take 5 minutes off the clock.
Then move into your strength supersets. Following the lead above, you'll look to train the entire body with only 2 moves. It's not always easy, but fortunately you can do 2 supersets in thisworkout. The strength training will take about 15 minutes as you'll do 3 sets of 8 per exercise with no extra rest between sets - just long enough to switch exercises.
1A) DB Split Squat (If you have a barbell, use it instead of DB's)1B) DB Row
2A) DB Romanian Deadlift 2B) DB Incline Press
Then finish with intervals. For this workout, try another program. Start with a warm-up, then do each "work" interval for 45 seconds, and rest 60 seconds between each interval. Do 4-6 rounds and finish with a cool-down, of course.
I could go on and on with these fast fat loss workouts...and ofcourse I do, in the Turbulence Training e-book.
I'll follow up on this article in the future, passing along some ofthe exact Turbulence Training workouts that I use with my clients to get the most results in the least amount of time.
Until then, train hard, train safe, and train better than everyoneelse in the gym.
Sincerely,
Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MSAuthor, Turbulence Training
P.S. Is a lack of time stressing you out?
"No time to exercise" is the #1 reason most people don't exercise consistently. In fact, a lack of time stresses most people out for many reasons - whether it's a lack of time to prepare good food, exercise, or be with your family.
That's why I created Turbulence Training to be the most efficient and effective fat loss program out there.
The warm-up is applicable to your workout, not some 5-minute waste of time on the treadmill.
The strength training supersets shave minutes off your wait time.
And the intervals cut your cardio in half, or more.
About the AuthorCraig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment,Click Here
Saturday, 3 January 2009
Living room workout
Just to show you that you can train anywhere, Craig has put together this living room workout for you to try.
For more workouts like this click here
For more workouts like this click here
Bodyweight Circuits For Interval Training
Here is Craig Ballantyne, the creator of Turbulence Training, explaining how to put together a bodyweight circuit. For 6 months worth of effective bodyweight workouts, you need to see what Craig has to offer here
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
It's time to review 2008
If You Didn't Get the Results You Wanted
If you gained 10lbs or more of fat this year, you're not a bad person. It doesn't help at all to make yourself feel bad or run yourself down.
It's just a really bad result. Bad results come from strategies that don't work.
The smartest thing we can do is to take stock of which strategies didn't work, and stop doing them.
Time to get real about what we accomplished and didn't accomplish.
Get out all of your food journals.Get out all of your workout logs.
Get your measurements from the beginning of 2008, and your measurements now.
Take a look at your strength and fitness gains in 2008.
Lets see what worked and what didn't.
For awesome results, you're going to need smart strategies.
If your strategy is just "to have more willpower this year", sorry to tell you, you are destined to fail.
Most New Years Resolutions fail because they live and die on your willpower - your ability to motivate yourself and inspire yourself internally.
If you rely on willpower, your willpower will run out.If you rely on your inspiration and motivation, motivation comes and goes, and inspiration fades.
If you rely on the excitement of a new year, that excitement last about two weeks.
A powerful strategy is to have a structure set up to keep you going when the inspiration and excitement fails you. You need:
Accountability
Workout partner(s)
Maintaining a public workout-journal (ie a blog or list your food intake and workouts on twitter)
Joining a workout community
Taking on a fitness challenge. (a race or event that stirs the passion inside you)
Such a structure will keep you going long after the inspiration and motivation run out. You need the accountability to keep you going long after your willpower has left the building.
If you think "I'll make up my own workout", that's a terrible strategy.
If you are a concert level pianist, go ahead and play your tunes. But if you are a beginner, you go get yourself a teacher.
By the same token, if you don't have the body you want, then you actually don't have any idea what works or what doesn't work.
Follow someone else's program until you get results. Then you can add your own stuff.
"I'm going to use a program that's proven to work and follow it exactly."- is a powerful strategy
Remember: One of the most dangerous things a person can tell themselves is "I already know that". If you know what to do, but you aren't doing it,it's as bad as being ignorant of the facts.
A lot of people will be saying "I'll just try to eat better". If you don't keep a food journal, you aren't going to have enough information to succeed.
If you just "try" you will fail. You need structure and planning.
"I'll keep a food journal and know exactly what I'm putting in to my body. I'm going to know if I'm treating my body like a million pound racehorse... or if I'm treating my body like a garbage disposal unit." - Is an awesome strategy
If You Are Getting the Results You Want
it's very important to do two things:
1.) Celebrate! Reward yourself. Buy yourself a new outfit that shows off your new body. Do something you might not have had the fitness level to do last year,something to really enjoy everything you've accomplished.
2.) Take note of what it was you did that worked. If you know what worked, you can replicate it over and over again. You can also use this as a reality check if you ever slip.
You can also use knowing what worked to trim away the things that didn't make a difference. The biggest reason people who use Turbulence Training get good results with very little time in the gym is because we cut out anything that doesn't yield results.
Before You Get Caught Up in Creating Next Year,it's really important to get real about the last year.
The one thing we don't want to do is make the same mistakes again.
Most people make the same New Years Resolutions over and over again because they make the same mistakes over and over again.
Most people don't look at what worked, and what didn't work.
THIS IS DODGING RESPONSIBILITY.
Responsibility is looking at what didn't work and changing it.
If you didn't get what you wanted, you used the wrong strategy.
It's a fact, most people start with strategies that could never work in a million years. Like not having any strategy at all, or just relying on willpower, excitement, and inspiration.
Don't get emotional. Just deal with the strategy.
Have the courage to change your strategies and do something new.
Have the courage to say, "I don't know" and get a program that works.
Have the courage to say, "I can't do it on my own" and start organizing workout buddies or groups of friends to do this with.
It's not as complicated as we'd like to make it.
You already know what all the obstacles are, because you hit them already.
Some of them you found ways around already.
Some of them we keep running into. Don't run into the same ones as last year again.
Make a new plan.
Create some new structures.
Get some new results!
If you gained 10lbs or more of fat this year, you're not a bad person. It doesn't help at all to make yourself feel bad or run yourself down.
It's just a really bad result. Bad results come from strategies that don't work.
The smartest thing we can do is to take stock of which strategies didn't work, and stop doing them.
Time to get real about what we accomplished and didn't accomplish.
Get out all of your food journals.Get out all of your workout logs.
Get your measurements from the beginning of 2008, and your measurements now.
Take a look at your strength and fitness gains in 2008.
Lets see what worked and what didn't.
For awesome results, you're going to need smart strategies.
If your strategy is just "to have more willpower this year", sorry to tell you, you are destined to fail.
Most New Years Resolutions fail because they live and die on your willpower - your ability to motivate yourself and inspire yourself internally.
If you rely on willpower, your willpower will run out.If you rely on your inspiration and motivation, motivation comes and goes, and inspiration fades.
If you rely on the excitement of a new year, that excitement last about two weeks.
A powerful strategy is to have a structure set up to keep you going when the inspiration and excitement fails you. You need:
Accountability
Workout partner(s)
Maintaining a public workout-journal (ie a blog or list your food intake and workouts on twitter)
Joining a workout community
Taking on a fitness challenge. (a race or event that stirs the passion inside you)
Such a structure will keep you going long after the inspiration and motivation run out. You need the accountability to keep you going long after your willpower has left the building.
If you think "I'll make up my own workout", that's a terrible strategy.
If you are a concert level pianist, go ahead and play your tunes. But if you are a beginner, you go get yourself a teacher.
By the same token, if you don't have the body you want, then you actually don't have any idea what works or what doesn't work.
Follow someone else's program until you get results. Then you can add your own stuff.
"I'm going to use a program that's proven to work and follow it exactly."- is a powerful strategy
Remember: One of the most dangerous things a person can tell themselves is "I already know that". If you know what to do, but you aren't doing it,it's as bad as being ignorant of the facts.
A lot of people will be saying "I'll just try to eat better". If you don't keep a food journal, you aren't going to have enough information to succeed.
If you just "try" you will fail. You need structure and planning.
"I'll keep a food journal and know exactly what I'm putting in to my body. I'm going to know if I'm treating my body like a million pound racehorse... or if I'm treating my body like a garbage disposal unit." - Is an awesome strategy
If You Are Getting the Results You Want
it's very important to do two things:
1.) Celebrate! Reward yourself. Buy yourself a new outfit that shows off your new body. Do something you might not have had the fitness level to do last year,something to really enjoy everything you've accomplished.
2.) Take note of what it was you did that worked. If you know what worked, you can replicate it over and over again. You can also use this as a reality check if you ever slip.
You can also use knowing what worked to trim away the things that didn't make a difference. The biggest reason people who use Turbulence Training get good results with very little time in the gym is because we cut out anything that doesn't yield results.
Before You Get Caught Up in Creating Next Year,it's really important to get real about the last year.
The one thing we don't want to do is make the same mistakes again.
Most people make the same New Years Resolutions over and over again because they make the same mistakes over and over again.
Most people don't look at what worked, and what didn't work.
THIS IS DODGING RESPONSIBILITY.
Responsibility is looking at what didn't work and changing it.
If you didn't get what you wanted, you used the wrong strategy.
It's a fact, most people start with strategies that could never work in a million years. Like not having any strategy at all, or just relying on willpower, excitement, and inspiration.
Don't get emotional. Just deal with the strategy.
Have the courage to change your strategies and do something new.
Have the courage to say, "I don't know" and get a program that works.
Have the courage to say, "I can't do it on my own" and start organizing workout buddies or groups of friends to do this with.
It's not as complicated as we'd like to make it.
You already know what all the obstacles are, because you hit them already.
Some of them you found ways around already.
Some of them we keep running into. Don't run into the same ones as last year again.
Make a new plan.
Create some new structures.
Get some new results!
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