Using Yohimbine to Boost Fat Loss

There are boat loads of supplements and other products on the market that are boasting extreme claims of expediting the process of weight loss. Unfortunately, many of these products are ultimately scams to get your money based on questionable research. Some products even come with dangerous side effects. Even though Dr. Oz might be touting garbage products like garcinia cambogia, the research does not back these up. (2)

I’ve personally tried a medley of supplements on the market in hopes of burning stubborn body fat. Most of them made me feel like I was going to have a heart attack and failed to elicit any favorable changes in my body composition.

After doing a good bit of research on the topic, I have only managed to find a small handful of

supplements that actually work for me. The one fat burning product that I use with great success, and recommend to my clients is yohimbine.

What is Yohimbine?

Yohimbine is an alkaloid that is sourced from Pausinystalia yohimbe trees in the lowland forests of west and central Africa. The substance has been found to improve thermogenesis (the metabolic process that creates heat in the body).

There are several speculations of how Yohimbine results in fat loss, though it is not fully

understood. The principal hypothesis is that it may work by facilitating the secretion of adrenaline by inhibiting adrenergic receptors—this ultimately results in an increase in heart rate which will stimulate metabolic function.

What does the research say?

A study done on male soccer players who were already quite lean (<11% body fat) found that Yohimbine supplementation decreased fat mass in a 21 day period. (4) All of the participants (control and experimental subjects) were placed on a standardized diet of 55% of their daily calories coming from carbohydrates, 25% from fat, and 20% from protein.

The group taking yohimbine lost an average of 2.2% body fat, whereas the men in the placebo group actually gained an average of 0.3% body fat during the study.

What’s fascinating is that the population in this study had a very low amount of body fat to start, and many of the research studies on different fat burning supplements are only done on obese populations. If you’re looking to lose that last bit of stubborn body fat to get better definition, Yohimbine may be a great option for you.

Another study tested for the efficacy of topical cream to spot reduce body fat from the thigh in female participants. (1) Every participant received a topical yohimbine cream on one thigh and a placebo cream on the other thigh to measure differences between one side and the other. The researchers hypothesized that the yohimbine cream would counteract the alpha2-adrenergic activity and thus result in regional fat loss. Their results seemed to affirm that hypothesis as all 4 women lost more girl in the thigh that was treated with the yohimbine cream compared with the thigh that received the placebo cream. The population size was obviously quite small, but these findings suggest that topical use of yohimbine may be effective in facilitating spot reduction (even though the currently accepted literature shuns the concept of spot reducing fat). Surely more research needs to be done in this area, but the potential implications are quite fascinating.

How much should you take?

The dosage can vary, like with anything else. I suggest taking a smaller dose of only 2.5 mg to 5 mg initially to see how you respond to it. Once you’ve gotten an understanding of how your

body reacts to Yohimbine, you can increase the dosage gradually. Many of the studies done on Yohimbine have used ~0.2 mg per kg of bodyweight. This means that someone like me who weighs about 58 kg should consume about 11-12 mg of Yohimbine. In the previously mentioned study on soccer players the men took 20 mg daily.

Precautions

I don’t recommend taking Yohimbine before aerobic exercise, as it can elevate your heart rate

significantly. I made that mistake originally where I took it about an hour before exercise and

struggled to catch my breath. After that, I started taking it in the morning (about 3-4 hours prior to training) and had no issues with managing my heart rate.

If you have any type of anxiety disorder, you may also want to be careful in taking Yohimbine as it can exacerbate feelings of anxiety. As with any supplement, make sure that you consult with a physician before using Yohimbine, especially if you have a heart condition or take other medications to make sure you won’t have any adverse reactions.

1. Greenway, Frank L., and George A. Bray. "Regional fat loss from the thigh in obese women after adrenergic modulation." Clin Ther 9.6 (1987): 663-9.
   Heymsfield, Steven B., et al. "Garcinia cambogia (hydroxycitric acid) as a potential antiobesity agent: a randomized controlled trial." Jama 280.18 (1998): 1596-1600.
2. McCarty, Mark F. "Pre-exercise administration of yohimbine may enhance the efficacy of exercise training as a fat loss strategy by boosting lipolysis." Medical hypotheses 58.6 (2002): 491-495.

3. Ostojic, Sergej M. "Yohimbine: the effects on body composition and exercise performance in soccer players." Research in Sports Medicine 14.4 (2006): 289-299.

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Why are you doing so much CARDIO? What should you be doing to lose FAT!

Many people focus on cardio when trying to lose body fat, but that approach will not help you achieve your goals.  You want to lose body fat, not calorie burning muscle tissue, right? So what do you need to do in your workouts to lose the fat?

Strength training is your magic bullet when trying lose weight and inches. Having more muscle boosts your metabolic rate. Muscle is definitely your friend when you’re trying to shed body fat.  You need a fitness burns fat and preserves and builds muscle. Here are some tips from Ally on strength training when you’re trying to lose body fat.

What Exercises should you Focus on for fat loss?  Compound Exercises!

Compound strength exercises are ones that target more than one muscle group at a time. These include squats, lunges, push ups, bent-over rows, presses and deadlifts. The reason you want to focus on these types of exercises is, the more muscle groups you use during a strength training exercise, the more calories you’ll burn. Also, using more muscle groups has a greater metabolic or “fat burning” effect.

Isolation exercises that work only one muscle group (like a bicep curl or leg extension) are important for shaping muscles and building symmetry but they burn fewer calories and do not burn the fat like compound exercises. If your goal is fat loss, make your strength moves compound and dynamic. When doing lunges, combine them with bicep curls. With squats, do an overhead press. Use as many muscle groups as possible. This will get the fat burning furnace going. 

What amount of weight is require to lose fat?  Lift Heavy – don’t be AFRAID!

Do not be afraid of bulking up!  It is really difficult for women to put on that much muscle. You have to life heavy weight to stimulate the muscle to change your body, period.  Lifting heavy will activate fat-burning hormones and rev up your metabolism. Lifting light weights will have little impact on your metabolism or the shape of your muscles. The most it will do is build muscle endurance. Go for the challenging weights and see a positive change in your body.

How does Cardio Fit in to to the Fat Loss Puzzle?  Make sure it is High Intensity Cardio

High-intensity cardio will help you burn more fat just like lifting heavier weight.  Short periods of high-intensity cardio forces your body to work harder during and after a workout. High intensity cardio, like strength training, has the “after burn” factor which helps your body burn more calories up to 48 hours after your workout!  That is a GOOD Return on you exercise time!  To lose fat you MUST get out of your comfort zone. Think high-intensity interval training and metabolic strength training – these are you FAT FIGHTING SUPER FRIENDS aka the DYNAMIC DUO!  Check out the

AllyFitness metabolic training programs by clicking here.

Should you Incorporate Circuit Training?  Yes!

One or two days a week, do circuit strength training. With circuit training you do strength training sets with little or no rest between exercises. Moving quickly from exercise to exercise without rest burns more calories and maximizes the amount of volume you can do during a single training session. Who doesn’t want to save time?

What is The Bottom Line?

Strength training MUST be a part of your fitness program if you are trying to lose fat.  It is important for maintaining healthy bones as you age and prevent age related weight gain by keeping your metabolism high.

Click here to schedule your complementary consultation with Ally Today. 

References: IDEA Fitness. “New Insights into Circuit Training”

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Join me on the Road to October 9th

Well, this is it.  This is the year I turn 50!  I still cannot believe it. I really feel about 30.

My goal is to be the most fit I have ever been.  A little of bit of history......I used to run all the time.  I thought I was the most fit when I ran about 5 miles per day.  Keep in mind, that was about all I did.  I would do a few weights here and there, but mostly just cardio.  I really thought I was strong and fit.

Then it came to my attention that I was not doing enough strength training.  In an attempt to balance out my fitness routine, I had purchased some weights and a mat.  I had tried doing some workouts on my own, but struggled with the motivation and what exactly to do.  I purchased a workout DVD on line.  I remember doing that video for the first time and the lady on the video was doing push ups.  I was really surprised and upset that I could not do a push up.  From that moment forward, I was on a quest to be able to do perfect, straight leg push ups.  From there my idea of what fit was changed dramatically.

the turning point happened when I developed plantar fasciitis in both feet.  I knew I had to stop running.  At that point I could barely walk.  I dug out the weights and researched different types of workouts that would challenge me in both strength and cardio vascular areas.

Before I was running an hour a day and adding in a bit of strength 2 times per week.  So that was 6 plus hours of exercising each week.

I changed that to strength circuits for 45 minutes, 3 days a week (total of 2.5 hours exercise per week). After six weeks, I had dropped a pants size without even realizing it. This was about 10 years ago.  This was one of the major factors that made me decide to become a personal trainer.

As women we are programmed to believe that we need to be doing long cardio sessions to be fit, that we should avoid lifting heavy weights and we should stick to machines.  This is the furthest from the truth.  Long cardio sessions take a lot of time and can lead to overuse injuries - like plantar fasciitis, knee issues, IT band issues, etc.

Long duration cardio workouts do not burn fat.  They actually make your body hold onto fat and prevent your from burning it.

Strength training is the magic bullet in the fat burning formula.  You need to challenge yourself with a heavy enough weight to fatigue the muscle after 12 reps.  You need to get your heart rate up WAY higher than the old fat burning zone for about 20 to 40 seconds and then recover.  This is how you burn fat.

So.......my road to October 9th.  I am going to incorporate 1 to 2 high intensity interval workouts per week. ( This will more than likely be a hill run in my neighborhood.  Those hills kill me.  The run takes about 25 to 30 minutes and my heart rate gets really high on the hills.).  I am going to do 1 workout per week that incorporates very heavy weight for strength and 2 workouts that focus on metabolic conditioning. I am going to stretch for 20 minutes every day. I am going to eat very clean and hopefully be the most fit I have ever been, with a very balanced fitness plan.

And then I plan to go hang gliding on lookout mountain in Chattanooga.  So, want to join me on the road to October 9th?

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What is Metabolism and can you change it?

I hear this a lot - I can't lose weight because I have a a slow metabolism.

Do you wonder, is this true; are you stuck with your metabolism or can you give it a boost? 

What is metabolism?

The standard measurement for metabolism is called the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) also known as resting metabolism. This describes the minimum amount of calories needed to simply keep your body going, sustaining vital functions such as digestion, breathing and heartbeat.

BMR varies a lot between different people. For example, some overweight individuals may not consume very many calories.  The reason for being overweight may be a low level of physical activity or a very low BMR.

BMR on average accounts for around 1200-1400 calories per day in women, and 1400-1800 calories in men. This is the number of calories it takes for you to stay alive. Many factors affect BMR, such as:

Lean Muscle Mass - Men tend to have more lean muscle in their bodies than women. Lean muscle requires more calories, so men’s BMR is greater than women’s.

Age. Because of the increased activity of cells undergoing division, the younger the person, the faster their metabolism. There is also age related muscle loss (also known as scarpenia).  There is therefore a decline in BMR associated with aging and muscle loss of approximately 2% for every 10 years after age 30.  This is what we call "age related weight gain".  This is preventable by keeping lean muscle mass or adding to it as we age.

Weight. The heavier a person is, the higher their energy requirements, so they need more calories to keep their body functioning and moving. 

Environmental temperature. People living in tropical or very cold climates tend to have BMR’s 5 – 20% higher than those living in moderate climates.

Can you increase your metabolism?

You know I always have the same answer - Exercise!!!!

Choosing the appropriate exercise program will increase the amount lean body mass (LBM) you have. LBM is made up of your muscles, bones, organs and the fat stored in your heart, lungs, kidneys, intestines, muscles, nervous system and bone marrow.

The greater the muscle component of  your LBM, the higher your metabolic rate will be and THAT MEANS more calories are burned.  

If I am a fleshy, soft 180 pounds and you are a lean and strong 180 pounds, it will take more calories for you to maintain your weight than me.  

Men usually have a higher LBM (and therefore a higher metabolic rate) than women by virtue of their larger muscles. Some female athletes, however, such as swimmers and shot putters, may have a higher LBM than a male of equal weight. 

Certain exercise protocols - especially metabolic programs like at AllyFitness - can increase your metabolic rate for up to 48 to 72  hours after you’ve finished working out, depending on how strenuous the exercise was. Regular cardio does not have the benefit of the after-burn, but will increase your metabolism.  Without exercise your metabolism slows down.

Making sure you are properly hydrated will also help boost your metabolism.  You should be drinking half your body weight in ounces of water every day.  So if you weight 150 pounds - you should be drinking 75 ounces of water daily.

What can SLOW your metabolism down?

Crash diets - or just plain consuming too few calories!  When you try to lose weight by drastically cutting calories, you actually lose muscle from your LBM as well as body fat. This has the effect of slowing down your metabolism.  Make sure you keep calories at the appropriate level for you and include exercise.

Remember - our bodies have not evolved that much from the cave man days.  So, when you begin to drastically cut your calories, your body think you are in a  “famine” situation. In an effort to survive, the body dramatically reduces its metabolic rate within 24-48 hours after you start dieting. The reduction in basal metabolic rate can be as high as 45%! This is exactly the opposite of what you want for long-term weight control.  

Repeated bouts of severe calorie restriction can actually have a drastic long-term effect on your metabolism and weight loss. 

So....eat often, eat quality foods and exercise!  It isn't rocket science.

QUIT  reading all the news on the latest fad diet or weight loss product.  You need fuel your body nutrients and exercise your muscles.  Just Do IT!

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How to Build a Healthy Meal

From the AllyFitness ebook - Thinner Winner!

Each meal should contain a lean protein source (chicken, eggs, lean beef, etc.), a whole grain and some leafy green vegetables or other “water dense” vegetables. One quarter of your plate should be protein, 1/4 starchy-type carbohydrate and the other half should be vegetables and fruit.  Below is a typical day of Clean Eating.

Breakfast: This meal should consist of a healthy protein (nuts, eggs, cottage cheese, etc), fresh produce (berries, citrus fruit, other fruit, tomatoes and spinach) and a whole grain such as a high fiber cereal, oatmeal, or whole grain bread.

Mid Morning Snack: a fruit or vegetable with a protein.  For example, an apple with organic nut butter, a pear with cottage cheese or yogurt, a piece of fruit with a small portion of nuts. 

Lunch: This meal should include a lean protein, along with a nice dose of “slow-release” carbs (fruits, non-starchy vegetables, beans and/or whole grains with a healthy fat. For example, a bowl of leafy greens like romaine lettuce or spinach with chicken on top.  Add vegetables like cucumbers, carrots, etc.  Another option would be a whole grain low carb wrap with hummus, turkey or beans, leafy greens and cucumbers or peppers to add crunch, then top with salsa.  Soup is also a good option.  Make sure it has protein and is not cream based.

Mid Afternoon Snack: this should be a lean protein with vegetables or fruit – like the mid morning snack.   This could include a few slow digesting carbs like triscuits, or pretzel with hummus. Limit the higher carb snacks to once or twice a week. 

Dinner: This should also be a lean protein source, lots of vegetables in a variety of colors, whole grains and healthy fats. Think of grilled or roasted lean meats, big leafy salad with lots of veggies and another vegetable like a baked sweet potato, roasted butternut squash or sautéed veggies.

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Three Types of Workouts That Will Raise Your Post-Exercise Metabolism

In the last few years the idea of doing "afterburn" exercises has become quite popular. The term "afterburn" refers to the additional energy that your body consumes in the hours following particular types of exercise. It's also known more formally as EPOC (excess post-exercise oxygen consumption) or simply as having a "raised metabolism" after you exercise. In any case, by doing the sorts of exercises that create afterburn, you can raise your overall calorie burn by a few percentage points. This may not sound like much, but over time it adds up. For example, if you can burn an extra fifty calories per day, that's the equivalent of five additional pounds of fat loss per year.

Afterburn exercise routines can be broadly categorized into three types:

Cardio High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). This is where you pick an aerobic/cardio exercise and repeatedly perform short bursts of high intensity with brief rest periods in between.
High Intensity Full Body Circuit Training. This is where you use light or medium weights, or your own body weight, to perform a series of different full-body exercises, and repeat the series a number of times with minimal rest.
High Intensity Resistance Training. This is where you perform intense weight training that seriously challenges each of your major muscle groups.

As well as boosting your post-exercise metabolism, these sorts of exercises have added benefits, including improved strength, endurance and agility.

Choosing the Right Kind of Exercise

The degree to which you use some or all of these types of workout depends on your goals.

For example, let's say you're aiming for an athletic degree of fitness, and the appearance that goes with it. In this case you should do a combination of two or three different types of afterburn exercises, either on different days, or combined into each workout session.The high intensity cardio will give you plenty of endurance; the full body circuits will give develop your power, agility, and functional strength; and the resistance training will increase your strength and flexibility. All of them will generate after burn.

On the other hand, maybe you're a bodybuilder wanting to shed an extra few percent of body fat. It's safe to assume you're already lifting intensely, and generating plenty of afterburn as a result. In addition to this, you may want to switch out your regular cardio sessions and do high intensity cardio intervals instead. This will add a bit more afterburn and increase your endurance.

Or perhaps you don't really enjoy exercise at all, and the only reason you're exercising is so you can lose weight. In this case, cardio high-intensity interval training is probably the best exercise choice. Just pick a cardio exercise that you don't mind doing (elliptical, treadmill, bike, rowing machine, running outdoors, jump rope, whatever), and rather than doing a normal cardio workout, do a workout consisting of high-intensity intervals. This will burn some calories while you do it, improve your general fitness and give you an after-burn bonus that'll help burn some fat.

Cardio High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
The beauty of Cardio HIIT is that it's very accessible: most people can do it, as long as they don't have health issues. And once you get into good shape, HIIT is an amazing workout.

Just pick a form of cardio exercise that you're comfortable with. For example, if you're athletic, you may want to run outdoors or on a treadmill; if you're carrying extra weight or have knee issues, a lower-impact option like cycling or elliptical may be better. Rowing machines are great if you have access to one, and jump rope is an option for limited space if you have the ceiling height.

Try this pattern to begin with:

30 seconds as fast as you can manage30 seconds at a slow recovery paceRepeat for between 10 and 25 minutes, depending on your fitness.

For something more challenging, increase the length of each interval to 45 or 60 seconds. This will challenge your endurance. For even more of a challenge, increase the length of time you're exerting yourself (e.g. 45 or 60 seconds), while reducing the recovery time (e.g. 15 or 20 seconds).

Always warm up beforehand with a few minutes of moderate cardio. In addition to afterburn, intense cardio also burns a lot of calories during the workout, which will help with fat loss.

High Intensity Full-Body Circuit Training

The idea with this sort of circuit workout is to use body weight or free weights (e.g. dumbbells) to provide resistance and thereby increase the amount of work you're doing. You'll perform large movements in a fluid, controlled manner, while minimizing rest periods in order to maximize intensity. This will develop functional strength, power and endurance. It will burn plenty of calories during the workout, and will generate a solid afterburn.

The basic formula is to pick three or four different exercises that work different parts of your body, and repeat them with minimal rest periods, for about 20-25 minutes. For example, repeat this cycle as many times as you can in 20 minutes:

12 Burpees (from a standing position, fluidly jump in the air, drop to a crouch with your hands on the floor, pop your legs out behind you into a pushup position, do a pushup, pop your legs back into the crouch, and jump in the air again)12 Squats with dumbbell press-ups (hold a pair of dumbbells at shoulder height, with feet apart, squat till thighs are parallel to the floor, push up again to a standing position while at the same time pushing the dumbbells above your head, lower the dumbbells as you go into the next squat)6 Pull ups (assisted pull-ups or pull-downs are fine substitutes)

High Intensity Resistance Training

There are a lot of different approaches to doing resistance training, and many of them are already very intense. The particular routine you choose depends on your goals, the amount of time you have to spend, and how developed you are as a weight trainer.

Here's one approach I like because it relies on intensity, doesn't take a lot of time, and you don't need to be an experienced weight trainer to do it:

Pick 8-10 different weight-training exercises that work different body parts (back squats, curls, rows, etc), and do one intense set of each exercise.Each set should be around 8 reps. If you can't do 6 reps, the weight is too heavy. If you can do more than 10, it's too light, or you're going too fast.Each rep should be around 7-10 seconds long: a 3-4 second contraction/lifting, a 1-2 second squeeze, a 3-4 second extension/lowering.Each set should end in failure. This is critical. If you can do another rep at the end of the set, you're not done: do another rep.

In Conclusion

As you can see from these examples, the key to generating good afterburn from a workout is to maintain high intensity and engage as much of the body as you can. Using these basic principles, you should be able to come up with an endless supply of workouts that will not only increase your power and endurance, but also help you burn extra calories while you recover, helping you get leaner sooner.

The author, Robert Brown, is an enjoyer of life, who's passionate about being in shape and a big fan of the athletic approach to fitness. He also knows what it's like trying to squeeze an effective exercise routine into busy schedule.

He channels his fitness experience into his Athletic Workout Review web site. Given that this is generally drawn from his own experience and research, he pleads guilty to being unconsciously biased towards his own interests, but tries to consider all perspectives. His site reviews plenty of programs that make use of the afterburn effect. For two good examples, he suggests looking at his Max Workouts review and his Truth About Six Pack Abs review.

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

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Move More Every Day!

• Get moving! Research shows that just two 5-minute walks each day will get you started in the right direction if you have not been active in a while.
• Decide on a personal fitness goal and write it down. Start at 10 minutes each day, and progress to 30-45 minutes each day. 
• Choose an activity that fits into your lifestyle. That way, you’re more likely to stick to it. IF you are a person that believes you should only run when being chased – then I would not recommend a running program for you!
• Plan for inefficiency so you can fit more activity into your day. Take your clean laundry upstairs in several batches instead of one. Making one trip for each person’s room will get your heart pumping.
• Wear a reliable pedometer for one week to establish a baseline value for the number of steps you take daily. Then try to add about 250 steps each day. Remember, each step counts toward your goal.
• Use simple checkpoints to measure your success. For example, ask yourself how much less time it took you today than last week to swim a lap or walk around the block.
• Find a friend who can be an accountability partner to join you in your activity and keep you going when you’re tempted to skip a session. People who exercise with a friend or partner are 50% more likely to still be exercising a year from now.
• Add variety to your fitness plan to help yourself stay motivated and make your activity program more fun.
• Set aside a 30-minute block of time each day that you can devote to your activity plan without being interrupted. Make physical fitness a priority in your life.
• People who exercise first thing in the morning are 50% more likely to be doing it 5 years from now!
• Monitor your progress and reassess every six weeks.  Be sure to change up your routine.  Your body adapts to the changes so it is important to change it up to keep making progress.

Reference:  American Heart Association No-Fad Diet: A Personal Plan for Healthy Weight Loss, Copyright © 2005 by the American Heart Association.

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HIIT IT - and make it count

What is HIIT?  It is high intensity interval training.  Advantages of interval training (are)is that it utilizes the body's two energy producing  systems: the aerobic and the anaerobic.  The aerobic system is the one that allows you to walk or run several miles and uses oxygen to convert carbs into energy. The anaerobic system draws energy from carbs stored in the muscles for short burst of activity such as sprinting, jumping or lifting heavy objects.  This system does not require oxygen and does not provide enough energy for more than the brief activity.

High Intensity Interval Training involves short intervals of high intensity work. The intervals require you to work at 90% of yourmaximum heart rate followed by a rest interval.  The intervals are termed work:rest.  If you are beginning this type of training, you may want to start with 30:60.  This means 30 seconds of work followed by 60 seconds of rest.  As your cardiovascular system becomes stronger and can handle more capacity, you will increase to 30:30 and eventually 60:30.

You can also use a less specific method knows as Fartlek  or speed play.  To use this method, you pick a land mark like a tree or a park bench and walk or run as fast as you can to that point, then walk at an easy pace to recover.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) will get you fit and save time.  In the 1994 study published in the journal Metabolism, researchers had one group follow a 15-week HIIT program and another perform only steady-state cardio for 20 weeks.  The data revealed the steady-state group burned 15,000 more calories, but the HIIT group lost significantly more body fat.  A more recent study conducted at the University of New South Wales (Australia) reported that a group of women who took part in a 20-minute HIIT program of eight-second sprints followed by 12 seconds of rest lost six times more body fat than a group that performed steady-state cardio for 40 minutes at 60% Maximum heart rate.  The increase in the intensity boosts your metabolism and keeps it higher longer after your workout.  This is known as EPOC, or the after burn.

So why not cut your cardio session in half and get more benefit?  Seems like a no brainer to me!

 

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Work Out Smarter, Not Longer!

Work Out Smarter, Not Longer!

Along with teaching good eating habits, AllyFitness is all about efficiency. Our programs are all about teaching you how to get the most from your workout in two ways.  First, you don’t have to spend endless hours in a gym to reach your fitness goals (we all have lives to live, right?).  Studies show shorter, more intense workouts can maximize your results even better.  Second, these programs train your body to keep burning calories at a higher rate long after your workout is over. The way these two goals are met is through metabolic training.

What is Metabolic Training?
Metabolic training is a way of working out that increases the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) - a.k.a. the after-burn!  After-burn elevates the metabolism after exercise.  New studies indicate you can keep the after-burn effect going up to 24 to 48 hours after high intensity training.   The research basically states high intensity resistance training (85% of maximum effort) increases EPOC significantly when compared to low intensity training.  What does this mean for you?  If you perform circuit weight training using a weight that challenges you at a high intensity, you will increase the EPOC and burn more FAT– which is what we want!  Preserve the muscle, burn the fat!  Working at higher intensity levels also reduces the workout time.LADIES – do not be afraid to lift heavy weight.  You need to work out with weights that challenge you.

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Build Muscle - Burn Fat

My philosophy for getting fit - we want to be fit, healthy and happy, not live at the gym or be gym rats.  So……..how do you do that?

Metabolism is the sum of all chemical processes that take place in the human body to sustain life. Though metabolic rate is largely determined by genetics, there are various ways to increase metabolic rate (the speed of your metabolism) through exercise, nutrition, and supplementation.

Old school philosophy- Performing daily body part workouts – or upper / lower body splits.  If you are a body builder or competitor, this is what you do.   The rest of us, not so much.  The reality is that training your whole body more frequently will result in bigger strength and muscle gain, greater fat loss, and more metabolic boosts than training each muscle group once per week– and the science supports this.  Plus it is much more time efficient!  My clients are busy and have busy lives.  I design programs that work and allow you to still have time for your families, hobbies, etc.

It’s important to understand the more muscle you have the greater your resting metabolic rate (RMR). Your RMR is the total number of calories you burn every day regardless of activity and adding several pounds of lean muscle mass will result in an additional daily calorie burn of up to several hundred extra calories per day. This translates into a fat-smashing snowball effect over the course of weeks, months, and years.

Work out smarter - not longer!

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