Wednesday, January 03, 2007

How to Smash Fat Loss Plateaus

Is your fat loss progress slowing down? Are you stuck at the same weight, the same body fat, or the same pant size?

Inevitably, everyone comes across a fat loss plateau. For some, it sticks around longer than others, but no matter how long it lasts, a fat loss plateau is always frustrating.

According to fat loss guru Tom Venuto, one way to burst through plateaus is to increase the intensity of your training.

After all, if you aren't getting results, it might simply mean that your training is not stimulating your body to change (so you can't expect last month's program to work again this month - that's why the Turbulence Training reports always recommend changing your program every 4 weeks).

In addition to changing my client's fat loss programs regularly, we use another TT training rule every workout to make sure that they are continuing to get results and avoid the dreaded fat loss plateaus.

The rule:Try to set a personal best in each workout.

Now the personal best can be accomplished in any weight exercise, bodyweight exercise, or even interval/cardio exercise.

For example, for many of my female clients, we are often trying to set new records in different kinds of push-ups and chin-ups. Recently I challenged one female client to get 15 chest-to-the-floor real pushups. I knew she had it in her. And she did. 15 perfect pushups, smashing her old record by two. It's no surprise she has the best, leanest arms of almost any woman in the gym.

And even if you are having a lousy day, and don't have much energy, you can still try to set a personal record in a low-intensity ab exercise like the plank or side plank.

The great thing is that even with a normal 6-exercise TT workout, there are at least 36 opportunities to set a new personal best.

First, you could set it in any of the 6 exercises.

Second, there are at least 3 ways to do every exercise. So you could have a record for close-grip bench, medium grip bench, and wider-grip bench, or wide-squat, medium squat, or narrow-stance squat.

Third, you can set a repetition record or a weight record. I.e. You could aim to get 2 more reps than last week in your db row exercise, or you could use a heavier dumbbell (all with good form, of course).

So that's at least 36 possible ways to set a record with your strength training. And that doesn't even count the ways that you could set a personal best in your interval training (increasing the distance covered, the time of the interval, the speed of the interval, or the number of intervals).

You can even set a new record by completing one of the TT bodyweight circuits faster than ever (like the latest bodyweight circuit from the January Fat Loss Workout).

All it has to be is one personal best per workout.

Keep a little spreadsheet at home and record your exercises, all the variations, and your rep record and weight records, and the date on which you set the record. Come back to that every week to update it and motivate yourself for your next workout.

The "personal best" rule will increase your motivation and sense of accomplishment and get you back on the fat loss track. At the end of each workout, you'll know that you still achieved progress - even if the scale hasn't changed in a couple of days.

Join the Turbulence Training revolution and find out just how good you can be,

CB

P.S. Only 24 hours left...
To get the monthly January Fat Loss workout for only $14.99. On January 4th, the price goes up to $19.99.

get it ==> January Fat Loss Workout

"With "Turbulence Training", Craig Ballantyne has found the Holy Grail of fitness results-increased muscle with decreased body fat, virtually simultaneously. Nothing works better for getting lean."
Sean Hyson, fitness editor for Men's Fitness and M&F Hers

But hey, no big deal, you might as well upgrade to the TT Membership anyways and get all of the past monthly workouts as well...

a) For new clients, I'm knocking the price down BIG TIME. You can become a TT Member for only $127. Click HERE to become a NEW TT Member

b) For previous clients, but non-members, you can get your membership now for only $97. That's $50 off the launch price. Click HERE to become a TT Member

c) For current members...you can add another 12 months onto your current membership for only $77. Click HERE to renew

"I just wanted to let you know that I have been using your Turbulence Training program diligently since December 2005 and am very impressed by the results I am achieving. As a physician with a particular interest in sports medicine and injury prevention, I find your program to be a superior approach to permanent weight loss and muscular development. The information you provide has a sound basis in all of the latest medical research surrounding exercise physiology and the science of muscle growth. I find your programs to be dynamic and the variety of fitness regimes you offer really minimize the possibility of falling prey to plateaus. As a very busy professional with constant career and family related demands, I find that Turbulence Training is an efficient, highly effective and most of all, fun way towards achieving my fitness goals. I am very grateful to you for this. Keep up the excellent work. Through Turbulence Training, you are changing the lives of many people!"
Dr. Shayne Ladak Resident in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation McMaster University

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