Weight Loss Tips from Personal Trainer Alwyn Cosgrove

Every once in a while you come across a person in their field that is so well-respected, so "on-target" with their work, and so engaging that you can't help but consider them the best in their business.

Andin the fitness industry, that person is none other than Alwyn Cosgrove. He is on top of his game.

In comparison to other personal trainers, Alwyn is at the level of 8th degree black belt, while most of the trainers you'd find in large commercial gyms barely deserve a yellow belt.

Alwyn has an endless list of certifications, but more importantly, he has boiled down complex fitness information into only what is necessary for you to know to succeed.

The Transformation King has written an excellent fat loss program ('Afterburn' and 'Afterburn 2'), and perhaps more importantly, has shared his training methods and know-how in his Professional Program Design Manual and his bodyweight exercise DVD (where I learned some nifty tricks for my bodyweight manual workouts).

Check out Alwyn's books here

And in the meantime, let's hear what the top dog has to say...

CB: So, what's new Alwyn?

AC:
Nothing much Craig. As you know I spent some time in hospital last year. So I didn't do a whole lot of work in 06. 2007 has been a little busier but I'm taking it pretty easy :)

I'm currently working with a BJJ fighter to prepare for the Abu Dhabi Combat Championships and a professional MMA fighter so I've been back coaching. I thought I'd retired but they sucked me back in :)

CB: Hey, tell us more about your project, Lifting for Lymphoma.

AC:
Basically Craig I decided that it was time for the strength training community to step up and give something back. The endurance training community has been raising money for charity for years. Collectively the strength training community has fallen short by comparison.

So I contacted a bunch of writers and trainers and asked them to contribute a short article or training program to a book project that we could sell -- with all the net proceeds going to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. The original idea was that it would be a 100 page manual that I could print out and sell.

Currently we're at 900 pages!! So it's going to have to be a CD rom (to keep production and shipping costs down). I hope to launch it very soon. If everyone who read elitefts.com, bodybuilding.com or t-nation.com this week bought ONE copy each -- we'd sell 500,000 copies.

The information in itself is going to be GREAT. But aside from that -- it's a chance for us to give something back to the cancer research community.

Stay tuned to Alwyn's newsletter to learn when this will be ready.

Click HERE for Alwyn's site & newsletter

CB: Your program design manual is getting rave reviews. Why do personal trainers need something like this?

AC:
My program design manual I believe is the first product on the market to actually establish a SYSTEM for trainers to use to design programs. Most of the time trainers write essentially exercise "menus".

It also covers the similarities between great programs and how to extract them - instead of focusing on the differences as most people do.

CB: What is the most practical tip you've come across in recent weeks?

AC:
JB's compliance grid (which I saw last year) is still the best tool that I've seen.

Overall though -- getting the idea across that if you do something every day that causes metabolic "turbulence" and creates "afterburn" - regardless of what that activity is -- then you're going to get lean.

Maybe it's a ten minute interval session or a 20 min bodyweight circuit - it almost doesn't matter what the session is -- then you elevate metabolism when you're resting.

To oversimplify it -- increase metabolism by 1/4 of a calorie per minute -- that's 15 cals per hour -- 360 per hour -- 2520 per week -- before dieting or adding in caloric burn from training. The EPOC - the increase in metabolism - is where to focus your efforts.

CB: What's the biggest mistake trainers are making in their fat loss program design?

AC:

It's STILL an overemphasis on aerobic training for fat loss. I feel like I keep saying this but no one seems to be hearing it. There's an overwhelming belief that aerobic exercise = fat loss. It doesn't.

It simply means that your energy needs are being met by the aerobic energy system. It doesn't guarantee fat loss - in fact I think it's possibly the least effective fat loss modality there is.

In terms of ROI - aerobic training is like putting money under the mattress - you put it away - and you don't make anything "extra" from it. Metabolic Turbulence or Afterburn is like putting that money in a high interest money market account -- with compound interest.

I strongly recommending Alwyn Cosgrove as your fitness mentor,

CB

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