Your Fat Burning Workout Questions Answered

Today we'll tackle some of your most common questions...

Q: I have new clients that get sore knees after squatting. I don't think they are doing anything wrong. Any suggestions?

Answer:
We should be able to take some of the stress off the knees by having them squat like they are sitting back into a chair. That means starting the squat by pushing the hips back and then bending the knees second. Sit back. This loads the hips more and the knees less.

If the problem still exists, then they probably simply need to lose fat (so there is less pressure on the knees overall), build the muscles around the knee joint with floor bodyweight exercises, reduced Range-of-Motion standing bodyweight exercises, and maybe even some hamstring curls.

Also, we need to look at their nutrition and lifestyle to make sure that they are eliminating all sources of inflammation and increasing anti-inflammatory nutrients. Nutrition and living the Turbulence Training lifestyle can play a big part in helping to reduce knee pain.

We'll take a look at some specific anti-inflammatory lifestyle tips later this week. Until then, please keep on referring your friends, family and workout partners to the newsletter here.

Q: Do thermogenics work?

Answer:
No.

For those that don't know, thermogenics are a category of supplements that are claimed to burn calories and fat. For example, caffeine and Green Tea are two of the most common "thermogenics" on the market.

However, while they may slightly increase the number of calories burned in a day within the first 24 hours that you use them, the effect is unlikely to last and you won't shed pounds of fat because of these supplements (cough, cough, "scams").

Q: I'm not physically able to do all of the chinups in the June Synergy Fat Loss Workout of the Month. What do you suggest I do? Thanks, I love the program.

Answer:
For each rep of the 8 that you can't do, do a 5-second eccentric repetition. So if you can do 4 regular chins, then for the last 4 reps, get assistance to the top and then lower yourself for 4 more reps...taking 5 seconds to lower in each rep.

Alternatively, use an assisted chinup machine if your gym has one. 

For the rest of you, the easiest thing you can do to improve your pull-up or chin-up strength is to lose body fat. In addition, make sure that you are doing bodyweight rows (AKA inverted rows, AKA reverse bench presses, AKA rowing yourself up to the bar in the smith machine) twice a week.

Q: Thanks for the advice in this newsletter!  This is exactly what I need -- a recipe for more efficient workouts in less time. There's nothing sadder than working out too much with no results -- or worse -- overtraining.  

I've been strength training for 8 weeks with dumb bells at home and I use a balance ball for core exercises, coupled with alternating days of interval cardio work and I was sore in muscles I didn't know I had after trying your bodyweight exercises.  I am very impressed.  I have one question -- can you explain what you mean by a 2-0-1 tempo? 

Answer:
Thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear things are going well. Trust me, bodyweight workouts can be as hard as any other. You should see the rest of the workouts at www.TTMembers.com.

The 2-0-1 tempo refers to the lowering phase of the exercise, the pause, and the lifting phase, respectively. So you lower for 2 seconds, no pause, and then raise up in 1 second. Just a general recommendation on how fast to do each repetition.

Stay strong,

CB

P.S. Hey, not everyone agrees with me...

Listen to the 2nd TT teleseminar I did with nutrition expert Brad Pilon. Brad reveals...

• How to set up "eating rituals" to lose fat
• How he used a simple diet to win a bodybuilding show
• How to avoid night-time snacking
• How to train for fat loss
• How often you should weigh yourself
• And why he disagrees with CB on an important nutrition topic!

All TTmembers get CB's teleseminars
==> www.TTmembers.com