Stubborn Fat: Does It Affect
You? Part 5
The Importance of Exercise
In addition to eating the proper anti-estrogenic foods to remove
stubborn fat, it goes without saying that a crucial part of any
program is exercise. Diet alone is not enough. Regular exercise is
not only beneficial for fat loss, but also for your overall health.
Exercise lowers body fat, blood sugar, blood pressure, and
cholesterol. You need to set some goals and plan to exercise on a
continuous basis.
If you attempt to lose weight without exercise, you should expect
only temporary success and expect to succumb to the rebound effect.
This simply means that sooner or later you will eventually gain
back the fat, which will be harder to remove the next time
around.
Instead of using the diet-only approach, emphasize the diet and
exercise combination and focus on increasing your daily activity
level overall (for more information on exercising more rather than
just eating less, see my article, "Movement Sufficiency, Not
Calorie Deficiency"). Here are a few quick and practical
suggestions: Walk to the store instead of driving, go for a bike
ride, walk upstairs in office buildings rather than using the
elevator, and park your car at the end of the parking lot instead
of looking for the front row spot.
Take short walks during daily breaks or after you get home. Mow
your lawn with a push mower; vacuum your carpets every other day;
tidy up your backyard, basement, or garage; iron your clothes; wash
your windows; and play with your kids. These activities are usually
not looked at as "exercise" or "workouts," but all such activity
adds up at the end of the day, and it can work wonders as it
accumulates over the long haul.
Naturally, of course, you should also have a more structured and
formal exercise program to achieve maximum reductions in body fat.
Even mowing your lawn has health benefits and burns some calories,
but for really making inroads into reducing those stubborn fat
stores, more intense and focused exercise is a must.
A great type of routine for stubborn fat loss goals is a circuit
training program. This style of training not only raises your
metabolism, improves your cardiovascular ability, and increases
strength, it is also time efficient. Put together a routine that
uses large body parts such as legs, chest, back and shoulders into
groups and perform all of the exercises nonstop. You can also mix
cardio interval training into your circuit workouts or in addition
to your circuit workouts to increase the fat burning effect.
A Simple Circuit Program
Here is an example of an effective and time efficient circuit
program that can easily be performed at home with nothing but
dumbbells and a Swiss ball.
A1 - Swiss ball Squats (ball up against the wall)
A2 - Dumbbell Cleans
A3 - Dumbbell Flys on a Swiss Ball
A4 - Lunge
A5 - Dumbbell 3 Matrix (side laterals, bent laterals, front
laterals)
A6 - Dumbbell Row
Perform each exercise with perfect form for 6-8 reps and then get
on your cardio equipment and go hard for 1-2 minutes. Rest about 90
seconds before repeating the circuit 2-3 more times, as your
schedule and fitness level dictate.
You can easily take one or two ideas from this series, put them to
work, and immediately begin to see improvements in stubborn fat
reduction. However, the real secret, if there is one, is putting
all the pieces together into a comprehensive, healthy lifestyle
overall.
The lifestyle suggestions below may seem basic and general, but
when combined with what you've learned in this article series, they
will have a profound impact on your outcome.
1.Don't diet-Eat reasonably but do not starve or deprive yourself;
avoid yo-yo dieting.
2.Avoid empty calories and processed refined foods like sodas and
sweets.
3.Eat many smaller meals-Eat light at every meal to keep your blood
sugar steady and your metabolism stoked.
4.Eat healthy fat-Eat omega-3 fatty acids such as those found in
salmon to promote proper hormone function and balance.
5.Eat a lot of vegetables, focusing on the cruciferous variety.
6.Drink lots of water-What can I say other than, "without it, you
will die!" Drink half an ounce for every pound you weigh.
7.Get sufficient quality and quantity of sleep.
8.Keep stress to minimum.
9.Avoid excessive and chronic use of stimulants.
10.Exercise-Just a little increase in daily activities will go a
long way toward improving your health; add circuits and intervals
to knock off the most stubborn fat.
11.Have a little fun-Find an exercise program you enjoy and stick
to it.
A special thanks to my good freind Ori Hofmekler
David Grisaffi is a Sports Conditioning Coach and holds multiple
certifications including three from the prestigious CHEK Institute.
Plus he is also the author of the popluar selling e book, "Firm and
Flatten Your Abs," which teaches you how to develop a ripped
abdominal region. Lean how to shead bodyfat and eliminate low back
pain and recieve his free newsletter by visiting: http://www.flattenyourabs.net
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