If you depend on classic aerobic cardio for fat loss, you probably spend 30 minutes on a machine trying to burn a set number of calories.

But does that work?

Does burning 500 calories per day cause you to lose 1 pound of fat per week?

Well, according to science, it should. But if it did, you probably wouldn’t still be reading this article.

Back in the day, I used to write a column on fat loss myths for Men’s Fitness magazine. Here’s a classic weight loss topic I covered.

Myth: I need to burn 500 calories each workout to lose fat.

Truth:
Possibly one of the worst inventions for fat loss was the calorie-counting monitor on treadmills, elliptical machines, and stairmasters.

Because of these, millions of men and women now obsess about the number of calories burned per session. You’ve probably even been one of those people, watching it creep up ever so slowly during a slow-cardio session. All the while knowing that you can wipe out a 30-minute, 300-calorie treadmill session with one fell swoop of the Krispy Kreme hand.

Too many people are brainwashed into thinking that if they don’t burn 300-500 calories per session, then they won’t lose fat. After all, that is what you’ve been told time and time again in those fluffy fitness/fashion magazines.

The problems with this approach to fat loss are numerous. First off, it’s difficult to say if the calorie counters are even accurate. A story on CBS news showed that cardio machines overestimate calorie burning by up to 20%.

Next, depending on slow cardio for advanced fat loss is relatively useless and at the very least, inefficient. It takes a long time for you to burn a lot of calories and one study showed that men who only used cardio training for weight loss ended up with a reduced resting metabolism. You are basically undoing the calorie burning by depending only on cardio. On the other hand, guys in the same study that used strength training didn’t suffer a reduced metabolic rate.

So what is the solution to burning fat in a faster, more efficient method? The answer is to use strength and interval training to burn fewer calories in less exercise time, but with a more intense form of exercise.

Your body will burn more calories after exercise (when you use intervals) than it does after you do slow cardio and your metabolism will stay high. Some experts refer to this as the afterburn effect. How do you do intervals? Well, you could sprint for 30 seconds and rest for 90 seconds and repeat that for 6 sets – using the bike preferably or treadmill if you are experienced with it.

Within that short time frame the intervals will cause your muscles to go crazy with activity (I call it a metabolic turbulence). This crazy metabolism boost causes lots of calorie burning after exercise to get your body back to normal. The result is you would end up burning more fat and more calories in the post-exercise period as your body tries to get things under control.

Now there is one time where you’d want to count calories, but that is when you are counting up and determining how many calories you eat per day. Again, you can wipe out an entire workout’s work in less than a minute simply by eating garbage. Without some structure and discipline to your nutrition, there is nothing that even my programs can do to help you lose fat.

So exercise nutrition control and interval training. These are the two anti-calorie counting methods that will help you lose fat and get lean.

Possibly over the Alps or Rockies. Or South Africa. Or just through the state forest.

Check it: Epic Mountain Bike Races .com

Latest news and directory listing of epic mountain bike races.

From now through February 28, sign up for the Trans-Sylvania Epic through your favorite bike shop employee and get yourself a $50 discount on the race fee. Plus, by going through the local shop you’ll help one of the shop employees earn a credit toward participating in Trans-Sylvania. This is a great way to show your local shop how much you appreciate everything they do for you all year long (and picking up some choice items to help get you ready for Trans-Sylvania while you’re there will help too)!

We will offer a list of registered shops on our site at www.TransSylvaniaEpic.com and if your favorite retailer isn’t up there just tell them to get on board by contacting us – we’ll take care of the rest. Or, head over to a shop that is already participating in your area and make some new friends by helping one of the guys join in the Trans-Sylvania fun! If you just can’t find anyone give us a call and we’ll put you in touch with someone personally.

The Trans-Sylvania Epic offers 7 days of spectacular trails in some of the most remote riding in Pennsylvania through the Allegheny mountains. Throughout the 7 days the participants will explore over 250 miles of mountain bike heaven. The event will challenge riders physically and mentally but reward them with an experience they’ll never forget. If you love riding a mountain bike your number one destination this year should be the Trans-Sylvania Epic! If you are bike shop employee and would like to take part in this promotion please do not hesitate to contact us directly. Information about Trans-Sylvania is available at www.TransSylvaniaEpic.com.

This is when folks slowly start dropping off from their workout program, or cheating on their diet.

And for a lot of folks, weekend eating – particularly SuperBowl weekend eating – is to blame.

When some folks binge eat, they go looking for a “detox diet”, thinking that will reverse all their mistakes.

But I’m not here to recommend that…no way.

Instead, I have an amazing article – perhaps his best article ever – from fitness expert Craig Ballantyne about a simple 7-Step Detox Diet that you can easily follow everyday…

…so that you never need to do an extreme 7-day or 2-week cleanse.

Here’s Craig to tell it like it is:

I just got back from the SuperBowl and got a chance to sit in the front row right in the endzone. It was really cool, and I also got a chance to see “The Who” live in concert at half-time.

But, while I was there, I had a few extra “non-compliance” meals than normal, so it got me thinking about detox diets.

I have a pretty strong opinion about detoxing, and I put together a simple 7-step detox diet plan that you can easily follow so that you never have to do a 16-day detox ever.

You see, my biggest “beef” with the entire theory of “detoxing” is this…

It is simply NOT possible to EVER detox your body.

Why?

Because it’s such a vague statement.

What does “detox” mean?

How do you measure “detoxification”?

What do you even define as toxins?

And when do you officially become “detoxed”?

The answer is, “You don’t.”

It’s impossible.

After all, every single second of every day your body produces carbon dioxide, which is a toxin.

And if you have deep belly fat, research shows that this “visceral fat” is constantly releasing inflammatory toxins into your blood.

Every second. The more fat you have, the more toxic you are.

Plus, every breath you take includes pollutants.

And even the water that you drink may contain “toxins”.

So….what’s the real deal on detoxing?

Listen, while every “expert” is out there arguing about tiny little details and “gurus” are trying to sell you on detoxing so they can sell supplements, the TRUTH is that you really just need to know a few steps to avoid getting toxic in the first place.

In my opinion, the #1 factor in living a “low toxin life” is simply to keep as much garbage out of your body in the first place, rather than depending on a 3-day, 7-day or even 16-day detox to be healthy.

So what do I do to prevent “toxin build-up” in the first place?

Well, I live the Turbulence Training Lifestyle of course, including my “7 Step Detox Nutrition Plan”:

1) Start each day with a blender drink of berries, spinach or other greens, raw nuts (such as walnuts – rich in healthy fats), and other ingredients packed with antioxidants and healthy fats.

2) For lunch, have a large green salad with spinach, beans, broccoli, peppers, avocado, onions, etc.

3) Eat an organic apple a day. Certain fruits (i.e. apples, peaches, cherries, and strawberries) and vegetables have a higher exposure to pesticides, and you should choose organic when possible.

4) Eat RAW snacks only – of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Try using this one simple rule and limit all of your between meal snacks to raw fruit, raw vegetables, and/or raw nuts and I promise you’ll drop the pounds because you’ll be full on a smaller number of calories.

5) Drink Green Tea (2-3 cups) and filtered water (3 liters) instead of beverages that contain calories or chemicals.

6) Limit animal protein intake to only 2 servings per day. On most days, I’ll one of the following: an “after workout” chocolate milk, organic eggs in the morning, or occasionally I’ll have high quality meat at dinner.

You don’t need to be a full vegetarian to live a longer life, but you should probably avoid eating meat 5 times per day, like people in Chicago.

(Hey Chicago, don’t get mad at me for that…it was a born-and-raised Chicago native who told me 5 servings of meat per day was the average Chicago meat consumption.)

7) Minimize or completely eliminate alcohol intake.

While research does show that for men, up to 2 drinks per day may help cardiovascular health (and for women, up to one drink per day), I’m not about to recommend you start drinking.

After all, if you go above those limits, you start to destroy your health…and you risk addiction. Alcohol killed my father, and I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you. Tread cautiously with the booze.

So that’s it. A simple 7-Step Detox Diet Plan.

By the way, it goes without saying that you should avoid:

- cigarettes
- trans-fats
- excessive amounts of sugar
- refined grains
- and 7-11 nacho cheese

Right?

Of course.

And you should be exercising to lose the belly fat…using proven methods, such as interval training – which is proven to beat long, slow cardio when it comes to burning dangerous belly fat.

Plus, you should be using Turbulence Training resistance supersets to burn more calories and sculpt your body.

If you’ve never used Turbulence Training, you can try it out today for less than the cost of a Superbowl hot dog.

Click here to get Turbulence Training for less than 5 bucks:

www.TurbulenceTraining.com [Want to know more? Here's a Turbulence Training for Abs book review.]

Simply follow those 7 nutrition guidelines and use the short TT workouts to cut out as many toxins from your body – without detoxing.

Stay strong,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

PS – I also believe you should avoid toxic relationships…

…so you need to take a hard look at the people you surround yourself with in life.

Do you have the right work friends?
Are you in the right relationships?
Do you spend enough time with the right family members?

Or are they toxic too?

Remember – you need social support for success in life and in fat loss…so surround yourself with positive people, like the good folks on the TT Member’s forum.

If you need to dump the toxic folks and get positive social support, we’d love to see you on the forum and help you out.

You will get a free 3-month TT membership access to the forum when you try out Turbulence Training for only $4.95 today:

www.TurbulenceTraining.com [Want to know more? Here's a Turbulence Training for Abs book review.]

Please click that link to get started losing fat & getting rid of the toxic baggage in your life.

At a price!

So I thought it was funny to find out about a very popular home remedy for just about every ailment… apple cider vinegar!

Yep, this cheap liquid found in most every grocery store will cure nearly everything! Well, maybe, but obviously I don’t know yet.

If you look here, you see apple cider vinegar (usually shortened to ACV) will possibly help:

allergies (including pet, food and environmental), sinus infections, acne, high cholesterol, flu, chronic fatigue, candida, acid reflux, sore throats, contact dermatitis, arthritis, and gout. One reader reported that a shot of ACV saved him from going to the emergency room for heart pain. Apple Cider Vinegar also breaks down fat and is widely used to lose weight. It has also been reported that a daily dose of apple cider vinegar in water has high blood pressure under control in two weeks!

Omega Nutrition ACV is looking good after a few reviews, so I will look for it at the store next time. Then if I can just convince myself to try it!

Everyone makes mistakes. But you should read this article to hopefully cut down on your mistakes.

The mistakes you make when training are felt mostly in racing. Here’s how to stop making the 10 most common multisport mistakes.

All athletes want to improve their performance. The biggest improvements come from eliminating mistakes and, rest assured, everyone make mistakes. There are a few mistakes you can avoid to make your training and racing smoother – whether you’re an elite or a beginner athlete.

The causes for such mistakes usually are: misinterpreting instructions, training myths and products overblown performance claims. But, more often than not, it’s sheer enthusiasm that makes a athlete their own worst enemy. That’s not to say being passionate about triathlon is a bad thing. Being determined to perform well is great, but sometimes that eagerness can lead you to make misguided decisions.

…

Read more at 10 Most Common Multisport Mistakes

But I never seriously considered fish oil until reading about how Omega-3 fatty acids are anti-inflammatory. I realized this after reading about Recoup90 at CoachLevi.com. This is a new, highly-concentrated Omega 3 pill.

It seems overpriced so I probably won’t buy it. But if fish oil can reduce inflammation and therefore speed my msucles’ recovery, I’m all over it. I might get a good brand like Carlson’s that’s not too expensive but still good quality.

Woo hoo, I’ll be able to workout every single day and not get sore!! Not really, but that would be cool.

now you might be able to work out in daylight when your workday ends at 5pm.

the downside is that this is also a time of year when we have to go out in the rain

Being unskilled in such an area, I set out to learn, and boy did I learn! If you want to learn like I did, here is where to go:

Strong Lifts
Huge strength training resource. Has how-tos for just about every worthwhile exercise there is. Plus good nutrition info. Read every single page of the site and then check out the forums to discuss strength training.

The IF Life
The IF Life is actually about intermittent fasting but has useful and practical advice about muscle building as well. Gotta love the “no nonsense” approach.

Gym Junkies
Like StrongLifts, Gym Junkies focuses on good, solid training methods instead of sissy junk. Plus there are high-quality instructional videos.

Fitness Black book
Good training and diet tips. But it’s worth reading just for enjoyment due to the awesome/hilarious writing style.

I thought I might end up with a big list here, but that was unnecessary. While I’ve seen hundreds of fitness and weight loss blogs, these 4 give you all you need to get into some strength training.

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

Most experienced runners can tell when other runners are in shape just by watching them run. They look for efficiency, a measure of how much energy is lost by wasteful movements during running. You run with your legs and all of your other movements are used just to balance your body. The main reason you don’t fall when you are walking or running is that your brain constructs a “center of gravity”, a point around which all movements on one side are balanced by equal movements on the other side. For example, when your right leg goes forward, your left arm goes forward and your right arm goes backward. You do this without thinking and your movements are automatically calculated in your brain.

A study from The Hospital of Laval in France shows that even the best runners lose their efficiency when they become fatigued (Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, June 2006). Experienced runners have consistent stride length and form. This study shows that with fatigue, their stride length decreases and, more importantly, they start to lose form by adding a significant amount of side-to-side movement that wastes energy and does not drive them forward.

Running slowly does not teach your brain how to balance your body when you run fast. Good form comes from practicing running very fast in training. People who run slowly all the time usually have poor running form. They waste movements that do not help them move forward. For example, their feet often move to the side after they raise their feet from the ground. Their arms do not move loosely and comfortably to balance their bodies. They may run with toes pointed outward, which is a sign of weak shin muscles. If you want to improve your running form, run faster a few times every week.

Subscribe to my FREE weekly newsletter on fitness, health, and nutrition, and get my Fitness & Sports eBook free!

Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports — and the FREE Good Food Book — at http://www.DrMirkin.com

[Editor's Note: A very good article from Dr Mirkin. This reminds me of the Chi Running technique I've heard about.]