Burn off the FAT -

"With this great Abs workout!"
Well, that was a headline on the front of Runner's World last month, and is often a headline you'll see on most "fitness or celebrity" magazines, every month.

Will it do as the headline says?

Largely, No.

Yes ab and core exercises will help strengthen those muscles and improve posture, but they're not going to burn fat alone. Just how many calories would a set of ab exercises burn? 30, 40, 50 at most if you're going for a while!

Ab and core work should be built into your workouts, along with big full body exercises like Squats, Lunges, Pressups, pullups, Kettlebell or dumbell swings, Rotational work etc, and again using freeweights and not machines, unless you're using assisted pullup work.

Add in some interval training, be it on CV equipment or with resistance exercises, and cut back on sugar, wheat and processed foods, whilst eating more protein and natural foods, and you'll be on your way to really burning off the fat!

If you want more information on Interval Training, signup to the box on the right and you'll receive my report on how to integrate Intervals into your workouts for maximum results!

Address the underlying issue for long term results

I see Kerry Katona (a very minor 'celebrity' to my readers outside of the UK!) has recently spent a reported £10,000 on liposuction and other weight loss surgery.
Quite amazing really, when she declared herself bankrupt late last year?!

No doubt a few of those shocking TV appearances, or magazine sob-story articles paid for most of it.

However, mark my words, some point this year, she will no doubt be back to the size she was more recently.
Kerry obviously has underlying issues, alcohol has been named as one, and I'll not dare guess at others, but if the underlying issue to her weight gain, unhappiness, and emotional problems are still there, then you are not addressing the root cause. She has just given herself a short-term solution, but with the underlying issues, they will fight themselves to the top, as negative issues do, and take control again.

If you are on a fat loss programme, ensure you address the initial cause first, and prepare for those obstacles.
Do you eat too much junk food or processed food?
Do you exercise?

Do you drink too much?
Do you eat through boredom?
Do you eat badly through lack of preparation?
Do you just make excuses?

Seek professional guidance or help if you genuinely cannot explain YOUR underlying reason, but when you have that reason, do all you can to eliminate it, find solutions, take 100% responsibility for your actions, instill a positive "can-do" mindset and you will benefit from your newly instilled confidence and goal setting.
I hope Kerry can do the same.

Madonna - good or bad body at 50?

In the paper at the weekend was an article with Tracy Anderson, Personal Trainer to Madonna, Gwyneth Paltrow and other celebrities. Some of the quotes pulled from there were, about Madonna, "I want to keep her body looking like it's 20 years old ".

Now, I know a lot of people actually dislike Madonna's body! Fair play to her for exercising regularly, but when veins start popping out of arms, well, I haven't seen that on a 20 year old! Author Fay Weldon put's it as "Madonna does not have the body of a 20 yr old. She has the body of a 50yr old who is well-exercised and half-starved!"

"Using her training system, The Method, Anderson uses low weight (only up to 3 pounds) but high reps - 60 for most people, but 100 for Madonna. She exercises with Madonna for 2 hours per day, 6 times a week".
- COME ON! Up to 3lb weights?! How is that challening? Though the fact she probably eats so little, could make that challenging?! What is 3lb going to do for anyone?! And 2 hours a day?! No wonder, the weights have to be so light!
Do yourself a favaour, lift heavy/challenging weights, keeping reps under 12, keep workouts under 50mins, and 3-4 times a week is more than enough! I have a client who is 51, and I've trained for 5 years now. She has a much better look to her body than Madonna! We will often Deadlift 45kg, DB Press 15kg DB's, 25 full pressups, Bodyweight rows etc. She would have words to say if I handed her a pair of 1kg weights!

"When Anderson first met Paltrow and Madonna, they were horrified by her junk food diet. I had gotten cocky about the fitness programme I designed and I was eating 4 cupcakes a day, cheeseburgers, dunking Oreo's in processed icing. But I had such a serious sweet tooth, and because I got such good results from my fitness regime I could get away with it!"

- No, you probably have a high metabolism from exercising regularly, which generally means you can get away with eating a few extra cheat meals, but come on?! Food and calories are what put weight on. Either you did that junk food diet for about 2 days or you weren't telling us how much weight you gained during that time, because you would have put it on!

The lives of celebreties are there for us to read about! To follow, or emulate their lives would be wrong, and not very practical!

For us 'normal' folk;

Write down your specific goals, and the date you want to achieve them by.

Reduce wheat, dairy, sugar and alcohol in your daily diet.

Eat more fresh meat and fish, nuts, seeds, vegetables and fruit.

Exercise 2-4 times a week, incorporating challenging weights, and short, sharp, interval training.

You will then see good results...I can't promise a 20 year old body, but I can promise a body you will be proud to show off!

What do you think?! Does Madonna have a good body at 50 or not?! Feel free to comment!

Talk to one of the world's TOP Fat Loss Trainers!

I will have the pleasure of interviewing one of the worlds leading fat loss specialists, Craig Ballantyne, later this week. Craig's Turbulence Training system is used throughout the world, with everyday people shedding pounds of fat, and gaining lean muscle, and finishing with outstanding results, and figures!

Here's your chance to ask Craig any questions you may have, about his TT system, or health and fitness in general. Post your questions in the comments section of this post, or email me at Mark@Markspt.co.uk, and I'll select the best ones.
The interview will appear on here in the next few weeks, so bookmark, subscribe to this blog and get ready for some of the most important facts about fat loss and exercise!

Celebrity 'Fat Loss' Dvd's? Don't waste your money!

It's that time of year when 'celebrities' bring out their magical 'fat loss' and fitness DVD's, promising you that pounds, even stones of fat will drop off it you just follow their DVD!
They will even have a before and after photo of themselves to make the choice even easier!

Errr......no. If people could get those results from following a step DVD, or a 30minute dance class that has you shuffling, tripping, and mostly stopping to rewind and re-watch the last moves, Personal Trainers, BootCamps etc would be out of business.

Please don't be fooled by this marketing and 'celebrity' tag, they are just using their profile to sell something that;

May get you a little bit fitter / May get you moving a bit, but WILL NOT help you burn fat!

The one thing you will need to do, that these DVD's often don't advertise is to CHANGE YOUR DIET. It's the food that you have eaten that has made you fat, not the fact that you have been without their DVD for all this time!!

Save your money, lay off the wheat, the dairy, the alcohol, and start eating more natural foods and then you Will start to lose regular weight.

Why not take advantage of my FREE online training offer posted below or at http://www.markspt.co.uk/?

You could also look to buy my combined Nutrition and Exercise ebook coming out in the next 6 weeks!! :-)

Posh to get thinner?

OK it's happened! After years of saying she hates gym work, and would rather eat 'sensibly' Posh has finally succumbed to 'gym work'.

Her recent short haircut has already brandished comments of 'schoolboy', 'elf like' and similar, but if she isn't careful, her new regime could see her becoming even thinner, and a real danger to her health.

Instead of embarking on a resistance training plan which is what she really needs to get her body looking decent, and 'Hollywood', she has hit the treadmill.

"I run 4 miles a day, 7 days a week" says Posh. "I'm eating more, as you need to when you're working out".

The question is, is she eating the right sort of foods? In the past she has been known for skipping carbohydrates, and eating salads, drinking juices, and keeping calorie intake to a minimum. However, with a new passion for running, she really is going to need a daily source of complex carbohydrates, and a higher calorie count to fuel her body. Also, by running so much, her body will produce cortisol ( a stress hormone) which will start to breakdown muscle tissue (if there is any left on her!), leaving her looking thinner and shapeless, a term in the business known as Skinny fat in that she looks skinny, but is in fact carrying a reasonably high bodyfat percentage due to the lack of remaining body tissue - muscle.

If I were Posh's trainer (yeah, right!) she'd be eating;

-Complex carbs for breakfast and lunch, along with a source of protein.

- Lean protein and vegetables for evening meal, with some balanced snacks mid morning and afternoon,

- Around 2 litres of water a day.

- Workouts would consist of full body resistance work 3-4 times a week, with some short sharp interval training, possibly 2-3 times a week.

If only her trainer persuaded her to do the same, she would have a body she'd be happy with..............then again David Beckham could become Prime Minister!