Don't do extra cardio if you pig out. Don't freak out and think you have to punish yourself. There's a better way to boost your fat burning than by starving yourself and over-exercising.
Today, I'll cover...
1 - What to do when you eat too much
2 - The Best Interval Training Workout
3 - Fat Burning for Babyboomers
Q #1: Is doing a lot of cardio a good idea if you eat too many calories one day?
Answer:
Thanks for the email.
I don't like to look at exercise as a form of punishment or purging for eating too much.
Here are the 2 ways to better address it:
1) If this happens once a month, its no big deal. Just go about your normal life and stay consistent with your regular workout pattern.
2) If this happens once a week, or multiple times per week, then its a nutritional behaviour problem that needs to be corrected, and excess exercise is not the answer.
Build your body up, don't beat it down.
Q #2: What's the best interval training program for fat loss?
Answer:
No interval method has been shown to be best for fat loss...but of course intervals have been shown to be better than regular cardio for shedding fat fast.
So using a variety of intervals for fat loss is like using a variety of rep ranges for muscle growth. That's what I prefer.
That way, you train your muscle's metabolism in three different energy systems and put your body in the ultimate fat burning turbulence. This makes certain that you will maximize your metabolism, while you burn more calories - and both carbs and fat - during the workout and after the workout. So forget about the HR zone myth for fat loss. Its all the intensity of intervals.
Q #3: Craig, I started on your beginner fat burning workout several weeks ago ( I will finish the four weeks this week and then I am planning on moving to the advanced fat burning workout for 4 weeks).
Over the past 14 months I have dropped 85 pounds. Included in the weight loss period I started walking nearly everyday and progressed to bodyweight exercises and doing some hill running in addition to the walking. Have worked with dumbbells off and on. Have made some decent progress. I need to continue the weight loss another 20-30 pounds. All this is background.
My question is I have been reading about 50 year olds( I am 49) needing more recovery time between workouts. I am feeling fine doing the Turbulence Training workout - just checking in with you to see if you have any thing to suggest with someone my age doing these workouts. I think I am fine doing the 3 times a week because the intensity is high, but the duration in not high.
Any insight would be helpful. I am just wanting to continue something I can keep going with for the long term.
Answer:
Thanks for the email. Wonderful progress, congratulations.
Sounds like everything is fine. Fortunately, the fat burning workouts are designed to give you more recovery than traditional 5-day per week bodypart training workouts. Use the off days for recovery methods (walk the dog, walk your errands, etc).
Every couple of months take a week off, do one low-volume high-intensity workout and do some different stuff to improve your recovery.
Keep up the great work!
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Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training for Fat Loss have helped thousands of men and women with weight loss and fat burning in less than 45 minutes three times per week. Turbulence Training for Fat Loss workouts help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Craig's bodyweight workouts for fat loss help you lose fat without any equipment at all.
