Have you heard? When it comes to a fat burning workout it doesn’t get better than interval training. Okay so maybe that’s not such a big news item. But why is it that when people talk about interval training it’s always about running sprints?

Interval Training is So Much More Than Running Sprints
 

First of all in case you didn’t know doing intervals is about doing an exercise at a high intensity for a certain amount of time followed by a low intensity exercise and alternating back and forth.

Here is a Sample:

30 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity 45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity 60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity 90 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity 60 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity 45 seconds high intensity, 1 minute low intensity

Don’t Like Running Sprints Then What?
 

I don’t like to run much myself. And with all the other options you have for your interval training why limit yourself to one thing. It makes me laugh when people talk about doing intervals, that’s all you hear being talked about.

So What Are Our Other Options For Interval Training?
 

1) Kettlebells

2) Weight Training Exercises

3) Bodyweight Exercises

4) Medicine Ball Exercises

So what Exercises Can You Use For You Intervals?
 

*** Kettlebells – Swings, Snatches, Clean And Press, Cleans

*** Bodyweight Exercises – Burpees, Squat Jumps,  Mountain Climbers

*** Medicine Ball – Floor Slam, Wall Slam

*** Weight Training – (similar to kettlebells) Cleans, Snatches, Sumo Deadlift with Upright Row Combo.

Is There One Best Way to Do Interval Training?
 

No. There is no best one way to workout. My advice whether you workout to gain muscle or for fat burning is to use variety. As far as your intervals go I just gave you 12 exercises that you can use in your training.

Use only one for your selected time intervals or two or three it’s your choice. You can get great results with any of the above.

Do I have a Favorite?
 

Yes actually I do.

Kettlebells are my favorite although I am also a big fan of doing Burpees. Kettlebells with the overall fitness and fat loss qualities that they provide, just kind of go hand in hand with kettlebells.

As a Bodyweight exercise Burpees in my opinion for fat burning is one of the best fat burning exercises you can use period. You can also do burpees with kettlebells and dumbbells.

Metabolic Resistance Training is simply “cardio with weights” or as I call it resistance training cardio and when speaking of the most effective form of exercise for the fastest possible fat loss, this is it. In research studie it has been shown to burn 9x more fat than slow cardio.

Adding the Olympic lifts in your lean muscle building or fat burning workouts can and will send you on a quick path to losing excess body fat quickly, gain lean muscle, and send your cardio capacity soaring.

Gaining Lean Muscle And Losing Body Fat Quickly With The Olympic Style Lifts

There are two that are used in Olympic competition The Clean and Jerk and the Snatch.

The benefits of learning and using the Olympic lifts for gaining muscle or fat burning is that they are considered compound exercises. Compound exercises that involve all or most of the major muscle groups(with assistance from smaller muscles) in the body.

Compound exercises work a huge amount of muscle in a short amount of time, and takes your muscle building and fat burning workouts to a new level of intensity.

The conditioning benefits of doing compound exercises is amazing, it will push your cardio capacity to the max. This type of fat burning workout releases natural growth hormone which is responsible for building muscle and losing body fat.

How Do Compound Lifts Contribute To Fat Loss And Muscle Gains?

The more muscle fibers you use during an exercise the more overall body strength you gain plus you are burning more calories during your workout.The bottom line is focusing on compound exercises you are getting a better total body workout which means losing body fat quickly and adding lean muscle.

I mentioned in Olympic lifting the two lifts are the clean and jerk and the snatch both done with a barbell. In your workouts you can do them with a barbell, dumbbells or kettlebells.

There is, like with any exercise a learning curve to the Olympic lifts. When starting out use low reps and light weight, concentrate on getting your form right. Once you have mastered your form for a great fat burning workout do your sets in 4-8 rep range or even better do them together Interval Style.

In part 2 I explain how to do each lift along with video demos. To continue reading go here===> Lose Body fat Quickly And Gain Lean Dense Muscle

There are essentials that must be part of any weight loss workout (and it isn’t doing 1,000′s of crunches or tricep kickbacks).

To burn fat at the highest rate possible I’m sure you know nutrition and healthy eating is number one. To get rid of excess bodyfat you must be in a calorie deficit. If you are able to burn more calories then you take in, then you lose weight. The more intense your fat burning workouts are the more calories you burn and the more weight you can lose.

Let’s talk intensity in your workouts. Do you workout out with a full charge ahead intensity? or is it more of just going through the motions? You would be surprised at the lack of intensity I see in some peoples weight loss workouts.

Everyone is different most of us are not world class athletes able to stick with high intensity fat burning workout. Does that mean they have failed? No, but I also know that most of us are capable of more intensity than we think. Look if you are a beginner and out of shape you aren’t capable of the intensity of a seasoned trainer.

Let me give you an example. Let’s talk Tabata Training. Doing a pure Tabata workout 20 seconds on 10 seconds off for 8 sets might be the most intense fat burning workout there is. Without being very well conditioned can anyone do a full scale tabata workout? No. So does that mean you shouldn’t do them? No, scale it back a little as an example, do 20 seconds on 30 seconds off. Every workout decrease your rest times (this is upping the intensity).

The key to fat burning success is consistancy and being persistant what matters is that you make progress. Each person has to find the intensity level. There is no need to go insane with your training.

As I mentioned before some people are able to go through much more intense workouts, then they actually are. Intense fat burning workouts also mean you can get better results while spending less time in the gym. Most importantly high intensity training provides greater benefits not only for losing excess bodyfat but also for your heart health.

I have a confession to make. I hate to run. I mean I really hate it. Some kind of mental block or something I guess(maybe all those laps we had to run for high school football who knows).

So what’s the alternative? Interval training complexes. Also known as circuit training workouts, giant sets etc.

So what’s a good way of improving your fat burning and cardio conditioning?  Can we do interval training and circuit training workouts without running? Sure do it in the weight room using interval training complexes.

Interval training is done by doing two or more exercises in a sequence with the same weight (you can also use bodyweight only(click here for a bodyweight circuit training workouts video), kettlebells, sandbags etc but here I’m talking about using weights). You complete all your reps with one exercise first, then complete all your reps with the next exercise. As an example: When combining a squat with an overhead press, perform 5 reps of squats first, then 5 reps of overhead press without dropping the bar.

Seriously doing interval training complexes demands a ton of work and intensity. Here’s an example:

Circuit Training Workouts – Complex One

•Deadlift – 6 reps
•Romanian Deadlift – 6 reps
•Bent Over Row – 6 reps
•Power Clean – 6 reps
•Front Squat – 6 reps
•Push Press – 6 reps
•Back Squat – 6 reps
•Good Morning – 6 reps
Complex Two

•Snatch Grip Deadlift – 6 reps
•Snatch Pull – 6 reps
•Upright Row – 6 reps
•Power Snatch – 6 reps
•Reverse Lunge – 6 reps each leg
•Push Jerk – 6 reps
•Jump Squat – 6 reps

That’s 8 exercises at 6 reps each. Each rep is performed with good control and flows directly into the next exercise without rest. At about 2 seconds per rep, this complex should only take about 96 seconds. The key is to just keep the bar moving.

For a begginer the workouts above might be a little much. Scale down the amount of exercises in the circuit start with 4 and get your conditioning up till you are able to do the entire circuit. Here is the link again to the mini bodyweight 3 exercise circuit training workout.

After each complex we rest for 90 seconds and repeat for four complexes

The entire “interval training complexes” program as described will take about twelve minutes.

•Week one: 4 circuits x 6 reps 90s rest
•Week two: 4 circuits x 6 reps 75s rest
•Week three: 4 circuits x 6 reps 60s rest
•Week four: 4 circuits x 6 reps 45s rest
•Week five: 5 circuits x 6 reps 90s rest
•Week six: 5 circuits x 6 reps 75s rest, etc.

Don’t underestimate this type of training. Interval training complexes and circuit training workouts can be grueling. This eight-movement complex x 6 reps has a total volume of 48 reps per set! At only 100 pounds on the bar, that comes out to 4800 pounds of total work per set. So in terms of density, we’re looking at over twenty thousand pounds of total work in, by week four, less than 10 minutes.

That will help melt the fat off the body without having to resort to lighter weights in the workouts or be seen pounding the pavement and will reap its rewards in conditioning and fat loss. Interval training complexes are an excellent fat loss tool for any athlete needing to preserve muscle and strength while dropping fat.

So there you have a better (in my opinion) option to running. Don’t get me wrong I know that doing sprints is a great way to lose fat, I’m not saying don’t do it, if you like to do them more power to you.

 Interval training complexes and circuit training workouts….. Intense YES… Effective ABSOLUTLY.

Here again is the link to some videos for interval training and circuit training workouts.

And the misconception of building huge muscles with kettlebells as it used to be and unfortunatly still is with weight training is pure nonsense.

It’s time to take an open-minded approach to a different approach towards exercise, to one that doesn’t involve time consuming trips to the expensive, over-crowded gyms, then you can experience the fastest weight loss of your life with less stress and struggle.

This morning I thought I would show you one of my kettlebell workouts. This is how I stucture my workouts.

Weight Training Workouts are either 3 or 4 days a week (currently I am on a 4 day a week routine)

Kettlebell workouts are 2 or 3 days a week (currently 2 days a week)

When I go back to weight training 3 days a week which is what my usual program is(2- 3 times a year I go on a 4 day a week for anywhere from 4-6 weeks) I then do kettlebells 3 days a week.

Bodyweight exercises are done with both my weight training and kettlebell workouts.

So let me show you the kettlebell workout I did on my last kettlebell training day. I used 1 kettlebell for 2 exercises and 1 bodyweight exercise all done ina 3 exercise circuit.

1A) Kettlebell Swings ( again 1 bell 2 handed swing)

1B) Kettlebell Snatch (1 kettlebell)

1C) Burpees ( my opinion but burpees are perhaps one of the best conditioning and fat burning exercises there is.

What I do (after my warmup) is I set my gymboss timer for 15 minutes.

Start with the swing do 10 reps
Snatch 10 reps each side
Burpees 10 reps

Again this is done circuit training style so go from one exercise to the next without a break.

After the last exercise I take 10 deep breaths ( always breathe in through your nose out through your mouth sounds weird to say but if you are out of breath the natural reaction is to breathe in thru your mouth ).

Then it’s back to your first exercise. Continue till your time is up.

Depending on your conditioning level scale your reps or time up or down and if need be take more rest in-between circuits.

There you have it. This is just one of the many different kettlebell workouts I do. Give it a try and let me know how you make out.  Talk to you soon Joe.

If you are new to kettlebells check out my web site for more kettlebell articles and some video demo’s.

My answer to her and all of you is use them all. You know the whole variety is the spice of life thing. When it comes to fat loss, gaining lean muscle, losing belly fat and improving your fitness and health vatiety is your best path. Now I mentioned 4 different ways to exercise above do you know the combination and workouts you could put together?

Using variety will keep you motivated and focused on getting to your fitness and fat burning goals. I don’t know about you but I tend to get bored easily and let’s face it exercise isn’t always the most exciting thing in your life. If you keep challenging yourself with new and different workouts you will start to look forward to them. Especially once you start seeing the rewards in the mirror.

The one small problem with using exercise variety like I do is you have to really plan ahead. Back in the old day’s of doing the basic bodybuilding splits you went to your garage or gym or wherever you worked out and were going to do the same workout over and over.

I tend to go by feel sometimes just for whatever reason I might feel like doing a particular exercise or exercises so I do it. I don’t want it to sound like I just jump into a workout not knowing what I’ll do that day. I do have it planned ahead of time but I will deviate from the plan also.

What I want to give you here is how to incorporate a variety of fat burning and muscle building exercise programs to use. You do need to plan this ahead on at least a weekly basis.

Committ to Weight training Monday and Thursday use total body exercises. As an example:

#1 Deadlifts
#2 Pushups
#3 Clean and Press

Again these exercises aren’t written in stone maybe for whatever reason I don’t have the feel to do pushups I’ll do Incline dumbbell presses instead.

Use heavy weights, keep your reps in the 4-8 range, 4-5 sets each (best for lean muscle gains and losing fat). Yes it is only 3 exercises but with these 3 exercises you have also worked virtually every muscle group, Workout with intensity, haphazard workouts give haphazard results. You workout for a purpose, burn fat, gain lean muscle, losing belly fat and improved fitness and health.

Tuesday and Friday do some Kettlebell exercises - Use timed sets

Set a timer for lets say 5 minutes (this will depend on your fitness level adjust time up or down)

#1 Kettlebell Swings – do as many reps as you can in your time frame
#2 Kettlebell Snatch – same as above

With timed sets every workout try to do more reps than the workout before. You don’t need to do 10 more reps if you can’t even 1 more than your last workout is progression.

Wednesday and Saturday could be Interval Training.

Do some bodyweight circuits, Jump Rope, go outside and do some sprint intervals.

This is just an example of how you could set up your exercise week. No you don’t have to workout 6 days a week this is just an example. You should set up your workout to your conditioning level. Keep your workouts short 45 minutes(for weight training) 20 minutes and under(for kettlebells and Intervals).

Like I said sometimes I feel like doing something in particular so I do it.

I guess in a round about way what I’m saying is if you say to yourself I am weight training today but I really feel like doing Intervals than do Intervals that day. You are motivated to do intervals not weight train that day. Chances are if you say I have to (intead of I want to) weight train you probably won’t even make it through your workout.

Your Fat burning workouts don’t need to be boring. There are many options as I have showed you in this article of how to set up your exercise program. Check out Fat Burning Diets And Workouts for much more on workout variety and healthy eating.

There is a myth about Fat burning exercises that they should be done slow and for long periods (check out the aerobics classes of the 1980″s and we are still a fat society go figure). The body burns a large amount of calories from fat when you do high intensity fat burning exercises in short bursts with minimal rest periods.

What you must keep in mind is that the more muscles you use at one time, the more fat you are going to start burning. This is how rapid weight loss can be achieved and your optimal weight can be kept. Workouts that use weight training, kettlebells and bodyweight exercises are perfect for fat burning. These exercises give you the edge to making your fat burning attempts more successful.

Concentrating on total body fat burning exercises involve the major muscle groups of the body which in turn burns more calories long after your workout is over.

Here are some examples of Total Body Fat Burning Exercises:

* Barbell Squats – Front and Back Squats
* Deadlifts
* Kettlebell Swings
* Kettlebell Snatch
* Burpee’s
* Jump Rope

Some forms of exercise actually burn more sugar than they do fat. Exercises that burn sugar are mainly comprised of long duration physical activity followed by periods of rest. This results in sugar being converted for fuel instead of being converted to fat.

These types of exercises include hour long treadmill, and the long aerobics type classes I mentioned earlier. Now I will say this if doing those kinds of workouts is what gets you exercising, well something is better than nothin. However, they will not burn nearly as much fat as other types of exercise will. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do them of course. Just don’t rely on them as your main fat burning exercises.

If you want to burn the fat off in an effective way you need to exercise at a high intensity for short burst’s of time with minimal rest in between. The after effects of this type of fat burning workout give’s you more benefits in the long run.

Fat burning exercises like these actually increase your metabolism and result in calories being burned long after you have quit exercising for the day. When you practice this routine on a regular basis you can actually develop more fat burning enzymes than people who don’t exercise at all.

All it takes is about twenty minutes of this type of physical activity and those enzymes start working. This is an important piece of information to keep in mind when you first start. This means you should begin by working out at least twenty minutes and increase the time as you progress. Three days a week for your fat burning workouts is a good starting goal and also add in 2-3 strength training workouts a week.

While you are working toward reducing the amount of body fat you have you should also do your best to eat well. By combining a healthy diet with the right fat burning exercises you will obtain the results you have been looking for that will be easy to maintain for the rest of your life.

For the quickest and healthiest path to lose fat, do the right fat burning exercises (squats, deadlifts, pull-ups etc.). your fat burning diets should be spaced over 5-6 a day, no junk food, eat non processed foods. Be active everyday (it could be just going for a quick walk). So there are the key steps to fat burning success so let’s get it done!

In your attempt to lose fat do you have your fat burning manual? Questions to ask yourself.  How do I know what exercises, workouts, activities and healthy eating habits will help me lose fat, and which ones will only hurt my fat burning efforts?

 Now you can relax – I have a list of the top ten fat burning super tips. These are tips and tricks used by fit people on a daily basis to control their cravings, lose fat, and avoid extra calories!

Fat Burning Super Tips:

1. Protein Pack Your Meals: No, we’re not talking Atkins here. However, a portion of protein added to your breakfast, as well as to snacks, will help you stay full and feel satisfied longer. Peanut butter is a great, cheap way to add protein.

2. Be Active Everyday:  No you don’t have to do full blown workouts everyday. Invest in a pedometer. This great device counts your steps throughout the day. Strive to increase the number each day, and you may not even have to take the time to work out. Include movement throughout your day.

3. Include Healthy Snacks: Three meals a day is all well and good, but sometimes snacks are even better. To help keep your metabolism stable, add a snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Try for 100-150 calories per snack for optimum fat burning success.

4. Avoid Drinking Your Calories: ( this is a big one most people don’t consider) Drinks such as soda, sweetened tea, and juice all pack a caloric punch. Avoid damage to your diet by sticking to water, diet soda, or other zero calorie beverages.

5. Wear Clothes that Fit:  Wearing clothing that is the correct size helps to make you more aware of your body size. As you lose or gain weight, it will be much more noticeable.

6. Listen to your Mother Eat Your Vegetables: If you’re still feeling hungry after a meal, begin adding an extra serving of vegetables or a salad at meal time. Vegetables add fiber and bulk, without excess calories.

7. Use Portion Control: Read labels, and measure your portions carefully. Many small bags of chips, for example, contain two to three servings( and if you want to lose fat why are you eating chips hey I’m just asking). You could be consuming double or even triple the amount of calories you think you are, so be sure to read those labels.

Take the time to incorporate some of these fat burning and fat loss super tips into your healthy eating diet today. You’ll be amazed at how little effort is required. These tips help to take the “die” out of diet, and will have you on your way to your goal weight in no time. Include one, or several, today, and watch the pounds melt off!

In a second I am going to show one of the most effective and efficient cardio and fat burning exercises there is. But first.

Are you using any of these workouts for fat burning and cardio?

* Weight Training

* Kettlebell Training

* Interval Training

* Circuit Training

If not then you need to start and if you are and not seeing the results in fat loss then you need to up your intensity.

Let me give you one of the best cardio and fat burning exercises I know (and truth be told if you were to do it as I tell you it is a workout by itself).

The Kettlebell Swing (Can be done with a dumbbell but a kettlebell is much more effective). First let me tell you how to do it.

Proper start position for the kettlebell swing, stand up straight and push your butt out as you bend over. Make sure to bend your knees slightly and to keep your back flat. Look forward and grip the kettlebell really hard and keep your body tight. Flex your butt and abs as hard as you can.

In one smooth motion, swing the kettlebell back between your legs and quickly reverse the swing forward. As the bell swings forward snap your hips and keep the kettlebell close to your body. Use the momentum to drive the kettlebell overhead.

Cardio and Fat Burning Workout With the Kettlebell swing. This is how I have been using the snatch you may have to scale back depending on your conditioning. Follow my lead here and you will Burn fat like you can’t believe.

Set #1 Do 1 rep each arm

Set #2 Do 2 reps each arm (I’m sure you see where this is going)

Continue up to 15 reps each (or whatever your conditioning allows) Oh wait you thought you were done? Wrong!

Set #16 Do 14 reps each arm

Set #17 Do 13 reps each (yep all the way back down)

Like I said that’s your whole workout that day a cardio and fat burning workout with one exercise. Total time well that depends again on your conditioning but for the best cardio and fat burning 15-20 minutes 2-3 times a week.

The kettlebell swing is such an effective exercise. Use it with intensity which is how you should approach all your workouts. Add in 2-3 days of weight training, switch out with some interval and circuit training and check you out the cardio and fat burning machine.

The day’s of the marathon workouts are over. I don’t care what that personal trainer is telling you. A minimum of an hour 5-6 day’s a week on a treadmill is bull. Remember anyone can be a personal trainer. There are alot of other effective and efficient exercises and workouts for your cardio, lean muscle gains and fat burning I will be writing about soon. If you aren’t up on kettlebell training go to my website The Kettlebell Training Page. I have a lot of free info there exercise descriptions, workouts and more. For more on circuit training, interval training and weight training check out my website Fat Burning Diets and Workouts.com

Okay so that’s how many hours this week on the treadmill doing your “cardio and fat burning workouts”?____ (fill in the blank) Really, and how’s that working out? Yeah I couldv’e guessed. If you are spending more than 3-4 hours a week and not losing 1-2 pounds of fat your wasting your time.

In a second I am going to show one of the most effective and efficient cardio and fat burning workout there is. I know the title says simple and it is) but don’t mistake simple as meaning easy.  I am going to introduce you to training with kettlebells. The kettlebell snatch and kettlebell swing maybe the 2 most efficient fat burning exercises there are. But first.

Are you using any of these workouts for fat burning and cardio?

* Weight Training
* Kettlebell Training
* Interval Training
* Circuit Training

If not then you need to start and if you are and not seeing the results in fat loss then you need to up your intensity.

* Motivation gets you started – Intensity and Consistancy is what get’s you Results *

Let me give you one of the best cardio and fat burning exercises I know (and truth be told if you were to do it as I tell you it is a workout by itself).

The Kettlebell Snatch (Can be done with a dumbbell but a kettlebell is much more effective). First let me tell you how to do it.

Proper start position for the kettlebell snatch, stand up straight and push your butt out as you bend over. Make sure to bend your knees slightly and to keep your back flat. Look forward and grip the kettlebell really hard and keep your body tight. Flex your butt and abs as hard as you can.

In one smooth motion, swing the kettlebell back between your legs and quickly reverse the swing forward. As the bell swings forward snap your hips and keep the kettlebell close to your body. Use the momentum to drive the kettlebell overhead.

Cardio and Fat Burning Workout With the Kettlebell Snatch. This is how I have been using the snatch you may have to scale back depending on your conditioning. Follow my lead here and you will Burn fat like you can’t believe.

Set #1 Do 1 rep each arm
Set #2 Do 2 reps each arm (I’m sure you see where this is going)

Continue up to 15 reps each (or whatever your conditioning allows) Oh wait you thought you were done? Wrong!

Set #16 Do 14 reps each arm
Set #17 Do 13 reps each (yep all the way back down)

Like I said that’s your whole workout that day a cardio and fat burning workout with one exercise. Total time well that depends again on your conditioning but for the best cardio and fat burning 15-20 minutes 2-3 times a week.

Added to a weight training workout 2-3 times a week (and keep your weight training workouts to 3-6 exercises and 45 minutes or less).

The kettlebell snatch is such an effective exercise. Use it with intensity which is how you should approach all your workouts. Add in 2-3 days of weight training, switch out with some interval and circuit training and check you out the cardio and fat burning machine.

I have been using kettlebells for just over a year now. As an old weight training guy I at first wasn’t really too keen on them. Then I was curious and decided to give them a try. And I was very glad I did. Kettlebells hit your body in a very different way than weight training. It looks simple and it is (again simple not easy) but oh so effective.Give it a try I think you will be very happy you did.