The Strength Training Critic Blog

So i was thinking on buying a exercise bike or a treadmill but i have no idea which would be better to have around a 2 year old boy and to get a good workout, please help, Thanks in advance, any suggestions on any other exercise equipment is welcome, so tho in your own thoughts , again Thanks in advance.

I understand your concern, I’ve heard of children getting their fingers caught in treadmills etc. I don’t know what your child’s schedule is like, but if it’s possible to do your routine while he is taking a nap that’s a thought. Another possibility is to exercise with your child with no equipment involved, such as going for a walk, throw on some music and dance around the living room with him. As far as another piece of equipment the elliptical machine is very good. Hope I helped with ideas.

I walk/jog a couple times a week and will do sit ups, push ups and lunges.

What’s the most efficient way of using cardio and strength training together to burn the most fat?

ALSO, what are thee best leg exercises to get rid of that stubborn fat that won’t go away!
Hey Boogie* Guys just need to losin up a little!

The best way to implement cardio is by using PROGRESSIONS. Meaning "slowing adding to the amount when fat loss stalls".

For example. Start off 3x per week for 30 mins. Each week add 1 day to the mix. Keep it there until fat loss stalls. Then add 10 mins to each session. Keep it there until fat loss stalls. then add another 10 mins. etc etc

((Always wait for 2 consecutive weeks of no loss. Why? because our bodies don’t lose fat linearly. 1 week we might lose 3lbs the next week we might lose 0 lbs. The next week we’ll lose 2lbs and the following 1lb.)) It’s best to do cardio in this fashion because our bodies are highly adaptive so we have to steadily add to the minutes to keep our bodies from fully adapting to the stimulation.

Do weight lifting 3-4x per week. For no longer than 45 mins each session.

ALWAYS do your cardio AFTER the weight lifting. If you were to do the cardio before, it takes approx 10 mins before your heart rate is high enough to be beneficial. If you do it AFTER the weights, your heart reate is already raised so you immediately reap the benefits.

good luck Ms. Boring Dater :p

I’ve been running on the elliptical lately, and I feel that my legs are getting bulkier. I just want to get rid of some fat on my legs without gaining any muscle. I’ve been running on it for 30 min (around 7-8 miles) each day
Is there another way I can burn fat without gaining any muscle?

hmm, 30 min for 7-8 miles is a pace of about 4 min/mile. congratulations youve set a world record. now lets be realistic, your legs havent gotten bigger. you just think they have because perhaps they feel tired/overworked. your legs are going to change but its suppose to happen. if you want to eventually burn fat on the elliptical then your body needs to adapt to the new working environment in order to maximize its performance. that envolves reshaping the leg muscles by taking out some muscular fibers and adding in others designed for performing on ellipticals.

look at the worlds most elite runners. NONE have what would could be considered bulky legs. bulkiness comes from competitive weight lifters not people that run at your pace on ellipticals. and i dont mean your world record pace, im of course referring to the pace you actually run which is drastically slower than what you say.

Burn fat to show off a more toned body without losing alot of weight. I gained weight because i didnt liked how I looked when I was really thin. Then I got a little chubby, then when I tried burning fat I made a low cal diet and lost weight. Now i’m at the weight I want again, How do I burn fat from stomach and have tight without losing too much weight?

12 Tips for Atkins Diet

1. If what you are eating has less than 1 carb, count it as 1 carb just to be sure.

2. Totally avoid caffine at least for the first two weeks on the program.

3. Drink a MINIMUM of 8 glasses of plain water or seltzer daily.

4. Don’t weigh yourself more than once a week

5. Take starting measurements as well as weight – sometimes you’ll lose inches before pounds

6. Avoid any type of "low carb" sweetener for the first two weeks

7. Don’t compare your loss to someone else’s – this is a YMMV thing (your milage may vary)

8. Stalls are common around the third week so don’t panic

9. If you follow your plan to the T and don’t lose, consider Candida as a possibility and avoid vinegar, cheese, mushrooms and any other fermented food

10. Have bloodwork done before starting so you have a comparison

11. Cholesterol can be elevated in the first few weeks til your body adjusts – make sure your doctor knows that you’re doing low carb and when you started

12. Don’t blame the diet if you don’t read your plan book — blame the diet if you don’t read the labels — Don’t blame the diet if you don’t follow the diet

More infomation you can check:
<–12 Tips for Atkins Diet–>
<–http://www.healthylifeday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=119&Itemid=62 –>

I want to get into better shape and exercise more but I don’t have any kind of exercise equipment. Can anyone help me?
I want to know what I can to to tone my stomach, I’m not fat or anything but I do need to be in better shape.

Rock on, not having any equipment is not a detriment you just have to be a little creative. Walking is a great way to start off a program. Just simply walk out the door for five minutes in one direction and then walk back. That may or may not be enough for you but it can be adjusted accordingly to what level you are at. Walking not your thing then try jogging or biking to work on the cardiovascular aspect of the program. You need at least thirty minutes of cardiovascular work six days a week. This can be broken into three ten minute sessions or whatever combination works for you. In line skating or jumping rope are another great form of this. To find out if this is working for you try this. Each morning as soon as you get up take your pulse for one solid minute. Record that number and at the end of five days average those numbers to find out what your resting pulse rate is. Use that as a barometer to your fitness program. That number should start to drop as you gain cardiac fitness. As for muscular strength or tone there are push ups, crunches, squats, lunges, jumping jacks, and chinning to name but a few of the movements that can be done without any weights just using your body as a resistance factor. Want a more organize program then get a book or dvd on Pilate’s or yoga. Either of those systems will help you gain in flexibility and strength though the Pilate’s will definitely develop more strength. For resistance movements grab a can of some product as they are usually about one pound and start doing the movements with the cans in your hands. All of these movements will definitely help to get you into better shape.

I have been doing cardio exercise for over a month now and lost 13lbs total. The problem is, I can’t seem to get my stomach flat. Would strength / weight training take care of this problem? I heard that cardio and ab exercises are not "spot" reducers. Am I right?

Congrats on your weight loss. Regarding your belly, it will probably just take time. You are correct about "spot reduction." (see source) You can firm up the musculature under the belly fat (and/or "over" if you have a lot of internal belly fat) thru abdominal exercise. Just keep after it and watch your diet.

Personally I do moderate cardio in the morning for 25 minutes, higher intensity calisthenic-type exercises in the evening for about 15 minutes and about 45 minutes of weight training in the morning (before moderate cardio). Current thinking is that either "fasting" moderate cardio or post-workout cardio is the most effective at fat-burning, as your glycogen stores are depleted at those times.

Good luck!

Im looking to buy some sort of equipment to burn calories on. Ive been looking at ellipticals, treadmills, and exercise bikes. Which of these three provides the best exercise for the amount of time spent on it?

Elliptical machines are very popular. It all really depends on which one you will be more likely to use. I personally like the treadmill b/c I like to run and walk. I bought an elliptical before and it was a total money of money b/c I hate using it.

Each machine will burn plenty of calories depending on what you do with it. On the stationary bike the hill profile will kick your ass. The treadmill allows you to run or walk on different inclines and speeds. The elliptical machine allows you to vary the intensity of your workout (but its extremely boring to me).

I also need some exercises that burn fat, and how to get that annoying fat off of my lower abs. Is there any to create a walk/run program around my neighborhood?
Without pills or weight loss supplements….

Yes, there are foods that help burn fat. There are also tricks to eating in a way that makes you lose fat.

1. Eat 5-6 small meals a day instead of 2-3 big ones. Each meal should be a portion (size of your palm or fist) of protein and a portion of carbs, plus 2-3 vegetables a day. This trick stabilizes your blood sugar and keeps your metabolism up.

2. Eat more in the morning than in the evening. Ideally, your biggest meal is breakfast, and each meal gets smaller throughout the day from there.

3. Drink more water. Your urine should be clear all day, except first thing in the morning. If your urine is clear, your kidneys are properly hydrated, so they can filter your blood fulltime. This frees up your liver to do its other job: metabolizing fat!

4. Eat more fiber. Fiber makes you feel full longer, stabilizes blood sugar, and therefore keeps your metabolism high. Look for the word "whole" in your bread, tortillas, cereal, and pasta (whole grains have all three parts of the grain: the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. These work together for maximum fat-burning). Also, eat fruits, vegetables, brown rice, oatmeal, beans, and nuts.

5. Drink green tea.

6. Don’t eat 3 hours before bedtime.

7. Don’t eat 3 hours before or an hour after you work out. Low blood sugar maximizes fat burning.

8. When you’re hungry, drink a glass of water or eat a handful of nuts. Both function as great appetite suppressants.

9. Don’t overdo a diet. You shouldn’t ever try to lose more than 2 pounds a week. Any more than that, and your body will fight back and resist fatloss — or worse, will burn muscle instead of fat, and then you’ll just look flabby. Here’s a calorie calculator: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

As for your ab fat, sorry. There’s no such thing as spot reduction. Your fat comes off one whole body layer at a time. What you can do to make your stomach look better is perform ab exercises, so at least your muscle wall is straight. Here’s a whole blog about lower abs:
http://lowerabexercises.blogspot.com/

I’ve read somewhere that doing endurance and strength exercises in the same workout (day) decreases strength gains by %10. Which made me wonder as to what can be defined as strength training and what as endurance. For example: weight training – treadmill – heavy bag training (punches and kicks) – abs exercises.

My heavy bag training, whilst being mainly for technique and strength/speed, is not lower on the cardio ladder than running on the treadmill, as my heart rate goes considerably up.

endurance. If you wer to put heavy weights on your feet/legs it could be stregnth. Howver, kicking is usually endurance. A good measure of whats endurance training is the reps. If you kick the bag 30 or more times, its endurance. If you were struggly kicking it 10 or less times it would be stregnth.

I’m trying to lose weight. I’m only 15 years old and it’s hard for me to go to a gym or to buy exercise equipment to exercise in the house. The only thing really holding me back from going on a diet is exercise because i know it’s hard to lose weight without exercise. Could someone help me?

there are actually a variety of ways you can exercise that don’t require any type of specialized equipment. you can do calasentics (e.g. jumping jacks, running in place, push-ups, sit-ups, etc.)
cardio is always a good thing to do whether you’re trying to shed pounds or not. start by going for short but brisk walks. as you build up your stamina start jogging/running.
another good workout is circuit training. its actually not that hard to do and it can help you keep from getting bored.
if you’re looking for alternatives to weight training you can use can goods. another suggestion is to get an empty milk carton (the plastic jugs work best) because you can adjust the weight by the amount of water you add. it might not seem heavy but after a few reps you’ll start to feel it. besides low weight and high reps is good for losing weight. if you need any help with setting up a circuit training e-mail me, i have experience in that area. but before you start any kind of diet or exercise program you should really consult your doctor just to make sure you do it safely.