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Article by Leo Babauta of zenhabits
If you’re like me, you can eat healthy much of the time, exercise a lot, and still find your fat-burning efforts at a plateau.
It seems easier to lose the first 30 pounds than the last bit of fat around your middle.
And if you’re like me, you want to get lean — for reasons that may vary from improved physical performance to better health to better looks. It’s not always easy to get rid of that stubborn belly fat — or any fat, for that matter, as you can’t “spot reduce” just your belly fat.
So I’ve created a list of things you can do to break through that plateau, if you’ve been exercising and eating fairly healthy for awhile but have seen your progress slow considerably. That’s the situation I found myself in recently, and these are the techniques I’ve been using to pretty good success.
Who Should Use These Tips
Again, this post is aimed at those who have been exercising regularly for at least a few months and who already eat fairly healthy. It’s for those who want to break through a plateau and speed up their fat-burning, lean-making progress. It’s for those who are looking for leanness and not hugeness.
If that’s you, read on.
If you don’t exercise regularly, I highly recommend you start right away (assuming you don’t have major health problems) and that you start out slowly. These tips aren’t for you.
If you regularly eat junk food — that’s sugary foods, fried foods, fast foods, fatty foods, processed foods, or refined carbs — this isn’t the place to start. Better to start with the basics — learning to slowly wean yourself from these junk foods and start eating mostly whole foods instead. I’m not saying you can never have sweets or french fries, but you should cut back on them and only have them in moderation. Start here: get healthy and fit by eating healthy.
If you are looking to build massive amounts of muscle, this post isn’t for you. To do that, the prescription is pretty simple: 1) do compound lifts like the squat, deadlift, bench press, standing military press, standing barbell row, power clean, pullup, etc.; 2) lift heavy and continue to progress; 3) eat a LOT, including lots of protein. I recommend lifting 3 times a week, full body routine, unless you’re a serious bodybuilder (in which case, you know better than I do how to reach your goals).
But if you’re looking to get lean, as I said, these tips will help take you from your foundation of healthy eating and regular exercise to your goal of losing that last bit of stubborn fat.
How to Rev Up Your Fat Burning
You don’t have to do all of the following tips — pick ones that will work best for you and give them a try. If they don’t do much after a few weeks, try some of the other tips:
- Lean Your Diet. I typically eat pretty healthy. As a vegetarian, I stick with lots of veggies, fruits, lean protein, nuts, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and good fats. For the most part. But I also allow myself some indulgences, including veggie pizza, some sweets, and other treats. And while I think that’s a good lifestyle to have, sometimes you have to get a little strict with yourself for a little while to achieve your goals. So right now I’m on a self-created diet with only one menu plan — I eat the same things every day. I have a set breakfast, set lunch, set dinner, and set snacks. I’ve taken the choice out of eating, and for me that’s been working. That might not work for everyone. The key is to cut out the junk food and other treats (except for maybe 1-2 cheat meals a week). Cut back on grains for a little while and focus more on lean protein, veggies, fruits and good fats. With a diet like this, you’ll get lean faster.
- Intervals. If you do cardio exercise such as running, cycling, rowing, or what have you … rev it up with higher-intensity intervals. This means going at a little under full speed for a short interval, and then going slow for another short interval. There are tons of great interval workouts, but one of my favorites recently are Tabata Intervals — basically 20 seconds of intense exercise, then 10 seconds of rest … and repeat those intervals 8 times. That’s a total of four minutes — a great workout in a short amount of time. I suggest easing into interval training if you haven’t done much of it before — just pick up the pace for a minute, then go slower for another minute. Don’t overdo it at first. Also realize that if you do intense intevals, you will probably have to cut back on the duration of the exercise.
- Metcon Workouts. These are usually workouts that combine strength training with cardio at high intensities. Generally they’re about 20 minutes (give or take 10 minutes), and they use a combination of exercises with no rest in between. Crossfit is the ultimate expression of this philosophy — typical workouts include doing four rounds of 400-meter sprints and 50 squats (as fast as you can) … or 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats (as fast as you can). See Crossfit’s “Workouts of the Day” for more examples.
- Hills. If you normally run, add some challenge to your runs with hills. Hills are like strength training for runners. They add intensity and are a great way to rev up the fat burning. I suggest easing into hill running if you’re not used to it. Start by running a slightly hilly course — gentle, rolling hills. Then run a course with hills that are a bit tougher. Then, when you’re good and strong (after a few weeks), do some hill repeats up a challenging hill — run hard up the hill, then go easy down the hill, for 5-7 repeats. You’ll curse my name when you’re done.
- Heavy Weights. If you normally do strength training, but only do bodyweight exercises (which are great) or do high reps with lighter or medium weights, try increasing the intensity. Do this gradually, of course, as you don’t want to overdo it at first. Shoot for 3 sets of 5 reps with a heavier weight, for each exercise you do. This will help you to build more muscle and increase your metabolism.
- Compound Lifts. Combine the above tip of lifting heavier weights with this tip — only do compound lifts. That means no isolation lifts, where you’re only working one muscle group at a time. Be sure that each lift uses two or more joints. Bicep curls are an example of an isolation lift — only the elbow joint is involved. Examples of compound lifts include the bench press (shoulder and elbow joints involved), the pullup (again, shoulder and elbow), squat (knees and hips and back). With compound lifts, you are working more muscles at once, and as a result you’re going to build more muscle overall. Compound lifts are also more functional — they mimick real-world motions. No one lifts anything like they do in a bicep curl, but we squat every day (think of picking something up off the floor, or sitting down and then getting up).
- Extra Activities. If you’re doing all of the above tips, you’re on a great track to get lean. But if you’ve stepped up the intensity and are eating super lean for a month or so and want to take it to the next level, then add some extra activities to your schedule several times a week. These could include anything where you get active for at least 30 minutes: playing sports, going on a hike, doing some yardwork, doing some intense house cleaning (no, the Roomba doesn’t count), going swimming, etc. Just get active, in addition to your regular workouts. This extra activity will help you burn those extra calories and help break through your plateau.
Which type of exercise is better? Basic or Isolation?
That all depends on what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to build strength or size, or are you trying to refine the musculature that you already have?
Basic exercises, also referred to as compound movements, are the exercises that work several groups of muscle together with a single movement. The best example of a basic movement is the squat.
Each time you squat down and then press your body back up, you are working muscles in your quadriceps, hamstrings, buttocks, lower back, and other back muscles. Many muscles throughout the body are also actively involved in stabilization during this lift.
Isolation exercises are the movements that stress only one muscle group at a time. An example of an isolation exercise is cable chest flyes. With each repetition you do, the weight is moved almost completely by your chest muscles.
Building the Right Foundation
If you are trying to build a base of strength or muscle size, basic exercises are key to your success, and for most people out there, basic exercises should compose a majority of their workouts.
This is because basic movements will give you the best gains for the amount of effort you put in. It’s true that working more muscles with a single workout is clearly more time efficient than working each muscle separately, but there’s more to it than that. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: focus, isolation, Training Tips
Why is it that the world is focusing more and more on fitness, but at the same time everybody seems to be even more out of shape?
Scores of new diets come in and out of the market place that promise us amazing results in a matter of weeks. There’s always some sort of new magical pill which claims to be able to make you “fit”.
Each year, waves of people make a New Year’s resolution to keep in shape and sign up for a gym membership, only to return to their sedentary lifestyle a month later.
The world is constantly in search of the answer. Unfortunately, so many people go looking for the easy fix, the path of least resistance.
The problem is that there is no easy fix.
There is no easy answer.
The truth is that anything worthwhile in our lives requires our effort and attention. Our physical health should be no different. Who do you want to be - the out-of-shape person you’ve been in the past, or the fit and tone person you know you can be?
We Are All Human
Each person is built slightly different, but we all have the same basic needs. Both men and women alike need to maintain certain levels of muscular strength and endurance. We also need to maintain good cardiovascular health and flexibility. Where we differ is in the level, degree, and type of fitness we are trying to achieve.
Regardless of the type of build you are shooting for, you will need to know how properly build your strength, cardiovascular health, and flexibility. For many people, this will mean learning how to lift weights and exercise effectively.
Weights Matter
You may have friends who claim you can get fit without weights. That may be true, but how are they defining “fit”? Sure, you can be thin without resistance training. But I’m assuming you want to be fit in the sense of looking good and having the strength and endurance to live the life you want. When combined with a cardio program, building lean muscle mass will burn fat faster and give you far more endurance in whatever you do - competing in physical events or just playing with your kids.
And weight training is the most effective form of resistance training. You’ll see progress faster with weights and you’ll fill out your t-shirt a little better. Whatever your lifestyle and personal goals, you’ll be better if you add weight lifting. Hey, even Tiger Woods incorporates weight training into his regimen, in a sport not exactly known for body building.
Getting There
Our approach at World Fitness Network is to steer clear of the fad diets, the magical pills, and the hype that surrounds the fitness industry. And we’re not talking about building bulk muscle simply to build bulk. Let’s get back to common sense. Let’s take a long-term and sensible approach to health and fitness.
This website will help you to:
- Build muscle
- Lose fat
- Eat better
- Look and feel better
The first step to making all of this happen is to gain the proper knowledge. Subscribe today using the form above so that you can be sure not to miss any of our latest tips and information to help you look and feel better. I’ll throw in our ebook 3 Months to a New You when you subscribe!
This is the last post where I’m promoting Caleb’s Muscle Building Mastermind set. It’s fantastic. Check it out at
http://budurl.com/worldfitness
I have no idea how long he’s going to be offering it, and it would be a great way to jump start 2009 with the right attitude and training advice.
[repost from Jason]
I could hardly believe what I was reading.
I sat in absolute bewilderment as I read an article in a recent muscle magazine. It explained in detail why you should lift your hips as high as possible off the bench (called bridging) when you bench press.
Was the author seriously recommending this type of thing to people who are trying to improve their workouts? I could hardly believe that any widely distributed magazine would publish this sort of “advice”.
Of course, I don’t think that the muscle magazines are very good reading for most people out there. They focus on what the pros are doing for their workouts instead of telling the readers what will help them the most. I’ll drop by once a month or so and read them just to see what’s out there (and only because I blog about this).
But there it was, right in the magazine. The author was praising the advantages of arching your back as high as possible and shooting your hips into the air on the bench press.
His argument was that arching your back and lifting the hips gives you more power for your bench. More power lets you lift heavier weights, and lifting heavier weights means you’re building strength and muscle.
So how could that be wrong? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: bench press, bridging
Wow - I just reviewed all of Caleb Lee’s new material as part of his Muscle Building Mastermind set. It’s fantastic. Check it out at
http://budurl.com/worldfitness
I’ll warn you - there’s a sales letter. It’s worth it though so read it through (even just reading his pitch can get you motivated!). If you saw the video I mentioned last week you’ll know that Caleb has great advice to offer. And in Muscle Building Mastermind, he enlists many other experts and you can hear their advice straight from them!
Go check it out now at
http://budurl.com/worldfitness
On Thursday I’ll be reposting Jason’s great post from 2007 on bench press form…
I saw something interesting the other day at the gym.
I saw an average-sized guy in his mid 20’s who was obviously trying to build up some muscle. He looked like he had some padding (weight) on him, but he didn’t look too out of shape. The thing that caught my eye is what I saw him doing.
He was using the cables to do cable crossover flys. I watched as his arms wildly flapped up and down in an uneven way. His upper body lurched forward and downward with each rep as he strained to move the weight at all costs. I watched him move on to other exercises and perform them with a similar style.
Who knows, maybe he really didn’t know how to lift weights. But then again, like a lot of other people out there, maybe he was just too embarrassed to lift the proper amount of weight for his strength level.
If his goal was to avoid looking silly in the gym, he certainly didn’t achieve it. Honestly, I thought he looked a lot more like a monkey trying to figure out how to fly than someone who’s serious about getting in shape. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: good form
[repost]
Most people do not realize how powerful water is in the healing process.
No, this is not an article about spa therapy, holistic medicine, or anything like that. This is about using simple methods to build muscle and strength as well as maintaining your overall health.
Your body might be 60% water overall, but your muscles are actually 70-75% water. Each time you work these muscles as you lift weights, small tears and rips form in the fibrous muscle tissues. Your muscles grow when these small tears are repaired. Guess what happens if your muscles aren’t able to heal:
Nothing.
Nothing happens at all. That means no growth, no toning, no strength increases… nothing.
Here’s a quick breakdown of why you need water to heal and how to harness its power to help your muscles after a workout.
Got Water?
Not getting enough water has serious side effects. Even a 1 percent change in your body’s water levels can seriously impair your exercise performance. Even worse, your ability to recover goes down the toilet… and the toilet it goes down is one of those water-saving dry flush things that doesn’t quite get the job done.
Some other reasons you need extra water when you lift weights: Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: beverage, dehydration, drink, hydration, muscle, thirst, water
Hi everyone,
You might remember a post a while back where Jason was saying what a challenge it is to stay current with blog posts. We are preparing a relaunch of the site in January, and would love your input!
My name is Darrin (yeah, the blog post still says Jason) and I’ll be helping to move World Fitness Network into something that stays more current. As I assemble a team of contributors, could you take a few minutes to answer 4 questions? It should take you less than 5 minutes.
Most of you already have Jason’s ebook, but I’ll send out copies anyway to everyone who completes the survey ok?
Just click here. Thanks!
Sincerely, Darrin
Have you ever done a heavy set of bicep curls and noticed a nagging pain in your wrists when you’re done? Maybe you’ve even felt enough pain that you’ve had to cut your workout short.
This pain can affect some people more than others. The good news is that just like anything else, your bones and cartilage can grow stronger with time as they respond to resistance.
Causes
You may have noticed that doing bicep curls using a straight bar or dumbbells will especially give you some wrist pain. We’ll get to how to reduce this pain in just a moment, but first, let’s understand what’s leading to it.
There are two major factors of bicep curls that affect your wrist pain; the first is the angle of your wrists, and the second factor is the torque force on your wrists.
1. Your wrist angle – In order to help you understand why the angle of your wrist is part of the equation, I’d like you to think about one of those karate guys who breaks a stack of wooden boards or bricks. Think about what you would do if you were trying to break a few boards with your bare hands. How would you stack the boards to make them break most easily?
Well, obviously, you would lay to boards down flat, one on top of the other, and then you would strike the flat face of the board. Now, imagine what would happen if you stood the boards on their sides and then you hit the side of them. Chances are, you would have a broken hand and no broken boards.
I hope this is making sense to you.
Your wrists are similar to the board. When the force is placed on the flat inside of your wrists (as it is in a straight bar bicep curl with the palms facing up), your wrist feels more pain. When you point your thumbs towards the ceiling, as you would with hammer curls, the force is placed on the stronger side of your wrist.
That is why the EZ curl bar was invented, to reduce the pain on your wrists. It places your wrists at an angle where the palms aren’t facing straight up. Unfortunately, although the straight bar causes more wrist pain, the straight bar is also better for your biceps.
If you are feeling wrist pain, use the EZ curl bar for a while and ease up on the weight a little bit. Once your wrists have healed up, we’ll use a simple hack to make the straight bar easier on your wrists.
2. Reduce the torque on your wrists – Once you’re ready to begin using the straight bar or dumbbells again, you can use this simple tweak to your form to reduce the torque on your wrists.
It’s pretty simple, really. All you have to do is curl your wrists so that the bar you are holding in your hand is nearly directly over your wrist.
This works because your wrist is basically a hinge. More force is placed on that hinge when it has to move a weight that is further away from the hinge. Think of the concept of leverage… if you want to lift up a heavy rock using your body weight and a long stick, the longer the stick is, the more leverage you will have to help you lift the rock up.
Or maybe think of when you’re working on a car to loosen a tight bolt. If you use a very short wrench, you might have a pretty tough time getting that bolt loose. But, if you use a very long wrench, you’ll have a much easier time getting the bolt loose because you have more force.
Ok, now that you understand that placing the force (weight) further away increases the torque, you can understand why I am telling you to curl your wrists toward you. By curling your wrists in, you bring the weight closer to the wrist and the decreased force of the weight in your hands results in less torque or pressure on your wrists.
For me, I have approximately 3 inches if distance between my wrist and the weight in my hands. When I curl my wrists in, that distance becomes a little less than an inch, resulting in significantly less torque on my wrists.
As an added benefit, this flexes your forearms more, keeps them tight throughout the movement, and gives them a bit better workout.
But doesn’t all of this make curls easier?
Yes, curling your wrists in makes your curls easier to do. It reduces the force on your wrists, and it also shortens the overall length of your arm, making the curls easier on your muscles.
This is pretty easy to compensate for, though. Just add a little more weight to your exercise.
Now, since I can read your mind, I know what you are probably thinking. If I curl my wrists in to reduce the pressure on my wrists, then adding more weight will just put the pressure back on my wrists… right?
Well, the answer is yes, it does put some pressure back on your wrists, but not as much as you had to begin with. You see, you are able to lift more weight because your entire arm has been shortened maybe 10-15% (or somewhere close to that). So this will make the curls easier.
But the distance to your wrists has been reduced maybe somewhere around 60-70%. That means that your wrists are getting proportionately a much greater reduction in torque pressure than your arm as a whole gets.
Conclusion: Your wrists, just like anything else can become stronger through resistance training. The wrists need rest to heal, and using these small changes to your form can make a big difference in the amount of wrist pain that you’re feeling.
“I run 30 minutes every day, so why is it that I never seem to look any leaner?”
Have you ever found yourself asking this kind of question? Lowering your body fat levels can be more difficult than building muscle if you let it be, but I get the feeling that many of us make it a bit tougher than it really needs to be.
Chances are that if you have been weight lifting for a decent period of time, you’ve managed to increase your metabolism by adding more muscle to your body. Each weight lifting session also burns calories and helps you get closer to your goals.
Adding cardio into your routine can only help out when it comes to lowering your body fat levels, but cardio is not the first factor you should be looking at to help you get leaner. A few tweaks to the way you eat might really be what you need the most to start seeing a difference.
When you’re trying to lean down and get rid of some extra fat, start by focusing you’re attention on the F.A.T.
F.A.T. = Frequency. Amount. Type.
This is a simple way for you to remember to get rid of fat by focusing on F.A.T., or the Frequency, Amounts, and Types of food you’re eating.
Don’t be one of those fools who runs their guts out only to come home and mess it all up by the way you eat. I know that you might feel that you’re getting something more out of running hard because it’s so tough to do, but seriously, do the easier things first and then move on to the tough things, especially if the easier things help you more.
Frequency: In general, if you’re one of those people that skips breakfast, eats a little salad with the light dressing and diet soda for lunch, and then loads up with a massive plate of food at night… Well, you’re taking all the right steps to get fat, and switching to 5-6 smaller meals a day is going to make a big difference.
Eating three meals a day is better than one, but eating 5-6 a day keeps a steady flow of nutrients into your body. Remember, if your body knows it’s going to be getting food regularly, it doesn’t need to store away food as fat on your body. Here’s a sample schedule:
- 7:00am- Breakfast
- 10:00am- Morning snack
- 12:30pm- Lunch
- 3:30pm- Lunch part 2
- 6:00pm- Dinner
- 8:30pm- Dinner part 2
Look, getting into this kind of schedule isn’t that bad. Bring a piece of fruit or whatever else with you for your morning snack. Eat your lunch in 2 shifts, same thing with your dinner, and you’re there. That’s it. Keep it simple.
The biggest reason we fail to ever do 6 meals is because our minds think reasons to justify our current habits. You’ll say to yourself that you don’t have time to plan and cook 6 meals a day. Guess what, you don’t have to. Take your regular 3 meals you’re already eating (hopefully), and work on the timing a bit until you have 6 as we’ve outlined above.
Amounts: Like I’ve said before, losing fat isn’t a simple matter of calories in and calories out. If you eat too little or too infrequently, your metabolism will slow down. Now, this isn’t that hard either, but you’ll need to pay a little bit of attention to make sure that you’re getting the right amount of a few types of foods.
Watch your intake of your carbs, proteins, and vegetables. Use the portion sizes method, and if that isn’t good enough for you, go ahead and count out your calories. The portions method is only going to require a moment of your thought, you’ve got this totally under control.
Types: OK, first off, let’s make the point that there are many ways that you can get your protein in. Just getting at least one gram of protein per pound of body weight each day isn’t all you need to think about.
Trying to get your protein from a greasy sausage isn’t the same thing as going for a lean steak, chicken, salmon, or some eggs. Getting your carbs from the white-bread bun of your McChicken sandwich isn’t really going to cut it either.
Sure, they’ve all got protein and carbs, but white bread is not substitute for whole grains, and the fact that something has protein in it doesn’t erase all the junk it’s been cooked in.
Yeah, You might be thinking that you’re giving your muscles everything they need to grow because you’re eating those, what, like nine chicken breasts and a bunch of white rice every day.
Add that to the fact that your energy drink claims to have some taurine (or anything else that sounds healthy but you don’t really know why you need it) and you probably feel like you’re good to go. Well, you’re not. There’s no substitute for good food when it comes to fixing your diet.
If you’re trying to lose fat, you will probably cut your carb intake by 15-20%, keep the protein intake level, and eat plenty of vegetables. Time your carbs in the morning and around your workouts.
You are what you eat
By focusing on these 3 points of your eating habits, you will probably see a big difference in the way you look if you haven’t done it already. This is so important because your body uses the food you eat to create the tissues that you are made of. Every part of your body is created mostly from the materials you put in your mouth.
So when you hear people say “you are what you eat”, that’s actually quite literal. And if you are constantly eating food that is crap… well, you know what that would mean.
How about you? What have you found to work well?
Tags: diet, meals, metabolism