Getting your arms, shoulders and chest in shape will require a wide variety of cardio and strength training exercises. Instead of hitting the weight room at your local gym consider getting your own push up equipment so you can burn and tone whenever the mood strikes you.

[Matthew McConaughey treats the world as his gym...there's always push up equipment to be found!]

Weights are effective, but if you suffer from previous injuries or nagging aches & pains you may want to consider less stressful push up alternatives. Keep reading to find out what push up equipment you should be using to lose fat and tone muscles.

The Strength Builder

With a name like “The Strength Builder” you know this is a piece of push up equipment that will give you a hardcore workout. The strength builder is push up equipment for those of us who need to maintain proper push up form in order to get an efficient arm, chest or shoulder workout.

The Strength Builder has markers that show where hands should be placed for a variety of push ups. This allows you to get the best workout possible for each muscle while also avoiding injury due to improper push up motions. The stationary mat also allows you get the right grip without slipping while you perform your push ups.

[Avoid strain and maintain proper form by using this push up eqipment.]

Another reason some fitness enthusiasts are using the Strength Builder is that this is one of the few pieces of push up equipment that reduces wrist strain. This is particularly helpful for those of you who’ve always relied on free weights to tone the chest, arms & shoulders. At $70 per mat, the Strength Builder is a fairly costly investment, but how much does a toned AND uninjured body mean to you?

Rowing Machine

Those of you who like the feel of a good old-fashioned push up but hate the strain should take a peek into the machine corner of your gym. Near the bank of elliptical machines, treadmills and climbers sits a rowing machine that will give your arms, shoulders, chest and core an intense workout. By using magnetic resistance, the rowing machine has all the benefits of a machine workout without all the noise.

The rowing machine is effective push up equipment because the smooth roll allows you the same workout without the strain of a traditional push up movement. The constant motion allows you to burn calories while your muscles tone to move you forward and back. What’s more about this particular piece of push up equipment is that you can use it regularly at the gym or get one for personal use at home. Rowing machines are expensive and take up quite a bit of space, but if you need an easy low-impact way to burn and tone your upper body it suits that purpose perfectly.  

Push ups are an integral part of working your upper body and finding the right push up equipment can be the difference between success and failure. No matter where you prefer to work your body, there are different types of push up equipment to help you meet your goals. Plenty of factors determine which push up equipment is right for you, so try them all if possible, before making a decision.

Total Fitness Platform

The Total Fitness Platform by BodyForm is home exercise equipment that actually allows the user to choose from 15 different exercises that work the arms, chest, legs, hips, obliques, and back. Many of the exercises you can do on the Total Fitness Platform make it an ideal piece of alternative push up equipment.

[This fitness platform allows you several push up variations in addition to a pretty well-rounded workout]

Whether your goal is to tighten chest muscles or work the bicep & tricep muscles, the Total Fitness Platform gives you variations without the traditional push up stance. If you choose however, the Fitness Platform allows you to remove or retract the tension cables and perform a basic push up. In addition, this unique push up equipment allows you to set your own resistance settings from 5 pounds up to 70 pounds of resistance!

The best thing about this push up equipment is that it is light and portable so you can get in a good chest, arms, abs and shoulder workout anytime you want. And although $100 is pricey, this provides a good workout at home that is less expensive than a gym membership.

It’s not just celebrities who struggle with weight loss, real people struggle too. Read our Fat Burning Furnace review for real tips from real people on how to eat and exercise for fat loss.

Losing fat in the thighs requires much more than simply steps and spending every waking moment attached to a ThighMaster. Although exercise is a vital part of losing thigh fat, it isn’t the only part.

[Lean thighs like this require a balanced diet and regular exercise...very regular!]

When people ask, “what can I do to lose my thigh fat,” I immediately ask them, “what are you currently doing?” Surprisingly the only thing most people are doing is spending countless hours working out the thigh muscles. Keep reading to see what parts of the fat loss equation your thighs are missing.

5—Aerobic Exercise

Whenever your mom suggests you “get your heart pumping,” she’s really just saying go out and do some cardio! Aerobic exercises like running, intense walking or swimming help burn fat by increasing your heart for an extended period of time. So even though you hate to sweat, don’t like running or simply hate to workout, it is an important part of losing thigh fat.

If you really want to know how to lose thigh fat, you cannot ignore the importance of aerobic exercises. Interval training is also great for fat loss, but extended intensity exercises are more effective. Strength training is essential to losing thigh fat too, as part of a balanced workout!

4—Drink Enough Water

If you’re not one of the millions of water-toting drinkaholics across the world then you probably need to drink more water. So how can drinking enough water help you lose thigh fat? For starters, your metabolism reduces in efficiency when your body is dehydrated. And don’t think because your tongue isn’t white or that you don’t feel dehydrated that you aren’t.

When you feel thirsty you should drink water.You already know that you should be drinking eight 8-ounce glasses of water each day, so substitute a few cans of soda for a glass of the clear stuff. When you need to lose fat in a hard-to-lose spot like the thighs you’ll want your metabolismworking at maximum capacity.

3—Eat For Fat Loss

Millions of people want to know how to lose thigh fat and the easiest place to start is to eat for fat loss. In addition to a well-balanced diet, losing thigh fat means reducing or eliminating foods that are high in fat, and start eating more foods that burn fat.

[This might look tasty but it will do nothing but add more dimples to your thighs.]

One of the first steps in learning how to lose thigh fat is adding more lean proteins, fruits and vegetables to your diet. Fiber is an important part of a balanced diet for fat loss, and if you’re getting plenty of vegetables you will get enough fiber. When you combine 5, 4 and 3 into your everyday routine you’ll be well on your way to losing thigh fat.

2—Be More Active

I know we already talked about the importance of aerobic exercise to learning how to lose thigh fat, but leading an overall more active life will help you lose thigh fat and make sure you keep it off. The more you move around, the more you burn and the less you think about food. The less you think about food, the less food you eat, and the less food you eat the greater the calorie deficit will you that you need to lose weight.

This doesn’t mean you have to become one of those (gasp!) outdoorsy people, but it means take a walk or hop on a bicycle once in awhile instead of taking the car. Take the stairs on occasion and let the elevator rest. Being active, in addition to helping you lose thigh fat, will help you reduce your risk of getting obesity related illnesses.

1—Limit Sugar Intake

Limiting sugar intake is the last thing people want to hear when they ask how to lose thigh fat, but it is seriously important. Sugar isn’t the enemy exactly, but it is the enemy of fat loss. The amount of calories in sugary foods is sky-high, especially when compared to how satisfied you feel after consuming them. You get zero nutrients and you’ll have to work twice as hard to burn those calories if you eat sugary foods on top of a well-balanced meal.

[Sugary foods, while tasty, do nothing to make you feel satisfied so you continue to eat, consuming a ton of calories that your body is unable to burn.]

Limit sugar intake by getting sugar mostly from fruits and vegetables, and if you must have refined sugar limit it to just once a week.

Burning fat in problem areas feels like an uphill battle, but there are people who can help. Find out more by reading our Fat Burning Furnace review.

It’s no big surprise that successful weight loss requires regular physical activity, but many people just do a variety of exercises without a second thought to if they’re helping fulfill those fat loss goals. Weight loss workouts must include both cardio and resistance training.

[Just because you dress for the gym and go to the gym, doesn't mean you're working out for weight loss.]

Keep reading to find out which weight loss workouts best fit your weight loss goals.

Beginner Weight Loss Workouts

When you first get on the path to healthy living, getting regular exercise is often the last piece to come together. Either we don’t perform the exercises correctly, or we don’t do the right exercises, or finally, we don’t perform enough exercises. Each of these mistakes can hinder weight loss efforts and possibly lead to injury.

Weight loss workouts that work are performed properly for maximum effect, and this is especially true for beginners. Beginner weight loss workouts should take into account the much needed calorie deficit required for successful fat loss. The cardio you choose to perform must help you create a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose a healthy (if paltry) 1 pound per week. Strength training weight loss workouts are necessary to help sculpt that excess fat (and skin) into a body worth showing off.

Useful weight loss cardio workouts for beginners are: walking, tennis/racquetball, or swimming.

Not feeling quite ready for the gym yet? Get your circuit training right at home!

Intermediate Weight Loss Workouts

Those of you who already get a little exercise here and there know how important and effective regular exercise is to weight loss. The problem however, is finding weight loss workouts that hold your interest long enough to complete them, right?

The good news is that there are other ways to lose weight that don’t including gawking at yourself in the mirror for 45 minutes straight. You already know that working out is essential to weight loss, and interval training is a great way to perform weight loss workouts without the boredom! Interval training is a pretty intense form of exercise, but you only slow down enough to catch your breath so the chances of you stopping due to boredom? Nil!

Intermediate weight loss workouts should also provide greater focus on strength training exercises. Because you (sort of) have a handle on regular exercise, it’s important that you don’t neglect toning your muscles on a regular basis. Weight loss workouts that don’t include resistance training will result is a smaller frame with loads of extra flesh, and that’s not why we’re doing all this work…is it?

[Yoga is an extra special weight loss workout. You can relax and de-stress while you tone muscles you didn't know you had!]

If you’re one of those people who needs to do it all in one day just to make sure you get your weight loss workout completed, try this full body circuit workout!

Advanced Weight Loss Workouts

When you begin to feel more comfortable in your workout skin, you can start to focus more on so-called problem areas and challenge yourself. Advanced weight loss workouts should be more intense to help you shed those last few pesky pounds, or tighten that remaining flab under the arms.

[When your belly is the last place you need to lose, turn to advanced ab workouts like swimming.]

It doesn’t take long for muscles to adapt to a certain workout regimen, which is why it’s so important to keep your muscles guessing during weight loss workouts. Instead of relying on the same old workout equipment to achieve your goals, try something different to tone those biceps or tighten thigh muscles.

If you’re close to reaching your weight loss goal then focus your advanced weight loss workouts on targeted muscle groups for greater definition. Divide your workouts into upper body workouts and everything else, or cardio one day then strength training the next. Experiment with alternative exercises so you’ll always be in the mood for exercise. The most difficult aspect of weight loss workouts is continuing to exercise once the weight has been lost.

Get more information on eating and exercising for weight loss by reading our review of the Fat Burning Furnace. And remember that weight loss is a lifestyle change, not a fad!

One of the most commonly served up vegetables are carrots. For many people who don’t like to eat vegetables, carrots are the exception to the rule since they are much sweeter tasting and can be eaten in so many different ways.

Due to this sweet taste however, it is important to note that carrots will have a higher carbohydrate and starch content, so their calories should be counted.

Let’s take a look further at the nutritional information to know about this vegetable.

Major Nutrients Found In Carrots

Carrots do stand out for their higher fiber content, so if you’re looking to increase your daily intake up higher, that’s the first big benefit that they will offer. Carrots are also very well known for their Vitamin C content, but that’s not all they’ll provide. They are also a rich source of Vitamin B6, Folate, Pantothenic acid, iron, potassium, as well as copper.

Much higher than their vitamin C content, carrots are finally an extremely good source of Vitamin A with a hundred grams supplying you with 276% of your total daily value.

Storing/Selecting

When selecting carrots you want to look for ones that are a deep orange in color and show no signs of dryness. Store them in a cooler area of the fridge, preferably lower down in a sealed compartment to ensure maximum freshness.

When stored properly they can last for up to two to three weeks, so this is a good vegetable to have on hand at all times.

Eat It With:

Carrots are great eaten raw with or without dip, or can be added to soups, salads, stir-fries, eaten steamed, eaten boiled, or added into any dish that you happen to be preparing. They definitely are one of the most versatile and well tolerated vegetables around.

Burn Off Carrots

To burn off the number of calories in serving of carrots you would have to do:

• 5 minutes of strength training
• 8 minutes of light badminton
• 30 minutes of sun bathing

You don’t have to be a super-buff gym junkie to enjoy the benefits of strength training. Because muscle mass diminishes as we grow older, an exercise routine without strength training will still cause an increase in the percentage of fat all over your body. Ladies, it is totally possible to add regular strength training to your workout regimen without getting 22-inch guns!

[Strong but ladylike guns like Sam's requires a well-rounded strength training exercise regimen.]

Strength training increases your bone density which reduces your risk of getting osteoporosis. Adding strength training exercises to your exercise routine will help avoid injury. Building up your muscles protects the joints from injury so you don’t have long breaks between your workouts due to injuries.

We know that strength training improves other chronic conditions that may be contributing to your weight gain or providing other obstacles to your weight loss struggle. If you suffer from back pain, diabetes, obesity or depression, regular strength training can decrease the symptoms of these conditions. Do you really need another reason?

Well we here at The Fat Loss Authority of come up with 4 strength training exercises to target those areas that women often complain about. Whether your problem area is your belly, butt, abs, arms, shoulders or thighs, we’ve got a variety of strength training exercises to help you achieve your fat loss goals.

Ball Crunch

The ball crunch allows you the space to do crunches the right way–without an awfully sore neck. In addition, the ball crunch allows several variations for a complete ab strengthening workout!

To begin this strength training exercise, sit on the stability ball so your knees are aligned with your ankles. Your knees should be about hip width apart. Lean back so your upper body is lined up with your knees. As you exhale, bring your upper body up to a 45 degree angle, hold it, and exhale as you return to the lying position.

[Take the ball crunch to the next level and twist to strengthen & tone the obliques.]

Remember to exhale up and inhale down to get the most effective ab strengthening workout. Another important point to remember is keeping those stomach muscles tight as you exercise.

Get more out of your stability ball by trying the oblique crunch and the reverse crunch!

Dumbbell Curls

Dumbbell curls are effective strength training exercises for women who need toned arms without the size. Keep your weights small and do about 15-20 repetitions per set if your goal is smaller arms that don’t jiggle. Curls will help tone and tighten the biceps so you can feel confident in tank tops and the ever popular strapless dress!

Grab your dumbbells (10 lbs. or less) in your hand and at your sides with your palms facing forward. Keep your feet right under your hips with your knees slightly bent and shoulder width apart. Exhale as you lift both weights up toward your shoulders. Hold for a second and inhale as you lower the weights back to starting position. Do 3 sets of curls, using enough weight to do as close to 20 reps as you can.

[Dumbbell curls--nature's answer to jiggly tank top-phobic arms!]

Keep your back straight and use ONLY your biceps to lift the weights. Using momentum to lift the weights won’t allow you to improve your strength or enjoy any other benefits of strength training for women.

Tip: Add a bit of variety to your strength training workout by doing hammer curls, or grab your stability ball and do preacher curls or concentration curls. Take those dumbbells in the backyard and get a dose of sun with your workout!

Lateral Raise

Women tend to shy away from exercising parts of the body considered ‘manly’ or ‘masculine’, and they do so at their own peril. There isn’t one particular exercise that’s designed for men or women, it’s all about the size of the weight and the number of repetitions you do, combined with a proper diet. Well-defined shoulder muscles will make your waist look smaller and improve your posture for an overall better appearance.

Holding dumbbells in your hand with palms facing your side, stand with feet shoulder width apart so your feet and aligned with your hips. Lift weights at the elbow up to your shoulder, pause for a moment, and inhale as you lower the weights back to your sides. Your shoulder should be doing the lifting if you perform this strength training exercise correctly.

[Well-rounded strength training focuses even on muscles you've forgotten about!]

Other shoulder strength training exercises include the upright row and shoulder press. And the good news is that you can choose where to do them; park, backyard, beach or gym! It’s up to you.

Leg Curls

Every woman I know is on a quest to get her thighs as slim as can be and her butt as round and irresistible as J-Lo’s. Leg curls are the perfect strength training exercise to get you there! Leg curls allow you to focus on strengthening and toning while also improving your overall balance.

Start with your forearms and left knee on the floor. Make sure your knees are directly below your hips and that your head & neck are lined up with your spine. Your right leg should be outstretched. Take your right leg and bend it naturally as you exhale. Hold position for a moment and inhale as you straighten your leg out to starting position.

[Increase your workout intensity by adding dumbbells to your leg curls. Look as good going as you do coming!]

Do 3 sets of 15 repetitions on each leg and you’ll be sporting your favorite mini skirt just as the snow melts! Increase the burn with the bridge pose. On the floor or on a stability ball the bridge pose is an effective alternative to tone the butt & thighs.

What’s great about strength training for women is that your goals allow you to perform exercises anywhere! Grab your workout buddy and head to your favorite outdoor location to motivate you through your workout. If strength training at the gym makes you anxious and embarrassed, grab your dumbbells and stability ball and find your happy place to burn the fat away.

Help get your body in the shape you want by adding a healthy diet to your weight loss program. Read our review of The Diet Solution Program to find out how to shop effectively and avoid the biggest food blunders!

It seems lately that every celebrity, young and old, is extolling the benefits of the P90X workout program. This program has purportedly helped Usher keep his dance grooves moving, while Taylor Lautner swears P90X allowed him to bare his totally buff chest in those vampire flicks. The real question is, can P90X help you pursue your weight loss goals?

[Lautner credits P90X for his buff bod....are these results you could live with? 'Cause I totally can!]

What IS p90X?

P90X, also known as Power 90 Extreme, is a weight loss program designed for home use. The claim made by P90X creator Tony Horton is that this weight loss program will improve overall physical fitness in…90 days! Sounds good, right?

Well many things sound good, but with a combination of stretching, cardio, yoga, and strength training, P90X will surely get you fit. Their additional focus on nutrition and diet had me intrigued enough to keep digging.

With a slogan like “regular to ripped in just 90 days”, you can be sure hundreds of celebs all over the globe go to this quick fat loss program.

What’s GOOD?

What’s good about P90X is that the workout plan consists of 12 different exercise regimens, allowing you to target all problem areas without getting bored.

Their theory of muscle confusion was especially interesting, and I think every dieter who has rushed home from the gym only to discover the scale says the same thing it said 3 weeks ago, will agree. Muscle confusion means doing a bunch of different exercises throughout each workout routine to keep your muscles multi-tasking, and therefore confused and unable to get used to the workout movements.

The best thing about this ultra rigorous weight loss program is that each video features a variety of exercise models performing each exercise in varying degrees of difficulty. This allows practically all users to follow the exercise regimen as instructed.

P90X is a fitness program that those who need a very strict diet plan to follow for weight loss. The 90-day program comes with the exercise DVDs, a nutrition guide, calendar, and a fitness plan to make sure you have all the tools you need to get healthy and in shape.

With a (90 day) money back guarantee, it sounds worth a shot.

[For many celebrities this logo can take them from 'has-been' to 'comeback kid', but is it the weight loss program for you?]

What’s Not-So-GOOD?

While P90X and its celebrity endorsers have me sold in the physical and some nutritional aspects of this weight loss program, the price seems made for the rich. With 3 payments of $40 each plus shipping and handling, your bill will be about $140. It’s true that’s a small price to pay for great health and a rockin’ bod, but you still need other exercise equipment to complete the DVDs.

Phase 1 of the nutrition program focuses on high protein and low carbs to emphasize how carbs affect energy level, and that’s a good thing. I just think it encourages that ‘Atkins’ frame of mind.

P90X requires users to workout 6 days each week, resting only one day. Millions of users swear by its effectiveness so who am I to question this wisdom, but it does seem a lot to ask of someone with problems getting motivated to workout.

Again, the cost. With dumbbells, resistance ropes, and a pull up bar plus the costs of protein bars ($23.95), recovery formula ($45.95) and multivitamins ($42.95), this program costs well over $300. Awesome if you have a celebrity bank account, less awesome if you’re on a budget.

This isn’t a negative per se, but P90X is a VERY strenuous workout….VERY. If you are extremely out of shape and that means out of shape, not just overweight, you should take it easy during the first few weeks. If you have injuries or weight-related health problems ask your physician how to ease into P90X.

The Verdict

Well celebrities swear by anything that helps them look good on stage, in a particular role, in a specific outfit, or even on a list of Hollywood fashion disasters, so how can we really trust them?

Usher looks great. Pink looks great. Sheryl Crow looks great. Matt Diaz of the Braves looks great. And everybody knows how great Ashton & Demi looks so do we really need to say whether or not P90X works?

[Results are never typical for these weight loss programs, but these photos have you picturing yourself looking a feeling a whole lot better...right?]

Of course we do. The program is incredibly promising. If you can survive the first couple of weeks of this intense weight loss program, you will quite probably witness a noticeable change in your overall health and appearance. Sure the cost is definitely something to think about, but the nutritional supplements are totally optional…and you have the expert weight loss wisdom of TFLA to help you with all food related quandries!

Tony Horton motivates, and sometimes infuriates you throughout all 12 DVDs. Sometimes his love of this intense workout is maddening, but when you need motivation Tony is the guy to get you pumped up to the finish line. Click here for more information on P90X weight loss program.

If you feel the need to compare and contrast weight loss programs, check out our fat loss review of the Fat Burning Furnace.

When it comes to arms people generally fall into one of two categories. Either they hide their skinny little arms under sweaters, cardigans, and jackets willing them to get toned and strong. If you’re rolling your eyes and saying “I wish” you fall into the second category of flabby or jiggly armed ladies and gents who’d love to work on those biceps and triceps but worry that fat will give you arms like Arnold.

After a long day in the factory, Rosie wasn’t afraid to show off her hard-earned muscles!

If you fall into either of these categories not only have you been going about this the wrong way, but in just a few short minutes you’ll have a slew of arm exercises that you can do to get the arms you want!

Whether you have arm envy of Madonna or 50 Cent, they both have one thing in common: bodacious biceps! That’s right, in addition to being the most widely sought after of the arm muscles (sexy, I know), biceps are the starting point for arms that say, “Why yes, I have been working out.”

Before we get to these arm exercises, let’s get one thing clear (ladies). Big bodybuilder arms would require a huge increase in your food consumption. Simple arm exercises will not lead you down the path to 23-inch biceps. Promise.

Here’s the rule to follow for the best arm exercises to fit your goals: to get bigger arms do about 10 repetitions each but no less than 8. For smaller arms do 15 reps, but no less than 12. Always begin with feet shoulder width apart, knees slightly bent for standing exercises.

BICEPS

Curls help target the biceps, the trick is finding the curl that works for you! Bicep curls are a great arm exercise no matter your body goals.

To Do: Stand with one leg slightly in front of the other so you don’t hurt anything. Use a barbell with weights or hand weights. Don’t be a he-man and start with a ton of weight, start with what you know you can do. Hold the weights so that your fingers curl towards your body when you lift up. Curl your arm up until the weights are just below your chin, lower, and repeat. 8-10 times for bigger arms or 12-15 times for smaller arms.

Don’t forget to breathe!

Hammer curls are a great bicep exercise that also works those triceps. Looking good in a tank top requires targeting all arms muscles.

To Do: Hold the free weights or dumbbells at your side so your palms are facing your thighs. Curl your arms at the elbow in a reverse hammer motion, making sure your palms are always facing the side of your body. Curl back down and repeat.

But my all-time suggestion for strong dense muscle is the chin up, you just can’t beat it.

Chin ups are possibly the best exercise for your arms, although most people find them incredibly difficult. It’s okay to cheat on chin ups until you get your strength up. Just remember that you can target different muscles by changing the position of your hands. Palms facing you will help build your biceps, palms facing away will help strengthen your back and shoulder muscles.

Chin ups equal a win-win for the arms!

[This kid is going to be giving out front row tickets to the gun show]

TRICEPS

As important as biceps are to looking good, triceps are equally as important in the movements of your arms and wrists. The same repetition rule applies; 8-10 for bigger or 12-15 for smaller.

The overhead extension is one of most effective arm exercises, so make sure you choose a weight that will allow you to complete your reps without stopping but one that will also allow you to feel the burn!

To Do: Stand up straight and bend your knees slightly. Lift one arm straight up and slowly drop it behind your head. Use the free hand to place the weight in the hand behind your head. Extend that hand straight up and then bend it back behind your head. Repeat depending on your goals and switch arms.

Dips are a great arm exercise for triceps, and you can do them just about anywhere!

To Do: Grab a sturdy chair, a bench, or coffee table (without glass!). Stand with your back facing your chosen exercise buddy and place your hands on it, palms facing down. Straighten out your legs, taking care to keep your balance because you’ll need balance for this. Once you’re in position, “dip” down by bending your arms and bring yourself up by straightening them almost all the way. Repeat as needed to accomplish your arm goals.

Dips done right will give your triceps a workout you won’t forget and muscle definition that you’ll crave!

SHOULDERS

No list of “best arm exercises” is complete without at least a brief mention of the shoulders. An essential part of your upper body strength, your shoulders will not be happy campers if you ignore them while your biceps and triceps start looking like superstars.

Uprights are a quick and fairly easy way to target your shoulders while toning your arms.

To Do: With weights in hand, stand straight up. Hold the weights so that your palms face your thighs. Lift your arm straight up, going no higher than your shoulder and back down. Repeat, alternating each arm as you go.

Sideouts are very similar to uprights, they just focus on a slightly different area of the shoulder.

To avoid injury make sure your arms never go higher than your shoulders.

To Do: Start in the same position as the uprights, weights in hand. Lift your arms straight out to the side, making sure they never go higher than your shoulder, and back. Repeat as needed for your arm goals, alternating arms as you go.

Remember to breathe while you exercise to avoid injury and exhaustion..

Getting the arms you want requires dedication to exercise (and diet), as well as understanding how to target the biceps, triceps, and shoulders effectively. Pick your poison and practice flexing…it’s tank top season somewhere!

See if Craig Ballantyne and his bodyweight moves can get the rest of your body as fit as your arms by reading our review of his Turbulence Training program.

I hear a lot of discussions in gym locker rooms about how to burn the most amount of body fat and gain lean muscle during strength training. The good news is you don’t have to spend more time in the gym. In fact, it’s completely the opposite:

Spend less time – especially resting between sets!

 
[A watch or clock is essential for measuring rest periods between sets - even grandma's old clunker will get the job done.]

Will I Still Be Strong?

It depends on your goals. If you’re training to increase strength to be able to compete in power-lifting competitions then resting a bit longer would be a good idea – up to three minutes for movements like squats and deadlifts. But chances are you’re here at The Fat Loss Authority wanting to learn about losing fat. Being able to lift a small European car is not the primary goal.

Scientifically speaking…

Although plenty of articles will state that shortening rest periods is an effective fat burning technique, rarely do they tell you why or even point to research which backs up the claim. Thankfully there is research which supports the fat loss benefits of shorter rest periods and most of it was done by Dr. William Kraemer.

Research conducted by Kraemer has shown that resting between sets for 1 minute or less will provide you with a metabolic burn that will last well beyond 24 hours. In comparison, the metabolic rate after a workout using 1 minute rest periods was almost double that of an identical workout with 3 minute rest periods. Kraemer attributes this dramatic effect on resting metabolic rate to a faster heart rate, faster energy turnover, and greater hormone release – all topics that deserve there own time and space to discuss.

Rules To Reduce Rest Between Sets Correctly

There are several ways to implement shorter rest periods into your workouts (see Strategies to Shorter Rest Periods below), but first we need to cover two important ground rules.

1. You need to maintain fairly heavy weights (8-10 reps)
It’s easy to shorten your rest periods when you’re curling 2.5 pound dumbbells, but this defeats the purpose. Revving up your metabolism requires both heavy weight and less time between sets.

2. Listen to your body
Training with heavy weight and little rest between sets is hard on the body – in a good way of course. But that doesn’t mean you train until you puke! Listen to your body and rest longer as necessary while you progress to this style of training. Feelings of nausea and dizziness are symptoms that should not be ignored and are indicators that you’ve dropped your rest periods too quickly.

A good place to start is reducing your rest periods by 10 seconds from your current workout. Over time you will work your way back up to the same amount of sets and reps but done in far less time. Remember, slow and steady wins the race!

Strategies to Shorter Rest Periods

Here are 4 techniques to shorten your rest period and increase the post-workout calorie burn at your next workout program:

1. Try supersets, compound sets, triple sets or circuit training. See the Fitness IQ article for definitions. Essentially, these techniques will keep you moving from one exercise to the next with minimal rest.

[A great example of a circuit workout with a barbell by fitness expert Craig Ballantyne.]

2. If you’re training with a partner, rest only long enough for him/her to finish a set and then start your next set.

3. This isn’t a cocktail party so forget about talking or socializing with others. Bring an iPod to help you stay focused and on task.

4. Keep an eye on the clock or wear a watch. Frankly, there is no better way to measure your rest period and you’ll be amazed at how much work you can get done in a short amount of time.

If you’re looking for specific workouts that focus on minimizing rest for maximum fat burning results, I suggest you look up Turbulence Training in our fat loss program review section. He’s the same guy in the video above.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard that fasting (or commonly referred to as starving by the uneducated) will cause you to lose your muscle mass. Every time someone asks me how I stay in good shape they think I’m lying when I say intermittent fasting is a major weapon in my overall health and fitness plan.

What? Come on man… you’re supposed to eat to get muscle, protein with every meal, 17 meals a day…

OK, I exaggerated that last one a little but you get the point. Fasting and the fear of losing your hard-earned muscle seems to be one of the most prevalent myths out there and it’s time to get to the bottom of it.

[Raise your hand if you've posed for a picture doing the double bicep shot? Of course we have:)]

Use it or lose it sister…

Intermittent fasting reduces your caloric intake but does not result in a loss of your hard-earned muscle if you follow this one golden rule: You have to be involved in some sort of regular resistance training program like strength training, body weight exercises, resistance bands, whatever.

If your pushing, pulling, lifting or holding then your on the right track. NOTE: Speaking of tracks: Can’t you hear “pushing, pulling, lifting, holding” as a catchy sequel to Kayne West/Daft Punk remix of “Stronger” in the near future? Seemed like a great idea until I typed it…

The hospital patient argument

The common comparison fasting naysayers cling to when arguing the above statement is that of hospital patients and the amount of weight some people lose when they stay at a hospital for more then a couple of days. But little does one know about the existing medical conditions of people staying in the hospital, their length of stay, or what type of diet they have been prescribed. In many cases, they are put on low-calorie diets and confined to bed rest. From a basic biological standpoint then yes – absolutely – muscle will be broken down to fuel basic bodily functions because the body is just so damn amazing.

But if your not confined to a hospital or struggling for basic human needs in a third world country, there is a simple way to preserve your precious muscles while effectively burning fat: 1-2 intermittent fasting periods per week combined with resistance exercises with my personal preference being weight training.

This research doesn’t lie

In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, researchers from West Virginia conducted a study of men and women undertaking a very low calorie diet. Even with a 12 week long diet consisting of only 800 calories and 80 grams of protein per day, they were able to maintain their muscle mass as long as they were exercising with weights three times per week.

In one of my all-time favorite studies, researchers from Queens University had men restrict their caloric intake by eating 1,000 calories less per day than they normally ate for 16 weeks. They took part in a weight training program 3 days a week and were able to maintain all their muscle mass while losing over 20 pounds of body fat!

I’ll repeat that again:

eat less + resistance exercise = same muscle and less fat.

My experience with fasting and muscles

As long as you are using your muscles, they will not waste away during short periods of dieting. From my own personal fasting and training experience, and in talking with athletes like Vince DelMonte, undergoing periods of low calorie diets while continuing a resistance training program can produce some amazing results. Hell, some of my best workouts have been completed during a fasting period and it’s something I plan to cover in more detail in future fat loss tips.

So if you’ve contemplated intermittent fasting but shied away from it because someone told you that your precious muscles would shrink, think again! Author Brad Pilon is an expert on fasting for fat loss while keeping your rock-hard muscles and has dedicated an entire book called Eat Stop Eat to this practice with even more research studies to boot. He does a great job in explaining the why, what, when, and how’s of fasting so that you to can lose fat but keep your muscles!

Counting calorie consumption has never been a problem for those people that wanted too. There are plenty of online databases of hundreds of food items that allow us to determine with a considerable amount of accuracy how many calories we have inputted into our bodies. But what about the calories we expend?

How many times have you heard or read about doing 15 minutes of cardio at the end of each of your strength training workouts or to go for a 15 minute walk, twice a day.

Well, one way to get a rough estimate of the calories you burn in many activities is with a simple formula developed by physiologists using a yardstick known as the Metabolic Equivalent or MET.

A single MET represents the amount of energy used at rest.

The University of South Carolina’s Arnold School of Public Health maintains what it calls the Compendium of Physical Activities, which gives the MET value of an array of sports, exercises and everyday tasks.

It’s basically a list of how much extra energy gets used if you run a 10-minute mile or spend time raking leaves.

The list can be downloaded from http://prevention.sph.sc.edu/tools/docs/documents_compendium.pdf

To estimate calorie usage, find your activity (or something similar to it) on the list and multiply its MET value by your weight. For example, take a woman who weighs 60kg and uses a stationary bicycle at moderate effort, which has a MET value of 7 for 45 minutes or 0.75hr. Multiply the three numbers together (60 x 7 x 0.75) and you’ll learn that 45 minutes on that bike would burn about 315 calories or 5.25 calories per minute.

MET values are drawn from population studies and don’t account for the individual differences that determine actual calorie usage.

Happy counting your burned calories!

For more ideas regarding healthy eating check out Mike Geary’s book The Truth About Six Pack Abs. You will find nutrition guidelines, eating habits and need-to-know information regarding your body and why the majority of people trying to lose weight fail miserably.