REFOCUS Fat Loss Goals After 6 Months

REFOCUS your fat loss and weight loss goals...the mid-point of the year is a good time to do this (really, every week is a good time)....Anyway, if you're frustrated and overwhelmed from the whole exercise/fitness/meal plan/fat loss/weight loss puzzle, make some changes!

REFOCUS, re-evaluate and make changes! There's a reason your exercise program isn't working! Some reasons could be:

1. You have been haphazard with your workouts and eating habits.

2. You have the wrong workout routine and you're stuck doing the same workout week after week (with little or no results).

3. You're not working hard enough. It takes hard, smart work to change your body composition.

4. You're depending on a fat-burner supplement, powder or weight loss patch to change your body! Stop wasting your money!

5. You have no idea why your workout program is not working!

REFOCUS. I'm here to help you REFOCUS and RESHAPE your fitness program and goals!

Be sure and download your FREE 14-Day Accelerated Fat Loss Program from My Fitness Hut and start burning fat and building your lean body!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
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Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Half-Way To Your Fitness Goals After 6 Months?

Are you making any progress with your fitness, health, fat loss and weight loss goals after 6 months of exercise this year? Is your health better? If the answer is not yes to both questions, you need a better exercise program or you need to commit to consistent exercise (or both)!

Six months is plenty of time for you to see progress with fitness, health, fat loss and weight loss! Your clothes should be fitting looser, your body should be more toned, you should be able to do some type of interval cardio (instead of slow-paced cardio), you should be able to get through a 40 minute circuit weight training workout, etc.

Are you feeling overwhelmed from the whole exercise/fitness/meal plan/fat loss/weight loss puzzle? Don't think you will ever get your body to what you want?

Whatever the case, it doesn't have to be that way....you can do it.....with some help! Don't underestimate the value of well-designed fitness program put together by a certified personal trainer. It makes all the difference because you get direction, feedback and encouragement from a trainer who is fit and knows what it takes to get fit and stay fit.

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Beach Workout In The Sand

If you're hanging out at the beach alot this summer, here's a good fat-burning workout for you:

Do one exercise after the other with little or no rest between exercises. Do this workout in the sand!

1. Jump squats, 10 repetitions, fast
2. Walk 1 minute
3. Sprint 15 seconds
4. Walk 30 seconds
5. Bentover dumbbell rows, 10 repetitions
6. Plank, 10 repetitions, 15 second hold
7. Walking lunges, 10 steps each leg
8. Seated knee ups, 15 repetitions
9. Pushups, 20 repetitions
10. Side lunges, 10 repetitions each leg

Rest 2 minutes and repeat this circuit one more time.

If you're at the beach this weekend, try this sand workout!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

"Quickie Cardio" Is Perfect For Summer!

"Quickie Cardio" works great! "Quickies" are short, sweet and effective! That's all you need your cardio exercise to do for you---burn calories, burn fat and tone your body. For the record, all of my personal cardio workouts are "quickies!"

If your cardio sessions are taking 45-60 minutes, you need to change to "quickies!" Long, slow cardio sessions will eat away at your muscle mass! I define "quickies" as 20 minutes or less....If you have to break down the "quickie cardio" into two 10-minute sessions, that's even better. Research proves that you get even more fat-burning benefits from two separate workouts.

Its summer, right? Relax, and get in a quickie or two today! Your body will love you for it!

I have the best "quickie cardio" workouts if you need help!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Why Do Cardio Exercise?

Why do cardio? Get the right answer and your fat loss frustrations will end!

The goal for cardio exercise should be to improve heart health (and overall health) and blast the body fat. And, don’t let your cardio exercise cause you to lose muscle mass! I have seen too many people lose valuable muscle mass while doing too many long, boring cardio sessions of 60 to 90 minutes! Personally, I don’t have the time (or patience) to devote to 3-4 sessions a week of lengthy cardio!

The take home lesson is this: don’t waste time with lengthy cardio sessions and you will burn fat and spend more time building muscle mass.

And, you don't need a treadmill or elliptical machine to do cardio exercise! All you need is 20 minutes and an activity that you ENJOY doing!

I personally use a variety of short, intense fat-burning cardio routines that won’t eat away at my muscle mass. Using variety will keep your body from adapting to the same cardio workout week after week. It will also keep you from getting bored with your cardio!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Exercise And Eat Right During Summer Travel

Everything is looser in the summer so keeping up with exercise and eating right is a huge challenge! Since the clothes are looser, you want to look good, right?! Well, take some steps to stay in shape during the summer. Your months of hard work can take a big hit in just 2-3 weeks if you're not careful!

While you are busy doing your travel and running around this summer, don't forget your summer workout schedule! You can still exercise and do everything you need to do this summer! You just have to be a little creative.

For me, summer is my favorite time to workout because I love to workout in 100 degree heat.....I'm a little wacky so I realize this doesn't work for many people. For one, allergies are a big problem for many people so outdoors workouts can be a big problem.....others hate the scorching heat!

So, here's some summer exercise tips for you:

1. Never skip both your Friday and Monday workouts! If you do this, you will probably go 4 full days (Fri, Sat, Sun, Monday) without working out. Four missed workout days could turn into weeks, months, summers and years!

2. Exercise during your kid's practices. Why sit around for 1-2 hours watching kids practice? Take advantage of the time and walk or jog.

3. Get a stability ball, medicine ball and dumbbells to exercise while watching television reruns.

4. Walk or bike to the store a few blocks away instead of driving. Walk everywhere you can, every day! It really makes a difference.

5. Exercise at your hotel while on vacation.

6. Take advantage of the summer family discounts at the local health club and go exercise with your kids.

7. Don't forget to "reasonably" (at least 90% compliance) stay on your meal plan during the summer!

8. Remember that sweating has nothing to do with losing fat or weight! Sweating just cools down your body. A caloric deficit (burning more calories than you consume) will cause you to lose weight.

9. Plan your menus and pack your food while on vacation or on the go. This will help you avoid the fast food trap and binge eating.

10. Have fun! Change up your exercise routine and include fun exercises like jump rope games, dancing, relay games, obstacle courses and speed hop-scotch. You could also play in a rec soccer, basketball or flag football league....oh yeah, go swimming for fun and exercise!

Take care this summer, have fun and keep exercising! Take advantage of the extra daylight during the summer and stay active!

Download your FREE 10-Minute Fat Burning Workouts now and take them on the road with you. There are strength and cardio workouts in the e-book.

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Do Low Carb Diets Work?

Do low carb diets work? A better question would be: What are you trying to accomplish with your low carb diet?

If you're trying to lose weight fast, your low carb diet can work to do that (especially if you cut bad carbs like sugars). But, just about any fad diet out there will help you do that. Cutting the carbs short-term can be an effective weight loss tool.

But, low carb diets are hard to maintain because your body depends on carbs for energy, especially during intense exercise. So, its easy for low carb dieters to "fall off the wagon" and begin to binge on carbs. And, the weight comes back on with a vengeance (yo-yo diet effect)!

Your ultimate goal should be to burn fat through regular weight training (including bodyweight exercises), cardio and a balanced diet. This combination will work to change your body composition (more lean mass, less fat mass) over time and the weight loss will take care of itself because your metabolism will speed up. You will be more healthy and the weight will stay off!

Think long-term fat loss and weight loss! There are no quick fixes for long-term fat loss and weight loss!

Be sure and download your Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course from Precision Nutrition:

Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course for Women

Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course for Men

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Top 5 Fat Loss Ab Exercises

Limiting fat loss ab exercises to only 5 is tough but I will do it.

You will get the sculpted, toned abs that you want and you won't walk around like a stiff robot. You will build those abs for every day movements. We all kneel, stand, walk and run, so your abs and overall body strength and stability should be trained for you to live an active life every day.

So, based on that information, here are my Top 5 Fat Loss Ab Exercises:

1. Plank on Ball (rotate plank variations). These are important for foundational core strength. Variations include side planks, planks with leg lift, plank with hip abduction, etc.

2. Ab Ball Rollout/Ab Ball Jackknife. Do these exercises as a superset.

3. Hanging Leg Raises. This exercise belongs in any top 5 ab list.

4. Medicine Ball Diagonal Chop (also with knee lift)/Medicine Ball Front Chop. Do these exercises as a superset. These are important exercises to build core strength with movements used in every day life.

5. Medicine Ball Rotational Throw. This is another exercise that builds core strength with movements used in every day life.

Note: My apologies to bird dogs, supermans, cobras, burpees, mountain climbers, thrusters and back extensions! These are all great core exercises that you should do.

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Top 5 Fat Loss Strength Exercises

Strength exercises for fat loss should focus on maximizing your time at the gym...build more lean muscle mass to speed up your metabolism and burn more fat.

To recruit more muscle fibers during workouts and improve your success, focus more on MULTI-JOINT OR COMPOUND EXERCISES.

COMPOUND EXERCISES will help you burn more fat because you are working large muscle groups in your body. For example, the largest muscle in the body is the gluteus maximus and squats/lunges would target this area (among other areas). You will also burn more calories after your workout.

Examples of SINGLE-JOINT EXERCISES are biceps curl, seated calf raise, leg extension, leg curl and triceps pushdowns. Spend less of your time on these exercises.

Here are my Top 5 Fat Loss Strength Exercises:

1. Squats - Bodyweight, dumbbell or barbell....do your squats!

2. Deadlift - Deadlift is a must for your exercise program. It is also one of the best ways to build muscle thickness in your lower back. Lower back fat is a problem for many people.

3. One-arm dumbbell rows and Pullups - These two are a must for any routine so I'm counting them as one exercise.

4. Clock Lunges - Clock lunges work your body in all planes of motion. Lunge with your right leg at 12 o’clock, 2 o’clock, 3 o’clock, 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock. That’s 1 repetition for your right leg. Lunge with your left leg at 12 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 9 o’clock, 7 o’clock and 6 o’clock. That’s 1 repetition for left leg. Maintain upright posture throughout to improve core strength.

5. Dumbbell Chest Press on Ball - Doing the chest press on the ball forces you to balance while lifting. Each arm also has to do equal work.

Note: I also include exercises like standing shoulder presses, step ups, pushups on medicine ball and tricep bar dips in my workouts.

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Top 5 Common Sense Fat Loss Tips

Like alot of things in life, fat loss comes down to you applying common sense like:

1. If you severely limit candy, donuts, cookies, sugary drinks, calorie-packed desserts and other sugary products (while continuing to exercise), you will burn belly fat and lose weight.

2. Walk as much as possible (i.e., stay active during the day), exercise 4-5 days a week, stay with your meal plan at least 90% of the time and you will burn fat and lose weight!

3. If you don't replace bad foods (like sugary foods) with good foods like fresh fruits, you will probably continue to eat massive amounts of sugary foods. Try the replacement method--it works!

4. If you don't REALLY COMMIT to improve your quality of life with exercise, healthy nutrition, active lifestyle, etc., you probably won't change your bad habits for very long!

5. If you continue to try every new fad diet that hits the market (to get quick weight loss), you will continue to see your weight yo-yo and your health worsen. Make the commitment to fat loss with regular weight training and cardio exercise! In time, this will burn fat, give you a lean body and good health!

Share your common sense fat loss tips!

Be sure and download your Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course from Precision Nutrition:

Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course for Women

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Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Top 5 Fat Loss Cardio Workouts

You can do my top 5 fat loss cardio workouts in 20 minutes as interval cardio....each workout will burn fat like crazy!

1. Run sprint intervals on grass or in sand if you're at the beach! Sprints are absolutely one of the best ways to blast fat and sculpt your body. You don't have to be fast, just run as fast as you can! To make it more challenging, see #2.

2. Run uphill, stadium steps or step mill. You might need to start on the step mill machine and work your way up!

3. Jump training or plyometrics. This is high intensity and high risk. Perfect your jumping and landing techniques before advancing to full speed jumps. You may want to start with exercises like jump rope, jumping jacks and squat jumps.

4. Bodyweight cardio. Try rotating sets of exercises like step ups, squats, pushups and lunges for 20 minutes.....that's you doing cardio with your body and that would be a tough, fat-burning cardio workout! You will also improve your strength endurance!

5. Cardio blasts. Cardio blasts could work this way: between each weight training exercise set, do 30-45 seconds of a high speed exercise like jump rope, mountain climbers or squat jumps. Try to do the whole 20 minute workout without any rest between exercises.

If you have been needing to "ramp up" your cardio to burn more fat, any one of these workouts would work for you!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Top 5 Fat Loss Snacks

One sure way to blow up your meal plan is to snack your way to excess pounds....what you eat between main meals can make the difference in you reaching your fat loss and weight loss goals.

I eat foods that I like. Another person's menu won't work for me. Find healthy foods that you like...here is my Top 5 Fat Loss Snacks:

Eat these 3 Veggies to Burn More Abdominal Fat

1. Popcorn is my favorite snack of all time! I can eat popcorn anywhere, anytime. Its high-fiber and low calorie. Skip the butter and excess salt. I like to pop it on the stove in olive oil. On the run, I eat natural, microwaved brands.

2. Nuts.....my second favorite snack. Peanuts, pistachios, pecans and almonds are my favs....it doesn't take much either (a handful will do). They are high-calorie so be careful. Again, skip the excess salt! Nuts have heart-healthy fats, fiber and vitamins. Great snack for people on the run.

3. Apples, bananas, watermelon and grapes. My favorite fruits to eat for snacks or anytime. Pick your fruits to eat. I've never heard of anyone getting fat from eating too much fruit! We all know the health benefits of eating fruit so enough said.

4. Peanut butter. I eat peanut butter almost every day, usually on whole wheat bread or crackers....a good protein source that will keep you full until the next meal. Peanut butter is high-calorie so two teaspoons will get the job done.

5. Green, leafy salads. I eat green salads on most days with very little dressing. You can't go wrong with green, leafy veggies any time of the day.

Note: Low-fat yogurt is a great snack. I just don't like yogurt so I don't eat it. Smoothies are also great options (especially after a strength workout). Just watch the sugar and fat. I drink water and unsweetened tea most of the time for fluids.

Be sure and download your Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course from Precision Nutrition:

Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course for Women

Free 5-Day Fat Loss Course for Men

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs

Top 5 Metabolism Boosters For Fat Loss

If you want permanent fat loss, you have to continually boost your metabolism....metabolism is basically the rate at which your body burns calories. Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories you'd burn if you did nothing all day (or the amount of calories your body needs to maintain itself).

Here are my top 5 metabolism boosters:

1. Do not skip meals (eat 4 to 6 small meals a day). Eating regularly keeps your metabolism humming during the day. Starving yourself or severely cutting your calories will only slow your metabolism.

2. Regular exercise (cardio 3-4 days a week/weight training 3 days a week). Building muscle mass will speed up your metabolism because your body has to work harder to maintain muscle.

The more intense the exercise, the more calories you will burn during and after your workout. So, high intensity interval cardio and circuit weight training will give you more fat burn and calorie burn. Breaking up your workouts also works well to speed up metabolism (i.e., two 20 minute workouts instead of one 40 minute workout).

3. Eat protein with your meals. Your body has to work harder to digest protein. This burns more calories and also helps you eat less during the day. Protein is also critical to repair and build muscle after a tough strength workout.

4. Eat good carbs like fresh fruits and veggies. Again, your body has to work harder to digest these foods and you feel fuller for a longer period of time.

Eating fresh fruits can help you cut out the excess sugar in your diet in the form of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Dr. David Ludwig, a Harvard endocrinologist, who is widely cited by obesity researchers, says that sweetened drinks are the only specific food that clinical research has directly linked to weight gain. "Highly concentrated starches and sugars promote overeating, and the granddaddy of them all is sugar-sweetened beverages," said Ludwig, who runs the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital in Boston.

5. Get enough sleep and stay away from long-term stress. These two imposters will wreck your metabolism and health!

Do these things on a consistent basis and you will get the fat loss and weight loss you want!

Be sure and download your Free Bodyweight 500 Metabolic Fat Burner Workouts and start shaping your body faster!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
Your Fitness University
My Fitness Hut
Her Fitness Hut
Sports Fitness Hut
Rapid Fat Loss and Six Pack Abs