Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Too Much Info - Simple Workout Routines

A Simple Workout Routine is Best

Ever have a friend or co-worker tell you a story, but they end up giving you a little too much information? A bit of the story that they just didn't need to tell you, making the situation a little awkward.

Happens all the time, right?

Well, the same thing happens for a lot of people with fitness information. You read one article saying X, while another says Y. All in all, it leaves you with too much information and you probably end up more confused and frustrated than you were before getting the information.

I get a lot of questions from people who are in precisely that situation. They have so much info from so many sources that they don't know where to start.

Even worse, some start obsessing over details. Fitness and nutrition minutia that won't make a darn difference at the end of the day. Sometimes these obsessions lead people to go to extremes, and you can end up worse off than if you had done nothing at all!

Recently a reader sent me his program that was full of extra mini-workouts at different times of the day, low-carb eating during the week followed by a carb re-feed on the weekend, and all sorts of other odds and ends that needed to be sorted out.

His goal was to look good on the beach, but his exercise and nutrition obsessions had him going the wrong way (too much cardio and not enough calories - you'll never build muscle that way).

If you, or your clients are like this, then try to remember one thing...and that is:

Consistently performing the basic requirements will give you 90% (or more) of your results.

Adding in fancy training methods, extra workouts, impossible-to-follow eating plans, and other un-necessary details will only serve to overload most people's already over-stressed lives - until one day you just won't be able to take it anymore...and the next thing you know 3 weeks have gone by since you last worked out or ate properly (because you just couldn't take the extremes anymore).

So here were two basic changes our reader had to make:

1) Cut back on his cardio from 6 session per week to 4. In terms of health, and fat loss, you'll quickly find out that 6 sessions are not better than 5, and 5 sessions are not better than 4. Remember, TT is all about training QUALITY, not quantity. Take a deep breath and realize you won't get fat if you cut back on your cardio to only 4 sessions per week.

(Some day I'll tell you about the reader that was doing 7 hours of cardio per week and not losing a pound - and yet she still wanted to do more!)

2) We got him back on track with a normal, healthy eating schedule. Just stick to the basics: eat low-sugar, high-fiber carbohydrates, lean proteins, and healthy fats. More practically: eat vegetables, fiber-rich fruits, lean proteins (including fish), nuts, etc. He needed to toss the low-carb weekdays, carb-refeed weekends crap. It's too complex. And it wasn't even working. Stick to eating this normal, healthy approach 90% of the time and you can't go wrong.

Here's a great quote from Alwyn Cosgrove when he was asked how folks can get to the fitness truth from all the hype...

"I help people to break through by looking at things logically. One of my favorite examples is when folks talk about 'fasted' cardio for fat loss. In real world terms it won't make one single bit of difference over time whether you eat two eggs and then train or train and eat two eggs. It doesn't make any real world sense. Before acting on something, think thru the process and determine if it actually makes any sense whatsoever." - Alwyn Cosgrove

For more of Alwyn's info, go click here.

Take the stress off your mind about fitness and nutrition, and let me show you how simple things can be,

CB

P.S. There's a reason why Men's Fitness and Men's Health have depended on Alwyn and I for over 5 years.

And it's not just our striking good looks.

The other reason: Not only do we write great, fun, and effective workouts, but we can also see through the clutter. Maybe it's the Scottish in us, but we can both see through the B.S. mighty quick.

For no B.S. fat loss, get started with the Turbulence Training for Fat Loss manual today.

"Men's Fitness readers want to build size and strength, improve their sports skills, and lose their guts - and usually all at once! Craig Ballantyne is absolutely adept at all these things, and that's why I regularly ask him to contribute to the magazine. His Turbulence Training programs are widely regarded as the best methods for fat loss, and I recommend them to readers constantly. In addition to being one of the most knowledgeable and up-to-date trainers in the world, Craig's friendly, outgoing personality puts his clients at ease and encourages quicker results."
Sean Hyson, Fitness Editor, Men's Fitness

"Turbulence Training is a proven way to melt fat fast, while protecting your hard-earned muscle. I'm so confident in its effectiveness that I recommended it to millions of readers by featuring it in the February 2004 and October 2004 issues of Men's Fitness. And the fantastic feedback I've received from guys all over the world as a result ensures you'll be seeing a lot more of CB's programs in the magazine."
Adam Campbell, MS, CSCS, former Fitness Editor, Men's Fitness.

"I've been doing Craig's workouts for the past four years, and they've helped me make some of the biggest gains in my 35+ years of lifting. His all-access pass is an incredible deal, giving you some of the best strength, hypertrophy, and fat-loss programs you'll find anywhere. I know they work because I've tried them."
Lou Schuler, author or co-author of The New Rules of Lifting, The Book of Muscle, and The Testosterone Advantage Plan, and former fitness director of Men's Health magazine.




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