5 Gym's Mistakes You Should Aware

1) ALWAYS DOING THE SAME WORKOUT.
“People often fall into the trap of hitting the treadmill for 30 minutes every time they work out,” says Rachel Cosgrove, owner of Results Fitness in Santa Clarita, Calif. “It works at fi rst, but then your body starts to adjust to the routine, and you burn fewer calories.” To keep seeing results, change one workout factor like intensity or duration every trip to the gym, then completely switch your activity every three to four weeks.

2) DISTRACTIONS.
If you can watch TV during your workout, you’re not working hard enough. Instead of relaxing while you run, try interval training. After a fi ve- to six-minute warm-up on a cardio machine, work as hard as you can for one minute, then reduce the intensity for two minutes. Alternate back and forth for fi ve rounds, making sure to increase the number of intervals you do each workout.

3) HOLDING ON TO THE HANDLEBARS.
When your arms take your body weight off your legs, you burn fewer calories. “If you have to hold on or lean, go slower,” says Cosgrove. (Supporting yourself without assistance gives you a better core workout as well.)

4) NOT USING THE INCLINE.
Setting the treadmill on an incline increases the activity of your glutes and hamstrings so you make them even stronger and burn more calories. Depending on your fi tness level, set the incline at between 6% and 10%.

5) OVERFUELING.
You don’t need to sip sports drinks all afternoon, then eat an energy bar at the gym, and then follow that up with a post-workout shake. Instead, limit yourself to about 300 calories—the same number you burn in an average 30-minute workout. Any more and you’re not going to get thinner.

Cardiovascular Exercise

Aerobic training such as walking, riding a stationary bike, or running is a good way to accelerate the fat burning process, as long as it is not overdone and as long as it is used only in addition to a good weight training program. It should never be used as a substitute for weight training since it does not permanently increases your metabolism and since it does not has the ability to re-shape your body.

Fat Burning Zone

In order for aerobic exercise to be effective, it needs to be performed within the fat burning zone. The fat burning zone is the zone at which you are doing enough work to burn fat. Your pulse (how fast your heart is beating per minute) determines this zone.

The fat burning zone formula is the following:

Fat burning zone=220-(Your Age) x (.75)

The result of your formula will give you an approximate value of how fast your heart should be beating per minute. For example, a 20-year-old would need to reach a pulse in the neighborhood of 150 beats per minute in order to be in the fat burning zone. It is important to remember that this is not an absolute figure, this is an approximation. So as long as you are plus or minus 10 beats from the number that the formula provides you with, then you can rest assured that you will be burning fat.

Best Times To Perform Aerobic Activity

Another important point that needs to be raised is that in order for aerobic exercise to be an effective fat burner it needs to be performed at the appropriate times. There are only two times that aerobic exercise is effective in burning fat.

1. In The Morning On An Empty Stomach: The best time to perform cardiovascular exercise is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach after drinking 16 to 24 ounces of water in order to prevent dehydration. When performed at this time you burn 300% more body fat that at any other time in the day because your body does not has any glycogen (stored carbohydrates-sugar) in the system to burn. Therefore, it has to go directly into the fat stores in order to get the energy necessary to complete the activity.

2. Right After Weight Training:

The other time when aerobic exercise is effective is immediately after the weight training session. The reason for this is that when exercise is not performed first thing in the morning it takes your body approximately anywhere between 20 to 30 minutes to start burning fat. This is because that it how long it takes the body to deplete its glycogen stores and switch to a fat burning environment. Therefore, it would not be efficient to perform aerobic exercise by itself at any other time during the day because you would need to perform it for 20-30 minutes just to get to the fat burning stage and for an additional 20 minutes just so that you burn fat. This would give a grand total of 50 minutes a day and in my opinion, I think that unless you are a competitive bodybuilder with a perfect diet and a superb supplementation program designed to protect muscle mass, aerobic exercise should not be performed for more than 6 sessions a week of 20-45 minutes a day for males and 30-45 minutes for females since this would put you at a risk of losing muscle mass. Only competitive bodybuilders sometimes need to go as high as 45 minutes, twice a day, for seven days a week. Keep in mind however that this is performed for a short period of time and only in conjunction with a pre-contest diet which consists of a high frequency of meals and with supplementation like glutamine, which helps to protect muscle tissue. Remember that more is not always better and this is especially true when it comes to aerobic exercise.

Forms of Aerobic Exercise

Good forms of aerobic exercise are: stationary bike, jogging (this can also be done on a treadmill), fast walking (also can be done on a treadmill), stair stepper, elliptical machine, rowing machine, sets of sprinting, running, or any other form of cardiovascular activity that would raise your heartbeat to the fat burning zone.

Frequency and Duration of Aerobic Exercise

As far as frequency is concerned, I feel comfortable recommending 2 to 4 sessions of 20-40 minutes each for male bodybuilders in the off-season. If a contest is approaching, then I would gradually increase the activity to no more than two sessions per day, 7 days a week of 45 minutes each on the worst case for a short period of time. Remember, it is those long hours of cardio that cause bodybuilders to look like POWs (Prisoners of War) in the bodybuilding stage the day of the show. If you are doing 2 sessions of 45 minutes of cardio every day make sure that you take plenty of glutamine (15-30 grams per day) in addition to having at least 7 meals per day. For women, due to their higher concentrations of estrogen in the blood and due to the fact that they have less muscle mass than a male, more frequent aerobic activity is beneficial. Therefore, I recommend an off season plan of 4 to 5 sessions of 30-45 minutes and if a contest approaches, I would gradually increase the activity to no more than two sessions per day, 7 days a week of 45 minutes each on the worst case.

Cycling of Aerobic Activity

During the off season, you may choose to cycle you aerobic activity in the following manner in order to prevent your body from adjusting to a specific pattern:

1. Cycle The Kind Of Aerobic Activity Being Used:

Changing up the aerobic exercises prevents the body from getting so good at a specific activity that it becomes hard for you then to raise your heart rate.

2. Cycle The Duration Of The Activity:

For example, a male bodybuilder that performs 3 sessions a week may do 20 minutes of aerobics on weeks 1& 2, 25 minutes on weeks 3 & 4, and finally 30 minutes on weeks 5 & 6. A female bodybuilder can use the same pattern as well (e.g. 4 sessions performed for 20 minutes on weeks 1&2, 30 minutes on weeks 3 & 4, and finally 40 minutes on weeks 5 & 6). This form of cycling will not only keep the workouts interesting but it will also prevent the body from permanently adjusting to a given length of the activity. Remember, that as soon as the body adapts, it will be tougher to reach the fat burning zone and therefore it will be harder to use aerobic exercise as weapon against fat.

Conclusion

So there you have it. Now whenever you think about aerobic exercise, you no longer have to fear two hour sessions in a machine or losing muscle mass provided you follow the basics of aerobic training.

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7 Tips To Burn Your Fat Faster

1. TIME YOUR PREMEAL SNACK

Eating a low-carbohydrate protein bar 90 minutes before you work out will enable you to exercise longer and harder (and burn more calories) than you normally would, says Steve Zim, author of Hot Point Fitness. However, that 90-minute mark is crucial. Eat any closer to your workout, and blood will rush to your stomach, actually diminishing your performance.

2. BREATHE THROUGH YOUR NOSE

Inhaling and exhaling through your nose, rather than your mouth, helps stabilize your heart rate and (like the preworkout snack) increase your endurance. The result? You work out longer and burn more calories. But don't get discouraged if it feels unnatural at first — it takes about six to eight workouts to perfect.

3. DO CARDIO LAST

Strength-train before doing any cardiovascular work, says Ken Fitzgerald, owner of Lift Gym in New York. Why? It takes the body about 15 minutes to warm up and start burning fat. So, a 30-minute bike ride is really only burning fat for the last 15 minutes of your workout. But, if you lift weights first, your body is warmed up by the time you hit the bike, and you'll burn fat throughout the entire ride.

4. VALUE VARIETY

Do the exact same workout every time you hit the gym, and your body will start to adapt to it — and eventually stop burning as many calories, says Zim. So if you jog one day, try biking or swimming the next. Or, if you weight-train from the shoulders down one day, next time, begin with your legs and work up. The important thing, Zim says, is to keep your body guessing.

5. DON'T SLOUCH

Slumping over the handlebars on a stationary bike inhibits the amount of oxygen your body can take in — and slows your fat-burning process, says Fitzgerald. The bars and handles are there to help you balance, not to support you. If you can't move without holding on, slow down.

6. TRAIN IN INTERVALS

The best way to burn fat is to work out as hard as you can for as long as you can, says Malick Diop, a trainer at Equinox Gyms in New York. But, if you're just starting to exercise, interval training's your ticket. Two minutes on the treadmill at, say, 7 mph, followed by two minutes at 5 mph, then back to 7 mph (and so on) for 20 to 45 minutes will whittle away pounds and build your endurance. Eventually, you'll be able to extend the high-intensity periods (and decrease the low ones) until your whole workout is done at top speed.

7. ADD LIGHT WEIGHTS

It's a fact: The more muscle tone you have, the more calories you burn — even when you're sitting still. So, if you can't seem to find time to weight-train and do your cardio, Zim suggests doing bicep curls and overhead presses holding two- to three-pound weights while you're fast-walking or stair-climbing. This will build muscle tone, helping you shed more fat during your cardio workout than you would without the weights.

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Understand Fat

What is Fat?
When we say someone is fat, means he or she is overweight. But, what actually is Fat in the eyes of biology? Actually, Fat is a compound comprised of glycerol , a substance formed in fatty acids. And fatty acids is required as a concentrated energy source for our muscles. However, excess fat will causes overweight and obesity.

Fat is one of many essential nutrients. Dietary fat is the most “fattening” nutrient we eat. It
provides 9 calories, units of energy, per gram. Carbohydrates and proteins each provide 4
calories per gram. When dietary fat is digested, fatty acids are produced. One fatty acid, the essential linoleic acid, helps us absorb fat-soluble vitamins and minerals. It is also important for healthy skin and blood pressure regulation. Dietary fat is divided into two types: saturated
(which is solid at room temperature) and unsaturated (liquid at room temperature). In
order to obtain an adequate amount of linoleic acid, one of the few fatty acids the body cannot
produce on its own, the average adult needs to eat 1 tablespoon of unsaturated fat daily.

Saturated or Unsaturated
Whether fat is saturated of unsaturated has to do with its chemical structure: whether or not there is room on the fat molecule for more hydrogen to bond to it. Saturated fats are those that have no room on the molecule for additional hydrogen: thus the term “saturated.” Saturated
fats are found primarily in animal products - red meat, lard, butter, poultry with skin and wholemilk dairy products. The vegetable oils palm and coconut are also saturated, as is vegetable shortening and margarine (“hydrogenated”). The consumption of saturated fats is linked to higher levels of damaging cholesterol, heart and blood vessel disease, and many types of cancers. Unsaturated fats are fat molecules with double bonds which have room for additional hydrogen. Monounsaturated fats can bond two additional hydrogen atoms and polyunsaturated fats can bond more hydrogen atoms. Unsaturated fats are found primarily in plant products, like vegetable oils such as peanut, canola. and olive (monounsaturated) and sunflower, corn, and safflower (polyunsaturated). Fish oils are unique as animal sources of polyunsaturated fat.
Besides providing the body with linoleic acid, unsaturated fats have been shown to reduce cholesterol levels in some individuals, which in turn may reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.

How Much Do I Need?
General guidelines for daily fat consumption are to eat no more than 30% of your total calories from fat. Of that 30%, no more than one third, or 10% of the total diet, should be from saturated fats. If, for example, you normally consume 2,000 calories a day to maintain your weight and activity level, you would need no more than 600 calories from fat, or 66 grams.

30% of 2000 calories = 600 calories
600 calories ¸ 9 calories/gram = 66 grams fat

Of that 66 grams of fat, how many would be unsaturated and how many would be saturated?
Following the general guidelines for fat consumption, 44 grams would be unsaturated and
no more than 22 grams would be saturated.

Choose Sometimes
Eliminating all fat from a diet is unhealthy—fat is essential for multiple body functions like
production of bile and hormones, insulation of organs, and absorption of vitamins. Instead of
cutting out all fatty foods or snacks, choose those items sometimes or rarely instead of often.
Choose sometimes or rarely items like burgers, ice cream, potato chips, donuts, pizza, chocolate, hot dogs, bratwurst, and full-fat dairy products.
Choose often items like low-fat yogurt, skim milk, pretzels, unbuttered popcorn, veggies, fruit, ice milk, whole wheat breads and bagels, veggie burgers and veggie pizza. In general, the less
processed the food item, the healthier it will be.