It seems that losing fat fast is still the hot topic in the health and fitness world. Many people are struggling with their weight as fast foods, lazy lifestles and stress continue to increase. In this article I am going to show you how to lose fat fast the real way. No gimmicks here.

How to lose fat fast… the real way

This website has built its reputation on providing articles that are real. I have never once discussed a fad or tried to sell you a program that doesn’t work. The same goes for this article. Everything that is discussed from hereon in comes from my own exeperince, study and practice.

With that in mind, to lose fat fast the real way you must:

1. Make a total change to your eating; don’t just diet

Many people think that losing weight means a fanatical diet where you force yourself to eat nothing or eat only protein for a few weeks. This is the worst thing you can do. It harms your health and as soon as you stop this diet your fat will come straight back on.

The real way to eat is to make a total shift in your diet habits. You want to make changes that will last a lifetime, not just a few weeks. The important changes that are ESSENTIAL to losing fat fast include: Continue Reading

I have been getting a lot of emails from people looking for other sports and activities to use to help them lose weight and build super fitness. It seems that the old treadmill is getting pretty boring. In this post I want to look at the best sports and activities to lose weight and blast your fitness.

The best sports for fast weight loss and super fitness

Here are some of the best sports and activities that you might not have thought of.

1. Kick Boxing
As you might have guessed from the images on this post kick boxing is one of the best things you can do for losing weight and building fitness. I would recommend kick boxing for any sports person or athlete who wants to take their endurance and power to a new level.

There are a few reasons kick boxing is superior:

Full body - Kick boxing uses every muscle in your body. When you throw a kick you have to whip your whole body around and when the kick lands you have to tense your whole body to increase the power. The same goes for the punches, elbows and knees. It is amazing for your abs as well.

Pace - Kick boxing is fast and it is furious. Your heart rate gets up and it stays up for the whole time. This is why it is amazing for weight loss.

Toughness - When you kick box you develop a lot of toughness. This helps you on your weight loss and fitness journey as the other workouts you do will no longer seem as intense.

2. Indoor Soccer
I have played soccer all my life but when I went to the indoor soccer center I was shocked at how hard it was. Indoor soccer is amazing for your fitness and weight loss as it is very high intensity. Some other reasons indoor soccer is a good choice are:

Less people - When you have less people on the pitch you have to do more work yourself. This is a good thing!

No boundaries - When there are no boundaries the ball is never “out” so you never get those little breaks to catch your breath. At the start this is hard but you soon get used to it.

Short bursts - One of the best things for your fitness is doing short bursts of high intensity cardio. When you chase a ball for ten feet one way and then back the other way you are getting a lot of high intensity exercise.

Check out our other post on soccer and the types of training you can do to improve your game.

3. Capoeira
Capoeira is a Brazillian martial art/dance form that will challenge you beyond belief. Like all good high intensity activities it uses your whole body in both aerobic and anaerobic ways. You do handstands, back bend, front flips, kicks, punches and just about everything in between.

The great thing about Capoeira is that it is so full of variety. One minute you can be pumping out 100 high kicks and the next minute you will be doing some amazing deep stretches. To learn more about Capoeira check out a recent article we wrote on Capoeira basics.

4. Squash

photo: Btal

If you have ever played squash you will know how good it is for your fitness. You are stuck in a tiny room with one other person, two rackets and a ball. You chase after that ball for hours on end.

I once went to play squash at my local court with my father and the owner told us that someone had just had a heart attack and been rushed to hospital. We asked if it had happened before and he said “it happens all the time” and continued on with his work. I think the fast paced activity really shocks some people as they don’t realize how hard squash really is.

Added squash bonus - You calf muscles will get an amazing workout when you are playing squash. The constant sprinting, twisting and turning really burns them.

5. Street Ball
Playing a bit of basketball with your friends down at the local park is one of the best ways to burn off some major calories. Like all of the sports in this post it involves a lot of short bursts of sprinting and involves all of your body.

What other sports have you guys used to lose weight and build super fitness?

top photo:anaconda

I get tens of emails every week from readers who want to know how many times per week they should workout. It is an important question that deserves a detailed answer. In this post I will look at all the factors that determine how many times per week you should workout.

How many times a week should I workout?

In this post I will be looking at the main factors that we need to know when deciding how often we should workout. Each of these factors needs to be addressed by the individual athlete as it is hard to give blanket generalizations.

These factors include:

• Your workout goals
• Your time constraints
• Your fitness levels
• The type of training
• Your diet

All of these things need to be addressed. At the end I will give some loose guidelines as to how many times a week you should workout.

What are your workout goals?

The first thing you need to look at is what your training goals are. This has the biggest impact on how often you train.

For example, if you are training to compete in the Beijing Olympics then you need to train every single day of the week. You need to dedicate your life to it. If you are training to keep healthy and maybe lose a bit of weight then three or four times a week might be enough. The amount you train should be directly related to your training goals.

That being said, do not confuse quantity with quality. Professional bodybuilders may spend hours at the gym but they are quality hours. They do not just float through their sessions.

What are your time constraints?

My friend and I are always talking about how work and university study gets in the way of training. We really would love to train more but because of our other commitments we simply do not have the time. If we tried to train instead of doing these things our work, money, grades and health would all suffer.

You should try to work with your time constraints as opposed to fighting them. For example, if you work late shifts perhaps join an all night gym or go to late night martial arts classes. There is always some option. Continue Reading