One of the most important component of a fat loss program, is tracking your progess in the right manner. It is an absolutely crucial cog in the wheel. Because changes in your body composition is so subtle at times, that if you rely just on the scale, you may be needlessly cursing yourself for lack of progress, whereas infact you should be applauding.
Do you know that you may have not shed a single pound on the scale and yet made progress?
But how do you know that?
How do you find out?
This is crazy!!
Well here's how - the key is to measure your Body Fat Percentage
Its possible that you may have gained muscle and lost body fat and hence though your body weight may not have changed, your body composition sure did.
Measuring your Body Fat percentage in conjunction with your Body weight is absolutely essential to track your progress. Remember though, not to overdo it. Even if you've a gruelling workout session and a great cardio run, your body fat percentage will not change overnight. So measure your progress on a weekly basis and and feed on your own success.
I'll say that again - no transformation story you read, no motivational seminar you attend can give you the kind of boost than seeing your own results. I still remember the day i first lost a quarter of an inch on my waist, I was in seventh heaven.
So now that you know you must measure your body fat percentage, the issue is how.
Well i would recommend a very simple and inexpensive alternative - a plastic body fact caliper. Now all you have to do is take the reading on the caliper and look it up in the chart that you will get as a part of the pack and it will give you your body fat %. This is my preffered and recommended option. check out this Accu measure Caliper below. I use this same one. Its fabulous.
For those of you who dont want to read up the chart, or want a more advanced digital caliper you could consider this one.
Additionally an absolute must have to compliment your Body Fat caliper is the Myo Tape. If you've ever struggled to take your own body fat measurements, you will realise that value of this nifty little instrument.
To summarise, it important to know How to Calculate Your Body Fat Percentage as this is one of the surest and best ways to measure your progress.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd
www.meltthatfat.com
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Four Pillars of Six Pack Abs
This is an acronymn that I have coined, based on all the six pack abs training and nutrition research that i have been doing over the past one year.
MI - Mindset - the motivational aspect of getting your six pack abs. This is really where it all begins. All successes are achieved twice. Once in the mind and then in reality . The mental picture has to be drawn up first and this will later be manifested by our actions.
ND - Nutrition/Diet Six Packs Abs are made in the kitchen. This couldn't be more true. I experienced this first hand when I lost 20 pounds earlier this year. The major component of my regimen involved around a good diet. Cause my training schedules were nothing but erratic given my hectic work schedule. So Diet does play an extremely important role. You cannot outtrain a bad diet. Period.
CA - Cardio training Particularly important in a fat loss or six pack ab training regimen is Cardio Training. You simply cant beat cardio training to rack up the calorie deficit that is the cornerstone of leaning down. I am not a hardliner who would recommend only interval training or only steady state. You gotta mix it up, you gotta be consistent and you gotta be progressive. But dont neglect cardio. Make it and important component of your workout schedule.
RE - Resistance/Weight Training This is perhaps the most neglected part of a fat loss regimen, but perhaps the most important part. In my view more important than cardio. In my own experience, i did not have any access to cardio equipment, so i solely relied on Weight training to lose my body fat and boy oh boy - that really worked. This is extremely important for building and maintaining muscle mass which will keep your metabolism cranked up all day. Imagine what happens after a gruelling workout. Your muscle fibres are broken down and depending upon how good your workout was, your body is going to spend 1-2 days repairing the damage. which means you wil be losing extra calories by just bumming it around the next few days. Aint that amazing.
To summarise, these are the four pillars of a solid foundation for any fat loss/six pack abs program. You can buy all the fitness products available in the world. You can join all the fancy gyms in your area. But it all boils down to these four components. Devote your time to understanding these four concepts and success will be guaranteed.
In my next post, i will introduce you to the best and the most effective personal trainer in the world and i will show you how to get him to train you for FREE.
Personally i did go from 24% BF at New Years to 15% body fat in about four months. Spent the other four months lazing around. But now i am picking up the pieces again and have begun MY SIX PACK JOURNEY You can follow my daily steps, provide me your comments and inspiration and also looks for tips and tricks.
I am a corporate executive, a real world guy with a 12 hour job and a hectic life. I am not going to spend a whole day training at the gym. The challenge revolves round getting through this active lifestyle and achieving this goal at the same time.
Check out MY SIX PACK JOURNEY here.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd
www.MeltThatFat.com
MIND CARE
MI - Mindset - the motivational aspect of getting your six pack abs. This is really where it all begins. All successes are achieved twice. Once in the mind and then in reality . The mental picture has to be drawn up first and this will later be manifested by our actions.
ND - Nutrition/Diet Six Packs Abs are made in the kitchen. This couldn't be more true. I experienced this first hand when I lost 20 pounds earlier this year. The major component of my regimen involved around a good diet. Cause my training schedules were nothing but erratic given my hectic work schedule. So Diet does play an extremely important role. You cannot outtrain a bad diet. Period.
CA - Cardio training Particularly important in a fat loss or six pack ab training regimen is Cardio Training. You simply cant beat cardio training to rack up the calorie deficit that is the cornerstone of leaning down. I am not a hardliner who would recommend only interval training or only steady state. You gotta mix it up, you gotta be consistent and you gotta be progressive. But dont neglect cardio. Make it and important component of your workout schedule.
RE - Resistance/Weight Training This is perhaps the most neglected part of a fat loss regimen, but perhaps the most important part. In my view more important than cardio. In my own experience, i did not have any access to cardio equipment, so i solely relied on Weight training to lose my body fat and boy oh boy - that really worked. This is extremely important for building and maintaining muscle mass which will keep your metabolism cranked up all day. Imagine what happens after a gruelling workout. Your muscle fibres are broken down and depending upon how good your workout was, your body is going to spend 1-2 days repairing the damage. which means you wil be losing extra calories by just bumming it around the next few days. Aint that amazing.
To summarise, these are the four pillars of a solid foundation for any fat loss/six pack abs program. You can buy all the fitness products available in the world. You can join all the fancy gyms in your area. But it all boils down to these four components. Devote your time to understanding these four concepts and success will be guaranteed.
In my next post, i will introduce you to the best and the most effective personal trainer in the world and i will show you how to get him to train you for FREE.
Personally i did go from 24% BF at New Years to 15% body fat in about four months. Spent the other four months lazing around. But now i am picking up the pieces again and have begun MY SIX PACK JOURNEY You can follow my daily steps, provide me your comments and inspiration and also looks for tips and tricks.
I am a corporate executive, a real world guy with a 12 hour job and a hectic life. I am not going to spend a whole day training at the gym. The challenge revolves round getting through this active lifestyle and achieving this goal at the same time.
Check out MY SIX PACK JOURNEY here.
Your Friend in Fitness
Lloyd
www.MeltThatFat.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
