fattofitbook.com

When is the last time someone told you that a low intensity cardio workout was the best way of achieving maximum weight loss in the shortest time possible? I hear it from clients everyday. Its about 5 minutes later I go into this little routine in one form or another.

Now lets see why the leading sports conditioning trainers and fat loss coaches in the world recommend a quicker approach to leaning out your midsection.

Could you really have been steered wrong all this time? Everything you’ve read over the last ten years has said that when you want to lose weight fast that slow and low intensity cardio workouts are the rule. If you dare to buck the trend and do that new high intensity interval training all you will do is burn of carbs and not experience fat loss. Right? Wrong!

If you have come this far I know I have you interested in the possibility that there must be a better approach. There is. High Intensity Interval Training may be the next big thing. I can promise you that if you keep reading you will never look at a treadmill the same way again!

First, what is “normal” slow, static, weight loss orientated cardio workout defined as? A low intensity cardio workout is when you exercise at 60-65% of your max heart rate. Your max heart rate can be most easily figured out by subtracting your age from 220. For a person that is 35 the equation would look like this. 220-35= 185 max heart rate. Take the 60-65% fat burning recommendation and you would be shooting for a sustained heart rate of 120 beats per minute.

If that is a low intensity workout, then what is high intensity cardio workout?

High intensity cardio is defined as exercise that gets your heart rate into the 75% and up range. This can be done in a sustained fashion but not for very long and that is where the interval training part comes in. Intervals of high intensity combined with a downshift in gears to rest for 30 seconds to a minute before ramping it back up. You go fast then slower to catch your breath a little.

So how exactly does H.I.I.T. burn more fat then the slow and low method? Again, another great question! Let me explain.

Low intensity cardio training burns about 50% fat for energy while a high intensity workout burns about 40% fat for energy. So the low intensity method is best right? Just wait.

Lets take the average walker doing cardio on the treadmill for 30 minutes. Once they have finished they have racked up a calorie burn of 160 calories. If 50% of those calories are fueled by fat then they have burned 80 fat calories

Then over on treadmill number two, you have a mixed martial arts fighter doing wind sprints in the high intensity cardio style. He is doing one minute high and 30 seconds at a jog or a walk. He keeps this up for 20 minutes, is drenched in sweat and breathing like a freight train. In those 20 minutes of HIIT he has burned 350 calories. If you take the lower fat burning percentage of 40%, what do you have? What you have is 140 fat calories burned and in less time then the low intensity person. As a matter of fact, our HIIT person is in the showers as we speak while the slow cardio workout person is getting bored out of their mind looking for something to read on the treadmill.

The bottom line is that you almost doubled your fat burning with the high intensity cardio workout, and less time to boot.

Now you can see that in the long run you actually burn more fat calories in total with HIIT then the regular style while you are doing it. What about the rest of the day? The fact of the matter is that slow-low cardio workout only helps weight loss while you do it. Once you get off the treadmill that’s all you get as far as weight loss goes after a couple of minutes rest.

Here is the clincher on HIIT. It burns calories long after you stop! It sounds too good to be true but even after you stop your interval training your body will continue to rev its metabolism for up to 24 hours depending on how intensely you did your intervals. This is a great thing for weight loss wouldn’t you say?

The fact of the matter is that even after you hit the showers and are sitting on the couch, HIIT is still working towards your weight loss goals for you. Now that’s efficient. Less time spent working and longer lasting effects.

Small changes like this to your workout make all the difference when you really want to lose that weight fast. I hope that helps you out!

I hope you are doing really well! I had been following your fat loss program for three months and got great results. So first of all, I wanted to start off by saying “thank you very much from the bottom of my heart Ray”. Since October of last year, I am down 18 inches (only counting my bust, hips, waist, and abdomen)! Yippee! (I have attached two after pictures from a couple of weeks ago, though one is just a head shot. You requested this a month or two ago and here it finally is! Now you have a face to my name as well as more context to work with).

However, for these past two months, I have really lacked motivation to go further, and I wanted to hear your thoughts about this. I mean, I want it, I visualize myself more fit and toned from where I am now, and everyday I try to get back on “the wagon” only to fall off again four days later. So though I have not gained any inches or weight, I have not progressed any further, and I find it very difficult to both stay positive about myself and my potential to achieve the body that I want, and also to stay within my calorie limit for weight loss.

Another side note is I am constantly craving fruit! Fruit, fruit, fruit all the time I have a difficult time not eating it past 12:00 noon. It’s like the sugars in it or something. Do you know what causes this? Or do you have any suggestions?

Anyway, do you have any words of wisdom to help me regain motivation and get to where I want to be? You know because I have gone down quite a few inches and I like my body so much more now than I did before I think I am scared to go any further. Perhaps the fear of the unknown and the lack of confidence in myself is preventing me from committing myself further?

Have you or your clients had experience with this? Thankyou so much. I really appreciate it. I know this is past my one month trial period so I don’t know if you are willing to answer my questions, but I would love to hire you as an internet coach or online trainer for one on one coaching over email. Thanks so much and have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,
Annie

You know its so funny. You watch the movies and you see the physiologist just sit there and listen to the question from the patient. Hey Doc, ” I just don’t have the motivation to go further. Can you help me with some tips?”. Then the Doc sits there and rephrases the question right back at them, “Why is it do you think that you lack the motivation to go further?”

This is where the music starts out lightly and then builds up a little. The client says..”I don’t know, I guess I’m just a little scared of the unknown and lack the confidence that I can do this.” Ah Hah! We have the problem and the answer and the Doc never really offered any guru like advice. The answer is that in order to go to the next level of development, the area where most people never go, we need to work on confidence and getting rid of the fear of failure.

So, the drama aside, sometimes its tuff to gear up for another run of discipline and hard work. That’s why athletes and bodybuilders have off and in season training schedules. You just really can’t expect to go full bore day in and day out. We all need a rest. Then once you take it and decide that you are ready to achieve your next batch of goals, you go for and go for it with all you have. You EXPECT success because you are taking the right actions. You know you are taking the right actions because someone that is experienced in the area you want to succeed in has given you directions.

As for fearing failure. What would that really be in your case? Would it be that you don’t lose 30 pounds? In what time frame? What is the worst case scenario? I guess that it would be you loose absolutely no weight at all. Now that wont happen I can guarantee that because I know the experiences of others on the program, but it raises a great point. The point is that if you are not enjoying the journey or the path that leads you to the goal, you are on the wrong path. There is more than one way to achieve any goal.

When you enjoy what you are doing, the achieving of the goal is a bonus. Not something that you fear not achieving. When you find a means of getting to a goal that you enjoy, you will do it day in and day out simply because you enjoy doing it. You love being in the process. You can’t wait to wake up and get the blood flowing and feel that extra energy all day long. The funny thing is, the people that adapt this approach to anything, fitness included seem to be the ones that stick to it long term and achieve the highest standard of accomplishments. Even more funny, it happened in the background as they enjoyed themselves each day.

I hope this helps you out and FANTASTIC job on coming this far.

P.S. If you enjoy fruit, then have some. Keep it to a cup a serving. Something like strawberries or grapefruit. I don’t allow this in the beginning stages of the program after noon because I want people to see a little drop in the scale right away even if it does include some water weight.

Your coach
Ray Burton
http://www.fattofitprogram.com

Hi Yvette,

I hope your doing well on the program and I wanted to send out
a couple more cool motivational videos. When you look at these, they
will either motivate you or make you think that this is crazy stuff.
Either way, this is the kind of intensity that gets results and if
you are not there yet….you will be in time.

As always, you can achieve whatever you put your mind too. Just
stick with it. Here are the vids:
Fat Loss workout

And from our commando cardio class:

I hope you enjoy them and I’ll be looking forward to some before and
after pictures soon!

In your next email, I’ll have a radio interview I did with health
talk radio…stay tuned!

You can do this!
Ray Burton
http://www.buildingbodies.ca

=====================================================
Hi Ray,

Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your “nonsense-free” book. I have sent books back in the past because what the author was writing was, quite frankly a whole lot of junk.

After reading it throughly, I do have a question. In regards to nutrition, you had mentioned people who benefit from reduced carbohydrates (starch). I believe that I am one of those people. I have the cursed body-type that can either put on fat or muscle quite easily, yet I am considered a pear-shape with curves. Some of my measurements are as follows:

Shoulders: 42″
Chest: 39″
Waist (just above belly-button): 30″
Hips: 40″
Legs: 24″

My height is 5′6 & current weight is 167lbs. (about a month ago it was at 177 lbs. (highest ever!!!)) and I am determined to get to 130 lbs. That is the lowest that my trainer at the gym is advising since I have quite a bit of muscle (her words!!) and should not go below 130.

I am following a Herbal Magic program that allows approximately 1300 - 1500 calories (depending on what you choose to eat), with the following breakdown:

Proteins: 3 servings (can of tuna, 5 oz chicken, etc.)
Starch: 2 servings (2 slices of diet bread,1/2 cup rice, etc.)
Veggies: 4 servings
Fruit: 3 servings
Fat: 2 servings
Free Exchange: 1 serving (this could be a fat-free pudding, 2 cups of popcorn, 1/2 cup of light ice-cream, etc.)

Well, what do you think so far??? Am I on the right track with reduced carbohydrates if I follow this plan??

The other thing I like with Herbal Magic that I should mention is that you can go as many times a week as you like to get weighed (measuring is done 1x/week, so it keeps a person consistent. I only go 1x/2x per week (I find anymore than that makes me crazy!!) They also have a one year maintenance program which I find to be encouraging. I have lost the weight before (between 2 kids), and have found the maintenance to be the most challenging.

Anyhow….I could go on and on. I really would like to hear back from you, so please email me with your opinion.

Yvette
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Hi Yvette,

I read over your email and I think you are absoulutely on the right track! Way to go. Everything looks right on. If anything starts to slow down results wise, just let me know so I can see if there are any tweaks needed. I understand the carbohydrate sensitivity. I am the same way, I can get away with general carbohydrate recomendations for a while and then I need to get back on the complex carbohydrate veggies before the fat starts to creep back on.

Great job on losing 10 pounds. I feel this is only the start for you. Remember to give everything you have during your training sessions and the diet will take care of the rest. You are doing great and I would love to get some pics of your progress when you feel its time.

I expect you to reach your goal if you follow the program in just over three months. See you then!

Ray Burton
President Buildingbodies Inc
http://www.FatToFitProgram.com

Bored?
Watch my free workout videos and get fit today!
http://www.metacafe.com/user/3839708/ray_burton/

Hi Ray,

This is Joel in San Antonio again. I know my free month of questions is over so if I am crossing the line emailing you again just ignore this and Ill understand.

My question is about tuna fish. It is one of my main sources of protein but now I am reading about the threat of mercury from the fish building up in the body. I checked out all the formal reports and according to that there is no threat to a healthy adult man. They also reccomend a weekly serving of about 6 ounces. Well I eat maybe 10 ounces a day 5 or 6 times a week so I am eating way too much apparently. Have you ever had any concern with this? Am I being paranoid? If I do need to cut back on the tuna what are some other quick and easy options for large quantities of protein?

Also I have been stuck at 11 to 12 percent body fat for a while now, maybe about 3 weeks. Its like my body is taking its final stand against fat loss and I’m starting to get frustrated. I am alrerady eating about 6 times a day so what else do you think I can do? I looked into the fat burning pills like Xenadrine but i am not sure I want to do that. Got any suggestions?

Again if my time for questions is up just ignore this, otherwise I really appreciate your help. Take care of yourself Ray, thanks for guiding me step by step for so long on the fat to fit Program.
Joel Smith
 
San Antonio, TX

Hey Joel, yes I have had this concern and I’m glad you brought it back to light in my mind. I actually didnt know how bad it was untill I went digging around myself. After looking I would have to say that whey protein powder and chicken are the choices I stick with. Sometimes tuna is just very conveniant and so I go that route, but I dont eat as much as I used to.

Take a look here for my “formal report” he, he, on mercury levels in canned tuna fish.

http://www.buildingbodies.ca/exercise/index.php/mercury-in-canned-tuna-fish-a-toxic-element/

As for your bodyfat levels, 10% is where I stay most of the year so you are doing great. Anything below that really requires 100% spot on efforts in every area. In my opinion, at this point you can get leaner but the cardio you will have to do may dip into your muscle size a little. If thats not a problem, then add another 30 minutes session in twice a week. When I want to get lower than 10% I hit a morning and evening cardio session. This is why I only go below 10% for vacations and photo shoots. Its tuff stuff year round and treats are few and far between.

As far as fat burners go, you dont need them. You have the will power and I know from your emails that if you want to lose a bit more bodyfat, you can do it on your own.

Ray Burton
President Buildingbodies Inc

Technorati Tags: Mercury In Tuna Fish, fat to fit Program

Now then Ray, I have started on your program, I have currently been
following the second routine on the 3 day a week, but have had to change the
days to Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with a swim on a Sunday.

I have started to the notice muscle growing in my arms and shoulders
already, and I am feeling better and more refreshed in myself.
My colleague who is in great shape and a regular at the gym, has never
followed a programme before, and to keep me motivated I suggested we both go
together on that routine, This excited him and has enjoyed going to the gym
in the past few days, as we always do have a good laugh at work and take
this with us while working out, though he can lift a lot more than me, but
then he has been to the gym for over 3 years now, though saying that he
tells me, that he has never really been able to push himself, and found
himself getting bored most times just going through the motions, but now he
can push himself, and can attempt to lift those 34kg weights, knowing I am
there to SPOT him.

RAY, I must say your eBook has been a good kick starter for me, and I am so
determined to loose the weight I have gained round the belly.

By the way, I am 24, I weigh 11 stone, 146cm in height and the majority of
my fat is stuck on my belly, I am hoping to loose the belly, make it flat,
and tone it up a bit, also get my weight down to at least 10 stone, 9.5 is
my goal with toned body.

If there is any advice you could add following the second routine, that
would help me loose the belly and to tone the stomach this would be great.

I am following your eating plan also, and up to now all is good.

Cardio is a twat LMAO!   Never been that good at running, So until my heart
and body is is good shape, I just stay on the cross trainer, and usually get
25 - 30 mins, then I take a 15 - 20 min swim afterwards, I love the benefits
the gym we go to has to offer, as we get to work out hard, then relax with a
swim, then steam room and sauna, kind of a reward for hard work lol.
Anyways 

Please, Please check back with me in a month or so to find out my progress,
I would be happy to fill you in.

Regards

Chris Small
Sounds Great Chris, Keep Up The Great Work!

Ray Burton

http://www.fattofitbook.com

Hey Ray,

How are you?

I’m interested in getting your book, but I don’t have an MP3 player. Is there some kind of soft copy in PDF form that I could purchase from your site? I’m really interested, but the whole MP3 thing is a bit of a stumbling block for me.

I really like what you’re doing and respect your credentials. You are obviously the “main man” as we say in Dublin.

Let me tell you where I am at the moment. I used to play rugby (I played prop for over 20 years from the age of 7) and whilst I was always fit, I would have weighed in around 230 pounds at 6 feet tall. A lot of this was muscle, but, I have to admit, there was always a bit of padding around those muscles that didn’t have to be strapped on before a match. Anyway, I had to taper down my rugby activities as my work became more and more important and as I did so, my weight started falling off (due to not doing heavy weight lifting any more and the fact that I increased my aerobic activity.)

I am now at 210 pounds and look better than I did at peak fitness (I played schoolboy international rugby. So why am I telling you this? Well, I want to take things to the next level. I’m still overweight when I look at a BMI chart, but I did get told I had 18% fat when I did a test in the gym and I have a 34 inch waist, which isn’t exactly Orca territory! Since I stopped playing rugby, I’ve got a real buzz out of training myself hard, doing 10k runs, trying to devise circuits for myself. I’m thinking of training for a triathlon and stuff like that.

I suppose I miss the feeling of satisfaction you get after pushing yourself to puking and then saying “ok, I feel great now!”

So this is why I want to buy your book,

I want to push myself onward and upward, but my methods are just really based on pushing myself and basically waking up and going “Jesus, I wonder if I could run x kilometers today? Ah sure I’ll try it and if it doesn’t work out I can always slow down.” I suppose my method is that I have no method and from reading your sight, I think that I could really develop myself with your direction.

It’s a long way of putting a short question.

Can I get a soft or hard copy of fat to fit anywhere?

As we say in Ireland- May you be in heaven an hour before the devil knows you’re dead!

Kind Regards,

Karl In Dublin.

Hi Karl, I’m glad you sent me this letter because I think your problem may have been a stumbling block to more people than I was aware of. I don’t think I stated myself clearly on my product page.

fat to fit is actually both a PDF download and can also be ordered on amazon.com as a softcover. I actually don’t have an MP3 version. I think you must have click the listen to a chapter bit on the site and thought the whole book was an MP3. I actually just put that on there so people could get a sample of what the book is like and hear my voice to know I am a real person!

As for the BMI standard, its crap. It’s the worst thing that some scientist or fitness expert every came out with. When I was in the army is was a standard there too but here is the problem. It only takes your height and weight into account. It doesn’t care if your stacked with muscle and have no fat. If you are muscular but over the number, its says your too heavy and that’s a load of crap. According to the BMI I am obese, check out this article to see what I mean. I am usually around 10% body fat or lower, so obese isn’t the word I would use!

Here is the article: http://www.buildingbodies.ca/general-health/am-I-obese.shtml

Your 18% is great and as you get leaner but keep your muscle, you’re going to look incredible. I like to get my clients to around 15% because its easy to maintain and you still look great too.

I hope you do try the book out and let me give you advice along the way with the free email support I offer to those that purchase the program. Sometimes you need to give things a little tweak!

Here is where you can pick up the PDF download or softcover: http://www.buildingbodies.ca/get-fit.shtml

Hope that sorts stuff out for you, and if you have any other questions, just let me know.
-Ray Burton www.buildingbodies.ca/exercise

When you first start to exercise there can be many things that are confusing. Nutrition and fitness basics are some of the big ones. When people first get into fitness they are first faced with exercises, sets and reps, rest periods and then the mother load, Nutrition.

Lets cover some of these nutrition and fitness basics so that you can get into the gym and start working on that healthy body instead of chasing your tail trying to find that information you need.

Fitness basic one: When you want to get fit you should include the 3 pillars of exercise. Resistance work or weight lifting, stretching exercises and cardiovascular exercise. Without all of these basic parts of fitness in your workout program, you will eventually run into problems in flexibility, strength or heart health. Fitness is about doing all of the above, not just parts.

With weight lifting you will run into sets, reps and other basic weight lifting fundamentals that you can read about here in THE BASICS - SETS/REPS/REST. There is also some fundamental information about cardio but there is a full section dedicated to that here in the cardiovascular exercise section.

Nutrition basic one: Small frequent feedings of natural and unprocessed foods will beat any “special” fad diet for improving fitness and losing weight. Your body is made of what you eat so you must make sure that you are only putting quality foods into your body. A well balanced diet of nutritious carbohydrates, fats and proteins from natural sources will keep your body fueled with nutrients.

This leads us to the fundamental nutrition basic of how many calories do you need in a day? That link there will lead you to a calculator that will tell you how many calories you should eat in a day. From there we need to know what the 3 pillars of nutrition are and what they do. The 3 basic macronutrients that make up a nutrition plan are Carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

Proper carbohydrate nutrition is important to fitness because carbohydrates create your energy that you work off while you exercise. Carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap lately and you can read about how this basic nutritional component should be included in your diet here at low carb stupidity.

Carbohydrates are found in fruits, vegetables and grains as far as healthy fitness fuel type sources go.

Fat is also a basic macronutrient that is needed by your body for several very important functions. Fat effects fitness though the hormonal plain. In other words if you fat intake is out of whack, so are your hormones and energy levels. Some of the most important fats are called essential fatty acids.

Fat is found just about everywhere and in a variety of sources. The above article will explain the basics of what you want and what to stay away from.

The most important basic nutritional component in my opinion is protein. Protein is found in dairy products, eggs and other animal sources such as cows and fish. Protein nutrition is a basic to fitness because without it, your muscle tissue would not be able to repair, recover and grow from the stressful exercises you do in the gym. You can find out everything you ever needed to know about protein in this series of articles about protein in your diet.

Check back soon because part 2 of fitness and nutrition basics will be coming.

Ray Burton, FatToFitBook.com

I’ve been working on the V-sits for a week or so but can’t seem to keep my balance! I can do it with my arms to my sides above the ground to keep balance but doing a v-sit with my arms over my head seems almost impossible to do without losing balance and losing form. Just wondering if you had any pictures or videos of this exercise so I can see how it is done properly?

I am also about to start phase 2 of the program and love the results so far. I have lost about 4 percent body fat and gained a couple pounds of muscle. My friends are saying I am bulking up even when I don’t mention working out! It feels pretty good. My question is about cardio though.

I seem to be stuck between 11 and 12 percent body fat for the past week. I know this isn’t much time but my body fat percentage has really been falling fast in the previous weeks. I am wondering now if it is better to keep up the low level cardio to burn the fat off before I work in interval training into my routine, or is it better to do low level one day and interval the next to keep a more dynamic workout. Which would burn fat faster?

Thanks again for all your help Ray and good luck in your new project! Take care.

Joel Smith
San Antonio, TX

Hi Joel, I think your probably just making the vsits more complicated in your head then they really are. Here is a clip so you know what I am talking about over at Metacafe (leave a comment if you want!):

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/473456/v_sit_situp_variation_lesson/

Also for the cardio the reason I switch you over to the interval training in the fat to fit Program is because your body is getting used to the steady state cardio after a month and needs a change. So don’t let confusion enter the picture and no real proof exists that you will get leaner with steady state cardio faster than interval training. If anything the opposite is true.

Tons of studies have been done that show the hormonal benefits as well as metabolism boosting effects of interval training. To look like a cheetah, run like a cheetah. I don’t know what runs long and slow, so I couldn’t give an example!

Ray Burton
www.fattofitbook.com

Hi Ray,
Thanks for a great book and really helpful newsletters.  Last September I realized I needed to get into a good workout program and switch my eating…it’s only been recently that I came across your book in my quest for more and more knowledge.  I always thought of myself as a healthy eater, but realized I was eating way too many carbs and not enough protein.  This is my current schedule:

Jari Love’s ripped classes 3x/wk
30 minute pure cardio 3x/week right before the ripped classes
Thursday a.m.’s I do 30 min cardio and then heavy weights/low rep
Saturday a.m….I do a ShredMill class (it’s on a treadmill…using heart rate monitors to do high interval training) 1 hr
Sunday’s I run with a friend on the outdoor paths…usually 1 hr to 1:20…..
 
I had my RMR test done and I came in with an extremely low number 777, but I eat around 1300 cal/day (+/-).  I eat 155 grams of protein/day…18-20% fat and the rest carbs. I am very tiny at 5′2″…& weigh 103 lbs…& I’m 43 yrs. old.  Since Sept. I have lost 12 lbs…And no lean muscle. I am really happen with my upper body progress…however, I can’t seem to lean out my legs.  This is always been a problem area for me and I have always had cellulite on my legs/bum. They are definitely better…but they still don’t really match my upper body.  I do lots of lunges, squats, high step ups, sumo squats, etc…and of course my running.  So basically, I’ve given you all this information to ask you this.  I know that the body does not spot reduce…but do you think what I’m doing is putting me on the right track to leaner legs and I just need to be patience?  In your experience, does this area just take a lot longer to respond (and because I’m a woman?) The other problem is I don’t want to get any smaller up top on the road to leaning out my lower body?  I like my upper body, my arms are well toned, I have abs!  I would appreciate any advice you can offer.  I feel really frustrated with this area.  I’m sorry to give you so much information, but I thought you would need to know my lifestyle before giving me advice.
With much thanks……and in good health,Lisa

Sorry for the delay my reply, its busy over here! Patience is your key. As a women the legs take a lot longer to get where you want them then it does on a man. Actually men run into the same problem but its the love handles, so no, we don’t get off scott free!
As for your upper body staying the same, that’s not a problem. As long as you continue to keep your protein high like you are doing and make sure you lift as heavy as you can for your upper body it will stay just like how you like it.
As a side note, great job on the fitness plan. Its very proactive and you get a golden star for effort. You are doing everything right and its impressive. Stick it out and more great results will be shortly coming!