We’re going to make this post extremely quick and easy.

To enter to win one of the five TEN free copies of the entire 24/7 Fat Loss system that we’re GIVING AWAY today, simply reply in the comments section below this post (reply form is at the bottom of the page) with the following information:

In 250 words or less, we want you to tell us exactly why this program is the perfect program for you at this point in your life.  Tell us WHY you NEED access to this information.

Again, please keep your reply less than 250 words, and please, leave finances out of your reply.  This program (via our special VIP pre-sale) will be affordable for literally anyone who wants access to  it.  Anyone.

So, again, leaving the financial stuff out, we want you to tell us, based on everything you’ve learned about the strategic 24/7 Fat Loss system over the last 6 updates, why this program is the perfect fit for you.

We will keep the contest open for a full 24 hours, and then we’ll go through the replies and notify the winners via email sometime late Saturday!

Good luck!

Joel & Craig

NOTE:  This contest is now closed.

A quick recap:

Interval training can be defined as the repeated alternating between higher intensity period of really “hard” work, and lower intensity periods of active recovery (i.e. walking).

Its benefits over traditional cardio include:

• Greater total calories burned (due to the “afterburn” effect)
• Greater fat loss (up to NINE times greater)
• Greater improvements in both aerobic and anaerobic fitness

On to the routine:

The program I am about to outline is a sprint-based interval training routine. If you are not in “sprinting” shape, you’ll need to gradually move toward this type of training through a progressive program (which is exactly what I’ve outlined below).

Week 1, Workout 1: 20 minutes @ 70% of HRmax
Week 1, Workout 2: 25 minutes @ 70% of HRmax
Week 1, Workout 3: 30 minutes @ 70% of HRmax

Week 2, Workout 1: 20 minutes @ 75% of HRmax
Week 2, Workout 2: 25 minutes @ 75% of HRmax
Week 2, Workout 3: 30 minutes @ 75% of HRmax

Week 3, Workout 1: 20 minutes @ 80% of HRmax
Week 3, Workout 2: 25 minutes @ 80% of HRmax
Week 3, Workout 3: 30 minutes @ 80% of HRmax

Week 4, Workout 1: 20 minutes @ 85% of HRmax
Week 4, Workout 2: 25 minutes @ 85% of HRmax
Week 4, Workout 3: 30 minutes @ 85% of HRmax

Week 5, Workout 1: 5 sprint intervals
Week 5, Workout 2: 5 sprint intervals
Week 5, Workout 3: 6 sprint intervals

Week 6, Workout 1: 6 sprint intervals
Week 6, Workout 2: 7 sprint intervals
Week 6, Workout 3: 7 sprint intervals

Week 7, Workout 1: 8 sprint intervals

Continue to add a sprint interval every third workout, working you way up to 15 intervals (there is no need to go any higher than 15).

NOTE: Your age predicted maximum heart rate (APMHR) can be obtained by simply subtracting your age from the number 220. For example, if you are 30 years old, your APMHR is 190 beats per minute (bpm). Therefore, if following the complete program above, your first workout would be 20 minutes in duration and would be performed at the intensity of roughly 130 beats per minute.

For the “sprinting” portion of the program, each interval should be one minute in duration; 20 seconds of maximal effort and 40 seconds of active recovery. Begin each workout with a light warm-up and stretching and finish each up with continued walking until your breathing rate has returned to normal.

Do I Have To “Sprint”?

While sprinting is probably the easiest choice (no equipment required, etc), there are certainly other modes of exercise that work just as well so long as you follow the basic max effort/active recovery. Some examples of other acceptable modes of exercise include the elliptical trainer, the stair stepper, cycling, rowing, swimming, and jumping rope.

Regardless of what exercise you choose, just make sure that the “sprint” portion of the interval is performed at near maximal effort with the active recovery portion falling at the opposite end of the effort spectrum.

Mixing Things Up

You can avoid boredom and stagnation by making some adjustments to your interval training sessions every few weeks. An easy and effective way to do this is to manipulate the work to rest ratio of each session. In the above program, the work to rest ratio was set at 1:2 (20 seconds sprint, 40 seconds walk). Other work to rest ratios that have proven to be successful are 2:1, 1:1, and 1:3. Below are some example programs using each:

Work to Rest Ratio- 1:1/2

Sprint 20 seconds/Walk 10 seconds, repeat 8-10 times

Work to Rest Ratio- 1:1

Sprint 20 seconds/Walk 20 seconds, repeat 10-12 times

Work to Rest Ratio- 1:3

Sprint 20 seconds/Walk 60 seconds, repeat 12-15 times
Less time, more results – that’s what interval training is all about.

Combine it with the even more effective metabolic resistance training and you’ll be on the fastest possible track to the body of your dreams—guaranteed.

Speaking of metabolic resistance training (MRT), one of my go-to guys in the industry, a metabolic resistance training genius, recently shared some of his best stuff with me…I’ll be back on Monday to pass on some of that MRT goodness to you.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy today’s complimentary interval training workout!

Commited to your success,

Joel

P.S.  Every so often, something crosses my desk that’s just too good not to share with you.  Well, my buddy and uber nutritionist Kyle Leon is at it again:

==> Metabolism trick to OVERCOME your genetics (actually works)
 

Simply put, if you are looking for the fastest fat loss results, high intensity exercise is a MUST.

Short duration, high intensity exercise comes in two major forms: metabolic resistance training and interval training. Today, I want to take a DEEP look into the benefits of each.

First up, metabolic resistance training:

As mentioned in my previous post, metabolic resistance training is simply “cardio with weights”, and when speaking of the most effective form of exercise for the fastest possible fat loss, this is it.

A couple of studies to support this that my buddy Alwyn Cosgrove dug up:

Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM.
Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management.
Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7. Epub 2002 Jan 29.

In this study a 30-minute circuit style metabolic resistance training session was put to the test. The result was a 38 hour increase in metabolism – massive AFTERBURN.

Let’s put this in perspective: Say that you worked out at 8AM on Friday. By way of metabolic resistance training, you’d still be burning calories from that workout while out at the movies on Saturday night.

You want to burn calories by watching Wolverine? Now you can.

Here’s another:

Kramer, Volek et al.
Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight loss in men.
Med. Sci. Sports Exerc., Vol. 31, No. 9, pp. 1320-1329, 1999.

This study showed that those who added metabolic resistance training to a reduced calorie diet burned up to 44% more fat than those who dieted alone.

Don’t get me wrong, diet is the NUMBER ONE component of the fat loss puzzle, but once you’ve got that down, metabolic resistance training can really take your results to a whole new level.

And here’s one more:

Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R.
Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate.
J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.

This study compared “slow-go” aerobic exercise to metabolic resistance training and found that the resistance group lost significantly more fat without losing ANY lean muscle even at an extremely low calorie intake (not so for the aerobic group).

In fact, believe it or not, while the aerobic group experienced a decrease in metabolism (and lost muscle), the resistance training group actually increased overall metabolic rate.

THAT’S the power of metabolic resistance training.

Convinced that metabolic resistance training flat out WORKS? Good. Next up, interval training:

Interval training is simply a form of high intensity cardio in which you alternate back and forth between periods of high effort and periods of active recovery.

For example, you may run very hard for a period of one minute and then follow it up with walking for one minute, repeating 8-10 times for a less-than-20-minute workout.

Does it work?

Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.
Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8

Are you sitting down? If not, take a seat.

You want to know what happened when this research group compared 20 weeks of endurance training vs. 15 weeks of interval training?

While the aerobic/endurance group actually managed to burn more total calories during exercise, the interval training group lost NINE TIMES more body fat. NINE TIMES.

Nine times more fat loss in half the time? The clear choice for fat loss is interval training.

And it all comes down to elevated metabolism after your workout is completed – the afterburn.

Are you experiencing the afterburn?

Give me at least 700 comments and I’ll be back tomorrow with some sample interval training workouts and a post you won’t want to miss!

Talk to you in the comments section!

Joel

P.S.  Every so often, something crosses my desk that’s just too good not to share with you.  Well, my buddy and uber nutritionist Kyle Leon is at it again:

==> Metabolism trick to OVERCOME your genetics (actually works)
 

Now, I say “cardio”, but really it was a metabolic resistance training session.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, the simple definition for metabolic resistance training is “cardio with weights”. We’ll cover this more in detail in another update so as not to get too off topic.

So we’re about 10 minutes into the workout and Mikey looks like he’s in pretty bad shape (despite being in really GOOD shape). So I asked him what the deal was.

“I didn’t eat anything for breakfast.”

Me: Why the heck not?

“I thought that’s what you’re supposed to do if you want to burn the most fat from your morning workouts.”

Uh oh.

Perhaps you’re still believing this old myth just like good ol’ Mikey, so allow me to take a moment to dispel it.

The theory behind empty stomach is cardio is simple: supposedly, by doing cardio on a empty stomach, you tap directly into fat stores since glycogen (carbohydrate) stores are somewhat depleted after an overnight fast.

Seems to make sense, but research has proven this to be wrong.

Several studies have shown no difference in substrate utilization (glycogen vs. fat) for those working out on an empty stomach vs. those who eat a small meal prior to their morning workouts.

In fact, one study showed the exact opposite—those who had a small meal first burned more calories and more fat than the empty stomach group.

How can this be?

The reason is rather simple if you think about it. I was kicking butt and taking names with my workout, and Mikey was barely able to get through his. Even if not eating beforehand allowed you to burn more fat (which it doesn’t), the major trade off is performance.

And why does performance matter? Well, if you can’t perform at an optimal level and put forth maximal effort, then you are not going to be burning an optimal amount of calories–period.

The truth is, empty stomach cardio is an outdated philosophy whose theory was proven incorrect by research. Still, there are plenty of people who hold on to the theory despite the available research. Perhaps they’re not aware of it, perhaps they just go by what the fitness and bodybuilding magazines tell them (bad idea); I’m not sure.

Whatever the reason, popular philosophy doesn’t always mean correct philosophy, and this is one such instance.

So I’ll leave you with some practical recommendations:

At the very minimum, have a couple scoops of whey before any morning “cardio” workout.

That said, if it’s still negatively affecting your performance, you need to go a bit further. The meal doesn’t have to be large, but it should contain some complex carbs (oatmeal, etc) along with a small serving of protein.

Give it about a half hour to begin digesting and then hit your workout.

Better performance = more calories burned = more fat loss = improved cardiovascular functioning = even better performance = even more calories burned = even more fat loss.

Don’t be like my friend Mikey and have a crappy workout because you didn’t eat. As I shared with you, the research shows that’s not going to make a difference anyway. Instead, eat your Wheaties (figuratively speaking) and then dominate your workout!

Alright, now it’s comment time:

I want to know:  Do you still do empty stomach cardio? Will you give it up based on this post? Do you notice your performance suffers?

Or maybe you do REALLY well with empty stomach cardio.

Either way, let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below!

Chat with you below!

Your friend,

Joel

Apparently, many people are still stuck doing long duration, low-intensity cardiovascular exercise — yikes!

Here’s the deal: if you’re looking to achieve maximal benefit from the time you put into your workouts, long duration “slow-go” cardio is NOT the way to go, and for many reasons.

Here are my top 5:

1. Minimal calories burned — 45 minutes on the treadmill may burn a whopping 300 calories if you’re lucky, the equivalent of ONE TENTH of a pound of fat. Exercise ten hours a week and you might just lose a pound!

Which brings me to my next point:

2. Way too much time involved — I don’t know about you, but I don’t have hours and hours of my time to pour into working out each week. In fact, very rarely do I ever exceed three hours of exercise weekly, and you know what? That’s ALL you need.

Beyond that, slow-go cardio is:

3. BORING as heck — Sitting on an exercise bike staring at the wall in front of me for 45-60 minutes? No thanks.

But perhaps even worse is the fact that slow-go cardio provides:

4. No prolonged metabolic benefit — Did you know that with higher intensity exercise it is possible to continue to burn calories for up to 48 hours post workout? It’s true (and we’ll be discussing this “afterburn” effect in another post very soon). But you know what else is true? Long duration, low intensity cardio provides virtually NO prolonged elevation in metabolism. In fact, with slow-go cardio, metabolism returns to baseline almost IMMEDIATELY following the exercise session.

And finally, the reason that trumps all the others:

5. Minimal fat loss — Minimal calories burned during the session and virtually no additional calories burned afterward = minimal, if any fat loss results. And let’s be honest, the only reason anyone is doing cardio is for the “result”.

So if slow-go cardio isn’t a great solution, what is?

Short duration, high-intensity exercise.  Less time, faster results — THAT’S what it’s all about.

And keep in mind, “high intensity” is relative to you. I don’t care if you’re already in great shape or if you’re 40 lbs overweight, you can exercise with intensity.

So what about you? Are you stuck doing slow-go cardio or have you embraced the benefit of much shorter, higher intensity sessions?

Give me at least 750 comments and I’ll be back to talk about short duration, high intensity exercise in more detail tomorrow.

Talk to you in the comments section,

Joel

P.S. Want to learn 3 other specific fat-burning tips that you can start using today?  Check out the below link:

==> What “special” foods can boost fat-burning by 207%?
 

People literally FREAKING OUT because the scale reads one pound more today than it did yesterday.

So today, I’m here to help you with some facts and a bit of advice.

#1 – that’s NORMAL.  If you weigh yourself every day, you’re going to see fluctuations in weight throughout the week (mainly due to daily water fluctuations).  That’s normal and to be expected especially if you’re utilizing a program that cycles carb and calorie intake like Cheat Your Way Thin or Xtreme Fat Loss Diet.

The solution?

NEVER weigh yourself more than once a week.  Period.  Anything more than that and you’re just screwing yourself psychologically.  The scale will inevitably jump around and instead of staying focused on your fat loss plan and your goals, your thoughts become consumed with a number (that for all intents and purposes is unreliable on a daily basis).

So when should you weigh yourself?

The key is to keep things as consistent as possible throughout the measuring process:

*Same scale
*Same day each week
*Same time of day
*Same circumstances

For example, if you have a Cheat Day on the same day each week, I recommend taking your scale reading on that day, first thing in the morning before eating or drinking anything, on the same scale each week, unclothed.  Taking measurements in this fashion will give you a pretty good idea of the type of results you were able to achieve from the previous week.

Perhaps an even better indicator of progress is your waist measurement, and as such I recommend taking a waist measurement along with your scale reading each week.  Again, same measuring tape, some spot (around the navel), same set of circumstances, etc.

Even if for some fluke reason the scale doesn’t budge one week, as long as your waist measurement decreases you can rest assured that you’re losing fat because your fat stores are shrinking.

So, if you’re someone who steps on the scale daily, or even worse sporadically throughout the week at different times of day, do yourself a favor and STOP.  Move to once-a-week progress measurements for a much more reliable, stress-free indicator of progress.

Oh, and if you enjoyed that advice, you’re going to LOVE this:

2 “Junk Foods” That Actually Burn Fat
 

• Skip the morning bagel (-300 calories)
• Walk on the treadmill for an hour and half (-300 calories)
• Perform a very high intensity interval session (-300 calories)

In all 3 instances, the net calorie burn is -300 cals; however, as mentioned in the previous post, scenario 1 sucks, scenario 2 really sucks, and scenario 3 trumps them all–by far.

And today I want to share 3 other “scenarios” with you, with yet another lesson to be learned.

Out of the below 3 individuals, who will burn more fat and achieve better, faster results?

Scenario #1 – Subject A

• Basal Metabolic Rate of 2,000 calories
• No additional calories burned per day through exercise
• Total calories burned: 2,000
• Dietary intake: 1,300
• Deficit: -700 calories

Scenario #1 – Subject B

• Basal Metabolic Rate of 2,000 calories
• Additional 200 calories burned per day through exercise
• Total calories burned: 2,200
• Dietary intake: 1,500
• Deficit: -700 calories

Scenario #1 – Subject C

• Basal Metabolic Rate of 2,000 calories
• Additional 600 calories burned per day through exercise
• Total calories burned: 2,600
• Dietary intake: 1,900
• Deficit: -700 calories

Paying careful attention to the 3 scenarios above, you see that Subject A, Subject B, and Subject C all have a Basal Metabolic Rate of 2,000 calories, and all subjects are creating a -700 caloric deficit daily.

Who will be more successful?

If fat loss were simply a mathematical phenomenon, then all three subjects would have equal success and would experience the same exact fat loss.

But, just in case you didn’t already know, there’s MUCH more to fat loss than just the numbers.

Fat loss, by and large, is largely hormonal (yes, I’m aware, that was redundant).  Indeed, a caloric deficit must be in place for fat loss to occur, but not all deficits are “equal”.

Subject A, while still being negative 700 calories, is creating a hormonal environment in the body resistance to fat loss.  Subject B is slightly better, but still far from optimal. 

Subject C is the clear winner here.  Although Subject C is creating the same exact numerical -700 calorie deficit, this individual will without a doubt experience greater fat loss and overall results.

Why?

When you decrease calorie intake, the body’s anti-starvation mechanisms are alerted and it creates a hormonal environment conducive to fat storage.

So, 1) if you need to create a calorie deficit to burn fat, but 2) you DON’T want to drastically reduce calorie intake for the reasons mentioned, what are your options?

It’s called G-flux, or energy flux.

Eat more.  Exercise more.  Lose more.

It really is THAT simple.

Simply put, the more calories you burn through exercise (versus a dietary caloric deficit), the greater your fat loss results will be.  Every.  Single. Time.

Fat burning enzymes will be elevated, the body will remain happy from a nutritional stanpoint, and let’s fact it, eating an additional 600 calories per day is a lot more livable from a psychological standpoint than attempting to create a large caloric deficit through diet alone.

My challenge to you:  Starting this week, on top of what you are already currently doing, add an additional 300 calories to your daily diet, and strive to burn an additional 300 calories via exercise.

Watch what happens.  You’ll be surprised.

Or maybe now that you’re “in the know”, you won’t be.

Questions?  Comments?  Respond below.

I’ll be checking in throughout the day and responding below, so bring on the discussion!

Talk to you in the comments section!

Joel

P.S.  In the meantime, want another EASY way to burn 8 lbs of fat without doing ANYTHING?  My buddy Jon Benson just posted a really cool tip here:

==> How to burn 8 lbs of fat without doing ANYTHING (30 second tip)

Keep rockin!

Joel

Any way you look at it, you MUST burn more calories than you consume.

Now, it can get quite a bit more complicated than simple math would have us believe, but the fact remains–a deficit must be in place for fat loss to occur.

But, there are many different ways to create a deficit, some more effective than others.

For example, if you’d like to create an additional 300 calorie deficit per day, you could simply skip your morning bagel (approx 300 calories).  Fairly simple to do, unless you have some weird affinity toward bagels like I do.

OR, you could walk for an HOUR on the treadmill and create the same 300 calorie deficit.

OR, you could do a 10 minute high intensity interval training workout and create the same 300 calorie deficit.

And here’s where things get a little more complicated than the numbers suggest.

In all three instances, you are essentially creating an additional 300 calorie deficit each day.  BUT, scenario 1 sucks,  scenario 2 really sucks, and scenario 3 trumps them all–bigtime.

Why?

Well, first, let’s say that you decide to create your caloric deficit soley by eliminating calories in your diet.  By now, if you’ve been a follower of anything I’ve taught, you know that this will only result in some nasty hormonal consequences, leading to slowed metabolism and your body more or less canceling out the very deficit you are trying to create.

As far as scenario #2 goes, there are several issues.  First, 60 friggin’ minutes to burn 300 calories???  That’s a LONG time to invest to burn less than a tenth of a single pound of fat (assuming that all calories burned are from fat, which they won’t be).  At that rate, if you wanted to burn a pound of fat, you’d have to walk for close to 15 hours.

Wow.

Count.  Me.  Out.

The second problem with scenario #2 is that there is virtually no “afterburn” effect, so once the session is over, so is your calorie burn–metabolism goes right on back to it’s slow ways.

Now, with the third scenario, you’re investing much, much less time, but have the added benefit of the “afterburn” or elevated metabolism for the entire day (and sometimes even into the next day).

Which brings me to the question — how are you burning your calories?

Are you trying to “diet” the pounds away?  Are you hoping to walk away 5, 10, or even 20 lbs — that will probably take you a few years (of walking).  Or have you embraced the power of intense exercise?

In tomorrow’s post, I’m going to share with you 3 different scenarios (different from those I shared today), and in that post we’ll dig a little deeper into diet vs. exercise for fat loss and the REAL factor in determining fat loss (hint:  it’s not calories in, calories out).

Comments welcome…

Talk to you below!

Joel

P.S.  In the meantime, want another EASY way to burn 8 lbs of fat without doing ANYTHING?  My buddy Jon Benson just posted a really cool tip here:

==> How to burn 8 lbs of fat without doing ANYTHING (30 second tip)

Keep rockin!

Joel

I woke up the next day sore as @#$%^&*.

Translation: quite sore.  Thanks, John.

So naturally, I did as a good boy should and worked out the very next day.

Huh?

Now, I’m sure you’ve been told that you should wait until all that soreness subsides before stepping in the gym again.

How can I be sure? Easy, I’ve been told that same crap more times than I can count.

Fortunately, I don’t adhere to that silliness anymore, and as a result, I’ve got more muscle and less body fat to thank for it.

You see, it’s not uncommon for delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) to last four or even five days after the completion of an intense weight training session; however, many studies have concluded that complete metabolic recovery (what you care about) occurs within 48 hours of exercise.

In other words, you ARE recovered, yet there is still some residual soreness.

Plain and simple, if metabolic recovery has taken place, a muscle can be worked again via the same training method, even if the muscle is still sore from a previous session.

Having said that, the point is altogether moot anyway as plenty of studies have shown that training a muscle while it is still recovering does NOT adversely affect recovery.

Here are just a few:

Nosaka K, Clarkson P.M. Muscle damage following repeated bouts of high force eccentric exercise. Med. Sci. Sports Exrc., 27(9):1263-1269,1995.

Smith LL., Fuylmer MG., Holbert D., McCammon MR., Houmard JA., Frazer DD., Nsien E., Isreal RG. The impact of repeated bout of eccentric exercise on muscular strength, muscle soreness and creatine kinase. Br J Sp Med 28(4):267-271, 1994.

Chen, TC and S.S. Hsieh. The effects of a seven-day repeated eccentric training on recovery from muscle damage. Med. Sci. Sports Exrc. 31(5 Supp) pp. S71, 1999.

Nosaka K and M Newton. Repeated eccentric exercise bouts do not exacerbate muscle damage and repair. J Strength Cond Res. 2002 Feb;16(1):117-22.

Conclusion: even if complete metabolic recovery has not yet occurred, the muscle can be trained again.

Now, you technically could do the same exact workout again, but frankly, there are better ways to approach working a muscle for a second time within 48 hours of a previous session:

Option #1 – Conduct an “active recovery” session.  With this approach you’d conduct a light, less taxing training session after a heavy, demanding session in order to facilitate recovery, decrease DOMS, and actually maximize strength gains.

Simply put, as long as you continue to stimulate the nervous system, even if your body is not totally recovered (metabolically speaking), you’re going to see much better overall results.

An example of this “continued stimulation” would be to do half the number of reps that you normally could do with a given weight, for say, 3 sets.

To illustrate, let’s say you did a killer squat workout on Monday. And let’s say you used a weight of 185 lbs for 12 grueling reps. With the active recovery method, on Tuesday, you’d only do 6 repetitions per set with the same 185 lb load.

This type of workout both stimulates the nervous system and increases the flow of nutrient rich blood to the recoverying muscles, leading to increased strength and recovery.

Option #2 – Change the stimulus and go all out again.  If a muscle is still recovering, it wouldn’t be profitable to train it again via the same training method prior to recovery taking place.

Yes, the above studies do show that doing so will not substantially, adversely affect metabolic recovery, but at the same time, it ain’t gonna be of benefit either.

So what to do?

Answer: use a different rep range.

By utilizing a different repetition range, you’ll stimulate different muscle fibers and in turn yield a different overall physiological response.

For example, if you conducted 5 sets of 10 in the bench press on Monday, you may want to shoot for 10 sets of 5, or 4 sets of 15 come Wednesday.

Obviously, you cannot use the above approach for every muscle group, but rather it should be utilized to bring up a lagging body part or to accelerate growth in an area you are highly motivated to train.

Lastly, I’ll quote my good friend and uber strength coach Chad Waterbury on the subject:

“Your body will only increase recovery if you force it to work more frequently. Initially, you may still have residual soreness from the previous workout, but don’t worry. Instead, work through it and the body will improve its recovery rate to the point where soreness will subside.”

Want to increase your recovery capacity, gain more muscle, increase strength, and lose more fat?  Then forget about “sitting the bench” because of a little soreness. 

Instead, get yourself back in the game quickly with one of the above two methods.  In return, you can expect a heck of a lot more progress with a heck of a lot less soreness.

So what about you?  Do you ever train a sore muscle?  Do you guage the effectiveness of your workouts by how sore you feel the next day? 

Talk to you in the comments section!

Joel

Joel

P.S.  Check out the below video from my buddy Kyle explaining one of the NEWEST methods we’re using to lose fat and gain muscle at the SAME time:

Does this mean that I now feel that weight training is worthless?  Of course not.  But I do feel that bodyweight training has a LOT of benefits, and even a number of benefits that conventional weight training does not.

Benefit #1 – No equipment or gym membership required.  With bodyweight training, you don’t need a single piece of equipment.  Not a single dumbbell, exercise ball, or resistance ball.  No gym membership or even “home gym” required—the only thing you need is you…brining me to the next “benefit”.

Benefit #2 – You can burn fat ANYWHERE.  Whether you are traveling or at home, in a hotel room or your own room, outside or inside, you can perform bodyweight workouts exactly as they are meant to be performed.

You don’t have to worry about what gym you’re going to train at while on the road, or how you’re going to manage to get an effective workout in that crappy hotel fitness center—you just do the same exact fat-burning workout you’d do while at home…even if you don’t have access to ANY equipment…because you don’t need it.

But if convenience and portability aren’t the only benefits of bodyweight training, in fact bodyweight possesses functional benefits that most weight training workouts don’t.  For example:

Benefit #3 – You’ll build Relative Strength.  That just means you’ll be very strong relative to your weight. Relative strength is directly correlated to high performance, injury prevention and functionality in everyday life

Benefit #4 – You’ll ignite your nervous system.  Bodyweight training allows you to move in every possible range of motion. To do this, you have to improve the timing and coordination of your movements. This means you’ll force your nervous system to work harder, recruit more muscle and burn more fat.

Benefit #5 – Unmatched metabolic demand and calorie burn.  Stringing bodyweight exercises together is the BEST way to create a super intense metabolic workout that will burn tons of fat both during and AFTER your session. Because you don’t have any cumbersome equipment, you can quickly move from one exercise to another without rest.

Those are some pretty serious benefits.

And if those benefits sound good to you, my good friends Adam and Ryan are making their top FIVE bodyweight workouts available for one more day for the price of one.

That’s FOUR no-equipment necessary workouts FREE.

Fat-burning workouts you can do ANYWHERE <——- Four FREE

I’d serious take advantage of that deal today.  Five for the price of one rarely comes around.

There’s one day left to grab yours.

No-equipment necessary workouts <—– Four FREE

Keep rockin’,

Joel