Fat Burning Workouts Exposed!

tim_fitbuilt4life · December 2010

Fat Burning Workouts Exposed!
by Nick Parker

There is a lot of talk today about "Fat Burning Workouts" in the diet and fitness industry but what exactly makes a workout fat burning verses not fat burning? The first key is to understand that most all workouts may or may not burn fat depending on your nutrition. If you are eating healthy foods and keeping your calories in check then you will be able to burn fat during your workouts. On the other hand if you have eaten a couple fast food burgers with some fries for lunch and a monster breakfast full of calories then you are not going to be in a calorie deficit and won't burn fat.

Think of your calorie intake like a bank account. If your money (calories) coming in exceeds your expenses you won't lose any money on overdraft fees and bounced check fees (In banking this is good but in fat loss it's not). Let's suppose the money going into the bank account was less than the money going out what you think will happen. If you have a savings account (your fat stores) set up for over draft protection the money will be PULLED OUT OF your other account.

This is a good illustration of how your body works. When your calorie bank is receiving fewer calories than what is being burned then your body will have to pull the energy from the other account (your fat stores).

Now, I need to warn you not to get too carried away with eating less than you burn because you can eat too few calories which will cause the bank to shutdown and file bankruptcy meaning your metabolism slows down! I recommend being in a 500-1000 calorie deficit to safely and permanently lose fat, while of course eating foods that will allow your body to burn fat more efficiently.

OK now that we are clear on the first step to what makes a fat burning workout fat burning let's look at the next step which is the nature of the workout itself. You need to understand that there's a big and I mean HUGE difference in machine workouts verses other more functional workouts. The right type of workouts do burn up to 70% more fat than others so you could say this is pretty important and that there is such thing as "fat burning workouts".

When you think of the word workout or exercise you may think of either a resistance training machine or a treadmill. What you should think about is how your body moves. Our bodies are so dynamic and able to do so much. They can turn, jump, move fast or slow, push, pull, rotate and the list goes on. The problem with machines is they are very one dimensional and don't burn that many calories unless your lifting the whole stack. Your workout should not be done sitting down 90% of the time going from one machine to the other.

Instead you should be using free weights, body weight exercises, and functional training methods that include compound or multi-joint movements. The best way to create a fat burning workout is by using a combination of the above.

When you exercise your body expends energy also know as calories. The more energy you expend the more calories you burn and then the more fat you will lose. If you compare sitting down on a fixed machine doing 3 sets of 10 reps to doing a total body exercise using some dumbbells that includes a squat or a lunge you will burn a ton more calories. You can actually workout half the amount of time and still burn two to three times the amount of calories.

There are a dozen other benefits to functional training with free weights like teaching your body to move and work together. We call this neurological fitness. There is also the added benefit of strengthening your core while you train and not many machines can do that. You recruit more muscles and can train your entire body in less time. You become more flexible, improve your balance, able to move faster, use fast and slow twitch muscle fibers, do movements that no machine can duplicate, become more athletic, strengthens your heart and lungs, boosts fat burning hormones that also help develop lean muscle, and it's WAY MORE FUN!

I could go on forever listing the benefits of doing "true" fat burning workouts but for now you just need to understand that if you're serious about seeing some good results from your workouts then you need to adopt this approach. This type of training is actually becoming very popular for all the reasons I mentioned above but also because as a whole our society has become more sedentary, we just don't move as much as we used to 50-100 years ago. Therefore, it is not just beneficial it's absolutely necessary.

Plus, as I said before not only does it burn more fat it is a lot more fun. People today want to have fun like a kid again and this is their opportunity to play. When you're slamming a medicine ball into the ground, running through a ladder on the floor, and pressing weights positioned on a stability ball it is like you're in an a grown up's playground. Even if you only have access to a pair of dumbbells and a stability ball you can get a great fat burning workout and have lots of fun doing it!

Start playing and moving like your body was designed to do and you'll be burning fat in no time. For more information and to get your own fat burning workout routines that burn up to 70% more fat you might want to check out The Secret to Burning Fat program.

Nick Parker is one of America's top nutrition and weight loss consultants and has helped thousands of people reach their fat loss and fitness goals. He is a nationally certified personal trainer, nutrition consultant, life coach and author.