300 Movie Fat Loss Workout for Men & Women

truth about building muscle

300 Movie Fat Loss Workout for Men & Women

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

The 300 movie workout is the talk of the fitness world. It's helped actors chisel Greek Statue bodies while causing weight loss and calorie burning for the rest of us.

The 300 workout is legendary, having been featured in Men's Health and on ESPN. Everyone's looking for the 300 workout on the 'Net. So I made mini-version of the workout for the average guy and gal, see those below.

But first, here's how the original 300 Workout goes...but don't try this at home...

a) Pullups - 25 reps
b) Deadlifts with 135lbs - 50 reps
c) Pushups - 50 reps
d) 24-inch Box jumps - 50 reps
e) Floor wipers - 50 reps
f) 1-arm Clean & Press with 36lbs Kettlebell - 50 reps
g) Pullups - 25 reps

And remember, there is NO scheduled rest between exercises.
Although eventually, you'll slow down.

I tried this workout last week and managed to get 'er done in only 19 minutes and 7 seconds. But what about a 300 workout for you?

Fortunately, this workout can easily be changed. Appropriate
exercises can be subbed in, and we can drop the number of reps down to 100, 150, or 200 - still making for a total body challenge.

For example, you might do this 200-repetition workout - this is
great for a man with moderate fitness:

5 Chinups
20 prisoner squats
20 pushups
100 Jumping Jacks
30 Bicycle Crunches
10 decline pushups
15 bodyweight inverted rows

Optionally, you could do 100 reps of rope jumping to finish off 300 total reps.

An intermediate woman could do a 150 rep workout:

5 Bodyweight Inverted Rows
10 Bodyweight Sumo Squats
15 bodyweight squats
15 Pushups (doing as many regular pushups, followed by kneeling)
50 jumping jacks
10 spiderman climbs
20 reverse lunges
25 bicycle crunches

Add in 50 rope skips for 200 total repetitions - or 150 skips for a full 300.

Tough, but fair. So you can do your own version of the 300 workout and build your own Greek God or Greek Goddess body. Work with a trainer to come up with other ideas. And always, train safe.

Don't train like this everyday. Just use one of these workouts once every other month as an extra challenge.

For your regular fat burning workouts, stick to the Turbulence
Training workouts for men and women. You'll boost your metabolism, burn fat, and maximize your fitness so that you'll be ready for your very own 300 test day.

Uh-oh, Five Fat Loss Mistakes

truth about building muscle

Uh-oh, Five Fat Loss Mistakes

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Straight to it. Here are five of the biggest fat loss mess-ups that
I see men and women doing everyday...fix these, and you'll lose fat.

1) Not having back up.

Trying to lose fat without social support is the wrong way to go
about this. Ideally, you'd have your doctor, an RD, a trainer, your workout partner, your spouse, your workmates, and your friends all behind you. Research shows that you'll benefit most from a health professional (i.e. a trainer) and a workout partner that is also successful. Get those two people on your team first, and then work on the rest of the group.

2) Not using a structured program

If you ever go into the gym and wonder what you are going to do first, you're already wasting your time - even before you choose. Get a plan, know what you have to do, stick to it, and see it through. That way, no wasted time wandering around the gym deciding where to start.

3) Not changing your workout after 4 weeks.

That's the longest you should go on one program. If it's been
6-months, give your head a shake. If it hasn't worked yet, why do you think it's magically going to start now. Change it up
frequently. You'll get more results and you'll have more fun.

4) Not realizing your results will come from nutrition more than
they will from training.

You want to lose fat? You have to eat right for fat loss. You can't
train like an animal and then eat junk and expect to lose fat. No
program is that good. None. Diet beats training everytime, like
scissors beats paper. Eat whole, natural foods in 6 smaller meals
each day. Get lots of fiber, lots of protein, lots of vegetables.
Eat healthy fats, avoid trans fats. Drink lots of water and tea. So
simple, so effective. Eat for energy, not for gluttony.

5) Not knowing when to quit.

I get emails everyday from readers asking if they can add even more cardio and more lifting to their current workout plans. After all, if some is good, more training must be better?

Listen, you have to draw the line somewhere. You can't keep adding more and more exercise. First, there is diminishing returns from each additional set you do, and from extra cardio. Second, your body can breakdown fast from too much work, particularly when you are dieting. Overtraining and low calories go together like oil and water. Neither of these combos will make your engine run optimally.

And finally, focus on quality over quantity. The "volume approach to fat loss" from the 1980's (characterized by lots of cardio and lots of carbs) didn't work. For good reason. Stick to high quality nutrition, and high-quality training.

The only thing that matters is results. Not muscle soreness, not
feeling exhausted after each workout, and not feeling deprived of food.

Quality work and quality food for a better body.

The 7-Day Weight Loss Detox

truth about building muscle

The 7-Day Weight Loss Detox

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Are you on a Detox diet? Everyone here in Toronto seems to be at one time or another...

Recently, one of my clients told me about his detox plans.

For 7 days of the year, he buys a detox kit and follows the
instructions to cut out all alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and refined
carbohydrates - all while taking some supplements to help
"detoxify" the liver and kidneys and extra fiber to help cleanse
the colon.

Now I don't mind this client doing this, because he is a model
client and follows a very healthy lifestyle all year round. At 40,
his blood measures are very healthy, he lost a few pounds of body fat last year, and despite being in a high-stress financial job, he is a picture of great health.

Is the detox going to significantly improve his health? No, not
really. And most of them aren't dangerous either, but a 7-day detox won't reverse 40 years or even 1 year of a poor lifestyle.

I'll admit, Detox diets might help kick-start your weight loss
program, but just realize that they are not a quick fix to your
health problems. The long-term fix is dumping the Western Lifestyle.

Besides, if you think you can actually remove all the toxins in
your body, you are being fooled. It can never happen. Every breath you take, every move you make, you are creating waste products in your body.

And many toxins are fat-soluble - meaning they are stored in our fat cells for months, and slowly released over time. So you'll
never truly detoxify...but enough of science class...

Just remember: 7 days of the cleanest living can't reverse 51 weeks of the Western Lifestyle - you have to make healthy living a full-time lifestyle. It is much better to spend all year avoiding as much crap as possible, than to try and sort it out in one week.

So let's take your new healthy lifestyle week-by-week with the
7-day fat loss plan.

Day 1
In today's Turbulence Training workout, choose an alternative form of interval cardio for this workout.

For example, if you are a beginner, and you have been doing only walking for cardio, try and use the elliptical machine or
stairmaster today. This is called cross-training and helps avoid
overuse injuries caused by doing the same thing over and over again when you aren't prepared for it. If you are advanced, try some of the bodyweight circuits in place of running or cycling intervals.

To do bodyweight circuits, pick 3 lower body and 3 upper body
exercises, and alternate between them. Do 10 reps of a lower body exercise, then 10 reps of an upper body exercise, and so on.

Go through the 6 exercise circuit 3 times for a 15 minute session.

Day 2
Between Turbulence Training workouts, take a day off from the gym.

On your off days, your exercise requirement is just 30 minutes of fun activity. It can be traditional cardio, sports, or bodyweight
exercise.

In addition, you need to clean out cupboards. Do NOT be afraid to throw out food - if it's garbage food, it's better in the trashbin
than in your fat cells.

After you have cleaned out your pantry, prepare a healthy shopping list. Complete a 7-day food entry and identify your trouble spots. Then organize your shopping list to provide solutions to your eating problems.

Day 3
Back to your regularly scheduled Turbulence Training workout.

Since we've been inspired by the 300 Movie Workout lately, I want you to make a small change to your workout today and reduce the rest intervals between sets. For today only, take no more than 30 seconds rest between exercises. Get your workout done in record time. Do a full warm-up before training though, of course!

Day 4
Another off-day from the gym (whether you train at a mega-gym or in the comfort of your own home gym).

Choose an activity and have at least 30 minutes of fun. Yoga is
great as well, to help reduce work-related stress.

In addition, let's make one more nutrition change. Today, I want
you to eat one new fruit and one new vegetable. If you aren't
already eating grapefruit, try one today and see how it helps fill
you up because it contains a lot of soluble fiber called pectin.

Add a new vegetable, such as steamed asparagus or broccoli to your dinner.

Day 5
Do your last Turbulence Training workout of the week today. I
always like to slip in an extra superset on the last workout of the
week. Pick your favorite biceps and triceps exercises and do them back to back for 3 supersets of 8 reps each.

Inject even more fun into your training & reward yourself for all
of your hard work.

Day 6
For most of you, this will be the weekend. That means you should have extra time to check in with your social support group.

So why not meet up with a friend that is also trying to lose fat
and/or build muscle and talk about what is working for you and
where you are struggling. Essentially, its your fat loss mastermind group!

As part of your meeting, choose a fun activity that you both want to do for at least 30 minutes. Make this activity-based meeting a regular habit on the weekend.

Day 7
Get an early start on the day with 30 minutes of a fun activity -
and yes, walking around shopping can count towards your 30 minutes of activity - and then prepare your meals for the rest of the week.

Plan, shop, & prepare for the week ahead. Make sure to include 1 new fruit and 1 new vegetable on your grocery list.

Getting this done early allows you to spend the rest of the day
outdoors, or going to church and socializing with friends after, or
spending the better part of the day with your family.

Remember that Turbulence Training is all about creating the optimal fat loss lifestyle - giving you more fat loss results in less
workout time while freeing up your life to spend doing the things you love with the people you love in the body that you love!

Have a great week!