There are two mistakes women make when it comes working out for fat loss:

1. No Variety
2. Low Intensity

Human beings are creatures of habit. So, if we find something that works for us, we stick to it. It might work for the first 2 weeks. And it might even work for the next 2 weeks.

But it’s not going to work for the next 2 months, and especially not for the next 2 years. This is why Craig Ballantyne, creator of world famous Turbulence Training workouts recommends that you stick to a routine for no more than 4 weeks.

The “Turbulence” aspect of Craig Ballantyne’s workouts is all about doing something more, something new, to keep your body guessing. Every time you do something more intense, your body needs to work that much harder to recover and replenish your muscles.

Your metabolic rate will be on fire after an intense Turbulence Training workout. If you stick to the same routine over and over again, even if it is the same Turbulence Training routine, your body will get used to the routine.

And hence, it’ll get better at recovering, at lifting the same weights, repetitions, sets, and exercises in the same order over and over again. This is why CraigBallantyne comes out with a new workout each month.

And with each Turbulence Training workout, Craig includes an intense interval cardio workout. Research shows that interval cardio works better at raising your metabolism than steady state, interval cardio.

Raising your metabolic rate is absolutely vital for fat loss. Your metabolism is a measure of how fast your body burns calories. Increase your demand your caloric demand with intense exercise, and it’ll be that much easier for you to drop the fat.

Right now, stop all our nonsense machine and bodybuilding type workouts. Check out these two sample workouts for women, courtesy of CraigBallantyne:

Perform 2 rounds of:

• Bodyweight Squats, 8 reps
• Pushups, 8 reps
• Bodyweight Row, 8 reps

Perform each exercise back to back with little to no rest in between each set. Go through the circuit two times. Then rest 1 minute, and move onto the first superset of the workout.

A superset is where you perform two exercises back to back with little to no rest in between each set. For the following superset, perform the two movements back to back without rest, then rest 1 minute and perform the superset 2 more times for a total of 3 sets per exercise.

• DB Squat, 8 reps
• DB Press, 8 reps
• Rest 1 minute

Perform 3 rounds

• Split Squat, 8 reps
• DB Row, 8 reps
• Rest 1 minute

Perform 3 rounds

Now, move onto interval training. Choose any form of cardio. My favorites are shadowboxing, jump roping, and sledgehammer swings. But you can do running or cycling.

Do 60 seconds of super high intensity cardio, followed by 60-90 seconds of, slow, recovery cardio. Perform this sequence for 6 total rounds, thencool down for 5 minutes.

Sample Workout #2 (Advanced)

If the first workout was too easy for you, then try this next workout. Although most Turbulence Training workouts or organized as supersets, he also has some other great workouts that are focused around circuits.

The following is the March Madness Power Circuit Workout A:

3 rounds of:

• Jump and Stick, 6 reps
• Chin-up, 2 less than Max Reps (For example, if your max reps is 10, perform 8 reps)
• Lunge Jump, 8 rep Per Side
• Spiderman Pushups, 8 reps per side
• 1 Leg Stability Ball Leg Curl, 8 reps per side
• Inverted Row, 2 less than Max Reps
• Burpees, 6 reps
• Rest 1 minute

Then do:

3 rounds of:

• Plank – 45 Seconds
• Stability Ball Jackknife, 15 reps
• Side Plank, 30 seconds per side
• X-Body Stability Ball Mountain Climber (feet on ball) 8 reps per side
• Rest 1 minute

Then do:

• As many bodyweight squats in 5 minutes

If workout #1 was too easy for you, and if workout #2 was too difficult for you, then perhaps you need something in the middle. I suggest you check out all of the Turbulence Training Workouts for Women to choose the right workout for you.

Craig Ballantyne has developed hundreds of fitness programs that revolve around the basic concepts of Turbulence Training.

To get an overall introduction to Turbulence Training, you should grab the original Turbulence Training manual. The manual includes everything you need to get started on your fat loss journey. There are workouts for beginners, intermediate, and advanced trainees. If you go through each program separately, in a few months you’d have literally transformed your health and physique. Click here for more information.

For individuals who have had some experience with exercise or even Turbulence Training, then Craig has numerous other workouts specifically designed for women, muscle mass, bodyweight only, abs training, and more.

You need to make the decision today: Are you going to continue to follow pointless, boring workouts and never get any impressive results, or you going to take a chance and try some trully unique ideas using Craig Ballantyne’s workouts? Start today with either one of the Turbulence Training workouts:

• Click here for Turbulence Training Original workout Review
• Click here for Turbulence Training ab Workouts
• Click here for Turbulence Training for Muscle Mass
• Click here for Turbulence Training Bodyweight Only Workouts
• Click here for Turbulence Training for Women

• Gorilla Chin, 10×5, 165 seconds rest
• Bodyweight Squat, 5×20, 45 seconds rest

For more intense bodyweight workouts, check out Workout Without Weights. Click here for more Information

Everyone talks about doing 100 pushups or a 100 pullups. Even though these feats of strength are impressive, they are simply that – feats of strength and endurance. The bodyweight squat is actually a much more important movement then thepullup or pushup.

I truly believe that everyone should be able to do 100 bodyweight squats. This is because it is the most important movement in our daily life. Each day we stand up, sit down, walk up stairs, jump into the air, sprint after things, etc.

Millions of movements throughout our lifetime all point back to the same range of movement as trained by the bodyweight squats. And when people get older, it is the hips and lower back muscles where they have problems.

Well, that’s all going to change now. Because I’m about to issue a challenge. If you are unable to do at least 100 bodyweight squats, then you need to take on this challenge. I’ll even give you a blueprint, a set of steps to achieve this goal.

Perform each level, once a week:

• 20 sets of 5 squats, 30 seconds break
• 17 sets of 6 squats, 30 seconds break
• 15 sets of 7 squats, 30 seconds break
• 13 sets of 8 squats, 30 seconds break
• 12 sets of 9 squats, 30 seconds break
• 10 sets of 10 squats, 30 seconds break
• 10 sets of 11 squats, 30 seconds break
• 9 sets of 12 squats, 30 seconds break
• 8 sets of 13 squats, 30 seconds break
• 7 sets of 15 squats, 45 seconds break
• 6 sets of 17 squats, 45 seconds break
• 5 sets of 20 squats, 45 seconds break
• 4 sets of 25 squats, 60 seconds break
• 3 sets of 34 squats, 60 seconds break
• 2 sets of 50 squats, 120 seconds break
• 1 set of 100 squats, as fast as possible

If at any level, you are not able to maintain the recommended rest break, then repeat the workout again the following week. Keeping the rest periods short is extremely important.

For more bodyweight workouts, exercises, and training ideas, check out Workout Without Weights. Click here for more information.

I honestly don’t advise people to do any sort of exercise daily. Everything has wear and tear. Even walking. People who walk 5-10 miles on a daily basis – whether it be a part of their weight loss routine or work related – will eventually feel the burn out and exhaustion from the routine.

Exercise works in a very simple way: High intensity exercises will cause burn out quicker. Lower intensity exercise will cause burn out slower. Of course, this is all based on frequency.

Going back to bodyweight squats, I’ve heard of people doing a mini morning routine consisting of pushups, pullups, and squats. Perhaps such a routine using only a fraction of the repetitions you are able to do in each movement would be beneficial as a warm up and a way to get the blood flowing early in the morning.

I’ve used such a routine in the past. But the key to using a daily wake up routine is to make sure that it in no way interferes with your regular training. Mine did. Or I should say that my regular training interfered with my morning routine.

Try doing a set of pushups first thing in the morning when your shoulders are dead tired. Or, try doing a set of squats when you cold calves from the lower body work you did the day before.

So, like most things in life, I can’t give a straight answer to this question. However, what I can say is to be careful with such a high frequency routine. Carefully track your level of intensity and frequency and keep recovery in mind.

In fact, your recovery should be your number one concern.

For more insights, ideas, workouts, and bodyweight exercises, check out Workout Without Weights. Click here for more information.

Are you afraid of change? Change is such an interesting word. Change, variety, and “switch it up” are often popular buzz words thrown at people in the fitness industry. Many people talk about changing up their workouts, but few people do it. The perfect example is….me.

I mean, on one hand I do a lot of crazy intense things with my workouts. But, at the end of the day it’s all just high intensity bodyweight and free weights workouts thrown together in complex circuits. True change for me would be to go into my gym tomorrow and train like a power lifter. Continue reading

If there’s one exercise you should be performing, it’s the bodyweight squat. This movement has numerous benefits for both busy people and athletes. The following are the top three benefits of the bodyweight squat:

Benefit #1: Hip Mobility and Strength

Busy people who work tend to sit down and get up a lot of times throughout the day. When you get older, you start to lose the mobility and strength in your hips. Hence, the bodyweight squat is one of the most important exercises for daily life function.

Basic activities such such as sitting down and getting up and picking things off the floor require squat type motions. And a multitude of other activities such as walking, running, and climbing steps use the same muscles as the bodyweight squat. So why not strengthen those muscles so your hips stay strong and healthy for as long you’ll live.

Benefit #2: More Growth Hormone

The more muscle your engage, the more testosterone and human growth hormone you release. Both these hormones have been linked to fat loss and mass gain. The biggest muscle group in your body are your legs, and squats work a large percentage of your lower body.

This makes the bodyweight squat an optimal exercise to help you burn more fat and build more muscle mass.

Benefit #3: Greater Performance

When I was in Karate, we used to do this drill where we had to kick, drop down to the floor, get back up and do another technique. The drill got more and more complicated, but the main idea was to train our bodies to get up off the floor as quickly as possible.

Getting up off the ground is crucial, especially in martial arts. Because if you get tripped or knocked down, you want to get back up quickly to do a counter attack. And guess whoSensei (Karate instructor) said was the fastest “getter upper” in the class?

Me! It was because I was doing lots of bodyweight squats on a daily basis.

If you’re ready to incorporate bodyweight squats as part of your fitness plan, then you should check out Bodyweight Exercise Revolution. Coach’s Adam Steer and Ryan Murdock show you how to use unique bodyweight movements to lose fat, build muscle, increase strength, improve athletic fitness, and enhance longevity.

Click here for more information.

As you progress with your bodyweight training, you will need to eventually split up your training. A body part split is where you train only two or three muscle groups per workout, as opposed to training the entire body in one workout. Most workouts featured on this website are full body.

There are numerous ways to split up your body effectively using bodyweight training. Here are the top three methods you can use:

Sample Method #1: Continue reading

Here are my top 3 reasons why I stopped going to the gym:

1. Kept getting distracted by all the beautiful girls walking around.
2. Either had to wait for equipment, or had to take my dumbbells into some random corner of the gym because the gym was just too crowded.
3. Didn’t like all the stares coming my way when I was doing my Dumbbell Snatches.

Continue reading

Image by fredfischborn

I have come across one of the most insane bodyweight routines ever. I’m not joking here. This isn’t some infomercial bluff. I’m serious. This bodyweight routine will make you puke!Here it is: Continue reading

When you don’t have access to any weights, learning new exercises is only part of the equation. You need to learn how to organize those exercise into effective and intense workouts. Long are the day where you performed an exercise for an X amount of reps and then took 60 seconds between each set. Use the following high intensity techniques to maximize your strength training without weights:

Click here to Learn how to Perform over a hundred Intense Bodyweight Exercises

Descending Reps for Maximum Intensity

Supersets are a great training method. But one thing I’ve noticed is that each round is harder than the one before it. My reps become slower each time. The first round is usually the easiest one. Let me show you what I mean Continue reading