Top 25 Fitness Tips and Strategies from the Experts (5th page)

Are you tired of putting in the effort at the gym and not seeing results? Many people show the drive, determination, and consistent effort, but don't reach their goals. If this sounds familiar, the next logical step is usually to find an educated personal trainer with proven experience. But, if you're not ready to take that step, or if you'd prefer to go it alone, rest assured, we spoke to some of the nation's finest personal trainers who gave us 25 insightful tips and strategies specifically designed to help you build strength, gain muscle mass, lose fat, enhance your endurance and maintain healthy eating habits.

FAT LOSS: 21. Fat Loss Basics

Forget calorie counting and concern yourself with body fat percentages. You must also start eating the right types of foods, which for most people will mean only lean meats, increasing fruit and vegetable intake, and removing any processed foods or those high in sugar. With your nutrition in check, the next step is performing intense interval cardio training, as well as weight training. And, don’t forget to keep track of it all in a journal.

22. Photographic Evidence

Can’t get the scale to budge? It’s very possible you’re gaining muscle and shedding body fat so follow Trink’s advice and “take pictures on a weekly basis.” Trink adds that it’s important to take “front, back, (and) side pictures all from the same angle, same lighting, same clothing because the scales lie, pictures do not, and you’ll really be able to see a change that way.”

23. The Carb Factor

“Learn to control your carbohydrate intake” because, as Duffy says, “they can cause your body to store fat.” Duffy adds that it’s important to train cardiovascularly for more than 20 minutes at a time because in “the first 20 minutes your body is basically burning carbohydrates for energy.” He continues stating that with every continuous minute past the 20-minute mark, you’ll begin “burning more and more of the stored body fat.”

24. Attacking the midsection

To flatten your waist, Cardiello says you must “go below your navel.” He cites a Syracuse University study indicating “people burned more calories the day after they did a lower body resistance training (exercise) than after they worked their upper bodies because the leg carries, for one thing, more mass.” Cardiello also adds that “getting a six-pack doesn’t mean doing 100 crunches a day, it means proper diet.”

25. Hydration To The Rescue

An often-overlooked factor, and one stressed by Trink, is to make “sure that your GI tract is healthy, because that’s how you absorb all your nutrients.” Do so by consuming vitamins, fiber, minerals, a probiotic, and water. Cardiello suggests you drink “ice cold water first thing in the morning” adding “you’ll naturally boost your metabolism by up to 24% for 90 minutes.” LaCerte recommends you “drink at least one gallon of water per day.”

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