The secret for women in obtaining a healthier, firmer, and more toned looking body is no longer a secret…it’s through weight training!

For years, women have traditionally relied on a belief that combining aerobic activity with a low calorie diet would be the most effective means for changing their shape. Unfortunately, most have found out after painstaking effort that this practice doesn’t work very well.

The fact is that low calorie diets only punish the body by compromising necessary nutrition and significantly lowering metabolism, thus making weight loss more difficult. The quick weight loss that occurs in low calorie diets often includes the quick loss of muscle tissue. This is ineffective for several reasons.

Top Workout Tip #1: Workout Harder NOT Longer!

You now know that cardiovascular exercise is an important part of your weight loss program. The problem is you may have been told the wrong way to perform it.

The old rule of thumb for fat loss was you needed to be able to talk comfortably while exercising. The reasoning was based on how fat is released for energy in the body. Fat is released and used for energy during aerobic respiration.

Without getting too technical, exercise that lasts longer will use aerobic respiration while exercise that is done in shorter durations like sprinting or weight lifting uses anaerobic respiration.

It all has to do with availability of oxygen for energy production. Since fat is released during anaerobic respiration researchers thought that exercise should be completed in lower intensities for longer durations.

That is why they had the “talk” test. If you couldn’t talk while exercising it was thought you were working too hard to effectively release and burn fat.

Well scientifically the theory looked great on paper, but you have to look at the big picture. The fact that fat is released during aerobic respiration is not enough. It all comes down to the total amount of energy used during and after exercise.

Working at a higher intensity will not only burn more calories during exercise but will also help burn more calories after you’re done. The good news is you don’t have to work out for hours. A half hour at a higher intensity will actually be more effective than an hour at a lower intensity.

Are you frustrated with not seeing the strength and size gains you’d like from your weight training? If so put away the muscle magazines and let me give you a real world lesson in physiology.

If you’re serious about getting bigger and stronger you should quit reading about the routines that professional bodybuilders use and start spending your time learning about how the human body naturally gets stronger.

Whenever I consult with someone who wants to get bigger and stronger the first question they usually ask me is “what supplements should I be taking?�

I’m not surprised by this because the supplement industry is big business and it has a lot of influence on the inexperienced weight lifter. The muscle magazines these days are filled with more supplement ads than actual useful information.

You’re bombarded with pitches on the latest “nutritional science breakthrough� that promises you amazing gains in muscle size and strength. Let me save you the frustration and your hard earned money right now.

Flip through the channels on a Saturday morning or most any late night and you’ll find no shortages of fitness infomercials selling ab machines and gadgets.

Savvy marketers realized years ago that ab equipment makes for great infomercials. Why? Because these products sell off emotions and nothing plays on your emotions quite like an infomercial promising you a flat stomach.

Look at when the infomercials run for some clues…late nights and Saturday morning. Trust me they’ve done their homework. They know when you’re most likely to be sitting on your couch feeling depressed and when you’ll be most vulnerable to their seductive promises.

Here are some tips to help you recognize the scams.

Ok ladies so you want to get a flat, firm tummy and slimmer waistline. I’ve got great news. I’m going to help you do just that without wasting your time on crunches or other ineffective exercises.

But wait a minute; I thought crunches were the best exercise for your abs? Truth be known, crunches are last on my list of exercises you should do for your waistline.

Alright ladies, so you´relooking to flatten your stomach. I´ve got some very important news you´ll want to hear. I´m going to share a secret with you that will save you a lot of time and a lot of frustration whe trying to get a flat stomach.

The ab machines you´ll find at most health clubs are NOT effective at reducing your waistline! In fact, many of these machines can make the appearance of that dreaded “pooch belly” every woman hates worse!

The reason is these ab machines work by isolating one or two abdominal muscles while neglecting the deep core muscles (the ones that actually hold your stomach in). This is the same reason why crunches and sit-ups are so ineffective as ab exercises and are pretty much a waste of your time.

So you´ve decided to work on getting a flat stomach. If you´re like most people you´ll start by doing countless crunches only to be left disappointed with poor results. The purpose of this article is to dispell the crunches myth and show you the real secret to getting a flat stomach.

I know what you may be thinking…how can this be? I thought crunches were the best exercise for your abs.

Walk into most any modern gym or health club today and you’ll undoubtedly find a huge array of exercise equipment designed to work every body part imaginable.

The funny thing is the typical health club floor is so jam packed full of equipment there’s little room to actually move and exercise.

The free weights are being pushed into a small corner and good luck finding room to jump rope, hit a punching bag, or do anything else that even resembles physical activity.

Who ever thought there could be danger in using health club equipment when you suffer from low back pain? Don’t think this could be so? Give me a few minutes of your time and I’ll see if I can change your mind.

Let’s create a scenario. You’ve just come back from a trip to the doctor’s office and you’ve made the decision to finally do something about your low back pain. Your doctor informs you that you absolutely must lose some weight and start exercising or you’ll continue to suffer. The only prescription you’re given is to simply “eat less and go join a health club”.

Now if your doctor tells you to join a health club and start exercising it must be good advice right? We’ll you’re about to learn the truth that will open your eyes. While exercise is certainly part of your solution, not just any exercise will do.

One of the biggest fitness myths is that you cannot get a good workout at home. Various new home exercise programs, such as P90X, are currently doing a great job of dispelling this myth.

Functional exercise is extremely effective and doesn’t require a lot of equipment or space to get a great workout. In this article I’ve put together a list of the top five pieces of functional exercise equipment I’d recommend for home workouts.