Blast Fat with Bodyweight Workout!

Blast Fat With My Bodyweight Workout!

By LeAnn Helle

No equipment necessary!

These exercises will help you maintain strength, muscle and energy as you lose fat. Did you know that dieters who focus only on reducing calories tend to lose lean muscle tissue as they lose fat. As much as 40% of what they lose can be muscle.

Why is this important?

Well, each pound of muscle tissue that you have burns up to 70 calories per day just to maintain itself. In contrast, a pound of fat tissue burns only 8 calories per day. Therefore you want to keep as much lean muscle tissue as possible as you lose fat. This keeps your metabolism burning strongly, thus allowing you to eat more calories per day without gaining weight! Sounds good, right?

Perform this workout 2 or 3 times per week, but not on consecutive days. M-W-F or T-TH-SA works well.

Always concentrate on performing the exercise correctly. Develop the technique required for each exercise before pushing yourself too intensely. This will help prevent injuries.

The first week perform one set of each exercise for 8 to 12 repetitions. The second week, aim to complete 2 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions. You may increase to 3 sets if you have the time and wish to burn more calories (and blast more fat!).

You should feel that the last 1 or 2 repetitions are difficult to perform correctly. If the whole set is easy for you, then its time to increase the intensity. This can be done by increasing your speed, decreasing the rest between sets or modifying the exercise to a more difficult version.

You may rest up to 60 seconds between sets but try to not go beyond that.

The exercises for this workout:

Squats with Overhead Press

1) Stand holding light weights near your shoulders, palms facing forward.

2) Squat down until your thighs are as near parallel with the floor as possible, then push back to standing.

3) As you near your standing position push the weights up overhead until your elbows are nearly straight. Do not lock your elbows.

4) Lower the weights to shoulder height and immediately start downward into the next squat.

Pushups

1) Start in pushup position with your weight on your toes and hands. Your body should form a straight line from neck to toes. Starting from your knees and hands is a slightly easier variation.

2) Lower your chest to within 1 inch of the floor by bending your elbows.

3) Push back to the starting position and repeat.

Lunges

1) Stand with your feet hip-width apart.

2) Take a long step forward with your right leg and bend both knees to 90-degree angles until they nearly touch the floor. Keep your torso upright.

3) Push back to the starting position and repeat. Finish all repetitions with one leg before finishing the set with the same number of repetitions on the other leg.

Triceps Dips

1) Sit on a sturdy chair or bench. Scoot your buttocks to the front of the seat and place your hands, fingers aimed forward, on the seat beside your hips.

2) Keeping your torso straight, move your buttocks forward off the seat and slowly bend your elbows, lowering your body, until your elbows form 90-degree angles.

3) Slowly push back to the starting position. Moving your feet further from the seat will make this exercise harder.

Burpees

1) Stand with your feet hip width apart, hands by your sides.

2) Jump upward, land with soft knees and continue into a squat with each hand on the floor outside each foot.

3) Kick your feet back so you’re in a pushup position.

4) Jump your feet back near your hands as quickly as you can.

5) Stand up and start the next repetition by jumping.

Crunches

1) Lie on your back on the floor with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent. Place your hands near your ears but do not lace your fingers together.

2) Slowly contract your abdominals and you lift your shoulders off the floor.

3) Hold at the top of the movement, exhaling as much as possible.

4) Slowly lower yourself and repeat.

Another option that will burn maximum calories is to perform the exercises in a circuit with no rest between sets. To do this you would do a set of squats immediately followed by pushups immediately followed by lunges, then dips, then burpees and crunches. At this point you should rest 2 to 3 minutes and repeat the whole circuit once or twice more depending on time constraints and your fitness level.

This arrangement of exercises has you alternating upper body exercises with lower body exercises. Thus, after squats, your legs will slightly rest and recover as you do pushups. Your legs then work again (lunges) as your upper body recovers. Your arms then work doing dips while your legs recover again. And so on.

This challenges your heart and lungs and makes this a calorie torching cardio session while you build and tone your muscles. That exactly what you want!

One very important rule for every exercise: do not hold your breath. This can dangerously raise your blood pressure. The general rule is to exhale on the exertion. Example: you would exhale when you push yourself up out of a squat or lunge. But if you’re not sure when to breath, just breath when it feels natural and you’ll do just fine.

Another important point to remember is to ‘brace’ your abdominals during all exercise. This simply means to tighten your belly muscles as if zipping up a snug pair of pants. This will stabilize your torso and help prevent injuries. Keep the tightened ‘brace’ throughout the set for the most protection.

As always, please contact your physician before beginning any new exercise program!