6 Fatal Female Fat-Loss Mistakes - Part II
By Josef Brandenburg
When it comes to fat-loss, tone and exercise in general most women have it all wrong because they have been lied to over and over and over again. These are the top 6 fat-loss mistakes that women make – part II.
#4. Lifting pink dumbbells
I am a embarrassed to admit this, but there is a 105lbs woman who is STRONGER than me – a 205llbs man. Stephanie Kubik can deadlift over 320lbs. I have never been able to deadlift more than 315lbs in my life. And, since I have not worked on my max strength in a while, I don't think that I could now lift even 300lbs.
This female power-lifter is not big, bulky and/or manly. She is tiny and petite, but very, very strong. Heavy weights will not make you look like a man. In fact, just the opposite is true – you need to lift like a man in order to look like a goddess.
EVERYTHING you lift should be hard and heavy, RELATIVELY speaking, if you want results. That means that if you are doing sets of 15 reps, then you should be lifting a weight that lets you get 15 or 16 reps with perfect form, but not 17, 18 and up. You should not physically be able to perform rep number 17 or 18.
Hard, sweaty, air-gasping exercise works – it creates a 24, 36 or even 48hr metabolic boost, AND stimulates ALL DAY fat-loss. Pink dumbbells don't. Pink dumbbells will barely even burn calories during the workout, and will do absolutely nothing after the workout is over.
If you want to look like you workout, then you need to be continuously pushing yourself. That means more weight, more sweat, and gasping for air by the end of your set.
#5. Living in the cardio area
There is NOTHING LESS efficient than aerobic exercise when it comes to creating a toned, tight, firm and feminine body. NOTHING.
The cardio myth is based on the nothing that you need to burn more calories in order to have less fat. And, that is true. BUT, it is NOT true that aerobic exercise is an efficient way to burn extra calories, or to stimulate fat-loss. It is THE least.
If you go jogging for 30min you will get a 30min metabolic boost. It is better than TV for fat-loss to be sure, but it is the worst exercise tool.
If on the other hand you were to do 30min of hard-core circuit training – lunges, push-ups, rows and squats you would:
- Burn more calories during the actual workout
- Stimulate ALL DAY fat-loss (yes, even while you sleep. Research even shows that aerobic exercise actually DECREASES the amount of fat the you burn between workouts.)
- Create a 24-36 hour metabolic boost (that is burning more calories for the next 1-2 days, even while you sleep!)
- Build some muscle (this is actually a good thing – your metabolic rate is mostly dependent on how much muscle you have. The more you have the more calories you burn just to stay alive. Also, if you drop 10lbs of fat, and gain 10lbs of muscle, you'll look like you dropped 20lbs, but the scale won't budge.)
[Side note: all exercise is cardio. That is all exercise taxes your cardiovascular system. For example, if you do a set of heavy squats, you will notice that your heart will be beating out of your chest.
Your heart ONLY works because your muscles ask it to. You can't go running with your heart. Your legs run and they "ask" the heart and lungs to work harder to keep up. Not the other way around.
What people call "cardio" is actually aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise is exercise that you can sustain for longer then 2min. In other words, a 15, 20 or 30min jog is aerobic because you can and do maintain a relatively steady pace. Sprinting is not, because you cannot maintain a true sprint for more than 30sec in most cases.]
#6. Talking during exercise
Hard work makes a hard body. Soft, easy work, keeps a soft body.
High intensity exercise – bike sprints, stair sprints, real weight lifting – burn mega calories during your workout and for hours and days to come. Low intensity exercise – pink dumbbells, jogging, walking – only burns very, very, very small amounts of calories during the time you exercise. BUT, you get no residual benefit at all. It's the same amount of time (or even less for the intense stuff), BUT a completely different planet when it comes to fat-loss, tone, etc.
The difference is intensity. Another word for intense is "hard." It is NOT physically possible to carry on a conversation during hard or intense exercise.
Use the "talk test" for your workouts. If you can talk during the "work" portion, then you are not working hard enough. If you want your time in the gym to yield a difference in how you look naked, then you need to step it up to the point where you can't carry on a conversation. Sure, you can chat while you are resting, but don't rest too long.
About the Author:
Josef Brandenburg is an award-winning fat-loss expert based in DC, specializing in helping normal, busy people create the bodies they want, in the time that they actually have. He is also author of "The Body You Want." Visit his
Website to find out more!