Strange, Different, Maybe Weird Fitness Contest

"weird" fitness contest results


Hi firstname,

Almost everyone knows about the biggest loser - that reality show/ wt loss contest on TV where
overweight people drop ridiculous amounts of weight - like 15 or 20 lbs in a week, and 
150 or 200 lbs by the time the show is over.

This past January the guys at over at the Burn the Fat websites completed their first ever body transformation
challenge contest.

But their contest was NOTHING like the biggest loser.

In fact, Josh Ketter, the overall men's winner, and Ryan Cochrane, one of the finalists, only lost a pound.

Now, you must be thinking, "what the heck kind of weird body transformation contest were they running where the
winner and the finalists only drop a pound?

Well, it would seem weird if you thought that success at body transformation meant dropping weight on the scale.

But did you ever stop to think about the difference between fat weight and muscle weight?

Think about it - if those contestants on the biggest loser gain muscle - they get penalized, right?

Penalize someone for gaining muscle? 

Shouldn't contestants be REWARDED for gaining muscle as well as burning fat?

That's the problem with wt loss contests today and with a lot of people in the industry in general - they are
obsessed with scale weight but they don't pay any attention to body composition (the fat-to-muscle ratio).

Of course, some of the contestants in that contest did drop a lot of fat - 15, 20, even 25 lbs in only 50 days. But the 
person who dropped the most pounds was NOT necessarily voted as the winner.

That explains how the judging was done - some of the winners
were rewarded because they made tremendous improvements 
in their body composition, even though their scale weight 
didn't change that much.

Josh lost 8 pounds of fat and gained 7 pounds of muscle in just 50 days.  He only lost a pound on the scale because
the muscle weight replaced the fat weight.

Ryan Cochrane lost 8 pounds of fat while gaining 7.7 lbs of muscle in 50 days. His weight hardly changed.

Sarah kensington actually GAINED a pound, from 119 to 120 but her body fat decreased from 19% to a ripped 12.6%.
Thats a 7.9 pound GAIN in lean body mass and a 7 pound loss of body fat - remarkable for a MAN, almost unheard of for 
a woman!

When you look at their before and after pictures, you can see that even though their weight changed by less
than a pound, they TOTALLY TRANSFORMED THEIR BODIES!

How?  

They gained muscle and lost fat at the same time!

Maybe you're thinking, "wait a minute, I thought it was impossible to gain muscle and lose fat at the same
time? Don't you need a calorie deficit to burn fat and a calorie surplus to build muscle?"

Well, yes and no. Calories do matter, but according to fat loss expert Tom Venuto, the guy who sponsored the
recent body composition fitness contest, it's much more complicated than that because of things like 
within-day energy balance, hormonal fluctuations and "energy partitioning."

It was these unusual contest results that prompted Tom to dig into the scientific research on concurrent muscle
gain and fat loss and create a new program that he calls:

"THE HOLY GRAIL BODY TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM:
How to gain muscle and lose fat at the same time"

This is not an easy goal to achieve - So I'm sorry, but I have no miracle for you. If you're looking for magic
bullets, go elsewhere. This is a serious and very strategic program.

Concurrent muscle gain and fat loss is the most difficult goal to achieve. 

That's why people call it the "holy grail";
because it's so elusive.

BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE: IT IS POSSIBLE.

I'm sure you've heard this subject debated ad nauseum on discussion forums. Those debates probably left you
confused and not sure what to believe either. 

This new ebook sets the record straight in such a way that you could say it's the LAST WORD on
gaining muscle and burning fat at the same time; it's impressively referenced with peer-reviewed
research and frankly, it just makes sense.

Tom Venuto's previous best selling ebook, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle (BFFM) has become known to many
as a "fat loss bible" 



But BFFM is designed specifically for fat loss. what if you want to lose fat AND gain muscle?

That's exactly why this new program was created.

It's the first course of it's kind that builds on the techniques of BFFM and teaches a system 
for gaining muscle and burning fat simultaneously, and explains the process scientifically.

If you're skeptical, I don't blame you. Even I was skeptical when I heard about it. 

But when you see BOTH; real-world case studies AND the scientific proof, it makes you want to stop
and take a look.

Right now the 1st edition of Tom’s new HOLY GRAIL body transformation ebook is available for just the next 
3 days in limited release.

It's actually not even for sale separately yet.

What Tom decided to do was offer the holy grail ebook as bonus with the purchase of his Burn The Fat, 
Feed The Muscle ebook. 

The Holy Grail ebook is available only for the 
next 3 days at: 

burn the fat

(offer expires on Thursday, May 13th, 2010)

On May 14th, he's going to take the holy grail course off the market for a while, to correspond
with some of his new customers and collect feedback and case studies to incorporate in the 2nd edition.

Then the grail ebook will be officially re-released later this year at the regular retail price.

So, this is a great opportunity to pick up Tom's fat loss bible AND get the holy grail ebook for
fr-ee at the same time.

If you'd like to be in this first wave of people to try this new combined muscle-building and fat
burning system, this is the ONLY way to order at the moment:



Purchase a copy of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle ebook, and the HOLY GRAIL body transformation ebook
comes along with BFFM for fr-ee

Synergistic Diet & Exercise for RIDICULOUSLY Fast Fat Loss

Most people treat their diet and exercise programs as two separate entities -- Totally WRONG if you're looking to lose fat at the fastest possible rate.

You see, if you can learn how to use the most effective exercise strategies to "mirror" the goals of your diet each day (while mixing up dietary approaches to yield specific hormonal and metabolic benefits in the most effective manner possible) you can literally take your results from "okay" to OUT OF THIS WORLD.

That's what I call SYNERGY. Diet and exercise working *together* in a very smart, strategic way to yield the fastest fat loss results possible.

Now, my above explanation may have sounded a bit complicated, so I’ll give you a quick example. Let’s take, for instance, the day after a Cheat Day—you know, those days where you get to eat WHATEVER you want on the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet (which just so happen to occur every 5th day).


Grab Your Discount Here ==  Extreme Fat Loss ------- $30 OFF pre-sale

[By the way, if you’re not incorporating Cheat Days into your current diet, you’re *way* behind the fast fat loss curve, and NEED to get on board. Long story short, they save your metabolism and actually allow you to lose fat faster week after week by increasing levels of important fat burning hormones within the body. Not to mention, they’re a heck of a lot of fun].

So, the day after a Cheat Day, the overall goals are as follows:

1. Create a large caloric deficit (to burn as many calories as possible and take advantage of the fact that our bodies are now "primed" to burn fat as a result of the Cheat Day)

2. Deplete maxed-out glycogen stores (carbohydrate energy stores within the body) caused by the high carb and fat content of the Cheat Day

3. Exhaust ALL energy systems to satisfy #1 and #2 while burning additional fat calories to boot

To accomplish these three goals, we’ll use a series of dietary and supplemental strategies to do exactly that while using *exercise* strategies that accomplish the SAME goals, for example:

1. Strategic lactic acid based workouts to burn massive calories and glycogen while stimulating the release of important fat burning hormones that further increase lipolysis (fat burning)

2. Strategic energy systems work that contain both anaerobic "carbohydrate-burning" and aerobic "fat-burning" components.

Combining those types of exercise with dietary strategies that accomplish the same goals leads to a ridiculous fat burning effect.

Essentially, when you set up things this way, you’re tackling your goals via both diet AND exercise. That’s like going after your financial goals via landing a job with a kick-butt income coupled with smart investing. One feeds the other for synergistic results.

And you know what? The above is just ONE example. Within the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet we have FIVE different "types" of diet days (all with slightly different goals) and a very specific exercise strategy to use on each that has led to some of the fastest fat loss results we’ve ever recorded to date with our clients.

Make no mistake, working WITH your diet, hand in hand, through exercise that *mirrors* the goals of each diet strategy can literally DOUBLE your results beyond just “working hard” on each day.

The synergy of strategy never ceases to amaze me, and we reveal it all in the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet. In fact, it's the ONLY reason people have consistently lost up to 25 pounds in just 25 days using the full-on 25 day system.

Bottom line, if you want to lose fat FAST, you've got to be SMART in your approach. Enjoy!

---------------------------------

Pretty cool, huh? When you start combining smart, specific strategies like THAT, 25 pounds in 25 days starts to sound a LOT more realistic! And it IS. In fact, those are the REAL results from real users of the program, not some hyped up marketing claim.

You can check out the testimonials and get $30 OFF at Joel's site, but the promo IS getting ready to end so I'd make my way over to the below link now:

Grab Your Discount Here ==  Extreme Fat Loss

I hope you're ready to lose some serious fat...very, very fast.

Serious Fat Loss

Over the past few weeks you've probably heard A LOT about my good friend and fat loss "guru" Joel Marion's brand new 25-day RAPID fat loss program, The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet.

Well, I've got some great news for you -- as of today, May 4th, the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet exclusive $30 OFF behind-closed-doors pre-sale is now OPEN, and YOU are invited via this special link:

 The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet <------- Your exclusive $30 off invitation

Several IMPORTANT things I need you to be aware of:

1. As mentioned, to celebrate the "Official Release" of the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet, Joel is running a $30 OFF pre-sale on the entire system until midnight on Thursday.

2. This special pre-sale is NOT available to the general public, but rather is located on a special "hidden" page of the website. Here's the link again:

The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet <------- Your exclusive $30 off invitation

3. This program is absolutely NOT for everyone:

While Joel's new system *is* all about how to lose fat FAST(up to 25 pounds in 25 days fast), it is NOT a "quick fix", magic-bullet solution.

Instead, it's a highly strategic system that incorporates some rather advanced strategies like cheat days, fast days, depletion days, and strategically timed exercise in the most ideal combination to yield the fastest possible result.

And believe it or not, he's even included one little-known, but extremely effective method on Day 5 of the program that will actually help you GAIN a couple pounds of firm, lean calorie-burning muscle as you rapidly lose fat. Pretty nuts.

Still, the truth remains: this is a somewhat "intense" system and as such will require your full dedication and effort over a short 25 day period--if you're someone who's not able to go 100% for 3 and a half weeks, this program isn't going to be a great fit for you.

BUT, if you're someone who's willing to put in the work and follow the program to a letter for 25 short days, you can expect to see some pretty remarkable progress in a very short period of time.

The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet <----- Your pre-sale link

4. VERY IMPORTANT (TODAY ONLY) - While the $30 OFF debut sale will be available through Thursday, there is a super cool $397 Value FAST ACTION BONUS for Day 1 orders ONLY.

The Bonus - If you order today (and today only), you will be given access to a LIVE 120-minute Fat Loss All-Star Coaching session where Joel Marion, John Romaniello (Final Phase Fat Loss), and Dr. Kareem Samhouri (Double Edged Fat Loss) will ALL be on the line to answer your personal fat loss questions. This type of direct coaching from 3 industry experts all at once is not available anywhere else at any price, but if you pick up the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet TODAY, you'll gain access to the LIVE call for *FREE*.

The Xtreme Fat Loss Diett <------- $30 off & your $397 value Fast Action Bonus (today only)

Bottom line, I wouldn't be recommending this program to you if I didn't believe in it 110% -- if you're up for the 25 day challenge, this is probably the "smartest" fat loss program I've ever come across. And right now, you can get it before *anyone* else while saving a full $30 here:

==> The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet

Joel

P.S. I almost forgot to mention, you get to eat WHATEVER you want every 5th day (no joke):

==> The Xtreme Fat Loss Diet

Top Interval Training Intervals for Fat Loss

This weight loss tip comes from a recent interview with Craig Ballantyne, creator of Turbulence Training and strength and conditioning coach Jason Ferrugia.

JF: I know you are a big fan of interval training. What are your favorite methods of interval training?
 
CB: Sprinting is the best method, without a doubt. So whether it’s running intervals on the track, uphill sprints, or treadmill running, that’s clearly the most effective method. Moving your own bodyweight over a distance is the true definition of work, and that can be done at a high intensity.
Strongman methods are also top-notch. Pushing the truck, pulling the sled, flipping the tire, these are all great ways to do your interval training.

A little word of caution here though, as both sprinting and strongman training methods can be very intense, so you do need to warm-up more than adequately. Don’t just jump into sprinting outside or you could strain a muscle. And be conservative with the volume. If you haven’t done truck pushing intervals in 6 months, or ever, don’t do 5 or 6 of them because you’ll be puking your guts out. That being said, both of these methods are great because you are doing a lot of work in a short amount of time.

My next two favorite methods are bodyweight training and cycling. Both can be done with less need for an extensive warm-up, but both will really help you slash the fat.

I’ve been on a big bodyweight kick over the past year and it includes some very tough bodyweight interval circuits. It’s great “real-world” conditioning for athletes, and everyday people. The bodyweight workouts and circuits can be humbling, but build “everyday” strength.

I’m also partial to stationary cycling. Because you are cycling against a resistance you can do a lot of work. Doing a lot of high-intensity work means burning a lot of energy during the training the session and after (what I call putting your body into Turbulence). Just be careful with overuse injuries on the bike…as being in that hunched position can be rough on the low-back and can tighten up the psoas and rectus femoris muscles.

Rowing is okay for interval training. And simple walking at faster speeds or inclines is perfect for beginners. Remember that interval training is relative. What is an interval for me might not be an interval for you, or for Lance Armstrong.

Elliptical training machines are useless for intervals. These things are one of the biggest wastes of space in commercial gyms today.

As far as timing goes, there is no one best interval length for fat loss. I use everything from 20 seconds to 3 minutes for the length of the work interval. For the shorter sprints, I use 60-90 seconds rest, and for the longer aerobic intervals (i.e. 2-3 minutes) you would rest an equal amount of time as the work interval lasted. These are excellent not only for fat burning but for improving sport-specific conditioning.

One thing that has never made sense to me is the Tabata protocol for intervals (and if you don’t know what it is, don’t worry about it). The rest intervals are too short to allow high quality work…and that’s what Turbulence Training is all about – quality over quantity.


About the Author
Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week.

For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment. Grab a free 4 week TT workout program, just click the link below.

Turbulence Training Workout