By Elena Voropay

In the eternal battle between fat and muscle, which one wins most of the time? If you answered “fat”, you are about to change that forever. Have you been trying to transform the spare tire around your waist into a flat washboard stomach with countless hours in the gym and still crying out for help? This program comes to your rescue. It is not that you are not working out hard enough or long enough. All you may be missing is the simple knowledge of proper training.

The reality of fat loss is a tough one, but with patience, persistence and discipline you will succeed. Get yourself equipped with the wealth of information that will help you prevent the mistakes before they happen. And think about it – you can carry on this knowledge and the fruitful results of your training for the rest of your life.

 Get Lean, Strong and Healthy

 Two things you have to remember about burning fat and increasing metabolism: fat has to be oxidized to be burned and muscles have to be stimulated to be maintained. First, this means that fat needs oxygen from cardiovascular training to be burned for fuel. Second, there is no substitute for weight training if you want to become a lean mean fat-melting machine. Most people concentrate only on the cardio component to sculpt a lean physique – and that’s a big mistake. Hard weight training not only favorably changes your metabolism, but completely transforms your body from the inside out.

 The real art and science of fat loss comes from the exact times and intensity of each component. Since you have some infamous kilos to lose, the exercise will be demanding. But don’t worry, after a few workouts you will get a hold of the intensity that’s comfortable for you and the one you can sustain for a long time. Besides, just the miraculous changes you will see in the mirror will be reason enough to stick with the program.

The Ultimate Fat-Loss Program is for everyone – whether you are a beginner or experienced exerciser. The difference for each individual will be in the intensity and duration of training – that is how hard you are capable of pushing yourself and for how long you can sustain the intensity. That means choosing appropriate resistance in the weight training component and finding your particular level and time of aerobics in interval training. It may take a few attempts and adjustments, so it is a good idea to keep a training journal where you can record all your sets, weights, rest periods, intensity levels, and how you feel right after the workout and on the next day.

For the next four weeks you will need to do cardiovascular exercise 3-5 times a week. It is going to be coupled with weight training at least twice a week and performed on its own the rest of the time. Which activity you choose to do is completely up to you – biking, running, stair-stepping, hill climbing, rowing, working on elliptical machine, just to name a few. You can do different ones each time, or try cross training – combining several different exercises in one session. The important thing is to enjoy it to the fullest extent.

The big difference in the aerobic component of this fat-loss program is that you will be using intervals instead of one constant continuous pace. Beginning with a warm-up, gradually introduce some high-intensity intervals, each lasting 1-3 minutes. And make these three minutes tough, so that you feel like you really need to recover. After each interval, lower the intensity for 1-3 minutes until you get your energy back and repeat the high-intensity. Counting heart rate and trying to stick to it may be boring and it takes the fun out of your favorite activity. So, simply try to push yourself a little more you’re your average comfort zone – after all, in three minutes time you will have a break of lower intensity. That way in the same amount of time you will burn significantly more calories and give your training a little game.

How long your aerobics will last and how intense they will be depends on your current level of fitness. But as you will get fitter with every workout, you may need to constantly adjust your training time. Start off with 25 minutes and maybe add five minutes every next time. If you do your aerobic component on a separate day from weight training, you can increase your time and intensity. If you choose to do it after the strength training, you may want to make it less intense or shorter to prevent over-training early in the cycle.

· The $1 million question is – should you eat before you train in order to burn the most fat? If you are doing aerobic component only, then the answer is…it depends on your energy level. Feeling like you are about to faint because you haven’t eaten since yesterday will not make it a good workout for you because you won’t be able to bring up the intensity and will not burn the most fat. In that case, a very light snack an hour before should suffice. But if you feel like you have enough energy to keep up with demanding interval training, you can do your favorite aerobic activity even after a few hours of fasting to maximize fat loss.

First and foremost, if you choose to do aerobics and weights in the same workout, always perform weight training prior to cardiovascular exercise (not considering the warm-up). Otherwise, you will spend all your energy on aerobic component and end up being too tired to perform weight training to really stimulate muscles. By moving your aerobic intervals to after weight training, you will burn the most fat and build the most muscles. But here is the catch – never have this kind of workout on an empty stomach or when your blood sugar is low. Weight training requires sugar in your blood stream, or it will burn more muscle and less fat – and who wants to burn muscles for energy when there is plenty of fat available?

· You will be doing Total-Body Circuit Training on weeks 1 and 3 and Multi-Set Total Body Workout in weeks 2 and 4. That way your body will be able to adjust to the routine without repetitive overtraining. Both variations will help you build a sleek strong toned physique, boost your fat burning and metabolism, not to mention making you feel absolutely terrific immediately and long after the workout.

· To be able to train, you will need energy. Simply not eating and running hours on the treadmill will melt all the muscle you have, leave you weak and decrease your metabolism – just the opposite of what you try to achieve. Without going overboard and severely cutting back on calories, try to moderately cut calories by about 10-15% of what you normally eat. To skip the boring calculation and counting, cut the plate in three equal parts and fill one with green veggies, one with lean meats, tofu, beans or fish, and one with complex starches such as whole wheat pasta or grains. Don’t forget to add plenty of flaxseed oil to slow insulin rise, assist satiety and fat loss.

· Begin each workout with a 5-10 minute warm up of low-intensity cardiovascular activity and finish with 5-10 minutes of stretching. That way you will have a better quality workout and better recovery time after it.

Perform 20-repetition sets of each exercise in order. You will be changing from lower body to upper body exercise each time with 30 seconds of rest in between – should be enough time to catch your breath and set up the weights. This technique allows longer rest for the body part before you hit it next and keeps your heart rate up at the same time. You will find that you can stay strong throughout the circuit if you choose the weight correctly. After you complete one set of each exercise stretch all muscles for 5 minutes and repeat the cycle.

How many times you complete the circuit depends on how strong you are and how hard you have trained. The number of times is not as important as the intensity – that means how heavy your weights are. I recommend putting in less quality time, trying to lift heavier weights for two circuits – that way you will give more stimulation for your muscles to grow without overtaxing them with long workouts.

Finish with at least 25 minutes of Interval Training Aerobics.