Can You Lose Fat With a Power Plate?

Yes. You can lose fat and increase your metabolism. I have seen decent results by combining the Power Plate with other resistance training exercises, such as bodyweight exercises, dumbbells, and resistance bands.

I have not used the Power Plate by itself, but apparently some people have seen some weight loss using only the Power Plate. My guess is, this would involve 3 sessions a week and these are people that had not been exercising, previously.

I like the method I am using, which incorporates other exercises in with the vibration exercises for maximal effect. This circuit training system also elevates the heart rate at the same time you are doing resistance training, making it pretty efficient.

Especially considering the sessions are only 25 minutes long and done twice a week. They can do walking or other forms of exercise on their own.

If all you can do is the vibration platform because of health reasons, you would still get some weight loss and health benefits. If using it at home I would recommend including other things like dumbbells, pushups, resistance tubing, etc.

You can do various pushup variations on your Power Plate, but I don't personally get that much from the upper body exercises using the strap that comes with it. This is where the dumbbells and tubing would come into play.

It also can be used to massage and stretch in various positions and helps you warm up or recover from exercise. These massage and stretching sessions can be done on your "off" days.

You can also use it to massage your legs to help battle cellulite. This increases blood flow to these areas and can help speed up your metabolism. Building lean muscle tissue is obviously important to increasing your metabolism and burning off extra fat.

To read more about using the Power Plate for fat loss, click here.

Bike Riding and Walking for Fat Loss:

Yesterday I talked about riding my bike along the Mississippi River and enjoying the diversity of wildlife (birds, mostly) and people. You can find walkers, joggers, cyclists and rollerbladers of all ages and sizes.

Until recently, you could find an older gentleman down on the bike path, on a pretty regular basis. He spent much of his day riding on the path and picking up aluminum cans. You could spot him there if the weather was above 40 degrees, wearing his trademark overalls.

He passed away not too long ago and his obituary was in the local paper, referring to him as the "Can Man", for his habit of collecting cans from the trash. Turns out he was 90 years old and died after a brief illness. His widow said that he feared spending his last years in a nursing home, and so he spent so much time staying active.

Well, he succeeded and lived a long life, in the process.

So what does this have to do with fat loss? OK, just painting a picture for you to see. Many of those I see exercising on this local path are not exercising very intensely, and not burning a ton of calories, but they are still getting health benefits from this "activity."

You see, there is a difference between exercise to lose fat and exercise/activity to stay as healthy as possible. The majority of those I see exercising on this path that are lean, are working fairly intensely, while those that have a few extra pounds usually walk or ride their bikes at a pretty casual rate.

This activity is still healthy for them and can help them stay mobile as they age, but if fat loss is the primary goal, more intense exercise is required.......

unless.....

you are like the "Can Man" and are active for several hours throughout your day. If you can't exercise at a higher intensity because of health reasons or are just starting an exercise program after being sedentary for a while, than you need more overall activity spread throughout your day.

So don't worry too much about which activity burns more calories, instead gradually build up to doing more intense exercise, assuming you are healthy enough to do so. You can always rotate between walking, jogging, and cycling, for some variety and to minimize the potential of overuse injuries.

And you still should be doing some upper body resistance training, to maintain joint strength and function as you age. Lean muscle tissue is vital to keeping your metabolism elevated.

Enjoy spending some time outdoors and get some exercise in the process!

Exercise vs. Physical Activity for Fat Loss:

Do you need to "exercise" to lose fat or do you just need plenty of "physical activity"? I'd like to continue our conversation from yesterday...... the one about the Amish and their very low rate of obesity.

I get a lot of questions about walking for fat loss, and do you burn more calories walking or bike riding. Bottom line, at the speed that I see many people walking or riding their bike, it doesn't really make a difference.

This afternoon it was about 60 degrees and sunny, so I took a walk down by the Mississippi River, on the Iowa side this time. There were a few other walkers and a couple bike riders. If you are out strolling along at a pretty casual pace, you won't burn that many calories.

This is the same for joggers and cyclists. A fast pace is required to burn the most calories. If you are just starting to exercise for the first time in a long time, you might see some weight loss by doing anything. After a while, your body will adapt to this and you will have to change the stimulus.

This would include exercising for more time, more often, and a faster pace. You can lose weight by walking only, but it will probably take a while and you will have to be fairly strict with your diet.

The logical thing would be to add in some resistance training to increase your lean muscle tissue, thus increasing your metabolism. If you don't want to spend any more time than necessary, strength training is more efficient, especially when combined with walking.

If you can't or won't exercise intensely, you need to be like the Amish, get more physical activity all throughout the day, so at the end of the day you burned many calories, as opposed to an intense exercise session, where you burned many calories at once (keeping your metabolism elevated for several hours).

After all, the Amish don't go to healthclubs to exercise, do they? Of course, they don't really need to!

Resistance training to reverse the aging process.

Walking for Fat Loss:

Since it is officially Spring and more people in colder regions are ready to get outdoors, I've decided to revisit one of my previous articles on walking.

A recent article in the paper talks about a columnist over 50 who is deciding to keep her New Year's resolution of losing weight and gaining more mobility. You've heard me say it before, don't stop moving if you don't want to lose your mobility.

Walking is great exercise and can be done by most everyone. You still need to do some type of resistance (strength) training for added bone strength and joint protection. It will also make your fat loss goals easier to reach.


Obesity and the Amish

What do the Amish have to do with obesity? Not much, as it turns out. I recently read an article reviewing the recent Health and Fitness Summit co-sponsored by the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Academy of Sports Medicine. This four day event featured 77 speakers on various topics related to health and fitness.

One of the speakers, Dr. Ted Mitchell spoke about the rising rate of obesity in this country, including our youth. He made some interesting comparisons to the Amish that you might find interesting. Such as the fact that the obesity rate among the Amish is 4%, while the rest of the US is 26%.

Their typical diet includes plenty of fat from bacon, eggs, and butter, yet obesity isn't much of a problem. One of the reasons given is that they move around a lot. The average adult male takes 18,000 steps a day, compared to 7000 or less for the typical American male. For American women that number is around 5000 steps.

Without the conveniences of modern society, they burn more calories through physical exertion than the rest of us. Environmental, hereditary, and behavioral factors all influence how you age. In 1900, the top killers were the flu, tuberculosis, etc. Today, some of the top killers, such as heart disease and diabetes, are largely caused by our behaviors - lack of exercise and poor diet.

Another factor that may play a role is fast food and processed foods. I doubt the Amish go to McDonalds too often. All those chemicals in processed foods can't be that great for your health. If you have ever watched the TV show Survivor, you have noticed that everyone looks skinny and those that started out heavier are always much lighter by the time they leave.

Yes, these people are physically active and don't eat much food, but none of the food they eat is processed. Maybe that also plays a part in their leanness.

Maybe we just need to move around a little bit more to fight off obesity. Park your car farther out in the parking lot or take the stairs at work. This should be in addition to your exercise program.

Interestingly, one picture shown in the article was taken at another fitness and bodybuilding event.

The long flight of stairs going up was empty except for three people, while the escalator was jam packed, with people lining up to use it.

Maybe our modern lifestyles have made us soft and robbed us of our health in the process. Not a judgment, just an observation.

The article I mentioned was written by Chris Shugart.

Click here for my article on Walking and Weight Loss.

Does Walking with Dumbbells Burn More Calories?

Should you hold dumbbells in your hands while walking to increase your fat loss? Or is it better to save the weights for your strength training session? Let's take a look.

Recently, I saw someone out walking with light hand weights. The assumption is that you will burn more calories and get some upper body work in at the same time.

However, this won't cause you to burn significantly more calories. More likely, it will increase your risk of an overuse injury for your elbow or shoulder.

If you want to do more work while walking, walk faster. Or try walking up and down hills for increased resistance. Adding weights to either your hands or ankles is not advised. A light weight vest around your torso would work much better.

Bottom line, if fat loss is your goal, you need to spend time doing strength or resistance training to increase your lean muscle tissue.

This helps increase your metabolism, burning more calories. Two or three pound dumbbells won't get the job done - while walking or in your strength training.

Don't be afraid of using real weights, light dumbbells for "toning" isn't the way to go. I saw a special on aging a year ago and the 101 years young woman was doing strength training with dumbbells that looked about 6-8 pounds a piece.

If she isn't using the pink dumbbells, why should you?!

For ultimate fat loss, doing some interval training is the way to go. By alternating between periods of intense and lighter exercise, you burn more calories and keep your metabolism elevated for longer periods after you are done exercising. You also get more done in a shorter period of time.

Strength Training and Fat Loss:

What's the best way? Or is there more than one way to achieve fat loss through strength (resistance) training? Let's take a look.

There is more than one way to strength train for fat loss. First, let me say that if fat loss is your goal, you really need to be doing some type of resistance training. This will build your lean muscle tissue, keeping your metabolism elevated throughout the day, even after you are done exercising.

I've had more than a few people, mostly women, tell me that they didn't want to get too big. I'm here to tell 'ya, it just ain't that easy to build muscle. If it were, you wouldn't have so many athletes using or being accused of using anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and testosterone.

If it was so easy to build muscle, none of these things would matter. But they are being used, so obviously it takes a lot of hard work and occasionally some extra help - whether it's legal or healthy is another story.

Anyway, what equipment works best for fat loss? It's all up to you. You can use weight machines, either at a healthclub or at home, dumbbells, resistance bands, your own bodyweight, or even sandbags. Yes that's right, I said sandbags. The reality is you are working your muscles against some type of resistance, doing more work than your body is used to.

It will adapt by increasing your lean muscle tissue, elevating your metabolism, and burning more fat in the process. Also, you will see inches drop from your body, as muscle tissue is denser than fat.

So there is more than one way to achieve this and fancy equipment isn't necessary, as long as you are willing to work hard. I realize not everyone can do this because of past injury or disease, and that is where whole body vibration platforms, such as a Powerplate come into play.

For another look at using weight machines versus simple equipment that strengthens your body in a standing position, check out my new article. By the way, strength training done in a standing position might be safer for your back.

The Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat:

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat

I often get asked, “What’s the best way to burn fat and lose my belly?” People want to know if aerobics is better than strength training, or if traditional cardio exercise is better than intervals.

Well, to say I've done them all would be an understatement.

With over 15 years experience helping others, training myself, training for sports, spending countless hours in the gym, AND actually conducting laboratory research studies on different exercise methods, I'm pretty confident in knowing what works and what does not.

But first of all, I want to frame my responses. I'm going to talk about what works for people that have a limited amount of time to exercise, mostly because I expect your readers don't have 90 minutes per day to devote to a workout, unlike the typical audience of a fitness magazine.

That's why there is a huge disconnect between some of the information found in magazines and the ability of the reader to apply it to their lives.

We just don't have 6-8 hours per week for exercise, nor do we need it. If you're a triathlete, you might need that, but not someone that just wants to lose fat and gain muscle.

Having said all that, the bottom line for getting a better body is...

Use bodyweight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I've structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.

You'll do 5 minutes of bodyweight exercises to warm-up. This is a much more efficient approach than spending 5 minutes walking on a treadmill, which really doesn't prepare you for anything except more walking on a treadmill.

Then we move into the strength training supersets, where we use two exercises performed back to back with minimum rest between each. This cuts our workout time, while still giving us maximum results. We only need 20 minutes for this, and we'll use basic exercises, and sometimes even more bodyweight exercises, depending on the client's goal for muscle building.

And finally, we'll do 18 minutes of interval training. A warm-up, followed by six short intervals at the appropriate fitness level for the client, interspersed with short periods of low-intensity recovery. Finish with a cool-down. And that's the workout. Again, about 45 minutes total.

Compare that to what most people do, which is run, jog, cycle or use the cardio machines for 45 minutes straight. Sure, that will burn calories, but it doesn't build a better body.

In fact, there are a few "dark sides" to long slow cardio, including less-than-optimal results, the potential for overuse injuries, and it is an inefficient form of exercise. If you only have 30-45 minutes for your workout and you spend it all on a cardio machine, when are you going to train the rest of your muscles and sculpt a better body?

So the best way to burn belly fat is with a combination of strength training and interval training. It’s fast, it works, and it’s fun!

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, visit Turbulence Training for Fat Loss

Still Time to Lose Fat this Summer:

If you have been wanting to lose some fat (notice I said fat and not weight) before Summer is over, there is still plenty of time. I believe that it is easier for some of you to lose fat by getting outside in the sun.

Whether the warmer weather helps increase your metabolism or whether there is some other factor that plays a role, being outside in hot weather seems to help you lose fat.

With the extra bike riding that I have done in the past month, along with being busy with other things, I have dropped close to 10 pounds.

Though if you read one of my new articles on fat loss, you will understand that weight loss isn't the main thing, but rather, fat loss is!

Maybe it's the getting outside and increased activity, or maybe the hot weather has something to do with it. Being in the Midwest, you tend to put on a few pounds in Winter time, either to help insulate your body or because you tend to stay indoors where it is warm.

In any case, I notice my shorts falling down without a belt on, and that means my waist is getting smaller. A good thing!

You can go to brianmorganfitness.com and read my new article on fat loss, along with two others I got from top fat loss expert Craig Ballantyne. Craig has a ton of experience with fat loss clients and is one of the most knowledgeable persons in the fitness industry.

Obesity and the Amish

What do the Amish have to do with obesity? Not much, as it turns out. I recently read an article reviewing the recent Health and Fitness Summit co-sponsored by the American College of Sports Medicine and the National Academy of Sports Medicine. This four day event featured 77 speakers on various topics related to health and fitness.

One of the speakers, Dr. Ted Mitchell spoke about the rising rate of obesity in this country, including our youth. He made some interesting comparisons to the Amish that you might find interesting. Such as the fact that the obesity rate among the Amish is 4%, while the rest of the US is 26%.

Their typical diet includes plenty of fat from bacon, eggs, and butter, yet obesity isn't much of a problem. One of the reasons given is that they move around a lot. The average adult male takes 18,000 steps a day, compared to 7000 or less for the typical American male. For American women that number is around 5000 steps.

Without the conveniences of modern society, they burn more calories through physical exertion than the rest of us. Environmental, hereditary, and behavioral factors all influence how you age. In 1900, the top killers were the flu, tuberculosis, etc. Today, some of the top killers, such as heart disease and diabetes, are largely caused by our behaviors - lack of exercise and poor diet.

Another factor that may play a role is fast food and processed foods. I doubt the Amish go to McDonalds too often. All those chemicals in processed foods can't be that great for your health. If you have ever watched the TV show Survivor, you have noticed that everyone looks skinny and those that started out heavier are always much lighter by the time they leave.

Yes, these people are physically active and don't eat much food, but none of the food they eat is processed. Maybe that also plays a part in their leanness.

Maybe we just need to move around a little bit more to fight off obesity. Park your car farther out in the parking lot or take the stairs at work. Interestingly, one picture shown in the article was taken at another fitness and bodybuilding event.

The long flight of stairs going up was empty except for three people, while the escalator was jam packed, with people lining up to use it.

Maybe our modern lifestyles have made us soft and robbed us of our health in the process. Not a judgment, just an observation.

The article I mentioned was written by Chris Shugart.

www.brianmorganfitness.com