Question:  I want to lose some weight, but I hate the thought of going to the gym.  What can I do?

Answer:  Why don’t you want to go to the gym – can’t afford it, don’t have one nearby, don’t know what to do when you get there, you’re self-conscious, or just don’t want to exercise?

Here’s the Reader’s Digest condensed version.  The fastest way to lose weight is with resistance training.  When most people say they want to lose weight, they’re actually referring to fat.  Resistance training builds muscle and muscle feeds off fat for energy.  Yes, muscle has weight and you will gain muscle weight so don’t use the scale to judge your progress.

One misconception that I see from time to time is someone saying, “I want to turn my fat into muscle.”  That’s like turning an apple into an orange.  They are different types of cells and it can’t be done.

Which Exercise Is Best To Lose Fat?

Cardio/aerobic exercise, the kind were you run or walk, jump around a lot and work up a sweat only burns calories while you’re doing it.  When you stop, so does the calorie burning.  That’s why you may see people in the gym literally spending hours of their day on treadmills and in cardio classes. 

Resistance training uses resistance like weight, resistance bands or some opposing force to build muscle.  You CANNOT stand there with a barbell, 3 lb dumbbells, or a single resistance band doing biceps curls to lose fat.  That’s one of the reasons why people give up because they don’t see the results with such ill effort. 

Resistance and Reps Are Key To Losing

You need serious resistance, enough to really challenge your muscles when you do like 6-8 reps of a movement.  So much resistance that it’s very difficult to finish that last rep.  Then you move onto a different muscle group and do another exercise until you’ve worked out your entire body.  That’s a full circuit.  Then you do it again for a total of 3 circuits and each time it’s going to get harder and harder to complete the last reps.  That’s ok, just give it your best shot.  They entire thing will take you about 30 minutes and that sure beats hours in the gym doing cardio.

Burn Fat While You Sleep

Now here’s the magical part about resistance training and why it’s the fastest way to burn fat.  All those intense muscle workouts created tiny little microscopic tears in the muscle fiber.  Don’t worry, this is not major organ failure by any means.  It’s natural and it’s how muscle is built to be larger and stronger.  During the resting phase while your body is sitting or sleeping, those little muscle fibers are repairing themselves and the new muscle is stronger than before.  That’s why after a while, you’ll be able to progress to more resistance.  To repair itself, the muscles need fuel and where do they go for it?  Your stored fat cells all over your body.  Building new lean muscle is literally a fat burning furnace.

Isolated Muscle Building, Not Isolated Fat Loss

Doing all the sit-ups is the world will not make you lose belly fat.  Isolation exercise will strengthen the muscles they work, but it will absolutely NOT make you lose fat in that particular area.  The body loses fat over all and NOT in any one area.  You can do sit-ups for great ab muscles, but you can’t see those muscles until you lose the fat. 

Less Exercise, More Fat Loss

Here’s the cool thing about resistance training, you can workout your entire body in about 30 minutes only 3 times a week.  If you like, you can divide up those workouts to exercise 15 minutes everyday, just not the same body parts.  Say, upper body one day and lower body the next.  Fifteen stinking minutes a day.  Is that something that’s doable for you?

Proper Eating

You’ve GOT to make healthy eating choices because all the exercise in the world will come undone if you can’t stay out of the fridge or the snack isle.  If it’s in a package or can, don’t eat it.  Eat fresh fruits and vegetables.  You can even get protein from plant foods.  Just look it up on a search engine.  Drink lots of water.  If you like it flavored, drink herbal tea.  No sweets.  No soda, not even diet soda.  It does horrible things to the body’s chemistry.

Walking

If you want to do “something” on your days off from exercise, go for a walk.  Just eating right and walking a mile a day, you can lose around 2 lbs a week.  I lost 30-35 lbs just doing that.

Just Do It

If you take no action, you won’t lose a pound.  Only you can make the choice to do it.  Not your doctor, your parents or your harping significant other.  So when you’re ready, just do it because it won’t happen by itself.

Exercise Equipment

Don’t buy into the notion that you need ab busters and leg lifters and pull up bars and all that stuff.  The only exercise equipment you need is a set of Bodylastics resistance bands like the ones shown below.  Complete sets start at under $40.

Free Workout Videos

Also, don’t bother buying workout DVDs because Bodylastics has these free workouts right online.  Just sign up for a free account and you’ll have access to them all day, every day.  It’s pretty much like having your own personal trainer.

Get  Bodylastics  Resistance  Bands

You can’t buy Bodylastics in the store.  Click here to order your set of Bodylastics resistance bands.

Answer:  To build muscle you need resistance.  The first thing that comes to mind are heavy dumbbells or weights, whether free weights or machines.  However, you want a lighter and easier alternative.  Hmm.  How about pull instead of lifting.  The solution?  resistance bands!  Not those wimpy flat Pilates bands, more specifically, Bodylastics elastic rubber fitness tubes.

Click here for a sampling of the exercises that can by done with Bodylastics.

Each Bodylastics tube has clips for attaching to the include accessories like handles, door anchor and ankle/wrist straps.  Multiple tubes can be clipped onto the handles to create just about any level of tension you need for any specific exercise.  Click here for a free download to learn how to combine the bands for custom resistance levels.

A:  There’s more to building muscle than just exercise.  First, you have to feed the muscle you’re trying to build.  That’s where protein comes in.  Protein from lean meats, fish and vegetables like beans.  You can Google “types of protein”.  You should also drink a protein shake as soon as you get out of bed.  You’ve slept all night and your muscles are hungry, so feed them.  Just follow the directions on the package.  Get some 100% whey protein isolate.  Nothing fancy.

Now comes the exercise part.  Don’t just concentrate on your upper body.  You can get a complete body workout with Bodylastics resistance bands.  Click here for some arm exercises that you can do at home, without going  to the gym.  You’ll find ones for all major muscle groups. 

A:  That tight schedule thing is a real wet blanket, but don’t worry, you can workout at home and without going to the gym.  In fact, you can workout anywhere.  The only equipment you need is a set of Bodylastics resistance bands and you can get a complete set for under $40. You can take them anywhere.  Bodylastics also has a website with some great workouts.  Click here to see some of the exercises that you can do with them.  They’ve got 10 different workout show that include a great toning workout for a sexy body and a Pilates workout for a strong core.  Scuplting a few muscles would be hot, too!

A:  There’s only so much you can do without gym equipment.  If you really want to get a good workout with adjustable, progressive resistance, get a set of Bodylastics resistance bands. Click here to get a list of Bodylastics arm exercises that you can do without  going to the gym.  Be sure to check out their free workout shows, especially the one called Chiseled.  It’s like having a personal trainer right in your own home.

A:  Cardio exercise makes your heart and lungs stronger.  It’s not for toning thighs.  If you want toned thighs, you’ll need to do some of these leg exercises.  You can do them at home without going to the gym.

A:  Nice of you to take care of the nephew!  To get the muscles, do resistance training.  Then eat protein to feed your muscles.  The perfect way to workout at home without going to the gym is to get a set of these Bodylastics resistance bands and do these free ab exercises.  Bodylastics has a great free online workout called Eight Pack.

A:  You can tighten and tone your chest muscles right at home without going to the gym and without handweights, but you will need some type of resistance to do it effectively.  Therefore, I recommend Bodylastics resistance bands.  Click here to see some of the chest exercises that you can do with Bodylastics.  In fact, you can workout your entire body with them.

A:  One of the easiest and least expensive is to use Bodylastics resistance bands – no weights and without going to the gym.  You can do isolation exercises with ease.  Click here to see a few of the arm exercises that you can do.  You can also use the bands for the rest of your body, too.

A:  First off, it’s “lose”, not “loose”, but the good news is, your clothes will be loose if you lose those 20 lbs.  The fastest way to lose fat is to build muscle, but don’t worry, you won’t bulk up because chicks don’t have the testosterone like guys do.  Doing cardio exercises will work to some degree, but not nearly as fast as building muscle.

Do you know why people spend hours riding bikes, walking or running or on the treadmill?  Those cardio exercise ONLY burn calories while you’re doing them.  Stop doing them and you stop burning calories.  Wouldn’t you rather only do about 20-30 minutes of exercise every other day and continue to burn calories even while you sleep?  That’s what resistance training can do for you.  Just doing 8-10 reps with enough resistance to really challenge your muscles so it’s difficult to complete the last rep and doing several sets is all you need.  After your workout, your muscles will repair themselves to become even stronger.  Did you know that lean muscle needs like 40-50 per pound, per day just in order to survive?  So the more muscle you build, the more calories (your stored fat) you’ll burn.  That new muscle will literally melt the fat off your body.

You can do that with Bodylastics resistance bands.  You’ll be able to workout your entire body with them without going to the gym.  Bodylastics has free workouts, too.  Ten different workout shows to pick from.  You’ll never be bored.

Click here to get Bodylastics resistance bands.