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How to fast-track fat loss

 

Want to know the key to fat loss? Master trainer Daniel Tramontana shares his tips for guaranteed fat loss.

 

To fast-track coveted progress such as greater fat loss, Tramontana says you need to get back to basics.

Cardio is not ‘hardio’

With a combination of higher intensity interval training (HIIT), low-intensity steady state (LISS) training, body weight training sessions and a nutritious diet, Tramontana ensures his clients are given the best formula for their body.

“My cardiovascular programming is based around a 75/25 split of LISS and HIIT. So based on the available amount of time for a client to add in cardio on top of resistance training would determine the amount of each they conducted,” he says.

Here’s what your cardio program could look like:

2 hours per week for cardio training = 30 minutes of HIIT over two to three days + 90 minutes of LISS over one to two sessions.

Be wary, if HIIT was all you did, you may encounter the downside of too much stress on your body, which can ironically turn HIIT into a fat retention tactic.

So what about weight training?

“For fat loss, I structure everything around two to three full bodyweight training sessions – two sessions based on linear periodisation macro cycle of 16-to-24 week programming, altered every four to six weeks,” he explains.

Translation? A program that begins by incorporating high-volume and low intensity weight training, and progressively moves into phases when the volume decreases and intensity increases.  Tramontana is a strong advocate for women to hit up the weights rack, “I find a lot of women are lifting nowhere near their capacity. Don’t be shy to lift heavy weights and test your ability regularly.”

The importance of rest

All this talk of intensity may have you thinking full pelt should be the only gear you work in, but without adequate recovery, you may be undermining your fat loss chances at the dumbbells. Both injury and overt fatigue can see you performing at less than 100 per cent over multiple sessions.

“Recovery begins with the post-workout meal. I advise at least 25 to 50 per cent of overall carbohydrates be included in this meal – either using complex carbohydrate sources or a combination of simple and complex carbs,” says Tramontana. “I also recommend at least one body therapy session per week.”

Think physiotherapy, massage, sauna, steam, floating, dry needling, sleep in, meditation, yoga, grounding – or something as simple as reading a book.

How to fuel your body with the right food

For Tramontana, eating for fat loss should focus on controlling hunger, which translates to better portion control and craving management.

“I ask that protein be included in every meal upon waking, generally an even or slightly escalating amount each meal depending again on habits and hunger patterns,” he says.

“For fat loss, I personally urge the exclusion of high-energy carbs even post workout – with the exception of competitors in the later stage of preparation.”

Supplementation may also give you an edge in the health and results stakes. Depending on your goals and needs, Tramontana advises the use of creatine, glutamine, vitamin C, branch chain amino acids, fish oils, whey protein, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc and a good-quality greens supplement to aid recovery, general wellbeing and lean muscle growth.

Read the full article in the August 2016 edition by journalist Katelyn Swallow. 

NEXT > Discover ways to boost your metabolism.

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This Mom’s Viral Post Captures Why C-Sections Are Not ‘The Easy Way Out’

Here’s a Look at Lena Dunham’s Unretouched Lingerie Campaign

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

Remember back in March when Lena Dunham swore to never let anyone photoshop her body ever again? Back then, she penned a heartfelt essay on Lenny, writing she is “done with allowing images that retouch and reconfigure my face and body to be released into the world […] I bid farewell to an era when my body was fair game.”

Well, the actress/writer/producer is finally making good on her promise. Dunham and her fellow Girls co-star Jemima Kirke took part in the Lonely Girls Project, a photo series by New Zealand lingerie brand Lonely, that shows “candid portraits of inspiring women in their natural environments wearing Lonely, their way.”

RELATED: Lena Dunham’s Empowering Sports Bra Selfie Makes Us Want to Join Her at the Gym

The brand just posted a first look at Dunham and Kirke’s campaign images. One of the photos shows the actresses posing in black lace lingerie in a bathroom, while the second one features Kirke applying lipstick to Dunham in a living room.

Instagram Photo

Instagram Photo

Dunham has been an advocate for body positivity for a long time and has posted numerous photos of her on Instagram wearing underwear. But we have to say, it’s always a beautiful and empowering thing when a fashion brand embraces the body pos. movement, and we really hope more follow suit.

 

This article originally appeared on InStyle.com/MIMI.




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These Are the Ab Exercises Lady Gaga Uses to Sculpt Her Core

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

Talk about #abgoals! We spotted this Instagram photo of Lady Gaga’s gorgeous core, snapped by her trainer Harley Pasternak, and had the same thought he expressed in the caption: “Abs on fire!” Clearly Pasternak knows his way around a seriously sculpted six-pack. So we asked the star trainer for a few tips on how we too could earn a show-off stomach.

Instagram Photo

“The key to getting great abs is not overdoing the front of the midsection, but rather focusing on the back of the midsection and the corset muscle that pulls the abs in,” he explains. “Of course, regardless how strong your ab muscles are, if there is fat covering your midsection, no one will see all the hard work you’ve put into strengthening them.”

In other words, you can’t put all of this training power into your middle if you aren’t going to keep your diet in check. “You have to eat clean so you’ll stay lean,” adds Pasternak, who also encourages all of his A-list clients to get in at least 10,000 steps a day.

While you’re working on improving your eating habits and upping your daily steps, try adding these moves—which Pasternak incorporates into Lady Gaga’s workouts—to your own routine. Do 3 to 4 sets of 20 to 30 reps of each move.

Pasternak’s rec: Do them as a nonstop circuit. And then you too, like Lady Gaga, will “live for the applause, applause, applause” that you’ll be getting when you reveal your newly whittled middle.

RELATED: 24 Fat-Burning Ab Exercises (No Crunches!)

Pike plank

Start in a forearm plank with palms facedown and feet hip-width apart. Pull belly in and lift hips so body forms an inverted V. Slowly lower hips to return to plank.

Dolphin extension

Lie facedown on a bench with hands gripping the front end of the bench for balance. Widen legs to hip-width apart, and then raise legs up as high as you can. Pause briefly, and then slowly release legs back to start.

Instagram Photo

Russian trunk twist

Sit with knees bent, palms together and arms extended straight out. Lean back slightly and lift feet off the floor. Pull navel to spine and twist slowly to the left. Return to center and then twist slowly to the right (B). Make it harder: hold a 5-10- pound medicine ball.

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

 




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Top 3 training tips by Alexa Towersey

 

September cover model and celebrity trainer Alexa Towersey shares her top training methods to burn fat and tone.

 

1. Resistance Training: 

Combine four compound exercises in one giant set:

 

8–10 x Barbell Back Squats

»8–10 x Barbell Bent-Over Rows

»8–10 x Deadlifts

»6–8 x Pull-ups 

»24 x Barbell Walking Lunges

TIP: Rest for 2 minutes between rounds and complete 3 to 5 rounds

2. HIIT Training: I like 400m sprint repeats the best.  Start with 5 to 7 and increase each week. 60 to 90 seconds rest between. 

TIP: Don’t do these on the same day as your weight training.

3. Tabata Protocols:  I like to use Tabata-style exercises as ‘finishers’ after a weight-training workout.  It’s essentially maximum reps of an exercise in 20 seconds followed by a 10-second rest and repeated for a total of eight rounds (4 minutes or 2:40 of actual work). 

TIP: My preferred variations include thruster, squat jumps, air assault bike, burpees, mountain climber or deadmill. 

 

 

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Wait, Did Ashley Graham Dye Her Hair Blonde?!

Ever since we heard that Ashley Graham will be hosting the revamped version of America’s Next Top Model, we haven’t stopped looking for behind-the-scenes snaps of her on social media. We honestly didn’t know what we were going to do when we heard Tyra was retiring from this series, but this has eased the news for sure.

And yes, Ashley, if you are reading this, we have been obsessively checking your Instagram feed several times a day for hair inspo (#sorrynotsorry).

So we couldn’t help but notice that something about Graham looked a tad different in the latest photos that she shared on Instagram. More specifically, her hair color.

OK, let’s take it from the beginning. This is her six days ago sporting her signature brunette locks styled in sexy waves on set of the show. Hair goals, we know.

Instagram Photo

And then here is Ashley yesterday and today…

Instagram Photo

Instagram Photo

She seemed to have dyed the ends and the hair underneath much lighter into a beautiful ombré. Of course, this may as well be blonde hair pieces that her hairstylist Andrew Fitzsimons added to her brunette locks.

And speaking of which, check out her top bun and the purple lip she rocks in the second shot. Like we needed more evidence that Graham is the ultimate cool girl? We think not.

We’ll have to wait on even more photos to truly confirm this, but at least we know she looks damn good.

Never change, Ashley, never change.

 

This article originally appeared on InStyle.com/MIMI.




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Healthy raw vegie salad recipe

 

Looking for healthy lunch ideas? This raw vegie salad is such an easy and tasty way to introduce raw vegetables into your diet on a daily basis. 

Eating raw vegetables means that you're receiving the full nutrient potential of that vegetable, as nothing is lost through the cooking process. Needless to say, selecting seasonal organic produce is ideal for this, but don't be too worried about following the recipe to the letter – use anything you like from your crisper.

Ingredients

  • ¼ iceberg lettuce, finely shredded
  • ¼ small red cabbage, finely shredded
  • 1 large beetroot, julienned
  • ½ zucchini, finely sliced
  • ½ red onion, finely sliced
  • ½ granny smith apple, julienned
  • 3 radishes, finely sliced
  • 1 handful of snow peas, strings removed, sliced in half lengthways
  • 1 handful of flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
  • 1 pomegranate, cut in half
  • Salt flakes and freshly ground peppe
  • r4 tbsp birdseed mix (chia seeds, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flaxseeds or whatever you have in the pantry)
  • 2 tbsp roughly chopped salted cashews

Lemon dressing

  • 75 ml good-quality olive oil
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon and juice of 2 lemons
  • Salt flakes and freshly ground pepper

Method

To make the lemon dressing, combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and season to taste.

Add the lettuce, cabbage, beetroot, zucchini, onion, apple, radish, snow peas and parsley to a large bowl. Add the lemon dressing to taste and, using your hands, carefully toss.

Hit the back of each pomegranate half with a wooden spoon so that the juicy seeds pop out onto the salad. Season and gently toss.

Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and sprinkle the seed mix and cashews over the top before serving.

This recipe originally appeared in nourish magazine.

Want more healthy lunch ideas? Try this pumpkin and feta chicken salad.

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Iskra Lawrence Photoshopped Her Image to Teach Us a Lesson

Photo: Getty Images

Photo: Getty Images

Once upon a time, photo editing was reserved only for the models and celebs gracing glossy magazine covers. Now? Anyone can digitally alter their appearance with a few taps of an app on their cellphone. Selfies aren’t really selfies anymore because it’s super easy to edit your appearance to make the photo look like anyone else but yourself. Model and body positive champion Iskra Lawrence set out to prove that things aren’t always as they seem on social media with side-by-side images of herself—one raw and the other retouched.

RELATED: It’s 2016 and Gigi Hadid Still Has to Shut Down Body Shamers

“Shocking it only took me about 10 minutes to Photoshop myself to ‘perfection.’ But WTF is perfect,” Lawrence asked on Instagram. Good question, Iskra

Instagram Photo

In the edited image, Lawrence slimmed her waist and arms, enhanced her chest, and noticeably smoothed the texture of her skin on her legs.

RELATED: Kat Von D Looks Totally Different Without Her Signature Black Hair

“I wanted to post the unretouched pic right next to the retouched one so you could see the impact of how a few edits all done on my phone can completely change the way someone looks,” writes Lawrence. “I can’t leave home everyday retouched and live in the ‘real world’ airbrushed, so why would I want to pretend to be online?”

Excellent point and food for thought the next time you’re thinking about using Facetune on your own image. Love the beautiful person you are now, not the unrealistic “perfect” version you’re convinced others want to see.

 

This article originally appeared on InStyle.com/MIMI.




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This 86-Year-Old ‘Iron Nun’ Is All The Fitspiration You’ll Ever Need

Photo: Nike/youTube

Photo: Nike/youTube

What’s the first thing you think when you hear the word “old?” For many, it probably conjures up a frail, gray-haired man or woman whose best fit years are long gone. But Madonna Buder is killing it still, even at 86.

A member of the non-canonical Sisters for Christian Community, the “Iron Nun” (as she’s been dubbed) has completed 40-plus Ironman triathlon competitions (each one entailing a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and 26.2-mile run), and is staring in Nike’s new “Unlimited Youth” commercial.

The spot is a part of the larger “Unlimited” campaign, which celebrates 2016 Rio Olympians and also encourages everyday athletes to have #limitlesspotential when it comes to their athletic goals.

The ad follows Buder through her daily prayers and kick-butt training. All the while, a narrator repeatedly doubts Buder’s fit choices and abilities—but he is quickly proven wrong. As Buder sprints toward the ocean at the start of an Ironman, cloaked in a black wetsuit and red swim cap and surrounded by a group of men and women who are clearly much younger, she yells to the voice-over, “The first 45 didn’t kill me!”

Talk about fitspiration! Here is a woman who didn’t even begin running until her late 40s. Now she regularly competes in one of the toughest feats of athleticism around. Did we mention that not only is Buder the oldest woman to ever complete an Ironman, but she also holds the record for fastest finishing time (16 hours and 32 minutes) for the 85 to 89 age group? #Boss!

But it hasn’t always been easy, Buder admits in a video interview on the Nike website. “There are a lot of times when I had to think about failures and not reaching the goal I may have set for myself,” she says. “But then I realized that the only failure is not to try, because your effort in itself is a success.”

Buder is living proof of Nike co-founder Bill Boweman’s old saying: “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” She is inspiration for us all to get (and stay!) active, no matter our age.

Kudos, Nike, for using your platform to show the world that anything is possible.




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The Underneath We Are Women Photo Series Is a Body Positive Campaign You Can’t Miss

Kickstarter/Underneath I Am

Kickstarter/Underneath I Am

Thanks to campaigns and movements from brands like Aerie and high profile celebs like Ashley Graham and Ariel Winter advocating for more body diversity in the media, the body positive movement has gained the attention it needs. And while we’re thankful that there are changes being made, there’s still a lot more to be done.

Now, Amy Herrmann, an Australian photographer, is taking things into her own hands with a photo series she plans to turn into a book showcasing different women of different body types posing in lingerie.

RELATED: Ashley Graham Celebrated National Lingerie Day with STUNNING #BodyPos Snaps

Instagram Photo

According to the project’s Kickstarter page, her goal is to share the stories that shaped them, “rather than succumbing to the fictitious default stories that have long been associated with various body types.”

She plans to photograph 100 women of different backgrounds and body types to demonstrate that everyone has their own relationship with their body, and also that there is a story beyond what’s at the surface.

“Society (us) have developed a myriad of stereotyped responses to certain body types,” Herrman writes on the project’s Kickstarter page. “That is, the fat girl who needs the gym. The skinny girl who needs to eat more. The disabled woman who needs sympathy. The beautiful girl that is always happy. But these are simply programmed responses created by us and for us to suit a greater societal ideal for what is deemed acceptable and ‘normal.'”

Instagram Photo

Each photo has an overlay that completes the “Underneath I Am…” phrase. For example, you’ll see “Underneath I Am Vibrant” and “Underneath I Am Fierce within the project.

Instagram Photo

Herrmann hopes to publish her book in May of next year and even wants to make it available in schools to inspire young girls.

 

This article originally appeared on InStyle.com/MIMI.




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