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Metabolism Booster Kettlebell Circuit


Interval training surface: sand or grass?

Outdoor training is increasingInterval training surfacein popularity and interval training, one of the most effective and efficient methods to increase endurance, is very suitable to try outside the gym. Outdoor training can be performed on different surfaces. To find out to what extent interval training surface influences training effects, scientists from Australia started the following study.

Tabata training using kettlebell swings vs strength training


Interval training vs endurance training for weight loss


Effects of Crossfit

(Originally posted on: 11-18-2013)


Tabata training

What is Tabata Training?


How to lose weight and fat effectively


Strength training to lose fat


What is Crossfit and what is it good for?

What is Crossfit and what is it good for?





For who?


What can I use it for?







-Crossfit Schagen




Cardio training for weight loss


Cardio training burns a lot of calories


Cardio training increases metabolism


Cardio training increases fat metabolism capacity


Training tips






See also:

-Strength training for weight loss



Strength training for weight loss

Although more often considered a training to

Strength training costs a lot of energy


Strength training increases metabolism


Strength training stimulates fat metabolism


Strength training prevents weight regain after weight loss


Strength training makes the body look athletic


Training tips


-Train all muscle groups during each session



See also:

-Weight Loss: What Works and What Doesn’t?

-Strength Training makes women large and bulky

Weight loss: what works and what doesn’t?

Every year, losing weight is the number one New Year’s resolutionWeight loss. And just before the summer, a lot of people try and lose weight or get in shape to look their best at the beach. A lot of different methods are used to achieve this. From diets, training regimens, fat burners, sauna belts and power plates. To help people lose the pounds, we present a list with the most effective and ineffective or even unhealthy methods to lose weight and fat.

The things that work:

  1. Healthy Nutrition

Many people think that they eat healthy, only a few really do. The body needs the right amount of nutrients to function properly and sufficient calories of course. The fact remains that, in order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in, but it is more important to get the right amount of vitamins, minerals and proteins. This makes sure your body functions optimally and can therefore burn more fat. In addition you tend to lose less to no muscle mass while eating a healthy amount of protein.

  1. A combination of resistance and cardiotraining.

Wheight loss occurs when more energy is used up than taken in. Training increases the amount of calories used, but we also optimise energy systems in our body, and therefore the capacity to burn fat. This last effect even helps us lose weight, while not working out. Additionally, resistance training makes sure no muscle mass is lost during weight loss, therefore preventing the well known yoyo effect.

  1. Exercising regularly and often

Aside from training, regular physical activity such as walking or riding a bicycle, is very important. This will activate the body, increase the amount of calories used and therefore help in losing weight. It will help the body in recovering from a training and reduce stress hormone levels as an added bonus.

  1. Rest and sleep

Although everyone focusses on nutrition and training while losing weight. Resting and especially enough sleep are very important for health and weight loss. When you don’t sleep enough, the body can’t recuperate enough, stress hormone levels will rise and you will lose muscle tissue sooner.

What doesn’t work or is bad for your health?

  1. Diets

Diets are at best a temporary solution to lose weight. When you stop with the diet and eat what you are used to eating, the lost weight comes back often accompanied by a few extra pounds. The worst diets make you lose muscle mass as well, increasing the chances of the yoyo effect.

  1. Long cardio workouts

Although it is not difficult to lose weight by performing a lot of cardio training and endurance improves as well, too much cardio training can increase muscle breakdown. One of the primary reasons is that stress hormones keep building up. A combination with some form of diet often increases this effect. Furthermore cardio training hinders recovery from training for as long as the training takes. It is better to perform high intensity cardio training for shorter periods. This is more effective and the time you save can be spent on recovery.

  1. Fat burners

There are some fat burning substances that are proven to be effective and safe. However the effects are generally small, and could be used in combination with healthy nutrition and training. Green tea extract is a good and safe example. The fat burners that are effective on their own, are potentially dangerous and illegal in most countries. Among these is Ephedra.

  1. Sauna belt

There are several weight loss programs which incorporate a heated belt tied around the waist during training. The heat from the belt, softens up the fat so the body can burn it more easily, or so they claim. No research can back these claims up however. The body determines the location of fat loss, not your clothing. At best the heat from the belt decreases the amount of water around that location for a short time. When someone loses weight using this method, it can be attributed to the training performed while wearing the belt, not the belt itself.

  1. Power Plates

A lot of research has been performed investigating the effects of the power plate in rehabilitation and weight loss. For weight loss, it is just as effective as the sauna belt. It does not add anything. In other words, how much weight and fat you lose depends on how you train with it. On the other hand, if you enjoy training on it, it can’t harm either.


Unfortunately there are no miracle cures. When you want to lose weight you have to work for it. The most effective method is to perform both resistance and cardiovascular exercise, and combine this with healthy nutrition. In addition make sure you walk or cycle regularly an sleep sufficiently.

Fact or Fable: Fat Metabolism starts after 20 minutes of exercise

To improve body composition and weight loss it is often recommended by fitness experts to perform cardio training for a duration of 30 minutes or more. It is said that fat metabolism starts after 20 minutes of continuous training. After 20 minutes glycogen stores should be depleted and the body is forced to burn fat instead. Is this true or not and is this the most effective way of losing weight and improving body composition?

Firstly a large body of research has shown that exercising for longer durations is not necessarily more effective than short high intensity workouts in improving body composition. Moreover, the latest research has shown that low volume high intensity interval workouts are far more effective in stimulating fat loss than high volume moderate intensity exercise.

Secondly, the body will always try to burn fat and save the limited carbohydrate store for when it is necessary to work at higher intensities. The body of an average human only has enough carbohydrates to exercise at higher intensities for 20-30 minutes, which explains the source of this fable, but these stores can be increased by proper exercise as well.

It is true that when exercise intensity increases, the anaerobic energy systems are the first to supply the necessary extra energy and it takes a while before the aerobic systems, among which fat oxidation, have increased activity enough to supply the required energy. However, this process only takes a few minutes depending on training status. This means that if exercise intensity allows it, someone exercising for 20 minutes will be burning fat for at least 17 minutes.

Fat does not burn as easily as carbohydrates and therefore energy for performing higher intensity exercise will be provided by carbohydrates. However, when the body exercises regularly at these higher intensities, which do not allow fat metabolism or limits it, the body gets a signal to improve the efficiency and capacity of fat metabolism so it can sustain higher exercise intensities while using primarily fat.

In conclusion, fat metabolism is one of the most important energy systems in the human body. The body always strives to burn fat to produce ATP if possible or will adapt to allow for more efficient fat metabolism, making it easier to lose weight and improve body composition. However training duration does not have to be longer than 20-30 minutes to use fat or to be effective in weight loss if exercise intensity is high enough.

Resting Metabolism

The human body’s metabolism provides the necessary energy for exercise and movement. In addition the body needs energy in rest as well, which is known as resting metabolism. The reason for this is that the body is constantly at work to maintain a balanced state in its internal environment. A proces also known as homeostasis.

Properties such as body temperature, pH, lactate concentration or blood glucose must be closely regulated for the body to function properly. When these are not maintained within normal parameters, the body will not function well or it may even be fatal. These processes all need to be constantly provided with energy even when the body is at rest, which is known as the resting metabolism. The energy in the form of ATP is generated from nutrients containing fat carbohydrates and protein using the anaerobic and aerobic systems.

In an average human, the resting metabolism is responsible for up to 75% of total daily energy expenditure, whereas physical activity and training are responsible for the other 25%. When training at high intensity, the body needs to work harder to return to a balanced state, which can increase resting metabolism beyond normal values. Resting metabolism can be increased as well by increasing muscle mass, since muscles need a constant supply of energy as well. Many training programs aimed at weight loss therefore are designed to increase resting metabolism either by high intensity cardio training or strength training aimed at hypertrophy or both.

