The Mysterious Health Benefits of Cinnamon
By Cassandra Forsythe-Pribanic, PhD, RD
Cinnamon is one spice almost everyone has in their kitchen cupboard. Whether it’s used to create hot, delicious, apple cider on a cold winter day, or is added to toast with butter and brown sugar, it actually has several health properties we can all benefit from, while making our food taste (and smell) extraordinary.
Cultural uses for cinnamon
This warming spice has been in use by different populations around the world for thousands of years; it’s been mentioned in ancient Chinese writings and is spoken of several times within the Bible. Moses wrote of cinnamon as a major ingredient in the “holy anointing oil” used to bless his people.
Different species of the cinnamon plant are native to areas in South East Asia, mainly Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Ceylon and Burma, although it’s also grown in Brazil and the Caribbean too. It’s popular smell has made it a favorite among many cultures and populations.
As a flavoring agent, cinnamon is preferred for adding spice to sweet dishes and baked goods, like apple pie and sticky buns, but it is also used to spice meats and whole grain dishes (rice), and create fragrant curries.
Health properties
Over the thousands of years cinnamon has been around, it’s been used in many different applications, such as:
- Reduces mold growth in bread products (is a fungicide)
- Can increase resistance to and help fight the common cold by battling congestion and inducing perspiration
- Reduces body temperature due to fever
- Alleviates mental stress
- Improves memory and attention
- Relieves joint pain due to arthritis
- Reduces headaches and migraines
- Can treat diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and flatulence
- And will freshen your breath when chewed (like cinnamon gum!)
Blood sugar regulation benefits
More recently, scientists have shown benefits of cinnamon for preventing and treating blood sugar abnormalities that lead to Metabolic Syndrome and diabetes. Metabolic Syndrome is a cluster of symptoms that highly predispose a person to more chronic diseases, and include insulin resistance, elevated glucose, dyslipidemia, inflammation, decreased antioxidant activity, obesity and increased glycation of body proteins.
In several different cell, animal and human whole body studies, cinnamon has been shown to improve these variables. It also has been shown to improve fasting blood glucose levels, lean body mass, blood pressure and gastric (stomach) emptying in people with and without type 2 diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome.
In a recent review of studies conducted between 2003 and 2008, two studies of patients with type 2 diabetes and one study of people without diabetes showed that cinnamon supplementation significantly reduced fasting blood glucose concentrations by 8-29% (the reduction was greater for those with higher fasting levels at baseline).
Doses of cinnamon used in these studies ranged from 1 gram to 6 grams. More significant results were found with higher doses rather than lower. In three studies that did not show any significant effects, they used lower doses but did show trends for reduced hemoglobin A1c levels (a marker of long term blood glucose balance) and morning fasting glucose measurements – a trend tells us that the results are moving in the right direction even though statistics do not say they were significant enough.
Overall, there’s not enough solid evidence to make definite conclusions about cinnamons ability to prevent or treat diabetes, but it does show much promise and there are several ways it can potentially modify one’s risk factors for this disease. Some of the mechanisms include:
- Delayed stomach emptying which can reduce the rate of absorption of glucose from food and prevent increases in blood triglycerides (excess blood glucose is converted to fats within the liver)
- Flavanoid-supressed glucose absorption – the compounds in cinnamon can reduce food sugar uptake intrinsically (to an extent; it won’t work if you take in excessive amounts of sugar)
- Polyphenols in cinnamon can mimic the effects of insulin on cellular blood glucose uptake through a number of different pathways
Another factor to consider with any cinnamon dose is the molecular concentration of the active components: various polyphenols which give cinnamon its therapeutic benefits. Some studies that show little effect on blood glucose regulation could possibly be because of low active component content. Thus, higher doses are usually more effective than lower ones – likewise, higher-quality concentrated cinnamon products are also more useful.
Finally, taking cinnamon with meals has the ability to slow gastric emptying and reduce glucose absorption more than if it is taken separate from food. Therefore, with supplements, it’s best taken when you eat, rather than on an empty stomach. Supplements may also be preferable to cinnamon added to foods due to the fact that enzymes in saliva may inactive some of the polyphenols, making it less potent.
Weight loss advantages
Through effects of slowing food glucose absorption, and enhancing the body’s ability to use glucose in metabolically active cells via direction of insulin, rather than store it away as fat, cinnamon improves body composition. The body accumulates less fat as a result of ideally-regulated blood sugar concentrations.
A handful of animal and human research has shown these effects – more studies may have also seen these results, but they were not reported as weight and body composition was not the primary outcome of interest.
However, as noted above, cinnamon given therapeutically can improve glucose use and blood concentrations, which are known to favorably influence body fat levels (causing body fat levels to decrease – which is much of the premise of lower carbohydrate and lower glycemic index diets).
Summary
In conclusion, when cinnamon is used alongside other nutritious food options, like oatmeal with whey protein, instead of sugary treats, it can actually improve our health. However, not many of us use it on (or in) enough foods or in high enough quantity to make it functional.
Thus, when delivered in supplemental form, it can ensure higher doses and active components to slow food glucose transport and absorption, improved glucose uptake and enhance insulin’s actions on cells. In Prograde’s Metabolism, you’re given a concentrated dose of quality cinnamon bark equivalent to 1 gram of whole cinnamon, which when taken twice per day, will help you achieve the beneficial results seen in research settings.
If you choose to use food-sourced cinnamon, buy a high quality brand of cinnamon sticks (correctly called quills) or powder, and keep it in an air-tight container away from light.
Some other ideas for adding cinnamon to food include: added to unsweetened coffee or tea at breakfast, sprinkled on unsweetened applesauce, whole peaches or pears, used in whey protein smoothies, or even added to your scrambled eggs in the morning or at night!
Bottom line: use cinnamon wisely in conjunction with a balanced, unprocessed eating regimen, and a smaller waistline could be yours in less time than you think.
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*end guest blog post*
As you can see, some spices like cinnamon (which most of us already have right in our kitchen), can make us healthier AND help us burn more fat over the long haul.
This was a super eye-opening article for us too!
Thanks for our friends at Prograde Nutrition for providing this unique article and doing all the research for us.
Since almost everybody already HAS cinnamon in their kitchen, make sure you share this with your friends and family so they reap the benefits as well. (Just hit the “like” button below)
We’ll be back next week to get everybody rockin on their post-summer fat loss plan.
Committed to help you burn more fat…naturally,
Shaun and Karen
If you want to put all the scientific benefits of this ancient spice to work on your body now, you’re just in time. Prograde has a special limited time 20% discount on their all-natural proven formula.
Click Here ====> Grab your Prograde Metabolism and learn how to save 25% off your order.
References
Kirkham S et al. The potential of cinnamon to reduce blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2009 Dec;11(12):1100-13.
Qin B et al. Cinnamon: potential role in the prevention of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. J Diabetes Sci Technol. 2010 May 1;4(3):685-93.
Couturier K et al. Cinnamon improves insulin sensitivity and alters the body composition in an animal model of the metabolic syndrome. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2010 May 31.
Cao H et al. Cinnamon extract regulates glucose transporter and insulin-signaling gene expression in mouse adipocytes. Phytomedicine. 2010 May 27.
Ziegenfuss T et al. Effects of a water-soluble cinnamon extract on body composition and features of the metabolic syndrome in pre-diabetic men and women. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2006 Dec 28;3:45-53.
Roussel A et al. Antioxidant effects of a cinnamon extract in people with impaired fasting glucose that are overweight or obese. J Am Coll Nutr. 2009 Feb;28(1):16-21.
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September 2nd, 2010 | Tags: 15 fat burning foods, belly fat burning food, belly fat burning foods, body fat burning foods, fat burning compatible foods, fat burning food, fat burning foods, fat burning foods for men, food burn fat, food that burn fat, foods for burning fat, foods for fat burning, foods that burn fat fast, foods that help burn fat, healthy fat burning foods, natural fat burning foods, top fat burning foods
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Unfortunately deep-fried pickles is
not on the list (but the recipe is below)…
Hi everybody! My husband and I just got back from a one-week anniversary vacation up in Northern Michigan.
(You can see the pics below; the cute sign he drew me in the sand, the view from our cabin deck, one of our sunset cruise pictures (after a few drinks), and my crazy hubby doing a back flip off our boat.)
As always, there was a LOT of partying and consumption of unhealthy foods like deep-fried pickles. Ingredients: dill pickles wrapped with ham and Swiss cheese then deep-fried in a wonton.
Can you say Yummylicious! Nutrition Content = you don’t want to know! 
To top it all off, I already kind of feel like a “fatso” because I’ve slacked a little more than I should have this summer.
This always seems to happen to me every summer.
You probably might be able to relate. After all, we only get 3 or 4 months of good weather up here in Michigan. We all gotta enjoy life a little bit.
Right?
Even though we realize that taking a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life is absolutely necessary two or three times a year, the most depressing part is coming home.
It seems like we’re always depressed for 2 or 3 days when we have to come back to the reality of everyday life.
That’s why we always take a picture (I call it a fat picture haha) and plan out at least eight weeks of nutrition and exercise.
But sometimes that’s not enough. Even if you have your nutrition and exercise planned out, sometimes we need something to give us that extra edge.
And let’s face it. If you’re using something that can give you that “extra edge”, you’re more likely to eat right and not miss your exercise sessions.
Believe or not, some natural ingredients found right in your grocery store can actually keep your metabolism “exercising” at rest making it easier to burn fat.
Four of the most studied of these ingredients are coffee, hot red pepper, cinnamon and green tea.
It’s kind of funny because I’ve used every one of these ingredients in my everyday cooking for years without even realizing they can actually have a synergistic effect.
Shaun introduced me to an article about these four ingredients that I read while we were on vacation. It was written by Jayson Hunter (head of R&D with our friends at Prograde Nutrition) and I found very intriguing.
I thought you would also find interesting.
Below are the actual results from studies cited on these ingredients from Jayson about the natural benefits.
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Here’s just a small sample of what human studies (actual humans – not animals) have reported about these four all-natural fat fighting ingredients:
1. Coffee (caffeine)
While the proportions may shift from moment to moment, your body always burns a mixture of three fuels: carbohydrate, fat and protein.
Thus, if you increase your overall calorie-burning rate (a.k.a. metabolic rate), it’s pretty much guaranteed that your fat-burning rate will go up, bringing you that much closer to the negative fat balance territory where real slimming occurs.
About 75% of the caffeine consumed in the United States comes from coffee, a product that no supermarket can be considered complete without. Caffeine is recognized worldwide for its ability to enhance alertness and performance. However, it also displays fast-acting calorie-burning properties. For instance, a study involving lean and overweight (obese) subjects reported that a single 100-mg dose of caffeine (equivalent to a little over 1 cup of coffee) was enough to raise their calorie-burning rate by up to 4% for 2.5 hours.
While a 4% increase may not seem like a big deal, it can turn into one. The scientists who conducted the study explain, “…if it is assumed that there is no compensatory increase in food intake, the increase [in calorie-burning rate] after caffeine would represent an energy deficit of 75-110 kcal/day. These changes may be small but over several months could accumulate and lead to substantial changes in body weight.”
But wait. Regular coffee drinkers know all too well that you can become tolerant to its energizing effects over time. Won’t the same thing happen here? Fortunately, evidence suggests that caffeine’s calorie-burning effects persist with repeated exposure. Case in point: The subjects in the above study were all mild to moderate consumers of caffeine, consuming anywhere from 250-500 mg per day, equivalent to ~3-6 cups of coffee. Yet they all enjoyed a calorie-burning boost from the relatively small dose given to them.
2. Hot Pepper (capsaicin)
The waiter places a delicious meal in front of you that includes a spicy curry sauce. You devour it. For the next 30 minutes your calorie-burning rate is cruises at 10% above baseline, equivalent to burning an additional 129 Calories per day, or 27% of the caloric value of the entire meal.
Sounds too good to be true?
This fictitious scenario became a reality at Kyoto University in Japan when scientists gave young women a 481-Calorie meal consisting of a yellow curry sauce containing 3 mg of capsaicin.
Capsaicin is the compound responsible for the sharp, and for some of us, intolerably painful, sensation produced by eating hot red peppers. It’s also to blame for the beads of sweat that appear on your forehead as you do so. Thus, it may come as no surprise to learn that deep inside the body capsaicin can increase your calorie-burning rate by stimulating a process known as thermogenesis.
Thermogenesis essentially involves the release of calories in the form of heat. Once released, they can no longer be stored as body fat. In addition to increasing thermogenesis, capsaicin has been found to improve meal satiety (i.e. how full you feel after eating), thereby reducing your risk of overeating. In animal studies it has been reported to increase calorie-burning rate and reduce body fat.
Of course, the single most powerful way to increase your calorie-burning rate and get into negative fat balance is to exercise. Here, too, capsaicin may boost your slimming efforts. When scientists gave healthy subjects capsaicin an hour before performing low-intensity exercise (stationary cycling), they burned more fat. The increase was impressive enough that the scientists suggested capsaicin be used as an adjunctive therapy in the treatment of elevated blood lipid levels and/or obesity.
3. Cinnamon
Cinnamon often serves as a flavorful addition to carbohydrate-rich meals. How great is it, then, to learn that it may help “push” more of those carbohydrates into lean muscle and away from fat cells (adipose tissue)?
Most of the carbohydrate calories you eat are eventually converted into glucose (a.k.a. blood sugar). The hormone insulin helps direct glucose into your body’s cells, including muscle cells. The more sensitive your muscle cells are to insulin, the more efficiently they can scoop up glucose and store it for later use, such as providing your muscles with energy during exercise. All other things held constant, this leaves less glucose available for your fat cells, which might otherwise use it to make body fat.
Of the many plants studied to date, cinnamon has been reported to be among the most powerful in terms of its ability to enhance insulin sensitivity and keep blood glucose levels in check. When added to a carbohydrate-rich meal, it reduces the rise in blood glucose normally experienced afterwards. While the effects on insulin sensitivity may take a couple of weeks to manifest, the improvements in blood glucose control appear virtually immediately.
So cinnamon increases insulin sensitivity and improves blood glucose regulation. Great. However, does this mean it can help you lose body fat more quickly? In fact, this ancient spice might help you do more than that. Dr Richard Anderson (Ph.D.) at the US Department of Agriculture has conducted numerous studies on cinnamon. He says that if cinnamon is consumed long-term, it can enhance lean body mass (this includes muscle) and reduce body fat, something he and his scientific colleagues demonstrated in a study performed in 2006.
4. Green Tea
White, green and black varieties of tea all contain caffeine (anywhere from ~14-61 mg per 6-8 oz serving). But it’s green tea that seems to get the most attention from scientists when it comes to burning fat. And its fat-burning effects are due to more than its caffeine content.
In one frequently cited study, healthy young men were given a green tea extract three times per day. Their 24-hour calorie-burning rate was 3.5% higher than that of subjects taking a placebo. This was equivalent to burning an additional 200 Calories per day -more than enough to eventually produce substantial weight loss and reductions in body fat.
Not only did green tea cause the subjects to burn more calories, but a larger proportion of the calories burned were determined by the scientists to have come from fat. That is, green tea was pushing them closer towards negative fat balance territory, if not pushing them right into it. Based on the scientists’ comments (they used the term “remarkable” to describe green tea’s effects), they seemed to be quite impressed. Indeed, green tea’s thermogenic effects in this study were as powerful as much larger doses of caffeine.
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After reviewing these ingredients and the research behind them, you can see exactly why these 4 ingredients can give you that extra edge – naturally.
Although these studies seem like they have a lot of potential, there’s really a lot more to learn about how you make these proven ingredients work together in the right way.
And even though I love to cook, it would be nearly impossible to spend each day trying to incorporate these 4 ingredients consistently into a nutrition plan and actually know I’m getting these benefits.
Here’s a great way to make using everyone of these 4 ingredients a no-brainer.
Click Here ===> The full story how you can use these fantastic 4 to accelerate fat loss naturally
You’ll discover exactly how you can get these 4 fat fighters working together all at the same time to dramatically increase their effectiveness.
Prograde has actually put together an easy and convenient way to actually combine all these ingredients and get immediate benefits in one convenient supplement.
Plus, let’s face it. The older we get, the harder it is to keep the weight off.
That’s why I occasionally use all-natural stuff like this to get back on track after a long summer and as extra incentive to eat clean and get to the gym consistently.
One more very important point I must make.
You could take the greatest supplement in the world and still not get any benefits IF you don’t have nutrition and exercise in-line and consistent first.
Supplements should always be used to do exactly what they say. “Supplement” your current exercise and nutrition plan.
But…and this is a big but, it’s important that you stick with the “all-natural” stuff and not the artificial, hyped up fat burning pills and gimmicks you see everywhere.
Otherwise, as Shaun always says, you could just be making expensive urine.
That’s why we always take the all-natural route.
We’ll definitely be using these ingredients after Labor Day as extra motivation to stay on track.
I hope you enjoyed this and it helps you put together your “post-summer” fat loss plan.
If you’re anything like me, it’s time to get your camera out!
Have a great day,
Karen
P.S. Just to be clear, I have to say it one last time. These ingredients are not a cure-all, but science sure has come a long ways to help us use them to stay healthy and burn more fat.
Use the Fantastic FOUR to burn more fat naturally <—– Click here for the full article
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August 31st, 2010 | Tags: 15 fat burning foods, belly fat burning food, best fat burning food, burning fat food, fat burning foodfood that burn fat, list of fat burning food, natural fat burning food, natural fat burning foods, top fat burning food, top fat burning foods
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Mix things it up, Have more fun, Get more results…
We’re hanging out at Torch Lake (one of the top 10 lakes in the world) for a week for our anniversary, and finally found some time to get this out to you.
This is the view from our dock.
Pretty sweet huh? We’re going to enjoy this week for sure, because right when we get back, we’re going full force on the plan below.
When we left off with the last blog post (read it here) we introduced you to an actual workout that you could apply from each of the 3 individual proven cardio pillars of attacking fat (Turtles, Hamsters, and Gazelles).
We also based these specific examples on your current level of condition so virtually anybody can take this proven approach. Then we talked about how crucial this is for overcoming exercise adaption and making your plan fun for the long haul.
Hopefully you’ve been experimenting with these a little bit and you’re ready to take it to the next level. No turtles allowed for this one. Sorry.
Today we’re back to introduce you to an actual training protocol and schedule that you can strategically use to implement the 3 pillars sequentially and synergistically. Kind of a tongue twister, but it’s powerful.
Synergistic Sequencing will give you the greatest (and fastest) fat burning effect and maximize time you spend exercising.
As always, if you really want to flatten your belly and see your abs, you MUST be doing this in conjunction with some type of resistance training and consistently cycling your carbs.
This type of protocol can be very demanding on the body. If you do traditional high intensity weights, there’s a high chance of over-training unless you’re advanced and understand some accelerated recovery strategies.
One of the best result oriented approaches to prevent overtraining is super quick and efficient bodyweight workouts like Craig Ballantyne’s MRT (metabolic resistance training). (See It Here)
Also make sure you’re using a macro-patterning (glycogen manipulation) nutrition plan like our 8-week Home Study Course.
You have been coached by Wendy right? <==== If not, go here.
Ok, we kept this schedule fairly easy to follow for simplicity and flexibility, but there are a few basic rules that must be followed in order to make this work properly.
First, always warm-up and cool down for 4 to 5 minutes minimum before and after your workouts. Also, remember to walk briskly for 10 to 30 minutes after all pillar 3 workouts if time permits (to accelerate the burning of free fatty acids).
Also, make sure you perform the workouts below directly after your resistance training workouts, after waking up on an empty stomach, or 3 to 4 hours after a healthy balanced meal to maximize fat loss and metabolic hormones properly.
This synergistic sequence is specifically designed to burn that stubborn (hard to get rid of) fat and progressively get you leaner week by week.
This particular sequence requires no more than about 3 hours per week of total cardio (4 hours max if peaking or losing the last 10 to 15 pounds).
A quick recap:
Pillar 1 (P1): Aerobic/Endurance (Steady State) usually 65% to 85% of max heart rate.
We strategically schedule the majority of these longer duration workouts during or after the weekend to maximize glycogen burn. This is assuming you’re a weekend warrior like us and you end up consuming more calories (especially carb calories) on the weekend.
We also use this to help you create a foundation of endurance during the first couple weeks as we progress you into a more intense regimen week-by-week.
Pillar 2 (P2): Threshold (2 to 5 minute intervals)
Because pillar 2 helps your metabolism burn more fat and calories when performing exercise within the other 2 pillars, we strategically place these in the middle of the week.
First, it helps condition your cardiovascular system (raises your threshold) to tolerate the higher intensity and demand of system 3. Second, you’ll perform them right in-between pillars 1 and 3 to maximize the natural benefits of working this system.
Pillar 3 (P3): Creatine Phosphate (GL-12 or H.I.I.T.)
Since you’ve already performed pillars 1 and 2 workouts earlier in the week, it only makes sense to place the most demanding (pillar 3) workouts towards the end of the week. Your body has been conditioned and your metabolic triggers are primed to respond to the higher intensity workouts of pillar 3.
Make no mistake about it. Pillar 3 will kick your butt.
Ok, it’s GO TIME!
Click Here To Download An Easy-To-Read PDF Version
There are a bazzillion ways you can do this, but this is an easy way to synergistically sequence your cardio so you can burn fat while still maintaining lean muscle tissue.
Notice how we start adding in morning and evening sessions starting on week five. This is done intentionally to force your body to bust through adaption and trick your metabolism.
If you ever feel like you’re at a sticking point or getting stuck in a rut once you reach maintenance, just change the time of day. Your body will wonder what the heck is going on and “snap” just like that…you’ll start burning more fat.
Now that summer is coming to an end, our plan is to start this ourselves (when we get back form Torch Lake) in conjunction with MRT workouts and our macro-patterning.
We don’t try to reinvent the wheel. We use what works.
That’s exactly why we use our buddy Craig Ballantyne’s bodyweight workouts. After all, if you’re going to invest your precious time working out, why not use the world’s best?
Speaking of the world’s best. Here’s a special link where you can learn about bodyweight MRT workouts that fit perfectly (like a hand and glove) with our GL-12 Cardio Sequencing.
The no-equipment, anywhere, anytime bodyweight workout system that works in perfect synergy with GL-12 Sequencing. <==== Click here
Well, what do you think? Pretty freakin cool eh?
Don’t forget to leave your comments (and share the love by hitting the “like” button).
Helping you live lean for life,
Shaun and Karen
P.S. We’ll be back soon with some fat loss time management techniques and motivation from Karen next week.
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August 23rd, 2010 | Tags: at home cardio, cardio, cardio exercise, cardio exercises, cardio or strength training, cardio program, cardio routine, cardio schedule, cardio training, cardio weight loss, cardio work out, cardio work out schedule, cardio workout, cardio workout schedule, cardio workout schedules, cardio workouts, workout schedule
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Eliminate Your Turtle And Hamster Mentality To Transform Yourself Into
A Lean And Mean Fat Burning Gazelle…
In the last blog article, we introduced you to the 3 PROVEN pillars of fat loss.
Today we’re back (just like we promised) to give you an example workout from each individual Pillar (animal) so you can transform your turtle and hamster mentality into that of a short burst, fat burning gazelle.
And we’re not talking about a Tony Little-style Gazelle here either. This isn’t some gimmicky philosophy. This IS the real deal.
Remember that if you want to be a real fat-burning Gazelle, you will sometimes act like a hamster (Pillar 1). This is for recovery purposes and to prime your metabolism to burn more fat when coming out of your turtle shell to act like a Gazelle (Pillars 2 and 3).
Also, it’s crucial that you incorporate some type of resistance training like weights or MRT (Metabolic Resistance Training) into this plan if you really want this to work. We know this is kind of obvious to most of our readers; we just wanted to make sure we didn’t leave it out.
Speaking of metabolic resistance training (MRT), one of the world’s best metabolic resistance training experts (our “go to” guy and friend), recently shared some of his best stuff with us…you can learn more about how to use it at the end of this post.
Before we give you some sample workouts, remember that you’ll never see results unless you understand the number one component of fat loss. What is it? One word.
INTENSITY
Without applying proper intensity you’ll simply be stuck in your turtle shell or be trapped forever on a hamster wheel. (Ok. Enough of the animal analogies already
Are you intimidated by intensity? If so, relax. You’re not alone.
Here’s the key. Apply our intensity scale below to YOU personally.
Your current age…your gender…your current level of condition (or any other limitations you may have).
*GL-12 Intensity Scale
- Level 1 = Warm-Up or Slow Pace
- Level 2 = Jog or Medium Pace
- Level 3 = Run or Hard Pace
- Level 4 = Fast Run or Very Hard Pace
- Level 5 = Sprint or All Out Burst (based on your current level of personal condition)
*Intensity levels are different for every person and are based on your current condition, age, gender, or other limitations, so please gauge your intensity level based on where you’re at right now personally. You can also apply this scale to other types of exercise besides running or sprinting.
IMPORTANT: Always warm-up and cool down for 4 to 5 minutes minimum
PILLAR 1: Aerobic/Endurance (Steady State Cardio)
In the aerobic pillar, oxygen is used to break down fatty acids and glucose to release energy. In other words, oxygen is primarily present so you can go for longer durations at a steady pace and the majority of fat calories burned happens during the workout itself.
Just remember: Aerobic means with oxygen and anaerobic means without oxygen.
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Beginner |
Intermediate |
Advanced |
| Duration: |
30 minutes |
45 Minutes |
60 Minutes |
| Intensity: |
Level 1 to 2 |
Level 2 |
Level 2 to 3 |
PILLAR 2: Threshold (Intervals)
This is the pillar just above Aerobic training. You can typically stay in this anaerobic pillar for 2 to 5 minutes at a time before letting your heart rate come back down and recovering.
This pillar has several important benefits.
Research shows that threshold training allows your body to respond continuously from the aerobic type training discussed above. This is important to know because so many people hit a wall when they get stuck in the aerobic pillar (a.k.a. the hamster wheel).
It will also help you burn more fat and calories when incorporating a base of pillar 1 and pillar 3 along with it.
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Beginner |
Intermediate |
Advanced |
| Duration: |
30 minutes |
40 Minutes |
40 Minutes |
| Intensity: |
2 min @ 3
2 min @ 1
(repeat x 5) |
3 min @ 3-4
3 min @ 1
(repeat x5) |
3 min @ 4
3 min @ 1 or 2
(repeat x 5) |
PILLAR 3: Creatine Phosphate (High Intensity Bursts or Intervals)
Gazelle time!
Lastly is creatine phosphate (Get Lean In 12 intervals and H.I.I.T.). This system can only support high intensity effort for 15 to 60 seconds at a time.
The main thing to remember with Get Lean In 12 intervals and H.I.I.T. workouts is that although they are only 12 to 20 minutes in duration, they will increase both the “aerobic” AND “anaerobic” systems at the same exact time.
This is typically unheard of when it comes to exercise. Also, study after study shows your metabolism will be elevated for up to 48 hours from just one pillar 3 workout.
Again, just remember the “more” is not “better” GL-12 philosophy. Doing a bunch of pillar 3 workouts every week is not the answer, but it definitely yields the most results for the time invested.
Continuously using all 3 pillars is the solution.
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Beginner |
Intermediate |
Advanced |
| Duration: |
20 minutes |
12 Minutes |
12 Minutes |
| Intensity: |
1 min @ 4
2 min @ 1
(repeat x 5) |
30 sec @ 4-5
30 sec @ 1
(repeat x 5) |
20 sec @ 5
10 sec @ 1
(repeat x 8.) |
It’s nice to know that the time and effort invested into pillar 3 will still be working up to 2 days later…even while you’re sleeping. Now that’s a beautiful thing!
One final note on Pillars 2 and 3.
Feel free to walk briskly for 10 to 30 minutes afterwards if time permits. A lot of research shows this will help the heart utilize oxygen properly and enhance fat loss by burning off the Free Fatty Acids that your body will release during high intensity bursts of exercise.
The strategy above is how we personally went from exercising 8 to 10 hours every week, alllllll the way down to just 4 or 5 hours a week. Ironically, we doubled our results at the same exact time. I know we’ve beaten this drum to death, but more is NOT better. Got it?
There’s one more final strategy that will help you maximize your body’s natural fat burning potential with this approach. We call it “sequencing”.
When you use this approach sequentially in the proper order, you can force your body to feed on more fat.
At least 20 comments and we’ll be back in a few days with the exact weekly exercise schedule you can use to make all 3 of the PROVEN pillars work together synergistically and sequentially.
There’s more metabolic trickery coming your way in a couple of days. But you have to leave your comment and we’ll be back to help you cross the finish line.
Committed to your fat burning success,
Shaun and Karen
P.S. If you want to learn how to use this exact same approach (at home or anywhere) with resistance training, just check out Metabolic Resistance Training guru and expert (and friend of ours) Craig Ballantyne’s bodyweight cardio…
Never miss a workout again with super fast in-home MRT workouts that blowtorch body fat <—— Click Here
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August 17th, 2010 | Tags: best fat burning cardio, best fat burning cardio exercise, cardio and fat burningcardio for fat burning, Fat Burning Cardio, fat burning cardio exercise, fat burning cardio exercises, fat burning cardio program, fat burning cardio routine, fat burning cardio workout, fat burning cardio workouts, fat burning vs cardio
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How to overcome exercise adaption and fat loss plateaus…(Turtles, Hamsters, and Gazelles)
Most people approach exercise haphazardly with absolutely no plan. In other words, they decide what workout they’re going to do for that day while they’re walking into the health club or their home gym.
We used to do the same thing. Do you? This is a HUGE exercise mistake.
We learned a long time ago that you must have a plan to overcome adaption if you really want to burn fat and get results.
It amazes us how many people have been working out year after year (sometimes for hours at a time) with absolutely no visible fat loss results to show for it.
Their heart might get stronger and they probably even get cardiovascular benefits from exercise. But without a strategic plan to keep their bodies from adapting, they’ll NEVER see visible fat loss results.
Really think about this. If you’re going to spend the time AND effort exercising, shouldn’t you know for a fact that you’re actually burning fat so you can see visible as well as physical results?
People generally fall into one of three categories when it comes to cardio.
1. Turtles: This is the person who gets on a treadmill or some other machine and uses their time to read a book, watch the latest negative news or talk show, and gossip with their friends. This will burn up some calories, but is basically useless.
You might as well be working around the house. You’ll burn just as many calories, you won’t fill your head with so much crap AND you’ll get more accomplished. (Turtles really get on our nerves for some reason. If this is you, we apologize, we just feel like you should be using your time more wisely.)
2. Hamsters: These are the people that have a “more” is “better” mentality (with too much time on their hands – must be nice!). You see them jogging or cranking away at a medium pace for hours on end.
We’ll get to the gym, crank out our workout, stretch, go get some 1 on 1 sauna or cultivation time, and the Hamster is STILL cranking away on their machine a couple hours later. Can you say insanity?
The Hamster is the most likely to burn out, get injured, and burn up a lot of valuable fat burning muscle. It’s actually kind of humorous. What’s even funnier is when they ask you for help, then don’t listen.
3. Gazelles: This is a rare breed, but they’re easy to recognize. How? They’re in-shape. They sweat more, make more noise, they’re efficient and they workout with a goal and a purpose. Gazelles push themselves out of their comfort zone consistently and get visible results.
We’re happy to report that we’re Gazelles! The Gazelle (the actual animal) is not a leaper, but instead eludes predators with incredible bursts of speed, sometimes reaching 60 miles/hour. They’re also super lean.
Gazelles will sometimes intentionally act like a Hamster for recovery purposes and to help overcome adaption. But the majority of their time is spent using higher intensity exercise.
We figured out a long time ago how to formulate an effective plan for attacking body fat using the 3 pillars below (with Gazelle type cardio and intervals). This will help you do three very important things.
- Dramatically cut down the time you spend exercising.
- Immediately know – for a fact – that you’re always tapping into and burning fat when you exercise (so you can actually see visible results from your effort).
- Completely prevent burnout and boredom in your long-term exercise approach (by using variety and flexibility to make exercise more fun AND overcome adaption).
PILLAR #1: Aerobic / Endurance (Steady State) Cardio
Perform 1 or 2 times weekly for 45 to 60 minutes. No more, no less.
Pros:
- Easier to use and apply immediately because of lower intensity.
- Great conditioning for heart and cardiovascular system.
- A strategic primer for your body to respond to “other pillars” properly.
Cons:
- Consumes more time than intervals like H.I.I.T. or GL-12 (The other 2 pillars).
- Only burns fat and calories DURING the workout. This type of cardio only elevates your metabolism for about an hour afterwards. In other words, after this type of “old-school” type of cardio, your metabolism will be back to its normal level in about an hour (The other 2 pillars will elevate your metabolism for 4 to 48 hours afterwards).
- Your body adapts VERY quickly to this type of exercise so it’s only effective if you use it synergistically with the other 2 pillars.
PILLAR #2: Threshold (Interval training)
Perform 1 or 2 times weekly for 30 to 40 minutes.
Pros:
- Generally fun to do because it’s constantly changing.
- Moderately efficient so it can save you some time.
- Intense enough to produce results even though more recovery time is required between intervals.
- Conditions and primes your cardiovascular system to burn more calories (especially fat calories) when applying the other 2 pillars.
Cons:
- Sometimes difficult to gauge intensity because intervals (bursts) last 2 to 5 minutes long.
- Only elevates your metabolism for about 4 hours afterwards (this is still a more effective post workout metabolic burst than pillar 1, but not nearly as efficient as pillar 3 – see below).
- Must pay close attention to the protocol for it to have the proper effect. In other words, you must plan your work and work your plan when doing this type of training.
PILLAR #3: Creatine Phosphate (High Intensity Interval Training: H.I.I.T. or GL-12)
Perform 3 or 4 times a week for 12 to 30 minutes.
Pros:
- Saves you a ton of time.
- Elevates your metabolism for up to 48 hours (2 full days) afterwards.
- Promotes the stimulation of very powerful fat burning hormones (Growth Hormone, Free Fatty Acids, Adrenaline, Brain Chemicals like endorphins).
- Lowers insulin dramatically to help you burn more fat and have better energy.
Cons:
- Difficult to perform if you have limitations or heart challenges (but can still be applied by anybody).
- More likely to cause injuries if not approached safely (always need a thorough warm-up and cool down).
- Not a quick fix or cure-all (but definitely gives you the most results for your effort), so it needs to be combined with the other 2 pillars in order to work effectively and efficiently.
Now that we’ve introduced you to the 3 proven pillars (and animals) of fat burning cardio, we’ll be back early next week with the exact workouts you can use for each one of these systems.
We’ll also share some of the science of “what happens” to your body when you strategically access each of these pillars…AND how to be a Gazelle.
In the meantime, leave a comment if you have any questions and let us know what your favorite pillar is. We love GL-12 and threshold, but usually have to force ourselves to do Aerobic / Endurance (steady state) cardio. We know it’s necessary, but always seems to take too much time (and it’s really boring too).
What’s your favorite pillar?
Talk to you early next week with some fun workouts for you to try,
Shaun and Karen
P.S. Don’t forget to hit the “like” button so we can help others. Thanks!
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August 11th, 2010 | Tags: exercises to burn stomach fat, fast fat burning exercises, fat burning exercises, how to burn body fat, how to burn stomach fat, how to lose stubborn body fat, lose stubborn body fat, losing body fat, lower body fat, reduce body fat, reducing body fat, stubborn belly fat, stubborn body fat
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