Ten Keys to Fast Fitness

1) Aerobic exercise (3-4 x weekly, 20-40 minutes each depending on intensity)
2) Cross-training
3) Interval training (no gasping allowed!)
4) Resistance training (with proper post-workout nutrition and recovery), 2-3 x weekly, 45-60 minutes each depending on intensity.
5) Water, water water – both within the food you eat and as your primary beverage
6) Four to six limited, balanced “fuelings” a day, containing adequate protein intake and low-glycemic carbohydrates (to stabilize your blood sugar)
7) Proper nutritional support and supplements
8) Intentional caloric deficits
9) Basic records and specific goals
10) Adequate rest

Here's one of the keys to fast fitness - you want to maintain a persistently high level of metabolic activity every day. The best way to do this is to provide your body with two things – variety and challenge. It's not enough to follow an “exercise routine” where you always do the same exercise, the same way, at the same speed, for the same amount of time.

From the notes I've received from some of you, the most common concern seems to be that your fat loss seems too slow. After starting a serious fitness program including cardiovascular and weight training, nearly everyone feels better and more energetic almost immediately (aside from the perpetual soreness). But even after several weeks, some people do not see a noticeable change in the mirror, so far as fat is concerned. And the scale! You've busted your bottom for weeks, and there's no change! Of course, if you've really been half-hearted about following your program, it's clear why this may happen, but it can also happen when you have honestly been experiencing intensity every day, and have been careful about limiting your portions. I've received messages from people literally in tears at the frustration. Kid, the road to Easy Street runs through the sewer. You gotta get tough (words spoken to me by my favorite teacher, Father Arnold Perham).

The way to lose fat, very simply, is to FOCUS ON THE DEFICIT. You won't lose fat by exercising more if you let your caloric intake creep higher. You won't lose fat by restricting your calories if you're skipping workouts. The goal is to create a deliberate and well-controlled caloric deficit between the energy you take in and the energy that you burn. You do that by planning carefully, keeping accurate records, and maintaining discipline.

The Journal of Physiology recently reported a study that tracked 13 subjects over 12 weeks. One group took a protein-containing supplement immediately after resistance training. The other waited for 2 hours before taking protein. The immediate protein group saw significant increases in muscle mass, dynamic strength (strength in moving a weight) and isometric strength (strength without movement). The 2-hour delay group saw only improved dynamic strength. The study notes "We conclude that an early intake of an oral protein supplement after resistance training is important for the development of hypertrophy in skeletal muscle."

As fitness writer Dave Tuttle notes, "weightlifting is not an endurance sport. It is a peak-intensity sport based on the overload principle. Your muscles grow from the one set when you lift more than you ever did before, and not from the ten sets you did at a weight you have lifted for years."