MUST READ: Probably the most important blog post ever written

Maybe it’s my aversion to staring at a wall for 45 minutes or perhaps I have an issue with sitting in one place for an extended period of time wasting time but I HATE THE TREADMILL.

Time and time again I hear people talk about ‘cardio’ being the best fat burning activity. Training in the ‘fat burning zone’ is the way to go.

It’s fair to say ‘cardio’ is a very loose term in itself. When people talk about ‘cardio’ invariably they are talking about the slow and steady runs they do on a treadmill, stationary bike or x-trainer (or even outside…).

It may be interesting to note that there is HUGE body of evidence that now indicates that not only is slow boring low-intensity NOT the most efficient way to exercise, but in fact it’s largely ineffective.

I shouldn’t be too much of a bitch - if it’s a toss up between you doing nothing and going for a long slow bike ride, going on the bike ride is better than nothing. But you need to understand if your goal is to burn fat – do not bother.

Anyone who is familiar with the story of the tortoise and the hare will know that the tortoise won the race.

Whilst the tortoise won the race by going slow and steady, the hare managed to have a sleep and looked really lean and was really cool.

I liken this to your fat loss battle. If you look at Mother Nature any animal that moves faster is leaner and has better tone. For example a slow lumbering cow = fat cow, a fast lean chicken = hot chick. Perhaps it’s not as simple as that but you get the idea…

Working at a high intensity is by far the way to go.

It’s time efficient, more effective and WAAAAAAAAAAY more interesting.

Sure, at the time it will not yield as many calories – an hour of running will burn more calories than a 30 minute interval training session - BUT it’s not the calories you burn at the time that counts, it’s the calories you burn after.

Doing higher intensity interval training creates an afterburn effect. Research suggests that by doing between 5 and 45 minutes of interval training (such as bootcamp, repeat sprints, tabatta) you will continue to burn calories at a higher rate for the next 36hrs.

Therefore you will be burning calories in your sleep!!!

If you want to know how it’s done pull on a pair of trainers go to your local field and run as fast as you can for one-minute and then walk for a minute. Do this for 20 minutes and voila! Of course you can do this on a treadmill or better still even with a variety of bodyweight exercises.

Ditch the slow boring low-intensity ‘cardio’ TODAY and try faster more efficient time-friendly approach. You to could be a lean hot chick!

Three Ways to Get A Flat Stomach

I apologise for being a bit blog-shy recently. As many of you know I’ve been training for ironman and as well as being really busy with PT and Bootcamps the 18-20hrs a week training has kinda left me short of time.

This morning I have a quick one for you.

I typically answer about 1000 questions a day about getting a flat stomach and when the sun comes out this number triples (ok, I might be exaggerating a little).

In my experience to achieve a flat stomach you need three things…

1. A good body composition. This is not necessarily about weight. We are talking about having a low body fat percentage. It stands to reason the leaner you are the better chance you are gonna have of getting a flat stomach. I’m also sorry to tell you this is most strongly manipulated through eating a clean and healthy diet. I’m sorry to tell you also this is nothing about weight. Just because you are light on the scales it doesn’t mean you will have a good body composition. Body fat and weight are different. Cut back on the sugar, processed foods and alcohol and you’ll be halfway there.

2. Create tonality. You cannot do this by exercising at a low intensity! Running on the treadmill for an hour or even lifting the 1kg dumbbells 50 times cannot help you here. Create tonality by working at a higher intensity. People who train at a higher intensity (i.e. get out there comfort zone) have better tonality. And I’m not talking about ‘doing ab work’. Whole body exercises such as squats, lunges, press ups, walkouts, burpees, pull ups are the way to go as they will kick start you metabolism.

3. Posture, posture, posture!!! How you stand and move is important. Anyone who has seen a glamorous celeb on the red carpet will notice it’s all about posturing and confidence. Don’t waste your time doing crunch after crunch on the living room floor, and I’m not talking about doing pilates either. The principles of pilates are good, but apply them to your everyday life by walking and moving in good alignment. To improve posture I suggest doing exercises like planks, side planks, wall angels, bridges - but do them well.

There you have it nice and simple (maybe??). Three things to consider when getting beach ready this year. Perhaps if I pull my finger out in the next week or so I will elaborate on each point separately to give you a better idea of what to do.

Less than two weeks until Ironman France!!! :-)