Tabata Training - The Ultimate in Fat Burning!

The popularity of Tabata training is on the rise and for good reason. Tabata Training was developed by Izumi Tabata at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. It's a high intensity form of interval training that is extremely efficient and effective for weight loss. With traditional aerobic exercise programs you burn calories while you workout but there is very little after burn. With a very short tabata workout, studies show your body will continue to burn calories for up to 2 days later. You got it, you're burning that stubborn fat long after you complete your workout.

A typical tabata exercise lasts for 4 minutes. First pick an exercise that uses your entire body or at least some of your major muscle groups. Good examples are burpees, jump squats, sprints or even push-ups. You complete 8 sets of the same exercise. With each set you go for 20 seconds as hard as you can and then recover for 10 seconds.

I must warn you this type of workout is intense, so depending on where you're at it's something you may need to build up to. Perhaps try only 6 sets to start adding in one or two tabatas into your regular workout routine.

Give it a try and remember to let me know what you think!

Foods that Blast Fat

Experts are saying that certain foods have fat burning properties that help you loose fat quicker.

Try adding these to your grocery list.

1) Salmon

Active Ingredient: Omega 3-fatty acids are great for your cardiovascular system and are known to activate genes that will limit fat storage and actually increase fat-burning.

2) Green Tea

Active Ingredients: Caffeine & epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) are known to increase your metabolic rate and burn fat.

3) Grapefruit

Active Ingredient: Naringin is an antioxidant with great fat burning properties.

4) Avocado

Active Ingredients: Healthy monounsaturated fats are less likely to be stored as fat and can actually help you loose weight. They also contain a sugar called mannoheptulose which is associated with slowing down your insulin release and thereby can impact excess fat storage.

5) Pomegranate

Active Ingredients: Antioxidants & conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) which new studies show are associated with increased fat burning.

Here's a recipe that combines three of these five fat burning foods. Join me this summer in trying this interesting Avocado, Grapefruit and Pomegranate Salad by Martha Stewart. Let me know what you think!

Information for this posting was found in the Ultimate Beach Body edition of Oxygen Magazine.