By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

1. They fail to consider the consequences of their actions.

Alwyn Cosgrove (one of the top trainers in the business) once told me, “I get my clients to think, “Will this help me or not? Is this a positive step or not?” If you can see that every action that you take is either helping you lose fat or stopping you from losing fat, then you will start to make better choices. So remember that everything you put in your mouth is either for or against fat loss. And every exercise choice you make is either for or against fat loss. “Get that”, Alwyn says, “and you’re a hit.”

2. They neglect to control their insulin and blood sugar levels – 2 key factors in determining whether or not the body fat will come off.

If you eat processed foods you are guaranteed to elevate your insulin & blood sugar levels. If you do that, your body sends the message, “Store fat!”, and you won’t make any progress. So avoid white-flour based bakery products, sugary drinks, and almost any carbohydrate snack that comes in a bag or a box.

3. They train like it’s the 80’s.

Yes, I know. Eighties music is popular again. But that doesn’t mean ineffective training methods from the 80’s like light weights, low intensity steady state cardio, and endless low-intensity ab work should also make a comeback. That type of training should stay buried in the back issues of cheesy muscle magazines. Stick to strength training and interval training for efficient and effective body changing routines.

4. They don’t take 30 minutes to plan their next day’s food intake.

If you fail to do this, you will set your fat loss efforts back by a minimum of 72 hours. Without a good meal plan, you are left to hunt and gather food in the modern world. And that’s a recipe for fat loss disaster. You are bound to eat something processed if you aren’t prepared. You will lose the fat burning benefits from yesterday’s workout and it will take until the end of the following day to get back on track. An entire 72-hour period wasted.

5. They don’t eat enough vegetables.

We can thank John Berardi for making it common knowledge that you should eat fibrous vegetables at every meal to assist your fat loss efforts. By doing so, you’ll control your blood sugar and insulin – thus supporting the optimal hormonal situation for fat loss.

6. They screw up their hormones with poor lifestyle choices.

If you are out boozing and staying up late on the weekend, you are shutting down your fat loss and messing up the optimal hormonal environment for fat burning. I will talk a lot more about the optimal hormonal levels for fat loss, as I believe this is the underrated key to building your best body ever.

7. They don’t plan and monitor their training sessions.

If you are still going to the gym without a plan, then you are going to have a hard time losing fat. And if you aren’t recording your workouts and eating habits, then you aren’t losing as much fat as you probably can. To fix this mistake, start by getting on track with strength training and interval training. It’s guaranteed to get you lean.

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines and all over the Internet, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

You can use this to burn fat at home with little or no equipment, and join in the spirit of the inspirational Olympic Games at the same time. Enjoy!

Over to Craig for the workout…

We’ll start with the Moguls Warmup.

I chose the moguls for warm-up, because that’s where the skiers do all those crazy moves and look really mobile. One of the coolest events, for sure.

•  Jumping Jacks – 20 reps
•  Duck Unders – 6 reps per side (You’ll step to the side squat down and duck under as you move)
•  Stickups – 10 reps
• Seal Jumps – 20 reps (These are like jumping jacks, but cross your arms in front of you) 5. Pushups -10 reps (Let’s pretend you wiped out so you have to do pushups to get back up)

Next, we move into the first event…

The Ski Jump

• Do a 10 second hold in the bottom of squat and then do a vertical jump Repeat 3 times, then move to…

The Downhill Ski Race

• 1 Long Jump
• 10 Bodyweight Squats
• 1 Long Jump
• 6 Walking Diagonal Lunges per side
• 1 Long Jump
• 20-30 second squat hold in bottom position Repeat 3 times.

Next up, we move to Speed Skating Strength Training

• Skater Jumps or Lateral Lunges – 8 reps per side (Beginners must do the lateral lunges)
•  Spiderman Pushups or Elevated Pushups – 8 reps per side (Let’s pretend we’ve had another wipe-out…so we need to do some pushups to practice getting up)
• 1-leg Squats or Reverse Lunges – 12 reps per side (Beginners must do the reverse lunges)

Take a water break here, and then move to more strength training, this time courtesy of a weird sport…Curling.

The Curling Strength Circuit

•  Lunges – 15 reps per side (you can use weights if you want)
•  Spiderman Climbs – 10 reps per side
•  Close-grip Pushups – 20 reps
• Biceps Curls – 10 reps per side (Why curls? Because curlers love to drink beer, so you can do dumbbell curls to practice for post-game beverages)

Take another water break.

Optional: Hockey Strength Circuit (Use dumbbells or kettlebells)

• Split squat – 8 reps per side (to build strong skating muscles)
• 1-Arm Standing Shoulder Press – 8 reps per side (to practice raising your stick in the air after you score a goal) 
• DB Row – 8 reps per side (to strengthen your upper body & grip for hockey fights)

Figure Skating Bodyweight Strength Circuit

Now we combine bodyweight exercises for strength and finesse…

• Reaching Lunge – 10 reps per side
• 1-Leg RDL – 8 reps per side
•  Pushup or Dip or Overhead Press – 8 reps

Take another water break.

Sliding Sports Circuit (bobsled & luge)

•  Bobsled Push – 20 seconds (For this, you’ll need a “prowler sled” or a punching bag or weight plate that can be pushed across the floor to simulate the start of the bobsled race…or you could just do a 20 second sprint)
•  Stability Ball Plank or Plank – 45 seconds (to simulate holding your body in the luge position)
•  Side Planks – 25 seconds per side

Next up, the plain ol’ weird Biathlon (a combination of cross-country skiing and shooting). We’ll modify it so that we do:

• Shuttle Sprints – 15 seconds
• Plank – 60 seconds (to simulate the shooting position)  And if possible, add in some type of skill component to simulate the shooting…maybe shoot some basketball free throws…or shoot a Supersoaker at a target on the wall…no wait, bad idea.  But I’m sure you can come up with something. (Safety first!)

And that’s it.

Finish with a water break, cool down, awarding of some gold medals, and closing ceremonies.

Hope you enjoyed that fun workout!  To find out more about Craig’s unique workouts and exercises, visit:  Turbulence Training