Craig Ballantyne, one of the world’s foremost fat loss experts, posted an article today on his Men’s Health blog about three great bodyweight exercises for fat loss.

Bodyweight exercises help you burn fat shockingly fast, without any fancy equipment. Here are 3 kick-butt bodyweight exercises you can do anytime, anywhere to burn fat, stay energized, and avoid overeating.

I see too many people at the gym sitting on the recumbent exercise bike, reading the latest issue of Us Weekly, and barely peddling fast enough to power the LED display. If your goal is fat loss, and you’re able to read a magazine while you’re exercising, you’re not working hard enough (not even close).

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves a series of maximum intensity efforts followed by low intensity recovery periods. A study at Laval University in Quebec, Canada suggests that HIIT trainees lost 9-times more fat than those who performed traditional aerobic cardio sessions (i.e. 20-60 minutes of long boring cardio).

Example HIIT workout on the recumbent exercise bike:

• Begin with a light 3-minute warm-up at 60 RPM
• Increase the intensity to 100+ RPM for 30 seconds
• Reduce the intensity to 70 RPM for 1 minute
• Repeat that interval system 3 to 6 more times
• Finish with a 3-minute cool-down at 60 RPM

Depending on your fitness level, you may need to adjust the difficulty by either increasing/reducing the length of the work/rest periods, increasing/reducing the intensity of the max efforts by peddling faster/slower, or raising/lowering the resistance on the exercise bike. The goal during the work period is to work as hard as possible, so that by the time the rest period arrives, you have no choice but to slow down so that you can recover and allow your heart rate to come down.

If you’re not seeing results from the time you spend in the gym, it’s possible that you’re doing too much low-intensity cardio, and not enough high-intensity interval training.

For high-intensity workout programs in Vancouver that produce real results, check out our outdoor boot camp program.

Bikini season isn’t far away, so if you’re thinking about how to slim down for the nice weather, consider an exercise program designed around bodyweight training.

Bodyweight training refers to any resistance training exercise that can be performed without any external resistance (i.e. dumbbells, barbells, exercise tubing, etc). Examples of bodyweight exercises include:

• push-up
• chin-up
• squat
• lunge
• crunch
• burpee

Bodyweight exercise programs are convenient because you can do them anywhere. From your living room, to your backyard, office, hotel room, or anywhere you have about 8×8 feet of open space.

And not only are bodyweight exercises every bit as effective as exercises performed with free weights, in some cases they are significantly more effective. Exercises like dips and chin-ups are significantly more effective than any comparable exercise done with free weights or on a machine.

Push-ups require you to perform a plank (i.e. working your core musculature) while exercising your chest, shoulders and triceps. That’s not the case when you perform dumbbell or barbell exercises on a bench.

The burpee is one of the most intense and demanding total body exercising that you could possibly do, and it requires absolutely no equipment or external resistance whatsoever.

Remember, you burn more fat doing resistance training than you do with boring cardio. Cardio training is ok as part of a balanced program that includes resistance training, but if your time is limited and you can’t do both, choose resistance training.

With an effective exercise program combined with proper eating, you can safely burn 2 pounds of fat every week. If you need some help with program design, consider hiring a personal trainer in Vancouver to help you look your best in time for bikini season.

My boxing instructor, Ritchie Yip, uses the term “Core 4” to refer to four common counters to the jab. The title of this article is a homage to Ritchie, but the article is not about boxing.

Core 5 refers to the following five resistance training exercises:

• Squat
• Lunge
• Push-Up
• Pull-Up
• Row

One of the most common mistakes that I see people making in the gym is poor exercise selection. Biceps curls, triceps pushdowns, side lateral raises, leg extension, prone hamstring curls, glute extensions, calf raises, and the list goes on. These exercises are fine as a supplement to an otherwise balanced workout program, but too many misguided people seem to base their entire workout around them.

Whether your goal is to lose fat, build muscle, gain strength, improve athletic performance, or some combination of those goals, your workout program should be based around compound exercises (multi-joint, multi-muscle group), and a great place to start is with the Core 5.

The Core 5 exercises are not easy. That’s probably the main reason why most people avoid them. It’s easier to sit down on the leg extension machine and squeeze out 20 reps than it is to muscle out 10 strict squats. But since the leg extension exercise uses only one muscle group (quadriceps), and squats involve various muscles (including the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and core), most busy people with limited time to spend exercising would be much better served doing squats; think “maximum bang for your buck”.

Obviously not everyone can do pull-ups (most people can’t complete a single repetition of a pull-up using correct form), but that’s where the assisted pull-up machine or the lat pulldown machine comes in handy (or resistance tubing for those of you working out at home).

Push-ups can be done against a wall, or with your hands on a bench or table, progressing to knee push-ups, and eventually toe push-ups and decline push-ups.

The squat, lunge, and row all have their own levels of progression to suit men and women of all levels of fitness.

If you’re not seeing results from the time you spend in the gym, consider hiring a personal trainer in Vancouver to help you with exercise selection and program design. IDEA Health and Fitness Association released a statistic that found 75% of people who exercise are not getting the results they want, and out of the 25% of people who are getting results, 90% of them are working with a personal trainer.

Tonight’s boot camp was a big success. With nearly double the turnout from last week, word is spreading quickly that our Nike Boot Camp is the best boot camp in Vancouver.

The workout tonight had a strong kickboxing theme, with stations such as focus mitt work, kicks/knees, jump rope, and boxing influenced core drills. After a short warm-up, we did 45 minutes of circuit training (2 minutes per station), and capped the workout off with some interval stair sprints. I continue to be impressed by the positive energy everyone brings to the class each week. It’s a pleasure to coach such a motivated group of people.

The response to the kickboxing drills tonight was overwhelmingly positive, and there have been a number of requests to have Mode Athletics run a weekly kickboxing class at the Nike Lounge. So that’s something that we’re going to look at more closely for May.

The Nike Boot Camp runs every Tuesday at 7PM, and is open to everyone who’s interested in participating. This challenging group fitness class is the perfect addition to any workout routine, and is sure to motivate you to your next level of fitness.

Mode Athletics runs a weekly fitness boot camp in Vancouver every Tuesday evening at 7PM at the Nike Runner’s Lounge in Coal Harbour. The class is completely free (thanks to Nike) and open to everyone that’s interested in participating.

If you live in or around downtown Vancouver and are interested in having an intense and motivating group workout with some of the most positive men and women that I’ve had the pleasure of coaching, then we look forward to seeing you at the class.

The Nike Runner’s Lounge is conveniently located at 510 Nicola St. in Coal Harbour, along the seawall.

As a personal trainer in Vancouver, I feel added pressure (and rightfully so) to make sure that I look my best and am setting a positive example for my clients. Something that I’ve let slip over the years is my diet. Back in my early 20′s, I had a rock solid system of grocery shopping and meal planning, and I very rarely ever went off track from that system and ate or drank anything that would be considered “unhealthy”.

Today, it’s a different story. Over the years my structured system of grocery shopping and meal planning has gotten worse, to the point where now the bulk of my diet is made up of less than desirable food that is not conducive to my current goal of decreasing my body fat.

Last summer I purchased a book called 5-Factor Diet. It was written by Harley Pasternak, who is one of the most sought after personal trainers in Hollywood, with a celebrity client list that includes Eva Mendes, Jessica Simpson, Kanye West, Mandy Moore, Alicia Keys, and too many more names to list here. Harley’s diet book is described as so:

The 5-Factor Diet is a revolutionary plan that has shaped some of Hollywood’s most beautiful bodies. This unique eating plan helps you lose weight, get fit, and have more energy throughout the day.

The 5-Factor Diet is based around the number 5 (surprise, surprise). 5 meals per day, 5 ingredients per recipe, and 5 minutes of prep time. I read the book cover to cover within days after purchasing it, and I was blown away by how simple Harley’s diet plan is. And unlike the vast majority of fad diets out there that are clearly unproductive, if not dangerous, Harley’s system promotes safe and healthy eating through a balanced diet of whole foods, and teaches step-by-step how even the busiest people with the least culinary skills can follow his plan and greatly improve their health.

I planned on trying Harley’s diet system last summer right after I read the book, but for whatever reason (no excuses) I didn’t end up starting it. But as a project to see how an improved diet affects my energy and body fat levels (which are both already pretty good), starting tomorrow I’m planning on following the diet for the next five weeks (possibly indefinitely if I enjoy it and see good results).

So today I need to head over to the grocery store and stock up my fridge with all of the “5-factor foods” that Harley outlines in his book. Once my fridge is full, then it’s just a matter of planning ahead, and following Harley’s simple recipes that should be completely within the ability of myself, and anyone else who’s not particularly skilled in the kitchen.

Over the next five weeks, I will be logging my progress, and thoughts on the diet system here. I’m hoping that this goes really well and that the system will become a permanent part of my nutritional habits.

Hello and welcome to the Mode Athletics blog. I hope this will be a useful resource for all of your training needs. I’ll be posting articles, videos, links, tips, etc, and answering any questions you may have.

Mode Athletics runs outdoor boot camp programs for clients in downtown Vancouver.

Our mission is to enhance the overall wellness and quality of life of our clients through safe and effective exercise programs that are challenging, rewarding, and fun.