Many people want to get fit and lose some weight. Joining a gym and starting a good exercise program is a good first step but when you get to the gym you will notice that not everybody there is getting results. Going to the gym in not the answer but what you are doing once you get there is what will make the difference for you.

In order to see the results from a new exercise program you are going to have to break a sweat. That means working hard enough so that your heart rate gets into the training zone and stays there for a while. There are some scientific studies that show that if you keep your heart rate at the lower end of the target zone for a longer period of time your body will burn more fat stores than carbohydrates, however if you want to drop fat from your body that is the most difficult way to do it and you probably won't even succeed.

Whether you are actually burning fat or carbohydrates as your main energy source during an exercise program is not nearly as important as how many calories you burn altogether. For example if you may burn 350 calories during an easier but longer workout and those calories may come from fat, but if you add in some challenging intervals of high intensity you may burn as many as 750 to 1000 calories in that same workout and even though you will be burning a combination of carbohydrates and fat you will still lose more weight.

High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT for short is one of the most effective fat loss regimens that you can use to lose weight. The idea is to maximize your heart rate to 90% or more for a period of 30 to 60 seconds and then bring it back down and repeat. Make sure that during your rest periods though you are still in the target-training zone, just at the lower end. When you incorporate HIIT you will be so much more efficient that you can even cut your cardio workout time in half and still have better results.

To get a rough idea of your maximum heart rate, take your age and subtract it from 220. Then take that number and multiply it by 60% and 80%. This would give you a target heart-training zone. This is the zone that you need to keep your heart rate at during your cardio training in order to see the best results.

If you want to lose weight and drop fat for the long term, you will need to gain muscle. That means that you should pump iron. Muscle is a biologically active tissue. That means that you will burn more calories just in the process of living if you have more muscle on your body. Fat is basically an inactive tissue and it will not help your body to burn any calories at all.

Exercise is important but you won't see any results from an exercise program unless you also have a good diet. Abs are built in the kitchen, not at the gym. Making sure that you consume a healthy and nutritious diet is undoubtedly the most important aspect of any fitness program. You will never see results unless you follow a healthy diet.

You can achieve maximum fat loss by following these few fundamentals. Incorporate some challenging HIIT into your cardio routine, follow a good weight-training regimen and improve your diet. You will start seeing the results before you know it.

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