Well as promised, PART 2 of “Trying to Get into Shape and Lose Fat” is now here!  In this post you will find tips 5 through 7.
 

Picture5. Without DWP you are NOTHING!

Discipline and Will Power…
 
Do you have the discipline and will power necessary to achieve your fitness goals?  You better…because if you don’t, you will fall short or fail!  What ever fitness goals you set for yourself you have to go all in.  That means being able to tell yourself, “Hey going out for pizza and beer may not be in my best interest right now.  There will be time for that later.”  You don’t want to tell yourself…”No or I can’t” have pizza and beer because believe it or not over time you may rebel, get frustrated and sabotage yourself.  (Yes, our minds and subconscious are crazy things).
So have the Discipline and Will Power (DWP) to set limits, guidelines and cheat days in advance for yourself.

Look, you may have been eating crappy for a large part of your life.  With your new lifestyle change why not just try to go 30 days without pizza or hot wings?  Then after the 30 days have a tame cheat day.

Pizza and chicken wings have existed before you were born and will be here after you die…you will have plenty of time to enjoy these things in moderation AFTER you have reached your fitness goals.  So remember DWP when there is birthday cake at the office party at work.  There will be plenty of time for cake after you reach your fitness goals.  Remember DWP when your friends want you to come over for drinks.  Alcohol and liquor will be there when you reach and surpass your fitness goals.  Believe me; you will be able to do all these things in moderation when you accomplish what you set out to do.

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6. Get a Work Out and Fitness Plan
 
You have to get a work out routine for your fitness goals.  If not, you will see limited gains, spin your wheels and plateau. Which will suck mentally and physically.  There is an abundant amount of resources out there to obtain a work out plan for you.  As I stated earlier, Muscle and Fitness magazine was a great jumping off point for me.

Every issue has work out plans, nutrition, meal plans, and provides ridiculous amounts of information on supplements and unique tips for hitting certain muscles groups. I am also a frequent visitor and customer of BodyBuilding.com,which is another great resource with message boards, groups, fitness and meal plans.  You will get a boatload of beneficial information directly from trainers and physicians.

So many times I see people in the gym completely clueless about what to do and are somewhat roaming around aimlessly from one piece of equipment to another.  I remember being that same person, until I came up with a work out plan and meal plan.  From that point I knew what, when and how…What exercises to do, When to do them and How to do them.

Also a good tip is when you do get a work out plan and there are exercises you may not be familiar with; Google them to look up the images so you will know what to do.  Remember to keep track or record how much weight you are lifting.  You want to make sure you progressing and increasing your strength.  An example of a work out plan is located here.

Plan your work out and work out your plan!

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7. Focus on Your Over All Physique

Sorry…hate to say this and I am not being mean but I’ve seen so many people over the years with the illusion that if they do 40 minutes of cardio and 50 sit-ups on the ab machines that they will lean out, get muscular and have a six pack.  Not realizing that their abs will not show through from under layers of fat.  I also see the guys in the gym with the big guts that only work their arms and chest and avoid working their legs and doing any cardio.  Even though they appear to be “big” they have no real muscle tone or definition.

In my opinion your focus should be on your entire body and over all physique, head to toe…front to back.  It is very important that you lift weights in addition to doing cardio.  Or maybe I should say you should be doing cardio in addition to lifting weights…why you ask?  Because you are only going to burn so much fat in the first couple of days are weeks by just doing cardio.  There is a big difference between losing weight and burning fat.  Eventually you will lose weight but you will see a lot of flab and fat still on your body.  This is because you will still have the same proportion of muscle mass to body fat and you will appear smaller but still be chubby; even though the scale will display you having lost 20-30 pounds.

Numerous scientific studies have shown that weight lifting (for men and women) will burn fat, increase your metabolic rate and burn more calories, HOURS after you have completed a strenuous weight lifting work out versus just doing cardio alone.  Weight lifting will change your body composition by replacing fat with muscle.

Always attempt to keep symmetry and balance in mind for your anterior (front) and posterior (back) of your body.  A strong core allows you to have strength and balance when working your upper and lower body. A strong back can add balance when doing leg exercises and assist with proper posture and form.  These are just a few examples of why symmetry and balance are important.

In my opinion when starting out…you should also avoid doing target training.  Target training is when you only focus on a certain body part.  I would recommend doing target training after you have reached your initial fitness goals.

When you work out and begin to notice changes in your physique, you will be able to see certain body parts that may be stronger than the others and you may want to work these more because you can lift more weight with these muscle groups.  Be careful and try to avoid doing this because this can lead to over training and injury.  Been there, done that 🙁

I hope these helpful tips can benefit you and your fitness goals.  You can read tips 1 through 4 here.  Be on the look out for tips 8 through 10 later this week.

Feel free to leave comments, questions or concerns.

-Octavius