Setting priorities is a valuable concept that has been around for a long time in many forms (including the famous 80-20 rule or Pareto Principle). Taking several priorities and putting them in order is known as creating a “hierarchy,” which is often shown graphically in the form of a pyramid. I first read about “the fat loss hierarchy” over a decade ago, and lately there’s been a big resurgence of interest in the topic. Both coaches and athletes alike are keenly interested because so many people are still confused and overwhelmed about nutrition and failing to get results.

It takes 21 days to form a new habit right? Everyone knows that. Well, hold on a minute – recent research suggests that this isn’t quite accurate. Can a simple habit be formed in 21 days? Certainly. But if you look at the psychology research that was recently done to answer this specific question in “real world” situations, you see it may take quite a bit longer.

I’ve been asked questions about delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) for years, and lately have received more questions about DOMS than ever, so obviously people are fascinated by this subject and many are concerned about the implications. Some people wonder exactly what causes DOMS, others want to know how to reduce the pain, a few want to know how to avoid it completely and then there are a few “odd ones” who want to know how to get more sore! (Know anyone like that?) In today’s Burn the Fat Blog post, I will answer some of these commonly asked questions about DOMS…

Running can kill you! Or so say the latest round of anti cardio articles. It started (again) late last year with the much-publicized mainstream reports of a study which warned about possible heart damage from too much prolonged endurance training (such as hours of running at a time).  Since, then, I’ve seen the blog-o-sphere ramp up with more and more anti-running and anti-cardio articles. A diet guru says running is bad for you and you should never do it. A medical doctor (another one) says marathon runners are going to drop dead of heart attacks, and a strength coach slams cardio, saying lifting weights and a little bit of sprint or burst training is all anyone should ever do. What a bunch of clowns….

At the Burn the Fat Inner Circle member forums earlier this week, I got a question which comes up with alarming frequency: “Why isn’t my cardio working?”  Despite not only doing regular cardio for weeks, but actually increasing the duration of her workouts, she still saw no added fat loss and started wondering what she was doing wrong… or what was wrong with her!  I gave her the surprisingly simple answer, which I’ve printed for you as well in today’s blog and new research has added even more to the answer – it’s a NEAT explanation…

Adding more cardio to your exercise regimen will only help increase your fat loss right? If all else remains equal, the answer is usually yes: more calories burned = bigger calorie deficit = more fat loss. However, if you go overboard with your cardio, could the excessive training volume actually backfire on you and decrease your metabolism? If so, how do you avoid this? How much cardio is too much? What is the ideal way to balance between calories eaten and calories burned? Find out in today’s post!