Trying to lose weight with exercise or diet alone, is VERY difficult, but combine the two and you have a winning combination.

I was fortunate enough to have the Worlds Best Personal Trainer as my trainer, (well I believe he is anyway).

I had joined a gym and was very large at the time.  My days at the gym consisted of walking on the treadmill whilst reading a magazine.

Mark Frankel, who became my trainer, actually approached me (thank God) and the rest is history.

Me before losing 43 kilos/95 pounds and then after

I can’t share Mark personally with you all, (I would if I could) but I have asked him to help in the best way he can, via a blog…..

His experience in the fitness industry is second to none and his specialty is weight loss, not only via exercise but via getting your head right.   He has helped thousands of people gain their life back and is passionate about achieving results and kicking old habits that do not serve you well, to the curb.

So, over to Mark……

Hi Everyone,

The most common question I get asked is what are the best exercises for weight loss?

And how hard should I be working?

The short answer to those questions is anything that is going to elevate the heart rate and any activity that is going to place a stress on the body!

Now not all stress is bad, the good stresses in our life like exercise make the body go through a physiological process that in the end gives us a change in our body.

Running, swimming, boxing andweight training are all great ways to lose weight and mantain lean muscle tissue.

As I am not there to train you, a great way for you to determine exercise intensity is heart rate training.

To properly calculate your training zone start with the number 220, subtract your age from this figure, example 220 -40yrs = 180 beats per minute as your MAX heart rate.  Now if you wanted to work at 80% of your MAX heart rate simply times 180 x .8 which gives you 144 beats per minute as your 80% marker.

Using a heart rate monitor which you can purchase from a sports store will give you instant feedback as to how hard you are working as well as keeping you in those FAT BURNING ZONES.

If you are going to give up 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour or more to exercise, make sure you are getting the maximum result.  By using a heart rate monitor you can ensure you are doing that.

In the early stages, you may be able to get your heart rate up to this fat burning zone, just by walking, but as you get fitter, you are going to start seeing you will need to do more, to get that heart rate up into the target zone.  This will keep you pushing yourself and progressing.

I know Rebel has posted blogs about your Non Negotiables for this weight loss journey.  Grab it now, because one of your Non Negotiables needs to be that you will train in your fat burning zone, which you can now work out.

So, go out there and change your life….

Mark.