It’s time for a change. A new way of looking at things, a refreshing break from the old and tested exercise schedules and freedom from the stereotypical abandon-the-remote-control weight loss programs. Chances are that the rules of yesterday might have left you fat, tired and hopeless. No worries, just read on. You might just carve out the new you within the next month with minimum pains and maximum gains.

Rule #1 – If you don’t like something, don’t do it

Explaining logical reasons for this seems illogical but unsatisfying for us. Basically, the reason for not doing something which you don’t like is that you will probably end up with more injuries and few results. You might also not do a specific exercise in the correct form and postures, increasing risks of serious injuries.

Moreover, with plenty of alternatives present, you can easily switch to a different exercise for the same purpose, boosting the weight loss and fat burn process. For example, if you hate jogging, you can reach the same goals of aerobic exercise and weight loss through weight lifting and a healthy diet. There are many added incentives for doing this also the primary one being that it speeds up weight loss.

Lastly, the satisfaction and motivation from doing all these exercises will be negligible, so why do it? Doing something half heartedly is almost as good as not doing at all.

Rule #2 – Changing your body by varying speeds

Running plays a major role in shaping your body. The method which one employs on a running scheme is something which many fitness enthusiasts overlook. Many simply dive into the process without thinking twice of how to go about it simply because everyone seems to be doing it. What does one do then? It’s quite simple really and the effects are powerful.

All you got to do is vary your running speeds – run faster for a minute, slower for the next minute and so on. According to many fitness instructors, and studies such as one in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise journal, short sprints are much more effective in weight loss and fat burn. Chiefly, these speed up the metabolism of the body continuously, forcing more effort in the same time span and thus burning more calories. Do this for about five or six weeks and see that ugly pot belly vanish.

Rule #3 – The 20 minutes, twice a week plan

Firstly, what does this mean? Simply put, this means that you can get huge gains from just working out for 20 MINUTES, TWICE A WEEK. According to Bert Jacobson, an expert exercise researcher, that even a little exercise during the week was highly beneficial in health gains as contrasted with extended exercise times. This is especially good and encouraging if you are having problems maintaining your fitness regime. Exercise little, but consistently. You can start by two quick 20 minutes walk twice a week or 10 minutes ones four times a week. The good news is that you can get almost the same results if you exercise this much every week. No more excuses for missing exercise.

Rule #4 – Play hard to live free

It is not necessary that you have to only kill yourself in the gym for a good personality. Research shows that one can enjoy enormous health benefits, lose weight and burn more fat by playing hard. If you are under pressure during a game, then the body intensity levels increase and this makes the body to use up more fat afterwards. You can easily burn almost 800 calories by utilizing about 55-60% of your aerobic capacity in a one hour game of basketball. If you are breathing steadily and deeply and being able to speak, it means you have reached your 60% capacity. Surprisingly, to burn the same amount of energy, “an 80Kg man would need to jog for close to an hour at 5 minutes per mile pace. Crank up that daily schedule with a quick ball game and see heartening results soon.

Rule #5 – Switch from machines to free-weight exercises

According to a study in a popular health magazine, some of the easiest and most common exercises may a times not related to real-life activities, even remotely. This is chiefly because the body becomes very used to working with exercise machines that the natural flexibility and balance is lost. As a result, even if you have more strength in you, your body conditioning is very poor. The solution to this problem it to switch over from machine based exercises to free weight exercises which utilize your body weight and additional weights as much as possible.