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Hoodia – Does Hoodia Really Work For Fat Loss?

By Vince DelMonte

If you are anxious to get fat loss going, you've likely looked into the diet supplement, hoodia. Hoodia gordonii is a plant that was used in South African many years ago by hunters who would need to go for long durations of time without food and grows very slowly in harsh conditions and needs to be harvested for four to five years before it's ready.

But how well does Hoodia really work for fat loss? Many people turn to hoodia thinking it is the answer to all their prayers. Never hungry? Sounds like a dietary dream. After all, following a diet should be easy if you never have any feelings of hunger, shouldn't it?

Unfortunately, it isn't so simple.

First off, if you are a trying to get a lean, sexy midsection, not eating is the last thing you want to be doing. Sure, you definitely will need to eat less in order to lose body fat, but if you aren't eating enough, you'll actually just lose muscle rather than body fat. Since muscle tissue is your calorie burning engine, destroying it would be counterproductive to getting the results you want.

Who wants a slower metabolism at the end of the day? That'll just make further fat loss next to impossible.

If hoodia is affecting your natural hunger signals, it will be hard to get in the foods that you do need – the foods that will work with your body to lose the body fat while still keeping muscle tissue intact.

Secondly, you must understand that hoodia is not a thoroughly tested product and cannot be deemed safe. If you take enough of it, it can actually damage your metabolism, causing a variety of thyroid issues that will be stuck with you into the future. While fat loss and getting abs is important, you must do it a healthy way so that you don't do anything disrupting to your health.

Finally, hoodia diet pills are by no means a proper method to losing abdominal fat. In order to lose abdominal fat, you're going to have to find a method that will be sustainable over the long term. If you think that you're just going to skip eating for the years to come, you are very mistaken. You will not get the proper nutrients you need to sustain life, therefore, to put it bluntly, using hoodia as a means to help you maintain fat loss could very well put you in the hospital with severe malnutrition.

What you need is a diet that supplies all the nutrients you need, while still being affective with stomach fat loss. Then, you'll also need to make sure this diet is something you can work into your lifestyle so that your abs aren't going to be just covered up by more body fat again once you move off the diet.

The more time you waste chasing after gimmicky supplements that only hurt you in the long run, the more time you spend without the results you are after.

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About the Author:

Vince DelMonte is the author of Your Six Pack Quest found at http://www.YourSixPackQuest.com

He specializes in helping decipher the truths and myths about all the supplements such as hoodia that are marketed for helping you achieve a six pack.

© 2006-2008, Your Six Pack Quest All rights in all media reserved. You may reprint this article so long as the article and author bio are reprinted intake and all links are made live. This article may never be sold individually or as part of a package

Let's face it, we want it all. We want great taste and less filling, we want more pay with less work, burn fat and grow muscle, you get the picture. Rarely do we ever find such a thing, but the Tabata interval protocol may be an exception. With Tabata training it's possible to get full benefit of traditional aerobic training in 4 minutes.

The Tabata protocol is a specific method of high intensity interval training named after Dr. Izume Tabata as a result of a study done in 1996. Dr Tabata got the idea for the study from olympic speed skaters who used the intervals in their training.

The Tabata protocol calls for all out, as much as you can do, exercise for 20 seconds followed by 10 seconds of rest. Then repeat 7 more times for 8 sets total. I know it may sound easy but the key is pushing your self as hard as you can for 20 seconds. Done in this manner, Tabatas are seriously grueling. In fact,  when the olympic skaters that inspired the study started their interval regimen, even though they were in olympic level condition, most couldn't finish 7 sets.

During the study Dr. Tabata found that both aerobic and anaerobic capacity greatly improved. At the end of the  6 weeks VO2 max, aerobic capacity, increased by 14%, while anaerobic capacity increased by 28%. To put this in perspective the traditional cardio only group that was tested for the study increased VO2 max by 10% but with no increase in anaerobic capacity.

Now If that doesn't impress you this should. The traditional group's total workout time averaged 60 minutes per session while the group that performed the Tabata intervals only took about 15 minutes (10 minutes of warm up and 4 minutes of Tabata intervals),…. Yeah, that's right, basically a 4 minute workout is all it takes for a kickin' cardio workout. Even if you factor in the warm up time you still save 45 minutes. Talk about bang for the buck!

"Okay, cool, but how do I start using Tabata intervals to get in better shape"? Easy, just start slow, always warm up first. If you are a beginner get clearance from your doctor and start by doing something easy like jumping jacks as many as you can, in twenty seconds, break for ten and repeat until you finish 8 sets or you can't go on. Give yourself at least a day to recuperate before another workout. Keep working at it until you can do the full 8 sets.

Cardio machines like the treadmill, stationary bike, eliptical trainer or just running sprints can work to. As you progress try deep knee bends, dumb bell thrusters or dumb bell clean and presses using light weight. Pick exercises that recruit as many muscle groups as possible.

More advanced trainers, you know who you are, squats or thrusters using light to moderate weight are good choices. Experiment and use your instincts to figure out how much weight you should be using. Try to find a startng weight so you can do between 10-15 reps and average 6-8 reps per set through the complete protocol.

Remember the key is to go all out get as many reps as possible each set then break for 10 seconds. It's not the same as 8 sets of 10. You'll know if you done them correctly if you feel like you're gonna collapse and/or your lungs are burning and/or you need to vomit at the end 8 sets.

Mr Olympia 2008 Results, Dexter Jackson defeats Jay Cutler and wins his first Sandler. While Jay is incredibly massive Dexter had a quality and elegant advantage. What ever your opinion the results are in, the judges agree Dexter is the new Mr O.

Check out the Mr Olympia site for the weekends events

Bodybuilding .com has the most up to date and detailed coverage I've seen. Check it out here

Bodybuilding techniques to gain muscle, build endurance, get strong, etc are really pretty straight forward. Lifting weights is basic, sure proper technique is important, but it's not to hard to master. Recovery is very easy just don't workout for about 48-72hours, catch a nap, be lazy and you're good. But the mistake I see most people make is nutrition and I don't mean micro analyzing your diet either. No, what I mean is most people have no idea how much to eat to grow bigger muscles.

The most recent data I've seen says you need to consume about 0.6-0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight for optimal muscle growth. So a 200 pound man using typical body building techniques needs to eat 120-160 grams of protein daily. How much food does that equal? Well 4 ounces of chicken breast has about 22 grams of protein or 3 ounces of sirloin steak about 28 grams. So getting enough protein is possible but often takes a little focus.

Simple rule of thumb is to eat 5 times a day instead of just 3. Maybe break it up into 3 meals and 2 snacks. In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, work in a couple of between meal snacks. Something like a protein shake, a fitness bar or even real food. Do some homework to find out what you like. Learn how many calories you need to maintain your weight. About.com has a pretty good page on calculating your calorie requirements, click here to see it.

Lately Ive been eating these prepared meals made by Hormel. I know, "processed food bad", but sometimes it's all I can manage, and the ones I've eaten have around 20 grams of protein. Which makes them a perfect snack or light meal for me. They keep at room temperature so I can carry them around in the car and have a snack on the go. Canned food works good to and if you get pop top cans you don't need to pack a can opener.

Also, don't shy away from carbs but do avoid too many sugary drinks and foods. Body building techniques burn calories so you need some carbs, because they are a more efficient fuel source than protein. If you don't get enough carbohydrates your body will convert protein from other sources within your body to fuel. Sources like your undigested food or worse your growing muscles. Your body also converts fat to fuel but, at the same time, you'll lose muscle.

Bottom line: make sure you eat enough to maintain your weight and grow muscle.

http://www.themuscleheadfitness.info

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