The elliptical machine is sneaky, and it fools us three ways. First, you can get your heart rate up really high and easily. Second, you can get a big sweat on. And third, the machine tells you that you have burned an awful lot of calories (even though the calorie counter is likely inaccurate, as was shown on a CBS news report).

So why doesn’t the elliptical work? Because you just don’t do as much mechanical work as you do when you run or cycle. Basically, it’s just easier and less effective. Getting your heart rate up is not the key determinant of fat loss.

Your body is a well programmed machine. It’s ‘wired’ to increase heart rate and breathing as soon as it senses motion (that’s why you start to breathe heavily after taking a single flight of stairs – it’s not just because you are unfit).

The key factor in fat loss is the amount of work done. Until you learn to separate the influence of the two, you won’t be using intervals in the best possible manner.

As fat loss expert Alwyn Cosgrove explains, “The problem is not the elliptical itself — it’s just that it tends to allow/promote momentum (as most people have the resistance too low) from bodyweight alone. So unless you crank up the resistance and actually produce some force and/or MOVE your bodyweight – it’s nothing but momentum. So if you’re not actively using your muscles to produce some sort of force you aren’t burning many calories.”

But even then, I still don’t think using a high resistance level on the elliptical will get you the results you are looking for. Yet despite their ineffectiveness, elliptical machines and the like remain a popular training method. But that’s only due to the human condition – like flowing water, we seek the path of least resistance. We’ll will do anything to get around obstacles rather than doing the real work required to overcome the obstacles. Given the choice, humans always go with the easiest option.

Compare the elliptical to the Stairmaster. Stairmasters are more effective but less popular. Why? Because we’ve found something easier (the elliptical) that still gives us the comfort of a sweat and an elevated heart rate (even if we don’t get the results). And now millions of gym goers pat themselves on the back after flailing around on the elliptical for 30 minutes and thinking they’ve been shedding fat.

Training in your comfort zone is useless. Your metabolic rate will increase when your body is forced to change. The harder and smarter you train, the greater your increase in metabolic rate. That is why you have to do things the right way (the TT way!), to lose fat.

So what works better? If you have my TT Reports, you know I recommend the stationary bike. It’s safe, effective, and convenient. You can work at a very high power outage, and that is no illusion. You are doing the work (as long as you are not spinning at a very high RPM – that is another waste of time!).

Of course, you can also use sprinting. But that has a few more risks to it, whether it is done on a treadmill (risk: falling) or outside (risk: muscle pulls – so prepare appropriately).

Some other manly fat loss interval options are sled pulling, Farmer Walks (see photo), pushing heavy objects, wheelbarrow carries, and complexes. I’ll talk more about the exciting fat-shedding potential of lifting complexes in my future reports.

First, you should arrange for a full physical examination from your physician. This is mandatory for people that have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, or are obese. Once you have your doctor’s approval to begin a fitness program, you should schedule a fitness assessment with a health professional at your gym.

While both of these are incredibly annoying, they are essential to your success and well-being. The benefits of a doctor’s visit are obvious, particularly if you have one or more of the previously mentioned conditions but it also allows you and your doctor to discuss your lifestyle. Preventative medicine is far better than reactive medicine. Make your doctor part of your fat loss and health-building team along with the health professionals at your gym.

The real benefits of the fitness assessment aren’t finding out how much body fat you have or how many minutes you can last on the treadmill, but rather getting a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses.

According to Tim Irvine, President of Totum Life Science, “First and foremost we need to identify what works and does not work mechanically for an individual. We do this from an injury prevention standpoint and also to determine what the limitations are for an individual. Much more appropriate programs can be set from this information.” If you want to avoid injury and actually achieve your goals this year, get to know your strengths and weaknesses.

The next secret is to walk, don’t run, to fitness success. If you want to pick up your University running workouts where you left them 10 years ago, that’s fine. But I guarantee you won’t last 10 days. And then it’ll be a dreary 355 days until you’re ready to try exercise again.

The hidden benefit of a good fitness assessment is that it will actually serve as a nice introductory workout to your return to fitness. It will buffer your delusions of fitness grandeur from the reality of what your body actually can do. After the fitness assessment teaches your body a lesson and awakens your muscles from their winter slumber, only then will you realize your limits that you must respect in subsequent workouts.

Goal-setting is the fourth secret to success (and not just in fitness, but in any area of life). It is much more effective to commit to a set of specific short-term and long-term goals than it is to routinely hope for weight loss each year.

Set realistic goals and remember to train within your limits. If you are currently sedentary and haven’t exercised in months (or years), don’t begin an advanced training program. Start with a conservative beginner program. Your belly wasn’t built in a day, and neither will be lost overnight.

Limit your initial workouts to 1 set per muscle group. In week 2, you should be ready to add another set. And if you want to build up to 3 sets, then do so in week 3. Slowly increase the weight and stay within your desired repetition range. At no time should you be too sore to function. And runners should also heed this advice. Too much running will guarantee shin splints in the early going. Avoid running on back to back days for the first two weeks and keep the distance short. Sore muscles are guaranteed when you lift. So keep the volume low.

And now for the two super secrets that will help keep you committed and consistent with your workouts and will finally help you lose fat for good.

First, build your social support team. Social support is the #1 factor for success for women in fitness programs, and is important for men as well. Support can come from your spouse, brother or sister, child, mom or dad, friend, neighbor, co-worker, personal trainer, or lifestyle coach. Don’t try to go it alone. As Dr. Eric Serrano says about his weight loss patients, “Patients respond better when they report to a person instead of a machine. No one wants to disappoint a real person.”

You also need to know that nutrition is the second most important factor for success in fat loss programs. That’s why you don’t need to train like a world-class athlete when you are starting to lose fat. Most of the fat you’ll lose in the early going is because you have chosen to make better nutritional choices. And if you don’t make better nutritional choices, even the best exercise program in the world isn’t going to help you achieve your fat loss goals.

Nutrition is a lot simpler than you think. Don’t over think things. See a nutritionist or listen to what your mother told you as a kid. Food choices should contain a large nutrient-to-calorie ratio. Dr. Phil (yes that Dr. Phil) calls this “High-Response Cost, High-Yield Nutrition”. And follow this rule: Don’t eat foods with added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or fruit syrup,” says Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD. Log your nutritional intake on www.Fitday.com. This is a free website that allows you to track your calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat.

The consistent use of these 6 secrets will help you achieve your New Year’s resolutions. Make this year’s fitness plan a strategic investment in your future health. The most efficient and effective way to lose fat this year is with my Turbulence Training workouts – the choice of fitness professionals.

Since one of our least favorite holiday traditions is trying to find room for exercise in a busy schedule, here are 6 tips on how to continue to improve your body over the party season while getting a head start on your New Year’s fitness resolutions.

Step 1 – Train efficiently
Strength training is a very efficient type of exercise, giving you many benefits with a small amount of exercise. During the holiday season, you might be able to get the same benefits by reducing the number of sets per exercise in your workout from 3 to 1. That will help you maintain muscle and strength while significantly reducing your training time.

Interval training is another economical form of exercise. Rather than following up your strength training with 45 minutes on the treadmill, you can get the same (or better!) fat burning results from a much shorter period (20 minutes) of interval training.

Step 2 – Cut the junk
Men’s Fitness Training Adviser Alwyn Cosgrove suggests that we ask ourselves, “Will this help me or not? Is this a positive step or not?” So unless you can justify doing 3 exercises for triceps, then cut the junk from your workout and focus on efficient exercises only.

Step 3 – Warm-up as a workout
You don’t need to spend 10 minutes on the treadmill before you strength train. Instead, you need to prepare specifically for what you are about to do. If your walk to the gym is more than a couple of minutes, you can go right into specific warm-up sets for your strength training exercises.

Step 4 – Whole body vs. split routines
Don’t be a slave to doing chest and arms on Mondays. This eliminates any excuse to skip workouts when you deviate from your “weekly” schedule. Plan your holiday workouts to train either your entire body in one session or alternate between upper body and lower body workouts.

Step 5 – Train your abs with every exercise
The 15 minutes of sit-ups you do each day is a waste of time and is damaging to your lower back. Instead of wasting away on the floor, approach every exercise as an abdominal exercise. Brace your abs (like someone was about to punch you in the stomach) and never let your low back “round”. This body posture is especially important for exercises such as the abdominal plank, squats, push-ups, and all standing exercises.

Step 6 – Plan your workouts
In the spirit of the holidays, I’ve given you a lot of tips to improve your workout efficiency. Now the most important part is up to you to put them into action. So don’t go into the gym without a clue and end up on the cardio machine for an hour because you didn’t know where to start.

Each Turbulence Training workout follows an efficient and effective template to get in and out of the gym in under an hour. You can also choose to do a weights-only or intervals-only workout, therefore cutting even more time off of your trip to the gym.

Turbulence Training Template
5 minutes – 2 warm-up sets for key weight training exercises

15 minutes – Weights

20 minutes – Intervals

5 minutes – Stretch (tight muscles only)

A team of social workers, exercise physiologists, recreation specialists, nutritionists and camp counselors will offer programs in nutrition, recreation, weight training and aerobic activities. The camp will include fitness classes, recreational challenges, outdoor activities, field trips and swimming. Camperswill also learn how to make healthy food choices by preparing their own wholesome daily meals and snacks.

In a different approach to helping children stay fit, Anatomies, a fitness facility in Hattiesburg, Miss., opened its Youth Fitness Center in January. This exercise area was designed especially for children ages six to 13. It is furnished with resistance and cardio equipment for kids, a rock climbing wall, a Sportwall, interactive PlayStation games (Snowboarding and Dance Dance Revolution), basketball/multipurpose area and a study room. According to Toni Bailey, front desk director and a group fitness instructor, since the Youth Fitness Center opened, Anatomies has seen an increase in family memberships, both new memberships and individuals going to family rates. “We pride ourselves on being the best in town, and this helps to raise our level of service because this is the only children’s facility in our area,” Bailey says.

To show that there are countless ways to help children say fit and healthy, KettleBell Concepts, New York, N.Y., and Aces Tennis Foundation, Anchorage, Alaska, Baton Rouge, La., and Biloxi, Miss., teamed up to design a Kettlebell training program specifically for children. Thomas L. d’Aquin, tennis pro and president of the Aces Tennis Foundation, founded the foundation with a mission to help disadvantaged children learn to play tennis and how to stay fit. Trying to break out of his own training plateau, d’Aquin discovered that Kettlebells are ideal not only for tennis improvement, but for overall conditioning.

While working on a plan with Gulf region casinos to help repair hurricane-damaged public tennis facilities, he came up with the idea to establish Kettlebell training programs for children in the region.

d’Aquin is working with various associations in Mississippi and Louisiana to find sponsorships to outfit his Aces Tennis Foundation with Kettlebells, and to tailor the training specifically for kids. “I’m also working with KettleBell Concepts of New York on tailoring the current Kettlebell training protocols that are more geared for adults, to be apropos for kids, kindergarten through sixth grade. The ultimate goal is to show the educators and physical trainers in the Gulf area the advantage of Kettlebells, as opposed to [the] typical weight training that we’ve grown up with.” Says Dave Ganulin, CEO of KettleBell Concepts, “We look forward to supporting [d'Aquin] in his efforts to adapt Kettlebell training to a youth level, not only for tennis improvement, but for all-around physical fitness for these kids.” The Kettlebell training will be for both tennis-specific sports improvement and general physical fitness. As you can see, children’s fitness can take on many forms, as long as the kids are having fun and staying active.