Losing 20 pounds from the thighs and stomach takes a serious commitment to your diet and exercise program, but it is not impossible. Eating the right foods at the right time prompts your body to burn fat instead of store it, leading to natural and safe weight loss. Moreover, the right training program will keep you burning fat all week long and trigger the release of potent fat burning hormones such as human growth hormone, or HGH. With a few advanced training techniques, you can also directly target trouble areas such as the thighs and stomach to improve your body composition and achieve your weight loss goals fast.
Step 1
Do three resistance training workouts per week on an every-other-day schedule--Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for example, advises David Zinczenko in his book, "The Abs Diet." A good full-body routine may be squats, standing calf raises, leg extensions, leg curls, lat pull-downs, bench presses, upright rows, shoulder presses, tricep pushdowns, bicep curls, hanging leg raises and full-range crunches. Do one to three sets of each exercise for 8 to 12 repetitions, with a higher rep range, such as 12 to 20 for the ab exercises.
Step 2
Use the negative accentuated, or NA, technique on one set for each muscle group. To do this, lower the weight to a slow six-second count on every repetition. Lift the weight naturally and repeat with slow negatives, i.e. slow movement in the lowering portion, for the entire set. This strategy causes micro-tears in muscles that burn extra calories for up to 72 hours after your workout, say "Xtreme Lean" authors Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman.
Step 3
Add 30 minutes of "super cardio" immediately after your weights workout. "Combat the Fat" author Jeff Anderson uses this phrase because timing your cardio after a resistance training workout helps to directly target body fat. After your workout, your body has a lot of circulating fat-burning hormones that can help to target your trouble areas. Cardio examples include the exercise bike, stair-stepper, treadmill or elliptical machine.
Step 4
Do one to three interval training workouts per week. This form of cardio has an after-burn effect, meaning it continues to burn calories for hours after you finish your workout, says Zinczenko. Alternate between high and low to medium intensity for 15 to 30 minutes. For example, walk or jog on the treadmill, doing short runs or sprints every one or two minutes for the duration of your cardio session.
Step 5
Eat five to six meals or snacks throughout the day to prime your metabolism to burn fat all day long. This metabolic approach to diet crushes hunger, stabilizes blood sugar levels and prevents body fat storage, says Anderson. Get at least 15 to 30 g of protein at each meal and snack to achieve a thermic, or fat burning effect.
Step 6
Choose foods that promote fat burning and inhibit body fat storage. Take in no less than 25 percent of your diet from healthy fats such as olive oil, peanut butter, nuts and seeds, say Lawson and Holman. Select only low-glycemic carbs such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, and whole-grain pasta and bread. Include lean proteins such as eggs, fish, turkey, chicken and whey protein, says Mackie Shilstone in "The Fat Burning Bible."
Tips and Warnings
- Do your NA set last and use only one per exercise. Always take one day off of all formal exercise per week to allow your body to recover.
- Never begin any diet or exercise plan without first consulting your primary care doctor. Never eat fewer than 1,200 calories per day, or risk halting fat loss if your body enters starvation mode and begins hoarding fat.
References
- "The Abs Diet"; David Zinczenko and Ted Spiker; 2004
- "Xtreme Lean"; Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman; 2005
- "Combat the Fat"; Jeff Anderson; 2008
- "The Fat Burning Bible"; Mackie Shilstone; 2005
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