Lose Stubborn Fat!: Workout Articles in Women's Magazine's Almost Don't Suck

Okay, so I used to make the blanket statement that all magazine workouts suck all of the time.

In the last couple years, things have started to change. They're getting slightly better about exercise selection.

Girl Workout Magazines

It's true. You can totally find articles that include some of my favorite movements like renegade rows and kettlebell swings.

The problem is, that they often still recommend ridiculously low weights when someone is trying to lose weight or "tone up".

I read an article yesterday that said "Get 5lb dumbbells. Curl them 30 times, or longer if that's what it takes to feel a burn."

What the f%@k are they talking about? Has this author actually ever trained a client in the real world?

Seriously, if you could get amazing results lifting a 5lb dumbbell, then everyone would look like Giselle.

One of the articles showed a girl doing kettlebell swings with an 8lb kettlebell. I didn't know they even made kettlebells that light. A girl that's been working out for a couple months could easily do swings with a 26lb kettlebell or 25lb gripper plate, if her form is correct.

A guy should be able to start doing swings with a 36lb kettlebell or a 35lb gripper plate.

Sure, everyone knows some girl who are genetically gifted who can get away with doing damn near anything and look lean and hot. They're the girls who can lift a 5lb dumbbell and get results.

My clients are the ones who have to work for it.

My clients have to get stronger.

Look, tons of people start off lifting 5lb dumbbells. That's totally ok. Just don't stay there forever! Work your way up to the 8lb dumbbells. Next thing you know maybe even the 12lb dumbbells. All I'm saying is, over time you have got to be getting stronger.

My clients that are the leanest are always the strongest.

Something I noticed after reading this article by Coach Dan John, "The Three Tape Measures of Progress", that my leanest clients typically share two of the three measures he uses with his athletes.

My leanest, hottest, lets-go-to-the-beach bikini-ready clients are always the ones who:

1.) Can do the most pull-ups.

2.) Have the strongest deadlift.

3.) Have the best food log.

It's pretty striking, the difference in pull up numbers between the girls who are really really lean and fit, and the girls who aren't.

Most notably, the girls who are really lean are doing pull ups without any assistance at all.

But everyone starts off doing assisted pullups. A good goal is to use 10lbs less assistance every month. So if you're doing pullups with 90lbs of assistance right now, you should hit your first full pull up in about 9 months.

P.S. The article on why guy's magazine's workouts suck comes out next week. The workout articles in guy's magazines suck for a completely different reason.

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Josh News:

Just started taking a course "Living Passionately: The Art and Mastery of Playing the Game of Life". It's pretty wild and ambitious being in a serious inquiry about mastering the game of life, and I wanted to share a quote we've been discussing:

As a Zen saying goes, “A master in the art of living makes little distinction between work and play, between labor and leisure, between love and religion. Hardly knowing which is which, a master is always doing both."

Also, I'm getting more and more into Web 2.0. You can follow me on Twitter, if you want like ten times more Josh news. If you've never played with StumbleUpon before, it learns the websites you like, and lets you channel surf, with amazing accuracy, website after website you've never seen before, but that you are going to like. And if you like my articles it totally helps me out if you give 'em a thumbs up at StumbleUpon by clicking on the "share this" button at the bottom of this article.

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By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

Josh is currently finishing up his second book Fighter Workouts for Fat Loss

Josh is a fat loss expert, a kettlebell instructor and a 24 Hour Fitness Master Trainer in Denver, Colorado. Josh helps women and men lose stubborn fat.