Phil Tucker

When it comes to getting in shape it can seem like there are an infinite variety of options out there until you actually begin working out. Then suddenly you can fall into a rut, and before you know it you feel like a gerbil in a treadwheel, going around and around as you do the same routine over and over again. The final result is predictable as you soon grow bored of your routine and quit. What can you do to prevent this from happening? The answer is really quite simple: cross train.

I'm sure you've been there – trying to lose those last five pounds of fat for a special occasion, whether it's getting into a bride maid's dress or the start of a new sports season. We've all wrestled with the last vestiges of stubborn fat, only to stare in frustration at the scale in the bathroom and watch that fat refuse to budge. What's going on? Why do our bodies love to store fat, and why is it so hard to burn?

When it comes to getting fit, it can often seem that all our choices are limited and repetitious. If you've been working out for sometime, it can often seem as if you've been doing the same routine for ages, going to the gym to lift the same weights over and over again, or endlessly running the same route till you know the trail by heart and can tell which song is going to come on during which part of the run.

Have you ever stood before the mirror and looked at the pudge on your body and wondered why our bodies tend to store fat in the first place? Why not build more muscle, for example? Why do we tend to build up fat around our arms, bellies, thighs, hips and back? What is the purpose of this fat, and why did we evolve to store it as we do? Why is it so hard to burn fat off, and easy to lose muscle?

When it comes to losing weight, people are willing to try almost anything. I'm sure you've had a friend or two that have sworn to shed the pounds by trying some ridiculous diet or another, whether it's an all beer diet, a cayenne pepper and honey purge for three weeks. One of the greatest sources of controversy however comes from the role of dietary fat in our diets – some people believe that fat is the ultimate evil, and should be cut completely from what we eat. After all, we want to lose fat,

When you listen to certain new dietary trends, you'll no doubt here their claims that they can make you lose fat, that you'll become slimmer and sexier and that their method will prevent you from ever putting the fat back on. While this may be true to a certain degree, all these claims are lies biologically speaking. Even if somebody goes from being obese to skinny, the fact is that they haven't lost their fat cells, and that's the danger and the reason why it's so hard to stay skinny once you'v

When we want to get in shape we often simply decide that we want to gain muscle and lose fat. We want to get smooth tummies, to lose the jiggle in our arms and thighs, we want to get rid of the cellulite and basically get as low as we can in terms of body fat. Fat becomes the enemy, and in fact for many years people thought they should consume no fat at all, going for low-fat alternatives whenever they could.

If you listen to current opinions about health and wellness, many people seem to be of the belief that fat is the ultimate evil. Everybody is supposed to wage a war on fat, and eat low-fat food, eat mostly carbs and protein, and try to get as skinny as possible. People strive to have ripped abs, incredible muscle definition, and nobody these days tends to think of fat as anything but evil. Is this true?

Most people aren't too aware of how our body processes the nutrients we eat. They think that if you eat too much food, you will get fat, but if you ask them if eating too many carbs or protein will make them fat, they suddenly seem unsure. Say you eat a lean piece of beef. Will all that protein get turned into fat? Or say that you eat your normal amount of food for the day, and then eat a couple of baked potatoes on top of that. Will those potatoes make you fat? If so, why?

If you're familiar with the latest fads in exercise then you are no doubt aware that many people believe that using your own body weight for training is an amazing way to go. What does this mean? This means doing push-ups, or burpees, or walking lunges, or anything where the focus is using your own body as the means to resistance. Some people think these things are so excellent that they advocate that everybody do them, regardless of their weight and condition. So does this apply to overweight p