Oh, and a few tips for those who are trying to lose weight but not muscle, or for those trying to get a 6-pac:
Don't waste your time doing a hundred sit-ups each day, because everyone has abs. The main goal when trying to get a 6-pack is burning away the layer(s) of fat that are covering your abs. Someone here said that he's skinny but doesn't have a 6-pack. Well, I'm not trying to put him down or anything but that's because he is skinny, but has a high level of body fat %. Doing sit-ups only make your abs STRONGER, not "bigger" or more "visible". It's great to do ab workouts because they help in a lot of your weight lifting as a strong core plays a big role in lifting heavy weights, but don't do a million sit-ups if your goal is to get a visible 6-pack.
Your main goal is to burn fat. Your body doesn't burn fat for the first 20-25 minutes of your workout; it burns glucose. It saddens me when people dedicate a single day to "cardio" where they jog for an hour. Well, for about the first half hour, you're not even burning fat! You're burning glucose, which is great but counterintuitive to your goals.
What you must do is "trick" your body. Many guys who are trying to gain muscle and a 6-pack worry that doing cardio will cause them to lose their muscle. That is true in some extent, especially if you don't weight lift or don't eat protein-enriched foods. But if you "trick" your body by doing weight lifting exercises before your cardio, your body will think that you need the muscle so it will focus on burning fat instead. Not only that, but you will burn off the necessary glucose by doing your weight lifting so you will hit two birds with one stone and save time.
Then for a cardio work-out, DON'T, and I repeat, DON'T spend half an hour jogging. You need at most 15 minutes of a good workout. The workouts that burn fat most effectively are called interval workouts. These exercises are used to maximize intensity and to "trick" your body. An example of an interval workout is Walk Sprint. Go to a treadmill, or a track, or anywhere open. If you're on a treadmill, walk for 1 minute, then sprint for 1 minute. Repeat this 10 times and you're done. If you're on a track, walk the curved sections of the track and sprint the straight ones. YOU ONLY NEED TO DO THIS FOR 15-20 MINUTES MAX!!! You will find that you'll be sweating more bullets in that 15 minute work-out than you would in a 1 hour jog. Don't do these everyday, do them on the same day you will do your weight lifting, so about 3-4 days a week should be your goal. I like to spend 1 hour at my gym where I spend 45 minutes lifting and 15 minutes doing cardio.
Other examples of interval exercises are jump-roping, swimming, biking (not strolling around a park, but actually with intensity!), play sports like basketball or soccer/football, etc. I know this post is long, and there are many topics that I didn't address. But I have a passion for personal fitness and well-being, and if any of you are serious about getting in shape or have any questions, feel free to PM me. I love hearing the positive results of people who go through body transformations or of those who meet their goals!
