Maybe I’ve given cardio a bad rap. Doing the long steady-state cardio work has been the “popular” choice of exercise since forever.

I remember waking up on Saturday mornings to watch cartoons only to see some funky 80s jazzercise program on TV while I was switching channels.

I also remember when I would go on long runs before my resistance training or before a basketball game because I thought it would help me get fitter faster.

And if you’re doing cardio instead of sitting on the couch eating potato chips then more power to you.

But if you’re trying to lose fat as fast as possible then doing cardio isn’t going to get you there anytime soon.  The scientific research just doesn’t support it.  And the dozens and dozens of my real world clients would tell you the same.

This doesn’t mean that I’m going to completely throw cardio out the window and tell it to not say hello or drop by coffee.

If you’re an endurance runner or a planning to run a marathon then you better be doing the long cardio runs.  You’d be an idiot not to.

If you’re trying to burn fat and look hot again then you’ll want to do interval training and metabolic resistance training instead.

So where does cardio fall if you want to lose fat?

Once you have finished your metabolic resistance training session or your high intensity interval training session then you’re going to want to drop down to the next level.

The optimal time to burn fat while doing cardio is going to be 5 minutes after you finish your metabolic resistance training or your HIIT training.

This is the time when your body is going to dump your triglycerides into your bloodstream and it’s going to set you up for the perfect time to do some cardio to actually burn fat for a change.

Although this is only right after you finish doing your other, higher priority types of training.

Another time that will help you get the fat burning results from cardio is immediately in the morning on a near empty stomach.  A lot of people go right into cardio on an empty stomach but researchers have found that having a little something in your body for energy will help you train harder than on an empty stomach.

Yep the rumors are true, you’ll burn more fat by doing cardio first thing in the morning and I’m talking FIRST thing in the morning.

So if you have more time on your hands then cardio does have it’s place in your fat loss training program, but if you’re pressed for time then I would totally focus on your metabolic resistance training and HIIT training…and then if you have some more time + energy then fill it with cardio.

So I got the new iPhone 4 on the day it launched last month and have to say it’s one of the coolest things out there.  And yes I do experience some of the antenna issues that everybody’s talking about.

But I did also buy one of Apples Bumpers for the iPhone 4 and the issues don’t seem to be as bad.  Hopefully Apple will give us an update soon.

I use the iPhone for a lot of things and one of those things is health and fitness…they have some pretty awesome apps to help organize and motivate you to pushing your goals.

Some people like writing things down on paper and keeping track that way but honestly I like it a lot more when I can write down what I want initially on paper and then use my iPhone apps to keep track of my progress.

I mean I’m carrying the thing around with me most of the time anyway and I hate having to hold on to little pieces of paper all the time, but hey that’s just me.

I’m also the kind of iPhone user who doesn’t want to pay $20 bucks for an app so most of these are either free or pretty darn inexpensive.  (God knows how much you pay for the iPhone!)

So here’s my list of my favorite iPhone apps for health and fitness…

#1  DailyBurn

The DailyBurn app is one that I’m always using and really recommend it to just about all of my clients.  Even if you don’t have the iPhone you can use the web-based program for free, which gives it many awesome points.  The most important feature on the DailyBurn iPhone app is that you can put in your daily nutrition and see the breakdown of macronutrients in your diet.  I’ve looked a long time to find a program that does this and DailyBurn does it really well.  You can also record your workouts, add motivational stuff, make workout friends and a bunch of other great stuff to take your fitness game to the next level.  Click here to get the DailyBurn App.

#2  iWorkout Muse

iWorkout Muse is a an incredible app for interval training so you can literally just set it and forget it.  I’ve used the old school form of Workout Muse before but the biggest complaint is that I couldn’t make custom intervals and had to listen to the awful copyright-free music.  But with the iWorkout Muse you can use your own music from a playlist and create whatever custom interval times you want.  I use this app daily!  Click here to get the iWorkout Muse app.

#3  RunKeeper Pro

OK, this app is terrific if you’re an outdoor runner and it does all the stuff that fancy and expensive GPS monitors do.  When I was training for my marathon about a year and a half ago I bought this really expensive GPS tracking watch that I used a lot when I was training, but not so much any more.  I wish this $10 app was around instead!  If you’re not up for paying the $10 for it then there’s a lite version of it that’s free.  Click here to get the RunKeeper Pro app.

#4  DailyBurn FoodScanner

I know I already talked about the DailyBurn app but this is another app by the same company that takes things to the next level and actually lets you use the built-in iPhone camera to scan foods and see the nutrients that are inside them.  You can quickly see the full nutrition contents so if you’re at the store you can just take a quick pic and see everything that’s inside it.  You can also of course sync everything with your DailyBurn account so you don’t have to go through the hassle of switching apps.  Click here to get the DailyBurn FoodScanner app.

#5  Durkin

Todd Durkin is one of the biggest personal trainers on the planet.  He owns and operates Fitness Quest 10 down in San Diego and trains a bunch of professional athletes as well as everyday Joe’s.  He’s a motivational speaker and also head of the Under Armour Performance Council and gives away a lot of free health tips on his iPhone app.  It’s free and I would easily pay for access to all the information on this iPhone app.  Click here to get the Durkin app.

That’s it guys, let me know what you would like to see on the TrainerJosh.com app!

The weekend is before us and I don’t know about you but I’ve been craving a cheat meal this week.  Since I’m eating healthy and staying within my “nutrition rules” I’m allowed to cheat on my meals 10% of the time.

So I eat around 5 meals a day, 3 hours apart, and so that leaves me with about 4 cheat meals a week.  A lot of people think I’m super hardcore with the meals but I crave the bad stuff just as much as the next person.  The trick is having self-control, being prepared and having something to look forward to.

As long as you have 90% compliance you’re still getting an A grade and this is enough to allow the body to transform without driving yourself crazy doing it.

But sometimes we want to take things to the next level…

If you want to lose weight then you’ll know there’s so many products out there on the market that it’s practically insanity to try and make up your mind which one’s actually work.

And on top of that you have no idea of what you’re putting into your body is healthy for you or not.

Natural fat loss is really the way to go and it’s a lot easier than most people think.  You don’t have to have a bunch of crazy hormones or chemicals pumping through your veins to increase your metabolism.

There are lots of natural alternative to help you burn fat and they’re more easily accessible than you think.

The key is to not depend on only one method of increasing your fat loss, to increase your rate of success it’s vital to have a bunch of poles in the water.

When you do this even if one thing shouldn’t work for you, you’ll still be getting the benefits of all the other stuff.

So you should be eating consistently right, doing metabolic resistance training workouts, doing HIIT instead of cardio, taking fish oil, and also taking in the right natural “supplements.”

So without further ado, here are my 3 secret natural fat loss weapons…

#1 Caffeine

A scientifically based study found that those who took in 50mg of caffeine (roughly the amount in half a cup of coffee) saw a 6% increase in their metabolic rate…meaning their metabolism increased that much and they burned that much fat.  The problem with a lot of people who take in caffeine is that they start pounding crazy energy drinks or weird grande frappacinos from Starbucks loaded with sugars and other bad stuff.  Take in your caffeine from either black coffee, green tea or a yerba mate based supplement.

#2 Green Tea

A research study found that those who took green tea extract actually increased their metabolism by 3.5% for a full 24 hour period.  This is pretty impressive considering most things that increase your metabolism (such as red hot chili peppers) usually only lasts around 30 minutes or so.  But the good ole’ epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) is what scientists believe is responsible for the fat burning effect.  But be sure to take the extract as you’ll have to drink heck of a lot of green tea to get the same effect.

#3  Cinnamon

Cinnamon you say?  Yep cinnamon is one of the few “taste sweeteners” that I recommend to people so they can spice up there foods and beverages.  Along with lowering blood pressure it has also been proven to burn off body fat when taken in high doses.  So if you want to really get your metabolic rate going then you’ll want to take some cinnamon extract unless you want to down a tablespoon of cinnamon everyday.

So even though all of these don’t “significantly” increase your metabolism, when you combine them all together they should help you add more poles in the water.  And the more poles you have the more results you’re going to get.  So next time you’re drinking coffee opt for some cinnamon instead of the sugar packs.

If you’re not interested in buying all the different extracts for these you might want to take a look at one of my favorite supplements for fat loss, Prograde Metabolism.

Got a comment? Post that bad boy below and I’ll look forward to talking to you.  But not before you click the Facebook Like button right below.

I’m not trying to be a drama queen or wanting to scare you but the supplement company has a dirty little secret that they’re not wanting you to know about.

Consumer Reports just came out with a study where they found trace amounts of toxic metals inside many of the popular protein supplements.

EAS Myoplex Original Rich Dark Chocolate Shake ranked above the U.S. Pharmacopeia’s maximum limits for Arsenic and Cadmium.

Muscle Milk proved to be the worst of the bunch and had above recommended levels for Arsenic, Cadmium, LEAD and MERCURY.

Yep and we’re putting this stuff in our bodies everyday.

No Bueno.

So is this a reason why we should stop taking protein supplements, or any supplements for that matter?

To be honest, we should getting our daily protein intake from real whole foods, not protein supplements.

I only use protein supplements (not the ones listed in the Consumer Reports study) around 3-5x a week total.  Mostly post-workout.

It’s a shame when I see high school kids taking protein supplements because they learned from their athletic peers and bodybuilders that it’s the best way to build muscle.

An American Academy of Pediatrics study found that protein powders and shakes were the most commonly used supplements by those aged 12-18.

This is the age when they SHOULD be getting down proper eating habits and even though it probably won’t kill them, I firmly believe they should wait until they’re 18 before they start using supplements.

It’s also a lot cheaper to get your protein intake from whole foods compared to protein supplements.  Some cheaper and effective examples could be grilled chicken breasts, chocolate milk, scrambled eggs, salmon, etc.

You also don’t need to take in 40-50g of protein in one setting.  You’re body obviously can’t break that much protein down and absorb it all so the rest is converted to fat or excreted out of the body.

20-30g is the right amount of protein you’ll want to be taking in post-workout, I usually take in around 26g.

So if you’re like me and care whether or not you want to be poisoned by your protein shake then it’ll be a wise idea to sparingly use them and definitely not the ones I mentioned above.

The only protein powder I like to use is the naturally sweetened and pharmaceutical quality ProGrade brand.

Click Here to see my recommended protein supplement.

So let’s stop falling for the supplement industry’s dirty little tricks and we don’t have to pay them $2.7 billion a year.

But unfortunately there are still those people out there who won’t listen and would prefer to keep killing themselves but the choice is yours.

Happy 4th of July!

I hope your holiday was great and had some good BBQ and saw some awesome fireworks…I know I did.

But back to work today and I got inspired after watching the new Eclipse movie to make a workout that would get anyone Taylor Lautner ripped.

Now this guy Taylor Lautner has an impressive physique for being so young and he definitely put a lot of work into developing his body.

Rome wasn’t built in a day…

So if you’re looking to burn off some fat and build some lean sexy muscle then this is the kind of workouts you should be doing.

Now doing this workout alone will obviously not be enough.  You have to have the right diet down and be doing additional trainings to build the body that Lautner has.

And if you prefer to look like a vampire, then just stay indoors until you get pretty darn pasty and never workout.

But if you prefer to have the toned lean and built body like the werewolves then you have to put the right work in.

To be honest I wasn’t a big fan of the movie but it did get me thinking about training, and it inspired this workout so it’s not all a lost.

If you’re ready to take the challenge then try this workout today, the year is already 50% over but the summer is still here.  It’s not to late to look hotter.

A1.  Pike Pullups (4×10-15)

A2.  1-Armed Bench Press (4×10/side)

B1.  Split Stance Overhead Press (4×12)

B2.  Split Stance DB Curls (4×12)

C1.  Kettlebell Situps (3×20)

C2.  Dragon Flags (3×12)

D1. Burpee to Gorilla Pullups (2×10)