How To Get Rid Of Loose Skin After Losing Weight

If you've lost a lot of weight only to be left with loose skin that you can't stand and want to know how to get rid of it without surgery then you'll find some good advice here.

Here's a question I got yesterday from an e-mail.

Q: Hi Kevin, I'm glad you are open to answer my questions. Anyway, I want to ask about stretched skin. I went from 240 to 170 pounds in about a year and a half, resulting in highly stretchable skin and left over stretch marks on my belly and chest. Is it possible to be rid of this problem without plastic surgery? I think I finally hit my plateau...

A: Hi Tom,

Great question. First off, I want to congratulate you for losing all that weight. That takes a huge commitment and lots of hard work.

The skin is amazing in what it can do. In a lot of cases like yours surgery is often recommended but before even considering surgery I’ll try to help you fix this without it.

This ‘loose skin’ is particularly common in people who lose a lot of weight quickly because they lose a lot of water and muscle but not much body fat.

Now, you say you went from 240 to 170 lbs in a year and a half. If I’m correct in my math that’s 70 lbs in 18 months which = approximately 3.9 lbs per month.

That’s not drastic weight loss by any means.

Since your rate of weight loss is perfectly normal I suspect the real culprit isn’t actually loose skin but body fat and here’s why.

Think of your muscles for a minute...

...Now, imagine your muscles are like big, red water balloons. And those water balloons are surrounded by fat cells which take on the appearance of cottage cheese when you carry too much body fat. (That’s where the term ‘cottage cheese thighs’ came from)

Anyway, when you lose weight it can basically come from the loss of water, muscle and/or fat.

If most of the weight loss comes from fat you would see that layer of cottage cheese getting thinner and smaller and if you lost enough of it (the fat) you would see the water balloon underneath (your muscles).

That’s what we know as looking ‘toned’.

On the other hand, let’s say most of your weight loss came from water and muscle.

Then what would happen is the water balloons would get smaller but the layer of cottage cheese would remain virtually unchanged.

So, when you lose mostly water and muscle you look smaller in your overall appearance but still have the same soft spots and you have the appearance of loose skin.

That’s the problem with ‘weight loss’. Simply losing weight isn’t as important as losing body fat and you don’t look the way you really want. And, the latest research shows that excessive body fat poses a more significant risk for cardiovascular disease than body weight.

Now, it is possible to have loose skin that has been stretched beyond its’ capacity to recover, but the skin cells are always shedding and you produce new skin cells all the time. In fact, we lose on average about 1 pound of skin per month even if you don’t see it.

Crazy huh?

So, over time the skin can recover significantly. It just takes a longer time to do so.

Ok, now here’s a way you can determine if this is a body fat issue. Get your body fat tested at a gym/health club in your area.

All you need to do is talk to one of the personal trainers and ask him/her if they would be kind enough to test your body fat at their earliest convenience.

Most trainers at health clubs will be happy to do this at no charge because it’s a chance to meet a potential client (at least that’s what they hope).

A common method of body fat testing is performed with calipers.

The trainer will take a small pinch of skin (it’s painless, but it might tickle a bit) and measure the thickness of it with the calipers. The pinch taken is the body fat underneath the skin that’s being measured.

The common skin fold testing method measures 3 sites on men: the chest (halfway between the nipple and your armpit), the stomach (about 1 inch to the right of your belly button) and the thigh (halfway between the crease at your hip/thigh and your knee).

The combined measurements will determine your body fat percent.

Keep in mind that this isn’t exact but it’s a general ideal. It can be off by 3% up or down or more depending on the accuracy of the tester and equipment used.

But, it’s good enough to give you an idea of where you’re at.

An easier way to do this on your own is to purchase a scale that measures your body weight, body fat, water, muscle and bone.

You can pick these up at stores like Costco or just about any sporting goods store.

You’ll have to call around to find out where you can get one in your area.

But, this scale is easy to do.

Program in your age, height and so on and stand on it without any clothes or socks. It sends a beam though your body and measures body fat.

It works on the premise that muscle is more dense that water and fat and the faster the beam travels the less fat you carry.

The problem with these scales is that they aren’t very accurate. They cannot accurately tell the difference between water and fat which means you can get a higher reading of body fat but it can really be water and vice-versa.

So, what I do is add the water and fat numbers together.

If you see the sum of these numbers going down week to week then you can be pretty sure you’re losing body fat.

Also, you need to use these scales the same way every time. No clothes on, use the bathroom first, don’t eat or drink anything.

I find that first thing in the morning is perfect.

And, only take your weight once per week to ensure consistency. Our water levels can fluctuate by as much as 5 lbs per day. Over the course of a week you’ll have a much better idea of what’s happening.

Now, we can put this all together.

If your body fat percent is higher than 16% this is good news. You can make some big changes with the lose skin by focusing on losing body fat.

Not weight per se, but body fat.

When your body fat percent gets under 12% you’ll start to see your abs and get definition in your muscles.

If this is the case (which I suspect is very possible) a lot of your weight loss came from water and muscle. That’s the not so good news.

Your muscles are calorie burners so the more muscle you have the more calories you burn and the leaner and tighter your body gets.

So, emphasizing a strength training routine that’s focused on adding back some lean muscle is a must. The muscle will also fill you in a bit giving your body shape and tone.

Light Weight Training Does Not Tone Your Trouble Areas

Have you ever wondered why people who train with light weights all the time never really tone their trouble areas?

If you've been told that you will burn fat and tone your body by lifting soup cans or doing leg lifts, crunches and thigh machines I have some bad news...

...I know nearly every fitness magazine out there promotes this stuff for burning fat and toning up mostly because it sells subscriptions.

Showing photos of skinny fitness models smiling away while performing these exercises sends the message that getting the body you want is fun, comfortable and even easy.

But, as I said before, I'm here to tell you the plain and simple truth.

And the truth is that lifting light weights for more repetitions does not:

* boost your metabolism effectively
* tone your muscles
* tighten your "trouble areas"
* burn many calories
* burn fat off your body

Also, the majority of machines where you sit down and isolate a certain body part are extremely ineffective for fat loss, toning and re-shaping your body.

So, if you want to lose fat, tone your muscles and re-shape your body you're going to have to put in some hard work.

It doesn't mean your workouts can't be fun, but comfortable and easy just aren't going to cut it.

There are 2 key factors that determine whether or not you have a lean, toned body:

1) You must have a low enough level of body fat: Basically, you have body fat that surrounds your internal organs for protection and then you have that unsightly flab that hangs from your upper arms, thighs, butt, hips and your stomach which blurs the visibility of the muscles you have underneath.

So, when you carry too much body fat you cannot see any muscular definition because your muscles are hidden under that thick layer of fat.

2) You must have a sufficient level of muscularity: Even if you have a super-low body fat percent you will not have a toned body with long, lean muscles if you don't develop enough muscle to begin with.

The reason is because once you lose the fat the underlying muscles become visible, but if you don't have enough muscle you'll just look skinny and malnourished.

If you've ever seen one of those super-thin models that look anorexic that's what I'm talking about. They're practically skin and bones.

Ok, so now I'm going to talk about the one word that scares so many people half to death. Now, take a deep breath and relax.

That word is...

...MUSCLE

There I said it.

Actually, muscle isn't something to be feared once you know the truth rather than listening to all the myths about how lifting weights will make you muscle-bound and bulky.

That's just a myth and is absolutely 100% untrue!

The truth is that adding some lean muscle has many benefits such as: you burn more calories, your ability to burn fat increases, you look leaner, your bones become stronger, you can stay athletic, you look and feel stronger.

But, adding muscle does NOT mean bodybuilding.

Just because you lift weights doesn't mean you will turn into Ms. Olympia. The reality is that even if you wanted to have the muscle of a bodybuilder, you wouldn't be able to because it's unrealistic.

Bodybuilders train for hours and hours every week (more time than you have available), they eat more calories in one day than you probably eat in 3 days...

...it takes years of hard, heavy training to develop the kind of muscularity of a bodybuilder, professional bodybuilders are genetically inclined to build a large amount of muscle mass that the majority of people are not capable of...

...most (if not all) professional bodybuilders take large quantities of muscle building drugs to achieve the amount of muscle they carry (yes, even the women).

Ok, so back to lean muscle and burning fat.

It's important to understand the differences in how you perform strength training because the way you train dictates the results you do or do not get. Your body responds specifically to how you train it, what you feed it and how you rest it.

Muscular Endurance: This is the ability of your muscles to perform longer bouts of activity at lower intensity. You can go longer but you don't become stronger nor do you add muscle. This happens because low-intensity, higher repetition work only involves a limited amount of muscle fibers.

And these muscle fibers aren't very capable of increasing their size. So, you don't really develop that lean muscle you need to look toned and to re-shape your body, plus you don't burn many calories either.

Muscular Strength: This is the ability of your muscles to produce high intensity work for shorter periods. This happens because lifting heavier weights activates more muscle fibers. So, you become stronger but cannot go longer, get it?

As an added bonus you activate the muscle fibers that can increase in size which gives you the toned appearance you want.

You also boost your metabolism better which means you're going to burn more calories during and after the workout which also means more fat loss.

This is also a great way to make your bones stronger which can help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

As you can see, when you simply lift light weights for more repetitions you can improve your muscular endurance but you don't get stronger nor do you improve fat burning effectively.

Stronger muscles become toned muscles so if you want to look lean and toned while completely reshaping your body you are going to have to lift some heavier weights.

Now, before you think I've completely lost my mind hear me out.

When I say "lift some heavier weights" I'm not saying that you have to become the next world record holder in the bench press.

And I'm not saying you need to turn into some Olympic level weightlifter either.

I am simply saying that if you want toned, shapely muscles you need to challenge your body to lift progressively heavier loads.

You don't have to spend hours in the gym to do this either. As a matter of fact, just a couple of these workouts each week with some cardio intervals on your off days is usually enough to do the trick. An excellent program that already has it all done for you is the Body Transformation Success System

You'll be surprised at how effectively you'll burn fat and tone your body.

And once you achieve the level of muscularity you are comfortable with you maintain it.

It doesn't have to be an ongoing thing.

You simply fit the level of muscularity you desire into YOUR goal.

Let's face it.

If you want to lose weight and tone your muscles you have to have the muscle on your body in the first place.

And this is what so many people are deathly afraid of.

They misinterpret that as meaning they need to "bulk-up" but that's not the case.

Now, that you know the truth you can push aside all fears of becoming a muscle bound WWE wrestler.

But, sadly those who fear some intense strength training never end up achieving the body they want.

Those who embrace this truth are the ones who achieve success.

Just look at the bodies of celebrities like Jennifer Garner, Jennifer Lopez and Madonna.

Those women train hard and lift weights on a regular basis, but they aren't bulky.

They have long, lean muscles and that look feminine and sexy.

Until you are ready to accept this truth you'll continue to fall short of your ultimate body goal.

As you can see, once you have the right nutrition and exercise program in place you'll tone your trouble spots quickly and permanently without resorting to dangerous or unhealthy practices.

The Dark Truth About Cardio & The Fat Burning Zone

If you've been told the most effective way to burn fat is to do cardio in your fat burning zone 3-5 days a week for an hour or so you've been LIED TO...

Another one of the biggest myths is that of the age-old cardio "fat burning zone".

This was made popular ever since research showed that you burn more fat exercising at lower intensities than you do exercising at higher intensities.

So, everyone jumped on the cardio bandwagon.

But, the research failed to include one very important piece to the fat loss puzzle...

...If you burn more fat at lower intensities then why don't all the couch potatoes of the world have lean, toned bodies?

Think about when you go to your local gym/health club and where you see the majority of its members.

They're on the cardio equipment, right?

Now, I'll bet that you can think of quite a few "regulars" there who you see doing cardio all the time in their "fat burning zone" like the little heart rate chart says.

It's almost as if everytime you walk in there they are doing cardio.

Some of them even take their cardio time as an opportunity to read their favorite magazine while they barely raise their heart rate.

Now, I want to ask you something.

Have any of their bodies significantly changed in the past 3 months?

In the past 6 months?

How about in the past year?

Sadly, I'll bet the answer is no.

So, am I here to bash cardio and everyone who does it?

Not at all.

But, I do want to make one point perfectly clear. There are more effective weight loss methods that you can do in half the time of cardio.

A higher percent of fat burned doesn't necessarily mean you burn more calories from fat. Here's an example:

* If you burn 300 calories with 50% from fat = 150 fat calories burned (low intensity exercise-fewer calories burned but higher percent of fat burned)

* If you burn 500 calories with 35% from fat = 175 fat calories burned (higher intensity exercise-more calories burned but lower percent of fat burned)

As you can see the last example using higher intensity exercise uses a lower PERCENTAGE of calories from fat but a higher NUMBER of calories from fat plus more overall calories burned.

And, in the end it's all about how many calories from fat you burn not the percent.

You burn more calories and fat while boosting your metabolism long after your workout is over when you push your intensity up a few notches.

Burn more calories from fat and you get leaner faster.

The main problem with doing day after day of cardio in your "fat burning zone" (aside of the sheer boredom) is that it is only effective for a very short period of time.

Most people experience some fat loss within the first couple months or so, but then the results stop.

This happens due to the body's ability to adapt by becoming more efficient.

And, as your body becomes more efficient it burns fewer calories and less fat. So, as efficiency increases you have to do more cardio to try and lose more fat.

But, if you have to keep doing more and more cardio in your "fat burning zone" to keep getting results, where does it all end?

I've seen many people over the years doing 90 minutes (and longer) 5, 6 even 7 days a week (I made this mistake back in the day when I was struggling with my weight).

And, that was just in an effort to maintain the results they had achieved in the months before!

Because their bodies adapted to the same old cardio routine they weren't expending as much energy anymore and actually ended up gaining some weight back.

Unfortunately, most fitness magazines promote doing "cardio in your fat burning zone 3 to 5 days a week" but they don't tell you the whole story.

Do you really have the time or desire to do that much cardio for the rest of your life?

That's how you end up with repetitive stress injuries to your lower back, knees, hips and ankles. It's just not a realistic approach to losing fat and keeping it off.

After all, nobody likes to lose and gain back the same weight month after month after month.

So, rather than adding more and more long, slow, boring cardio, a more effective method for fat loss is to push the intensity up instead.

A high-intensity workout will boost calorie and fat burning not only while you workout, but for up to 24 hours after your workout.

I don't know about you but I sure like the idea of burning fat while I'm sleeping a whole lot better than going 90 minutes on the treadmill that's for sure.

So, you don't have to be a slave to the gym. You can get a great fat burning workout in a reasonable time frame and stop the boredom once and for all.

In fact, you can get a better workout at home than at the gym without cardio in your fat burning zone using your own body weight or dumbbells as resistance.

When Eating Less & Exercising More = Weight Gain

If you've read about my weight loss struggles I went through years ago, you'll know that at the time I was doing cardio in my 'fat burning zone' 6 days a week for 90 minutes each session.

But, I still wasn't losing weight...

...And, I ended up gaining back all the weight I had lost up that point.

You see back then I thought that to lose weight I simply had to eat less and exercise more...and so I exercised a lot MORE doing all that cardio.

But, when it didn't work I had to question the 'eat less and exercise more' theory...

...This statement gets so many people in trouble not because it's not true, but because it's only true to a certain extent.

However, when taken to the extreme as so many do the opposite effect happens where you get stuck and can't seem to lose weight no matter how much you exercise or how well you eat.

It's like you have to go to some big extremes to lose a mere pound or two.

You do need a calorie deficit to lose weight and that deficit is created when you burn more calories than you eat...

...But, your body is sensitive to how large of a calorie deficit it is comfortable with.

When you're in a slight energy deficit and with the right training and nutrition program, you can burn fat and lose weight quickly, safely and permanently.

But, when you're in TOO BIG an energy deficit your body kicks in it's built in "survival mechanism" where it desperately tries to conserve energy because it "thinks" you are starving.

Once your survival mechanism kicks in your body does all it can to store fat and burns muscle instead.

This is a bad situation and here's why.

Every pound of lean muscle you have burns somewhere between 15-30 calories per day.

Now, that's for every single pound!

That's a lot of calories your muscles are burning through every day isn't it?

But, every pound of fat you have only burns only 1-3 calories per day.

A huge difference.

So, when you're in a large calorie deficit to the point that your body has gone into "starvation mode" it tries to conserve as much energy as it can.

It does this by holding onto and storing fat because fat doesn't require much energy expenditure compared to muscle.

Remember, you know you're not really starving but your body doesn't know the difference between starving and dieting.

Now, if you're someone who thinks this is acceptable because at least you're losing weight I have some very bad news here.

I mentioned earlier that your muscles burn calories...

...More specifically, your muscles burn fat and when you lose muscle your body burns fewer calories and less fat.

This is why you eventually get stuck at a plateau and the more you cut calories the harder it becomes to lose weight.

This is also why restrictive and/or very low calorie diets don't work.

It's important to feed your body on a regular basis throughout each day with a balanced nutrition plan while maintaining a slight calorie deficit to lose weight.

Your weight loss goals should be focused not on just the weight loss but losing overall body fat.

This way you maintain your lean muscle and keep your metabolism in high gear as you become leaner.

For many, this often means eating a little bit more.

The problem is that most people just cannot accept the fact that eating more quality food and losing body fat actually do not oppose each other.

They go together.

It's like how you keep a fire burning.

If you see the fire in your fireplace getting low and you put a big, huge log on that little flame what happens?

The flame goes out..

...But, if you put a small amount of wood on the flame the keeps burning steadily.

The wood burns easily and efficiently and all you have to do to keep that fire burning is to keep adding small amounts of wood.

Your metabolism is the same way. Think of it as the fire and food as the wood for the fire.

By eating smaller amounts of food frequently throughout the day you keep your metabolism, or your 'fire', burning all day long.

That's the secret for turning your body into a fat burning machine.

All you have to do is give it the fuel it needs.

The Low Carbohydrate Diet Myth Exposed

About 10 years ago I thought a low carbohydrate diet was my answer to losing the embarrassing amount of belly flab I had...

My first day on the diet I was working as a checker for a major supermarket chain and everything was going as normal as normal could be.

But, about halfway through my shift I started feeling hungry...REALLY HUNGRY!

I tried to ignore it but before long I felt weak and I was beginning to get the shakes.

It finally got so bad that I gave in and grabbed a box of wheat thins and a quart of chocolate milk, made a mad dash into the break room and began stuffing my face as fast as I could.

You see back then I didn't know the truth about carbohydrates and what low carbohydrate diets really do to your metabolism.

Carbohydrates are your body's main source of energy during activities like working out. Your body needs carbohydrates to keep your metabolism up. But, if you read the latest diet books or most fitness magazines you'll often read that you need a lower carbohydrate diet to lose weight.

There is some truth to the 'carbs make you fat' statement but it's very misleading...

...With all the hype telling you to avoid carbohydrates like the plague if you want to lose body fat, what you don't hear is that it's not carbohydrates that make you fat.

There's something else responsible that is the #1 reason for weight gain even if you have the perfect ratio of carbs, protein and fat.

In fact, it's so simple yet so many people fail to account for it and this is the biggest nutrition mistake I have seen in all my years as a fitness professional.

So, what is it?

It's one word...

...Calories

If you're saying "Duh, I know that already", please hear me out. There's a bit more to it.

It doesn't matter if you never eat another carbohydrate in your life.

You will gain weight if you eat more calories than you need, period.

But, a common mistake is trying to stick to a low carbodyrate diet or consuming 'x' grams of protein or maintaining a 'low-fat' diet of sorts while failing to address your daily calorie needs.

So, the first and most important thing you need to do is establish how many calories you need to maintain your current body weight/body composition. This is easy to do with a proper diet and exercise program.

Too many calories = weight gain

Also, it's important to understand the differences in the type of carbohydrates. The carbohydrates you get from sugar sources like soda, candy, flour, most cereals and white bread have the biggest potential to influence weight and body fat gain.

But, it's not just because they're carbohydrates...

...here's the BIG secret.

These sugary carbs also called "simple" carbohydrates cause rapid rises in your blood glucose levels (a.k.a. blood sugar) which then signals your body to release a hormone called insulin to metabolize the blood glucose.

High insulin levels program your body to store fat rather than release it. And to make matters worse, simple carbs get metabolized quickly which often leaves you hungry within an hour or two after you eat.

That's why you get a quick energy surge followed by the crash a couple hours later after eating a high sugar snack.

This up and down hunger pattern creates a hormonal imbalance and causes you to overeat; often craving those sugar loaded foods.

This also helps explain why some people experience "food addictions" because sugar has an almost 'drug-like' power making you crave it over and over (over-eating).

Furthermore, many of these "food addictions" are miraculously "cured" once the diet is cleaned up.

On the other hand, complex carbohydrates from sources like raw oats, whole grains, some fruits and veggies do not cause the rapid rises in blood glucose associated with weight gain. So, the type of carbohydrates you consume is important to consider.

Does this mean you cannot ever eat bread or pasta again?

Absolutely not.

One trick to help avoid the rapid blood sugar surge is to combine your foods properly. That means eating carbohydrates ONLY with a lean source of protein. This helps keep your homone levels better balanced and avoid those intense cravings.

The bottom line is that even on a low-carb diet you will still gain weight if you eat too many calories. It's not just carbohydrates that make you fat.

Carbohydrate Guidelines:

* Consume more calories on intense training days then you normally would on non-training days.This can include carbohydrates which your muscles need. If you get this right the carbs will go into your muscle cells rather than be stored as fat.

You can easily learn how to do this without a low carbohydrate diet in the Body Transformation Success System

* Complex carbohydrates help even out blood glucose levels and give you sustained energy longer which can help control hunger cravings and tendencies to overeat.

The Truth About Weight Loss Diets

Years ago Judy came to me because she couldn't understand why her weight loss diet wasn't working anymore.

She had lost over 70 pounds but then she hit a plateau and couldn't lose any more weight.

Judy was frustrated because she was burning more calories than she was eating through a combination of diet and exercise and still the scale wasn't showing any changes in her weight.

She was so upset over this that she was about to give up hope...

But, when I asked Judy what her diet looked like she mentioned that she was on a weight loss diet program that had her eating hardly any food and taking a bunch of weight loss pills instead.

Judy thought she had to keep eating less and exercising more to lose weight, but this approach wasn't working.

This is the problem with most weight loss diets.

They restrict one or more nutrients (and calories) that your body needs and it's difficult to stick with. When it comes down to it, your body consists of billions of individual cells miraculously put together to perform specific tasks like burning fat...

And, each of these cells needs enough carbohydrates, protein, fat, water, vitamins, minerals and more to do this.

When you restrict one or more nutrients or when you don't give those little cells of yours enough energy calories they don't work properly.

So, what does this have to do with losing weight? Everything!

Because the cells that make up your muscles burn calories and fat and when those cells of yours aren't functioning at their best, you'll have a difficult, if not impossible time losing weight and shedding that excess body fat from your trouble areas.

This partly explains why most dieters lose a lot of weight yet never really look lean and toned.

They just look like a smaller version of their former self.

This happens due to the loss of mainly water, glycogen and muscle but not much fat. As a result, they still have the same soft spots and trouble areas as before.

What's worse is that they get stuck where they can't lose any more weight. This happens because when you lose muscle your metabolism slows down which means you burn fewer calories than before.

This is a nightmare because if you want to tone up your trouble areas is your goal you need to get rid of the fat on those areas. And, you can't burn that fat if your metabolism is plummeting.

Muscle loss is the reason why most dieters gain back all the weight they lose plus a few extra pounds. They go off the weight loss diet and resume eating like they did before the diet but they haven't accounted for the fact that since they lost muscle they are burning fewer calories than before.

So, eating their previously "normal" diet puts them in a calorie surplus where they are now eating more calories than they are burning which = weight gain.

And it gets worse when after long periods of dieting you feel weak, hungry, irritable, dizzy or light-headed. This is terribly unhealthy and honestly who wants to live the rest of their life like that anyway?

The most successful way to lose weight and keep it off is with a balanced diet of a variety of quality nutrients while staying in a slight calorie deficit.

If the calorie deficit is on the mark you will lose body fat and maintain muscle. But, be careful because if you cut calories too far and go into a huge calorie deficit you may lose some weight, but it will be mostly from water, glycogen and muscle loss which you now know is a no-no for fat loss.

It's not about not eating carbohydrates or consuming large amounts of protein or eating super low-fat, or giving up your favorite foods.

Balance and consistency = long-term health and successful weight loss.

Most weight loss diets are designed to appeal to what most people want.

Fast weight loss, instant results at the expense of your happiness, long-term success and health. Unfortunately, what you aren't told is the long-term negative effects most diets have on your health and your body.

You can see what long-term weight loss diets did to me and what I did to finally overcome my diet disaster and lose 36 lbs

Why Your Knees Hurt Squatting & 3 Alternatives To Keep Your Knees Healthy

In nearly a decade as a personal trainer I've discovered a huge reason aside from diet and not exercising enough (or at all) that's stopping people just like you from losing weight and getting a lean, toned body.

Performing the right exercises the wrong way.

Now, before you roll your eyes and shout "I already knew that!" let me explain exactly what I mean by this.

I'll use the squat exercise for my example. Squats are a great exercise for burning calories, melting body fat and sculpting lean muscles. But, the problem I see all the time is that most people think the squat is an exercise for your thighs.

They focus so much on using their thigh muscles and eventually end up with knee and lower back pain. Then they tell everyone how squats are "bad for your knees" or something similar.

If you have nagging pain or old injuries that keep rearing their ugly head every time you start working out consistently, running, biking or playing sports on the weekends then you have to start decreasing your activity level until the injury goes away.

But, while you're avoiding activity you can start to put on some pounds. It's a vicious cycle that just repeats itself over and over.

Now, you can avoid this scenario by learning to use the right muscles during exercises. Just like the squat. Did you know that the squat is supposed to work your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, abdominals, upper, mid and lower back muscles? All of those in just one movement.

And, that's how you burn more calories while avoiding injuries so you can stay consistent and achieve your weight loss goals.

In the video below I'll show you exactly how to do squats, how to make sure you use the right muscles and how to avoid knee and back pain that most people get when squatting.

After watching the video post me a comment below and let me know what you think and what other information you'd like me to share with you.