1. Stop Using Weight Machines! Weight machines are sexy, sleek, shiny, and smooth. Perhaps that is why gym owners and lazy personal trainers have fallen head over heels in love with them.

Gym owners pack their gyms with these eye catching devices so that they could get more people into their gyms without having a large amount of trainers on staff. Those gym goers who do utilize personal training services often get a highly paid escort who walks them from machine to machine and adjusts the setting for them. Do you know how to spot a good trainer? One who never takes their clients to the weight machines!

Without getting too biological on you, your muscles do not work in isolation - they work in a chain of movement. The most evil of machines, the leg extension machine, is a prime example - it is just not a natural movement. It has absolutely nothing to do with how our legs are used in everyday life - for walking, climbing, and descending.

Don't get me wrong - machines do have their place in the fitness world. However, they are most beneficial to two populations - bodybuilders who are looking to correct a deficiency or weak point, and physical therapy patients who are trying to rebuild strength and regain range of motion. They are not meant for people looking to lose fat!

People looking to lose fat need to utilize free weights, body weight exercises, and various other equipment like medicine balls, resistance bands, and balance trainers - essentially training movements not specific muscles.

2. Stop Using the Handles on Cardio Machines! It cracks me up every time I see someone who is using a treadmill and is holding on to the bar in front of them for dear life with a white-knuckled grip. Maybe you've seen the people who are draped all over the stairmaster or stepmill with their arms, and their heads facing down while their back is unnaturally curved. There are even those who hold on to the siderails on the stepmills or elliptical machines and push up with their arms (or my all time favorites are the people who contort their arms so that their wrists are facing forward!)

What do these people all have in common? They are wasting their time! Bars are meant for balance only - not as a crutch to use when the going gets tough during exercise. When you walk or run outside, do you have anything to hold on to? Unless you run while pushing a shopping cart (very odd!) or stroller (if you must), let go of the handles. You'll expend more energy and use more muscle, thus getting a more efficient and effective workout.

I know what you're thinking - "What about the elliptical machines with the handles that pump back and forth? Don't I get more of a calorie burn from them?" In short, no. Pumping your arms back and forth without touching the handles will of be far more benefit to burning fat.

And don't use the handgrips on any cardio machine to get your heart rate - they will not be accurate. Instead, read on and follow my advice below.

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