“I dropped 5 dress sizes!” or “I dropped 3 pant sizes!” Those are the words that trainers like to hear from women clients. It signals that you are burning fat and losing inches off your body if you did it over a reasonable amount of time (i.e., not a quick weight loss program).

The test as to whether your “dresses or pants will probably stay smaller in size” is a body fat test. Testing your body fat percentage will tell me whether you are just losing weight or burning fat and losing weight. It will also tell me where you have lost inches. If you are losing inches, you are burning fat and changing your body’s composition.

Build muscle, burn fat, lose inches, lose weight and speed up your metabolism. These benchmarks are signs of a successful body composition change for the long haul. It is pretty simple to do!

Do full-body strength training on a regular basis. Strength training means exercises with resistance. That could be bodyweight exercises, tubing exercises, dumbbell exercises, barbell exercises or kettlebell exercises. Building your muscles and burning fat is the key. You won’t get bulky but you will tone your body.

Here’s an example of a successful body transformation program:

This woman weighed 150 pounds, with 30% body fat
(lean mass = 105 lbs. and fat mass = 45 lbs.)

Exercise program results:

Weight: 130 pounds, 20% body fat
(lean mass = 104 lbs. and fat mass = 26 lbs.)

This woman's exercise program was very successful. She lost 20 total pounds with only 1 lost pound of muscle. That means the other 19 pounds lost was fat. This woman will drop dress sizes and pant sizes. You can do this by combining a healthy meal plan with regular strength training and interval cardio exercise.

Here’s a good body weight strength training circuit that will burn fat. This workout is a strength and cardio workout so it will save you even more time during your busy week. Do this type workout 3 times a week.

--Y body weight squats, 12 repetitions, moderate pace
--Plank, 10 repetitions, 10 second hold
--Push-ups, 12 repetitions
--Squat jumps, 10 repetitions, fast
--Ball Ab Rollouts, 12 repetitions, moderate pace
--Pullups, 8 repetitions
--Superwoman, 12 repetitions, 5 second hold
--Do this circuit 3 times

Do this circuit with little or no rest between exercises. Rest 2-3 minutes between circuits.

Start working on dropping those dress and pant sizes.

Mark Dilworth, Certified Personal Trainer
Her Fitness Hut http://herfitnesshut.com