The Roots of Turbulence Training

Hey folks! Last day I answered one of the most popular questions women have when it comes to working out. These 3 simple tips I gave out will apply to anyone, but women in particular tend to stress about it more so than men.  So, if you missed it then head back to part 1.

Today, I want to take a look at the history behind Turbulence Training – how I came up with the name, for whom it was initially created for, and how TT’s unique concept can help you burn fat fast. So stick around to find out these answers and more….

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Q: Okay, let’s talk about Turbulence Training. You are the creator of this phenomenal fat loss program called Turbulence Training. First off, why is it called Turbulence Training, what does that mean and what does the name have to do with how you train?

Craig: We use it as an analogy of being in an airplane….

An airplane going through turbulence requires more energy to get back into normal flight patterns. So, with the workouts what we’re doing is putting turbulence on the body by INCREASING the intensity of the training in comparison to what most people do on a regular basis.

After training you will burn MORE energy during recovery to repair from those workouts. So, the people that get the most results with my program are those who are at a plateau with stubborn fat, not getting results, and have been using the same kind of moderate or low intensity workout for a long time. When they switch over, that’s when they get really FAST RESULTS.

Q: It will blast them right through the plateaus there.

Craig: Yes.

Q: Now, why specifically did you create Turbulence Training, despite everything else that’s out there and all the different methods? Why specifically did you create it and who did you create it for?

Craig: Well, I created it a long time ago, so a lot of people kind of copied Turbulence Training over the years. There really was a hole in the marketplace for this type of workout back when I started putting it together.

Really, it was a culmination of experience and scientific research that I was doing as a graduate student. So, I was studying interval training, I was studying short burst resistance training, and also using those methods with ATHLETES and clients in the gym.

So, it was a culmination of all that and again, going to my time as a graduate student when I was working 12 to 16 hours per day and there wasn’t a lot of time for me to continue my previous leisurely lifestyle as a University student training 90 minutes…

I had to take that information and apply it.

That was the first time I did it, and then I started doing stuff for Men’s Health Magazine and many other magazines and we started getting the requests in for short workouts.

Over time, it evolved a little to have even more bodyweight exercises because a lot of people were asking for exercises they could do WITHOUT any equipment at home, while they travel, etcetera.

Q: Right. That’s actually the next question. You mention that a lot of the workouts can be done using bodyweight exercise, so is Turbulence training something that can be done from home or does someone actually need to go out and get a gym membership and use heavy equipment?

Craig: Even when it was built the first time it was built for people working out at home JUST with a set of dumbbells, an exercise ball, and a bench.

Obviously, as you move to even more bodyweight exercises and no equipment, then you can clearly do it anywhere, anytime – That was the GOAL.  You can even do most of the workouts in a hotel room without a single piece of additional equipment.  The only problem is when you’re getting into bodyweight exercises the TOUGH place to train is your back and your upper back.

If you don’t have a pull up bar or chin up bar and dumbbells, there’s almost nothing you can do for those. So, you do have to MAKE SURE you have some access to something, whether it’s cable row, even resistance bands are okay, I’m not a big fan of them, or dumbbells, or some type of bar….

Q: Now, you touched upon a bunch of things so far. You talked about nutrition being a key point, and I guess a combination of short burst workouts, which is resistance with some interval. What exactly is Turbulence Training then as a program?
Do you talk about diet, is it a workout routine? What are the specifics that you include in the program?

Craig: We keep nutrition very SIMPLE…We have a nutrition program from Dr. Chris Mohr, who is also very straightforward, nothing crazy, nothing extreme, and a very simple whole natural food approach. They get that.

They also get a more ADVANCED nutrition program from my friend Isabel De Los Rios; she is a little more holistic. When I say that, it’s a real emphasis on the ORGANIC stuff. Chris recommends it; she’s almost militant about it. So, those are the two nutrition aspects you get with Turbulence Training.

Then you get the workouts, and our online forum and social support.

Q: How important would you say that social element or that community of like-minded people is to the overall program?

Craig: It’s VERY important …

… because if you don’t do anything you can have all the great information. A lot of people don’t do anything because they don’t have the social support. So, it is the CATALYST. In some ways, you could say it’s the most important thing, because without it people wouldn’t do any of the other things.

Q: I’m sure you’ve heard every excuse why someone can’t or doesn’t want to workout. The person who is saying, “I just have a really busy schedule. I don’t know how to schedule this workout program in to my life. ” How long is Turbulence Training? How often is someone doing one of the workout programs? For how long does the actual program last?

Craig: The workouts originally were designed for three times per week for 45 minutes. Now, of course those can be broken up if someone wants to go every day for 20 minutes. So, that’s another option there and there’s no real difference in results.

In addition to that, they’re going to start with the 12-week program we put together, and then we have more advanced programs along from that. What we tell people, again, is just to stay active on off days.

You DON’T have to go to the gym every day. I can’t believe the number of people that still email me and say they’re going six days per week for 90 minutes.

Even if you’re only able to do half of the Turbulence Training workout you’re going to get a lot of results, because nutrition when it comes to fat loss is the most important thing. You have to make sure that your nutrition is good.

If you do that you can get away with very little exercise in terms of fat loss. It just doesn’t take as much exercise as people think. We certainly INSIST upon two strength training sessions per week AND two interval training sessions per week just for general fitness health and bone mass and strength, all that type of stuff, because you need to get that much TRAINING in your life.

Q: I guess when you’re talking about that, we’re not just talking about fat loss per say, but just overall general health. That’s what the nutrition and the exercise will do for you.

Craig: Yes, absolutely.

If you want to be taking care of yourself at age 85 and not requiring someone to lift you up out of every chair, then you need to do some type of training twice a week.

So, by now you’re getting the idea. You’ve got the master plan so let’s jump forward to part 3 where we share a few more guidelines on how it all comes together.