Fat Loss: Exercise & Activity
Welcome to part 2 of 3 in the series of fat loss.
Below are the 5 questions you should be asking yourself about your exercise & activity habits if your goal is fat loss.
Q1. Are you doing any or enough weight/resistance training?
If you are looking to maximise the amount of fat loss you need to preserve the muscle you have or in an ideal world grow a little more. The more muscle you hold the more kcals it takes to maintain. Thus, the more kcals you can consume and still lose weight. By doing regular resistance training you also provide the body with a constant message that this “expensive” tissue is needed and if anything is to be shed, it should be your unwanted body fat.
I recommend a minimum of 3 hours of resistance training per week. If you are new to resistance training or not confident about setting a programme to follow then finding a professional (personal trainer/coach) would be a good start. This can be invaluable in the early stages as it sets you up with the necessary skills and confidence to get the most out of this activity.
Q2. Are you being active during the day?
Believe it or not, but the activity that you do outside of your training is as important as the hours spent in the gym. In fact, activity is the key to getting lean and more importantly staying lean. It is this energy burn, done consistently, that ensures you burn body fat for energy on a regular basis and is the crux of all fat loss plans.
We all have steps counters on our phone or watch. Have a look now and see how many steps you have done as an average in the past 6-12 months. If you have fat to lose then I recommend you up your step count by at least 2000 a day. This is only 15-20 minutes of extra walking but will burn an extra 700-1400 kcals weekly. Over the year that can mean a loss of over 10kg’s of fat!
Q3. Are you doing some steady cardio?
Cardio training is great for losing weight, but be mindful not to do too much , especially if it prohibits you from doing adequate resistance training if you are restricted on time.
1 longer session (30-60 mins) or 2 shorter sessions (20-40 mins) per week at around 120-150 HR (heart rate) is more than adequate.
You also get the added bonus of improving your cardiovascular health in the process.
Q4. Are you doing any conditioning?
Conditioning work (circuit style training) or interval training is another great tool that helps promote fat loss and muscle gain/maintenance. These are great options when time is restricted because it covers two bases in one effort (anaerobic training and resistance training).
When doing conditioning style training keep the exercises you select to a very low skill level as the amount of fatigue you will endure will be high. My favourites include body weight only circuits or intervals on the rower or assault bike.
Options i use often are: 30 secs on and 30 secs off for 6-12 rounds: 8x 20 secs on 10 secs off.
Q5. Are you doing any Yin training?
Yin training refers to a more holistic, restorative style of training. This kind of practice is so important to balance out the “yang’ work. It allows the body and mind to rebalance, thus enabling us to push harder and get more from our Yang sessions. It also is incredibly powerful in mitigating stress and allowing us to be in a good place to develop better sleep routines, which is essential for fat loss.
My preference is to do 1 yoga/pilates style practice per week. I like rocket or vinyasa yoga. They are both pretty challenging physically but also very restorative and great for recovering from hard weights and cardio sessions.
If you find it difficult to relate to how this will help you lose weight I understand and it took me a long time to fully comprehend how this type of training ties into the bigger picture. Immerse yourself in it and you will feel the benefits I can assure you.
Click here If you missed part 1 of this series. Click here to read the final part in this series.
