Today's Tip: Are You Training Correctly for Fat Loss?

Okay friends, if you are struggling to break past a plateau or trying to lose fat for the umpteenth time, it's highly likely that you can succeed on both fronts if you think through your workouts just a bit and make sure you are training the right system. For effective fat loss, your workouts shouldn't be based on muscle groups...they need to actually be the signal to the muscle groups...the signal to burn fat and build muscle.

To achieve fat loss, you need to increase the metabolic effect of each workout - that is key!  That, along with reducing fat deposits from excess consumption of - yes, you guessed it - sugar, bad fats and bad carbs must be your goal for fat loss. Otherwise you are spinning your wheels.

So to quote a fellow trainer who is certified in strength & conditioning & is also a physical therapist, this begs the question: "If fat loss happens by increasing the metabolic effect of each workout, why would cardio -- which tends to be an equal intensity over time -- be a possibility for fat loss?"

I'm not saying that running 3 miles a few times a week at the same pace isn't good exercise.  I'm just saying that if it's the only exercise you are getting, it's not going to burn your fat.  Just like typical weight lifting where you go to the gym and exercise 1-2 muscle groups at a time - resting and repeating - is not going to burn that fat very quickly either.  What you really want to do is to be "shocking" your body the entire time you exercise, "shaking up" your metabolism, and forcing your body to undergo rapid repair for 2-3 days to come.  Why? Because it's in the repair process that healing takes place and muscles can grow.  And for fat loss, it's during the repair process that calories are consumed. 

Sounds simple, doesn't it?  Well, it really is.  Consider how your body works, why it would put fat on to begin with, and how your body would best understand how to lose it. For me, other than pregnancy, I was at my heaviest when I was a Freshman in college. 

Why my body put the fat on: What was I doing?  Well, not much exercise, eating too much sugar, not getting enough sleep and doing homework laying on my bed which equaled poor posture.

When reality hit, I started running and eating less...and although I did lose some pounds, I didn't build any muscle and still didn't have the energy I should have had at 19 or 20.  What was missing??  Well, I had gone "fat free" and ate little to no protein to lose weight.  I look back now and even though I weighed less, I was probably the least healthy I have ever been.

How would my body have best understood how to lose the fat it put on: Combine the cardio with muscle building, fix my posture, reduce the sugar and start replacing those simple carbs with complex ones.

Pretty simple, right?  Our bodies are complex beasts, but to make them run most efficiently, it's really pretty simple. When it comes to fat loss, you must ask: am I training the right bodily system? If you are starting an exercise program and want to include running, go for it.  But try some new things - go for a run but stop after one mile and do 15 burpees to jack your heart rate up.  Then after 10 push-ups run another mile. Interject some sprints every mile or so. Or, go for a run on 2 days in a week and strength train on other days. Don't target one muscle group - do circuit training to hit all your muscles.  And no, this doesn't have to take a long time.  My workouts are 45 minutes, which includes a warm-up and stretching at the beginning and the end.  The key is to be efficient and have a plan before you head out.

Lastly, to quote my friend Lisa, "you can't outwork a bad diet." So you can't just workout efficiently, target the right muscle groups and fix your posture and expect the fat to melt away.  What else packed on my pounds?  Too much sugar, bad fats and way too many simple carbs. 

Another very important thing: remember that what worked for your friend Joe may not work for you. Listen to your body!  If you see a fit person at the gym on the treadmill running day after day you may think that's the ticket for you to get fit. Before you jump into that idea, think through what YOUR body needs.  Look at what put on the excess weight and figure out what you can do to reverse that.  For you moms out there yes, having those babies put weight on us and left a few lasting effects :).  At the same time, don't let that keep you from finding a plan that works. 

Lots of "food" for thought today...have a great one!