The Skinny on Fat Loss
By: Lee Boyce, Fitness Consultant / Personal Trainer
The fitness world has a lot of "propaganda." It’s full of gadgets and contraptions that promise quick and easy solutions to help undeservingly plump clients triumph against the "battle of the bulge.” Is there any truth to the hoopla? Well, cutting corners never gives optimal results. The good news? With dedication and the help of a little science, a lean physique is within anyone’s reach, particularly when remembering these handy tips.
Make It Your Lifestyle
Exercise regularly. The goal should be three to four days per week of moderate-intensity exercise for 30 to 45 minutes at a time. Also remember that muscle burns fat, so weight training is more effective than cardiovascular training at speeding up metabolism rates. Studies have shown that properly designed weight-training workouts can have fat-burning effects for up to 38 hours after the workout is complete.
Many Joints, Many Benefits
The exercises in a workout program should have a general theme. Choose compound movements that use multiple joints rather than isolated, single-joint movements. Compound movements like squats, standing overhead presses, pulldowns and deadlifts engage more muscle tissue for every rep of exercise performed. That leads to more work and more calories burned by the end of the workout. As an added bonus, compound exercises tend to be more functional—they more closely resemble movements we do in real life, so we’re more apt to notice their benefits as we go about our lives.
Pick Up The Pace
Exercise falls into two categories. High-intensity, short-duration exertion is called anaerobic exercise, and is more effective at burning fat than the slow and steady pace that happens during aerobic exercise. Take a minute to think about the athletes who carry the leanest physiques—sprinters, tennis players and football running positions, for example. The common thread among all three? Their sports require vigorous, repetitive and high-intensity outputs over short bursts. The average desk jockey can apply this lesson to cardio training. Rather than doing 45 minutes of steady-state cardio on a treadmill, it’s better to change the pace with something called interval training. Run at a fast pace for 60 seconds, and then walk for 60 seconds. Try to keep this up for 20 minutes. Not only will this result in a higher metabolic rate, but more calories will be burned by the end of the workout.
The Sweet Truth
If training method is one-half the fat-loss battle, the other half is diet. Luckily, it's not as uphill a battle as one might think. A quick look at hormones shows us that insulin is a primary culprit for fat storage, especially around the midsection. Insulin's main role is to transport sugars. It’s also one of the body’s easiest-to-control hormones. So cutting daily sugar intake is a great way to lose fat. Remember that soft drinks, juices, cereals, many fruits and various other store-bought foods all have a high sugar content. In other words, encourage fat loss by saying goodbye to the sweet stuff.
Take a Deep Breath
From a different angle, another element that can result in excess midsection fat is elevated levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, which can block all the work you do in the gym to lose body fat. How to counter the effects of the stress hormone? Easy: Take a break. Go on vacation. Get enough sleep. Get the chance to free your mind, and don't let stress consume your life.
Full Speed Ahead
There are no short cuts. If losing fat is the aim, then discipline is the game. Add these tricks of the trade and you'll soon notice an inversely related progression of calendar days to belt notches. It's only a matter of time.
Lee Boyce is a CPTN Certified Strength and Conditioning Trainer at the Medcan Clinic in Toronto, Ontario. He has appeared in some of the world's largest stages of fitness writing, including Men's Health Magazine and T-Nation. Read more of his work at www.leeboycetraining.com.