With the majority of our population being unfit and overweight, we need to be burning more calories. Sometimes our busy lifestyles can get in the way leaving less time for our workouts. What if you could spend less time in the gym and burn more calories??? Well…you can! High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). HIIT is a great training protocol that works for any fitness level!
Summer is just around the corner, why not make this one your best! No more wearing the long baggy shorts and big t-shirts at the pool…BREAK OUT THE BIKINI! With three months left until summer, you still have plenty of time to get in shape.
Here’s what you’ll need for your three-month weatherization kit:
- Resistance training - Exercise with weights at least 3x/week to build muscle and burn fat.
- Cardiovascular exercise - Get that heart rate up for at least 30 minutes a day to help create a calorie deficit and burn stored fat.
- Healthy eating - Eat approx. 5x/day (small meals); a lean protein source with a low-glycemic carb.
- Calendar - Write down every week what you plan to do for activity; then cross it out once you’ve completed it.
- Food log - Enter into your journal every time you eat and drink; what, when, and how much.
John Cloud is a reporter for Time Magazine. He wrote an article titled “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin”. If you don’t want to waste your time reading it, I will summarize it for you. In short, the article says that if you’re trying to lose weight…exercise won’t help. Mind you, he talks about exercise alone without changing eating habits. His article quotes different studies on exercising for weight loss and how none proved exercise helped with losing weight. However, the article doesn’t really talk about the type of exercise or exercise intensity; whether the studies involved aerobic, anaerobic, etc.
When it comes to losing weight, there are numerous studies showing that anaerobic exercise is more beneficial than aerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise requires more glycogen (stored blood sugar) and aerobic exercise requires more oxygen, as far as the energy pathway goes. Weight lifting is a form of anaerobic exercise. Lifting weights, also known as resistance training, will increase muscle which in turn will increase your basal metabolic rate (BMR), thus helping with fat/weight loss. So, I think it’s important to know what kind of exercise/intensity he’s referring to when he states, “Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin”.
I can typically get my clients to burn between 300 and 500 calories in a 30 minute session of anaerobic/aerobic activity. For someone working out with my same intensity for three times a week this calculates to approximately: 900-1500 calorie deficit per week, 3600-6000 calorie deficit per month, and 46,800-78,000 calorie deficit per year. This can produce as much as 22 pounds of fat loss per year for someone that kept their calories the same as before they started their weekly workout routine; and much more for those who changed their eating habits and calorie consumption to fit their new found exercise program.
One of John Cloud’s excuses as to why exercise doesn’t help with weight loss is because exercise can make you hungry…causing you to eat more calories; more calories than your exercise session burns. Well, duh John…exercise requires energy…and food is energy. You just have to watch what type of food you put into your mouth. And if you’re wanting to lose weight and get healthier, why would you not want to refuel your body with the healthiest food available!
John, just because you exercise doesn’t mean you’re going to get “thin”. You have to be conscious of how you exercise, what you eat and how much of it you eat. You can’t walk on a treadmill while you eat a donut and expect to lose weight just because you’re doing some form of exercise. Just like you can’t expect to ever save money if you spend all you earn.
A common concern among women wanting to start an exercise program is that they don’t want to build large, freaky muscles. The vast majority of women seem to believe that if they exercise with weights, they’re going to become “HUGE”. This is definitely not true. I work out with weights five days a week and I’m not a huge muscle-bound guy. Getting huge is not my goal, but what I’m saying is…it’s not easily accomplished…even for a guy.
The average woman doesn’t produce the testosterone levels needed to create “HUGE” muscles. A woman’s testosterone levels are about seven times less than that of a man’s. The extra testosterone a male possesses is the main reason why it’s easier for men to build more muscle and typically lose fat quicker than women. The more muscle one has the faster the metabolism…the faster the fat burn. For every pound of lean muscle you build, your basal metabolic rate (BMR) increases by approximately 30-50 calories per day; ten extra pounds of muscle can burn up to 500 extra calories a day.
Bottom line: Although most women don’t want “HUGE” muscles, they do want a firm, toned, shaped body…which comes from building muscle.
I wake up at 4:30am Monday through Friday every week. When Saturdays come around…I like to sleep in until at least 6:30am, but this morning I couldn’t. I woke up around 5am with someone on my mind. Is this “someone” you??
What’s it going to take to get you to lose that weight? I hear you complain about back pain and knee pain. I hear you talk about the emotional pain associated with being overweight. I see the depressed state you’ve allowed yourself to drop into. I see how much your weight affects your everyday life, but yet…..you continue to do nothing about it. What’s it going to take??? I feel your hurt and I share your tears, but it’s not up to me. The WANT is up to you!!! You have to REALLY want to change in order to make a change. It’s ALL up to you. So, are you going to continue to sit around on your butt feeling sorry and depressed! Or is today the day that you’re going to FINALLY say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Lower belly fat is typically the last area of fat to go. Diet and exercise are the keys in reducing excess body fat. In order to burn fat you have to create a caloric deficit; this means consuming fewer calories than your body is burning. In addition to diet, strength training will help to burn additional calories as well as increase your lean muscle mass.
More than 85 percent of adult women develop some cellulite on their lower body. Cellulite is just fat deposits beneath the skin. It appears lumpy and dimply because it’s being smashed between the muscle and skin. If you want to get rid of the cellulite…you have to burn the fat. So, do your cardio to burn extra calories, eat right to minimize fat storage, and weight train to tighten up your muscles and increase your metabolism!
If you’ve never struggled with being overweight…you’ve probably taken the “thin-life” for granted. I recently asked one of our successful weight loss clients what they’ve noticed most after their weight loss. Here’s the response I received: “Where do you want me to start?”
1. I’m able to fit comfortably in the airline seats.
2. I no longer feel winded when climbing stairs, carrying groceries, and chasing after the kids.
3. No more sore feet or knee pain.
4. I can find clothes more easily with more choices of designers.
5. I am comfortable wearing shorts and sleeveless shirts…”it’s miserable wearing pants in the summer”.
6. Increased sex drive.
7. Wellness. I’m sick less often.
8. Being able to tie my shoes comfortably.
9. Having acquaintances notice the changes you’ve made…or not recognizing you at all!
10. Quality of sleep. I wake up well rested.
In order to shape that muscle…you have to isolate it. Slow down your rep tempo (speed at which you perform a rep) and truly focus on that particular muscle or muscle group. Concentrate on squeezing (flexing) the muscle as if you were trying to ring every ounce of water out of it. Try this during every workout for the next 2-3 weeks and you will see and feel a world of difference.