Factors of Fat Loss: Steps 3 – 5

Factor Three: Resistance Training

Resistance training is the superior method of exercise for reshaping your body and shedding unwanted fat. Want to raise your metabolism? Start by understanding that the main tissue that burns calories is muscle, even at rest. Muscle is in essence, your fat burning machinery. The surest way to raise your metabolism and burn fat is to build and maintain muscle.

Resistance training is performed by using weights, machines and even your own body weight to effectively work your muscles. The goal of resistance training is to gradually and progressively overload your muscles so they grow stronger. This signals your body that it’s growing and healthy, not deprived and starving.

As you increase your lean body mass, you increase your metabolic rate and this makes it easier to lose fat. With a faster metabolism, you’ll burn more fat all day long – even while you’re sleeping! Fat doesn’t require any energy at all to maintain – it just sits there.  That’s why resistance training takes priority over cardio based exercise for people who want to lose body fat. Resistance training addresses the core of the problem – the rate at which the body uses energy, 24-7.

There are numerous reasons for increasing muscle beyond making clothes fit better. One of the major benefits is in the possible prevention and rehabilitation of bone injuries. Since proper resistance training strengthens the muscles as well as the supporting structures around the joint, this form of exercise will protect our joints from the stresses of an active lifestyle.

Another benefit of resistance training is improving the ability to perform daily activities. By increasing strength through resistance training, you move more efficiently with daily activities such as; lifting your children, carrying groceries, playing sports, moving furniture, taking out the trash etc.

The most important aspect of resistance training is correct performance of the exercise. Too many people become concerned with how fast an exercise is performed or how heavy a weight is being used. This means that the exercise is done incorrectly. This can cause injury and most often results in endless resistance training without benefit or results.

The Benefits of Resistance Training

• Increased Bone Density
• Improved Posture
• Increased Lean Muscle Mass
• Improved Work Capacity
• Increased Metabolism
• Reduces Depression
• Increased Self-Esteem
• Increased Strength

Factor Four: Smart Cardio

Cardiorespiratory exercise is a term that best describes the health and function of the heart, lungs and circulatory system.  This system is considered the body’s transportation network for it functions by circulating blood throughout the body. The goal of any cardio workout should be to get as many large muscles working as possible.  They not only need to work hard, but continuously, in order to burn the greatest amount of calories during and after exercise.

How much is too much? The Concept of “Smart Cardio”:
It is important to perform “smart cardio” for your body quickly adapts to cardio-based workouts. The more you do, the more efficient your body becomes, causing you to burn fewer calories from your fat stores each time you exercise.

Because your body adapts so quickly, cardio-lovers are forced to adjust their workouts to last increasingly longer in order to provide the same calorie burn. This not only increases the amount of time you have to spend in the gym but also increases the odds that your body may start breaking down muscle instead of fat for fuel.

Additionally, the benefits are temporary. Aerobic activity doesn’t increase the amount of fat you burn after your workout like resistance training. Your metabolism returns to normal shortly after stepping off the treadmill.

Smart Cardio will greatly enhance the rate at which your body burns calories. The most effective Cardio programs are designed around the HIIT principles – High Intensity Interval Training.

Factor Five: Personal Assistance

When you combine an effective fitness program with proper nutrition, supplementation and accountability, you can make incredible changes.

It is the job of your Fitness Professional to give you the right amount and type of work for your goal and ability. However, your body is naturally driven to adapt to this workload (i.e. plateau). A plateau occurs when the body adjusts to changes in internal and/or external conditions or circumstances. Science is still unable to predict when a person will plateau, but one thing is for certain – it will happen..

Doing the same type of exercise without variation or failing to increase the challenge when your body “adapts” to the present workload, are just two examples of conditions that will steer your results to a complete halt. In order to avoid a plateau during your transformation, your Fitness Professional will make changes in your exercise routine or eating habits to help you reach the next level. The best way is not to do more of the same, but try new exercises or change the frequency, intensity, or duration of the routine.

Even though your Fitness Professional individualizes each of the components necessary to begin the journey toward your goal, it does not end there. There are many factors that may affect when and how significantly the other four components will need to be manipulated to keep you on the path to success.

Tags: body composition, fat loss, Weight Loss, weight management