Is your training confused? Fat Loss or just Fitness?

One of the most common things I see in the gym (or outside) is people confusing their training strategies with their training goals.

Does your training match your goals?

The two most common mismatches I see are people trying to lose fat spending hours on the cardio equipment or running; and people trying to “bulk up” and gain a “cover model” physique trying to lift the heaviest weights possible.

For this post I’ll briefly cover the first group – the Fat Loss group.

Although cardio was long thought of as the best way to burn fat, with a so called “fat burning zone” and the “just move more” attitude, it’s [not so] recently been proven in study after study that there are far more efficient ways to burn fat. I’m not saying that traditional cardio training isn’t beneficial, but that it’s the long road to take if fat loss is your goal and may never get you looking the way you want to look.

Your body will adapt to whatever you put it through - which is why when you start you might only be able to run 100 metres, but within a couple of weeks you can run miles. This is a warning signal! You're body becomes more efficient at running, meaning it uses less energy (calories) to do so. So although you may lose weight running initially, you'll soon hit a plateau. Most people think the answer is to run more, and although that may help, it's not a good way to go (especially given the amount of injuries runners suffer - with about 80% of runners suffering from injuries every year!)

Interval training (short bursts of extremely high intensity work followed by periods of slow recovery work repeated a number of times) has been proven to provoke a much greater fat burning effect. It releases the hormones needed to build or maintain muscle as well as burn fat for energy, and also, unlike traditional cardio where any calorie burning stops when you stop, intervals create an excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC), which basically means you’ll be burning extra calories for periods up to 48 hours (or even more) after your training session has ended!

The stress on your body and muscles whilst sprinting is what brings about these hormonal responses, and without it, you’ll struggle to burn off as much fat as you’d like and likely just be burning through valuable muscle tissue instead.

So if you hate the gym and love running, then at least change your training to include intervals - you still get to run, but you get all the benefits of high intensity exercise too.

On top of that, the more time you spend running/cycling/X-training etc. means less time lifting weights; and without working your muscles with resistance, you’ll also struggle to switch on your fat burning hormones.

In short, for fat loss, you need to ditch the long, steady pace cardio sessions and replace them with short (10-30 minute) interval sessions and weight training.

If you can train with weights 3 times per week, and use interval training twice a week, and use the other two days as rest days (maybe try some yoga or stretching), then the training side of your fat loss plan will be well under way. Then you just need to work on the nutrition side of things – because you can’t out-train a bad diet.

As a start, (after a good warm-up) try to sprint as far as you can, as fast as you can for 20 seconds (this will feel much longer!), then walk for 90 seconds to recover. Start with 4 or even just 3 rounds and build up to 8. Make sure you’re putting in 100% effort for the full 20 seconds though, no matter how tough it is – this isn’t “jog –walk” it’s “SPRINT-walk”.

As for the weights, avoid the machines and sit-ups, and head for the freeweights. Squats, Lunges, Deadlifts and Presses are the order of the day here.

If you want help with either training or diet you can contact me through my website www.DartfordBootcamps.com

Next post I’ll talk through the second group – those who want to be bigger – and why “how much you bench” doesn’t even come into it!

Mark :)

Who do you want to look like?

There are many different training methods available to anyone that wants to lose weight. But which is best?

The most common option seems to be running. Many people who hate the thought of going to the gym, working out with weights, or attending fitness classes, opt to go running a few times a week in order to lose weight; but is this the best idea.

Bearing in mind that most people want to lose FAT, not WEIGHT, it’s safe to say that running ISN’T the best way to do it. There’s no doubt that it has worked for many people, but if you really want to reach your goals (which you may think are weight loss, but actually, you just want to fit into smaller clothes and look better – unfortunately, people have linked this with weight).

Let’s make it easy to see what’s better for stripping fat and building the muscle that shapes your body.

Take a look at the average marathon runner – for the most part, they look skinny, emaciated, and generally not too healthy. They may weigh very little, but they have no muscle, and no shape to them – not the ideal figure is it?

Now take a look at a sprinter. They’re lean, muscular, with good shape and muscle tone. They look athletic and healthy, and will generally have LESS body fat than the marathoners.

Obviously these are two extremes, but the bottom line is if you want to lose fat, shape and tone your body, and look and feel strong and healthy, you need to ditch the long cardio sessions and start working with high intensity intervals (sprints if running’s your chosen activity) and/or start lifting weights.

If you enjoy jogging, then by all means, go jogging. But unless your goal is to be “skinny fat” (where you weigh very little and look skinny, but still have a high body fat – mainly due to a lack of muscle), then you also need to be doing intervals and weight training.

Another easy way to see what you need to be doing, is to walk into any gym. Are the people who look how you want to look walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes, then moving across to sit on a bike for half hour and watch EastEnders? ... Or are they in the freeweights area lifting weights?

Don’t be fooled by the common misconception that cardio burns more calories. Use your muscles, and lift weights that you struggle to finish your set with i.e. if you’re aiming for 12 lifts (repetitions), you should struggle to finish the last 2 or 3.

Just take a look at British champion weightlifter Evelyn Stevenson:

Not exactly the hulky mass of muscle that people (especially women) are afraid of becoming if they lift a weight!

It should be clear, just by looking at the different athletes, which type of training will produce the best results – if you want to look like a sprinter, train like a sprinter.

This may go against what you thought was the best way to train and what you’ve been told by magazines, friends, even trainers in the gym. But really, it’s pretty obvious.

Be aware also that the same goes for diet. Just because you’ve read it, a friend recommended it, or a trainer has told you to do it, doesn’t mean it’s the right way. Even if it works – there might still be a better way, and it’s usually the most obvious.

If you’d like to know more about how best to eat and train for your goals you can download my nutrition advice by entering your name and e-mail in the box on the right, or contact me for Personal Training.