Exercising for Weight Loss

If someone told you right now what the best exercise was to lose weight, would you do it??

Well I’m going to tell you, its pretty simple. The best form of exercise you can do is the one that you enjoy doing and the one that you are going to stick too. Yes, that’s correct, basically the best form of exercise you can do to lose weight is moving around and doing stuff you enjoy, as if you don’t enjoy it the likelihood is that you will stop – and guess what? Stopping will mean you stop losing weight!

The truth about weight loss is about creating a calorie defect, in other words you need to be burning more calories than your body is taking in. So whilst running an 8 minute mile might be a great way for you to lose weight, if you’re not going to do it, then it’s not going to help you. Instead of reading all these fitness magazines that clam they have the best workout plans to lose weight, start by doing something you enjoy and something that you know you will do.

There are certain exercise protocols that we adopt as fitness trainers that are particularly great at helping with weight loss and burning fat, which are showing to get better results, they are:

1. Interval Training – Now a lot of you that follow and have read some of our past articles will know that intervals are one of the best forms of cardio to burn fat. Why?... Any type of exercise that spikes your heart rate and pushes you hard for a short period of time and then actively recovering for a period of time pushes your bodies boundaries. Intervals can be done with any type of training such as running, swimming, cycling and cross training.

2. Weight Training – The mother of ALL weight loss techniques. Resistance training whether it is body weight or using weights is the most effective way of helping you build lean muscle and ultimately burning fat. Lifting weights has been shown to elevate resting metabolic rate, which means your body will burn more calories even when at rest. Doing resistance training three days a week with exercises such as press ups, pull ups, pull downs, rows, squats, lunges and overhead presses is key to ultimate success.

3. Boot camps or Circuits- These types of workouts are going to keep your metabolic rate elevated and generally combine the two above – intervals and resistance. You will perform both cardiovascular training and other strength based training techniques to get your body working in short sharp bursts.

It’s worth keeping in mind that exercise is just one piece of the puzzle in a weight loss program. Eating and exercise are not separate issues when it comes to weight loss, in fact they go hand in hand! So, if you are not losing weight or have grinded to a halt in your quest to lose weight then exercise might not be the issue!

Too many of us think that vast amounts of exercise will allow us to binge and eat what we want. Unfortunately, this is not the case, as stated before weight loss is very simply calories in verses calories out. Now with food being everywhere and potion sizes being larger than they ever have been, it is much easier not to eat as many calories rather than trying to burn calories.

How much weight training and cardio exercise you need to do to lose weight is pretty simple. Let’s do the maths, you need to burn 3500 calories to lose a pound. So, if you are burning 300 calories per workout that will take you 12 workouts to lose a pound of weight, providing your diet is where it needs to be. If you are cutting your calories by 300 calories as well then that will take you halve the time to shed a pound. If you still aren’t losing weight then you are still consuming more than your body requires. Pretty simple right!

It’s not hard to lose weight in the first instance, what is hard is trying to keep the weight off after. Those that combat both diet and exercise and make this part of their lifestyle will succeed, those people that want to get fit quick unfortunately will not.

Now I appreciate many people don’t want to hear about the patience aspect for weight loss, they want instant results, however, the cold hard reality of it is that consistency and accountability for your actions are the key. No one will ever lose weight and keep it off without trying!

Here are a few tips that can help with your weight loss workouts to get you to your goals.

1. Have an exercise partner or buddy. This is a must! Having accountability for someone else keeps you on track. You don’t want to let them down right! It’s so much easier to say NO to yourself than to someone else.

2. Schedule your workouts. I have said this time and time again, put your workouts in your diary like you would any other appointment, this will make it just as much of a priority as going to the hair dressers… After all what is the point is having beautiful hair if your unhappy with the way you look in other areas.

3. Push yourself. Bring you’re A game to every workout. It goes without saying if you are serious about your goals then walk in that gym or go out for that run and give it 100%.

4. Weigh yourself – BUT NOT DAILY. I find the best way for my clients to see progress is to weigh them at the same time every week. Weekly weigh ins can be a great motivator, and can show people if what they have been doing is working… If it isn’t then address it early.

5. Don’t just look at the scales. In the last point I said weigh yourself weekly, however weight can fluctuate depending on hormones, water intake, time of the month and other external factors. Other ways to monitor progress and personally I find a lot more motivating and true are doing measurements, looking at body fat %, and muscle mass gained. Most people say they “want to lose weight” however if you look into this a lot more most people want to look better, feel better and to have dropped a few clothing sizes. If you’re the same weight but 2 sizes smaller would you be happy??

6. Don’t do too much too quickly. Being motivated is great, but over doing it to early on is only setting you up for one thing. You will end up burnt out, over trained or even pick up and injury.

7. Log what you’re doing. Logging your workouts will help you see progress. What weights you’ve lifted, what calories you’ve burned, how far you’ve ran or cycled. I log all of my workouts so I can see what I have done and so I can be better that what I was last week by making small improvements every week.

8. Cook more often. Portion control and calories are always way out when you eat out or buy food on the go. You will consume fewer calories in a cooked meal you’ve prepared at home. Now you don’t need to spend hours in the kitchen as this isn’t practical, however making healthier choices will go a long way.

Now that the new year is upon us, set your fitness goals for 2018 and make this the best year for your health and fitness yet. If you are struggling with motivation, looking for that someone to take accountability or would like some help with your training and diet then please contact us at Build a Body. We offer 121, semi-private, online, boot camp circuits and corporate fitness packages tailored towards your individual needs. Book in for you FREE Lifestyle consultation and see where 2018 will take you with our help – info@buildabosypt.co.uk. Happy New Year to you all.