1. Doing hours of long, slow, boring cardio exercise only
Heard of the ‘fat burning zone’? You may have seen it on machines in the gym. This is where you work at a lower intensity in order to predominantly use fat as an energy source. Now although this is mostly correct, you will burn far more calories as an end result if you work at a higher intensity for less time.
If you do too much cardio work, your body will break down your precious muscle tissue for energy, and that’s what you need to hang onto to keep your metabolism raised and be able to burn fat!
Keeping your metabolism raised is important, as it is your body’s ability to burn calories while at rest. It is our fat burning furnace. Muscle is the only metabolic tissue in the body and the more we have, the more calories our bodies can burn.
Muscle is the only tissue that can burn body fat as energy, so it’s extremely important to either add or maintain the amount of muscle you have, especially if you are looking to lose body fat. So why are many people still doing the wrong type of training to lose fat?
2. Not eating enough
Logically you would think that hardly eating anything will help you lose weight. Now to a point this is true, you will lose weight, but from your total body weight. Our body weight is made up of more than just fat. Your head alone is approximately one sixth of your total body weight. There are your bones, skin, internal organs, fluids, all making up your total body weight. Crash dieting does make you lose ‘weight’, but only some may be from fat, the part we are interested in reducing. You will also lose water and essential muscle tissue, therefore reducing your metabolism which is why you regain the weight plus more after every failed diet.
Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of calories your body needs in order to exist, to function normally on a day-to-day basis. This means functions such as breathing, controlling body temperature, digestion and the beating of your heart. BMR will vary in each person but for example, a person weighing approximately 9.5 stone can have a BMR of around 1300 calories. Then they need to add on additional calories for movement and exercise which is where you find the average female daily calorie guideline to be around 1500-2000.
If that person was to eat less than 1300 calories, and many faddy diets out there can be well below this, their body would be alerted to a potential ‘famine’ and all it’s functions would start to slow right down to conserve energy. We may have moved with the times but our bodies still work the same as when we were in the caveman era!
3. Avoiding weight training
‘Oh I don’t lift weights as I don’t want big bulky muscles’ is a very common thing that I get told on a regular basis. Although women do have some levels of testosterone present, it’s just no way near enough to give us the same muscle growth as men.
When you see female body builders they are likely to be taking male hormone supplements, which is why they end up looking and sounding like men! They also endure a very serious and very heavy daily weight training regime.
4. Just exercising the problem areas
Many people think that exercising their problem areas will reduce the fat from it. The body doesn’t work this way and unfortunately cannot spot reduce fat, only work the muscle underneath it.
Yes we would all like a flat stomach. But, believe it or not, no amount of weird abdominal exercises or machines alone will magically flatten your belly, regardless of what the adverts say. It seems easy; do hundreds of crunches a day and wait for your stomach to magically flatten. But, after a few months you begin to wonder why it’s not happening. Everyone has a six-pack. It’s just hidden under a layer of body fat!
What you should do...
1. High intensity interval training
Shorter bursts of higher intensity interval training have been proven to be much more effective than having to endure long boring cardio or aerobic sessions.
2. Eat natural food
Cut out or reduce all the usual suspects by way of wheat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, processed and toxic food. These all place stress on the body leading to a sluggish system and weight gain. Eat foods in their original harvested state and drink plenty of fresh water each day.
Make sure you eat enough protein and essential fats. Many people live their life surviving on just starchy carbs. Toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and pasta for dinner. This can also leave you always feeling hungry. Reducing the starchy carbs and eating protein with every meal keeps you fuller for longer and helps reduce sweet cravings.
3. Use resistance
By conditioning your muscles with resistance training they become more efficient at burning fat, all day every day, plus help tone your body. Resistance can be created not just by lifting weights, but also by using exercise bands, your own body weight or swimming.
Resistance training becomes even more important as we get older because metabolism slows and muscle wastes away when you don’t use it. So, use it or lose it!
4. Use your whole body
The more of you that is moving, the more calories your body will need to use. The biggest muscles burn the most calories, so always include chest, back, legs and shoulders into your workouts.
Enjoy getting results! :-)
Emma Boffo, Personal Trainer
07956 315851
www.BoffosBootcamp.com
www.YummyFitMums.com
www.BelliesBumsBatwings.com
www.OptimiseU.com
