5 Methods of Fat Loss
By: Yes You Can! Health & Fitness

Wouldn’t it be great if we had all the time in the world to train?  A professional athlete often does a weights session in the morning, followed by a cardio or skill session in the afternoon, which helps them keep their weight down and their muscle tone up.  People often ask me, what is the best form of training for fat loss?  The cardio equipment tells me to go at 60% of my max HR, should I just do that as often as I can?   In one word – No.  World renowned Strength & Conditioning Coach Alwyn Cosgrove created the “Fat Loss Hierarchy” which is designed to outline the fastest ways to burn fat, and still maintain your muscle tone, all for the person who leads a busy life and is time poor.  Below is an outline, in order, of the Fat Loss Hierarchy

1.       Metabolic Resistance Training

Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT) is resistance / weights training that is designed specifically to raise your metabolism and induce Excess Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) – raising your metabolism after the session has finished.  For this type of training, think CrossFit, circuit training, supersets / tri-sets, and always use big compound movements such as squats, lunges, push ups and pull ups.  Ideally work in a 8-15 rep range, with a weight that is heavy for you.

2.       High Intensity Anaerobic Intervals

I think at this stage most of us have heard of interval training.  However the question i’m asked most is what sort of intervals should i do?  Well anaerobic intervals involve a short, furious bout of high intensity work, followed by a longer rest period.  Think 10sec on, 50sec of recovery.  At the most, 20sec of hard work, followed by 40sec of recovery. A good class to try would be boxing. This form of training has a great effect on your EPOC, raising metabolism for hours after the workout, and only takes 20mins!

3.       High Intensity Aerobic Intervals

This includes longer bouts of hard work, with less rest for the intervals.  But wait, why isn’t this as effective as shorter bouts?  Well in shorter bouts, you have to work a lot harder, whereas in the longer, aerobic, bout of exercise, your intensity is lower.  Higher the intensity, better the results.  So for this workout, you’re looking at 30-60sec on, 60-180sec off, or a class such as Body Attack / Combat.  Remember, it’s not about how many calories you burn during a session, the goal is to raise calories during your everyday life, hours after you’ve left the gym.

4.       Steady State High Intensity Cardio

Tis is probably the most commonly performed form of fat loss exercise, which explains why many people spend hours in the gym and don’t achieve brilliant results.  This is moving at a steady pace for a period of time, usually 30-60mins.  In this training, yes you’re burning calories (good) but you’re not working hard enough to increase EPOC or raise your metabolism.  Long term, studies have even showed that if people perform this form of training alone, the body can actually go into preserve mode and hold onto body fat as energy storage (the exact opposite of what you’re trying to achieve!

5.       Steady State Low Intensity Cardio

Probably the second most commonly performed fat loss training is the least effective.  This is just general movement – going for a walk, for instance.  However don’t get me wrong, moving is always better than not moving when it comes to losing fat, so absolutely go for a walk!

Time Management

In my experience, I’ve found most people are able to train approx. 3-4x per week, occasionally 5, but often only 2.  So what this means is that when you go to the gym, your workout should be as effective as possible.  Keeping this in mind, below is a small guide to your exercise programming.

·         Twice p/w – Metabolic Resistance Training (MRT) Only.  You need to do resistance training twice per week, and this is it.

·         Three p/w – MRT three times, or MRT twice plus high intensity anaerobic intervals (#2) once.  A more experienced trainer can do 3  bouts of MRT, however if you’re just starting out, then taking a break from the weights for the 3^rd day isn’t a bad idea.

·         Four p/w – MRT 2-3 times, #2 once or twice.

·         Five p/w – As per the above, and add in one session of #3 – high intensity aerobics

·         Six p/w – As per the above, and add in one session of #4 or #5.  If you’re doing 6 sessions per week, you should almost be too tired to do any exercise!

At the end of the day, diet is the most important ingredient when it comes to fat loss.  It doesn’t matter how hard you train if your post workout meal is a Big Mac!  If you treat your body right through nutrition – high amounts of protein, essential fats, vitamins and minerals followed by a good 7-8hr sleep, you will have the energy to do the above training methods, and you WILL LOSE BODY FAT.  I’m not saying anything revolutionary here – work harder, get faster results.  Look at your exercise options - choose the best options, get the best results.