Quiz

I want to lose body fat and I want to start a workout plan that will help me. What should I do? Choose all that apply

a. Focus on Total Body Movement Training such as: Dynamic Flexibility Training or Bodyweight Strength Training

b. Start a Weight Lifting Program

c. Do More Cardio…especially low intensity cardio to get in the Fat Burning Zone

d. Buy a shake weight and pray it works

The Best Workouts for Fat Loss

The answers are a and b. ( I hope nobody chose d)

The best workouts for fat loss are the ones that get your WHOLE body involved because the more muscles you use, the more energy (calories) you burn.

Unfortunately one of the biggest lies ever told was that people need to focus on cardio training first and then lift weights so that they can turn the fat into muscle.

Doesn’t work like that because fat and muscle are two totally different tissues. Your goal needs to be to add lean body mass (muscle) while burning off the adipose tissue (fat)

Adaptation

Your body LOVES to adapt to whatever its doing and it adapts very quickly to low intensity steady state cardio. As your body adapts to that style of training you will burn less energy overall.

Total Body Movement Training/Strength Training

The best workouts for Fat Loss are those that incorporate the entire body and get you moving. I do a lot of Total Body Movement Training, Dynamic Flexibility, and Total Body High Volume (lots of exercises) Strength Training with my clients.

With these types of workouts, you will work up a sweat, get your heart pumping, and improve strength and range of motion. It’s also way more interesting than bouncing up and down on the elliptical for 45 minutes.

Strength Training

When it comes to strength training, your own body weight is a perfect way to start especially when you take little to no rest in between exercises.

When it comes to weight training, I prefer to do Total Body Movements like Squat to Press or Lunge to Curl. Yes of course we use machines and cables sometimes but it’s not the bulk of our workouts because it’s boring and people will get a lot more out of moving their entire body instead of sitting on a machine for 30 minutes.

What about High Intensity Interval Training?

This is the most efficient method of training for fat loss. I often ask clients, “Which is harder? This circuit we just did or going 45 minutes on the elliptical?” Circuit. Precisely…meaning we are burning more calories overall and you will burn calories even after the workout as your body tries to make up the oxygen debt later on. Oxygen debt = let me catch my breath…

For my people who take Group Fitness classes, that’s why I teach the class with an emphasis on intervals and then some recovery drills sprinkled in so you can go harder on the next round. I want you to still be sweating after class and I want your muscles to FEEL as if they had been worked because that’s the whole point…not bouncing on the saddle for an hour.

If you you can carry on a conversation or text about what you’re having for dinner, then you’re not working hard enough and it’s wasting time. Even if you’re a beginner you can challenge yourself with some intervals and then recover as necessary.

Start where you are and continue to challenge yourself. Set goals to improve your pace, your power output, or your conditioning. Always seek improvement

When we of improving conditioning, they are talking about their ability to recover faster.

Does this mean I can’t ever do steady state cardio?

Nope! Not at all! I don’t believe in that all or nothing mess. Steady State Cardio has its benefits including

being useful for Recovery Workouts
Strengthening the Left Ventricle of the Heart
Stress Relief
Fun and enjoyment (Zumba classes, running outside, biking outside)

Steady state Cardio is just not the most efficient for Losing Fat.

What about the Fat Burning Zone?

Glad you asked. That whole thing got going because we burn a larger percentage of calories from fat when we are in the low intensity cardio zone. However your goal is to burn more calories overall AND afterward (which is what happens with strength training and total body conditioning training)
The fat burning zone isn’t going to matter much when your body has adapted to the training and you’re burning less calories in the fat burning zone and overall.

Conclusion

Hopefully this sheds some light on what are the most efficient fat loss workouts. I want to add that while I am an advocate of working out and exercising, that it is your NUTRITION that will make the biggest impact on your Fat Loss Goals. I think there has been an overemphasis on exercise being the Golden Ticket when in reality most people do not burn as me calories as they think they do with exercise.