Training for Weight Loss or Fat Loss
April 22, 2011
If your goal is to train for weight loss, then there are a few things that you need to get right and that is to determine if you are training for either or. Training for weight loss means to reduce your weight on the scales or on the other hand, training for fat loss is training to reduce the percentage body fat that you have on your body.
For some folks, both mean the same thing but to a personal trainer or a trainer the distinction has to made clear. Let us first look at the Body Mass Index which is what someone will use to determine if they are going to be obese, overweight or normal. This measurement will take into account bodyweight in kilograms and also your height in metres. Here is the truth about this index. There is a grey area where this scale does not become relevant to you anymore if you have been exercising regularly and been strength training.
The media has made the public very aware and conscious about our weight which is a good thing, but it should not be an obsession when you are already training and have been training regularly. When you do strength train, you will build muscle. Muscle is by far a more dense and solid tissue. Fat has more volume per kilogram of muscle. Both weights are the same, 1kg of muscle weighs exactly the same as 1kg of fat. It is just the amount of volume or space that muscle takes up compared to fat which is significantly lower.
It is not the weight that should be your concern, but rather the fat instead. The moment you begin to build muscle, you will become more dense and heavier if not more than before. Bodybuilder BMIs indicate that they are overweight and obese!
Here are some tips on how to lose more fat rather than weight:
- Lift the big heavy weights
- Train at an intensity that is higher that what you normally train at
- Vary up your program and do what is most uncomfortable to you
- Find a good trainer who will motivate and push you to your limits
- Go hard or not at all
This is the raw way, no frills on how to lose fat. If you do not train like this, you will not ever succeed in your little piss-farting around in the gym with the ‘do lots with light weights’ attitude. You might as well go watch a movie or have a coffee.
Get real, get serious and train hard.
Real results means hard work.
If you are going to take it easy, do not even bother.
Perth Personal Training or Perth Group Training
Top 5 Reasons to Strength Train
March 22, 2010
1. Builds Muscle – Muscle is metabolically active tissue and is the most expensive tissue in the body to preserve.
2. Reduces risk of Osteoporosis – Weight loading will increase of bone density. The constant loading will stimulate bone cells to lay down more bone tissue which will prevent brittle bones.
3. Builds Confidence – The sense of achievement when you are able to move weight and be able to conduct certain activities without the fear of your muscles giving way will boost your confidence and give you a ‘Can-do’ attitude.
4. Increases Metabolism – Strength training increases your caloric burning capacity by up to four times after you have stopped weight training or cardiovascular training. Gilette et al (1994)
5. Enhances Functional Strength – Functional strength allows you to perform every day activities like lifting boxes of the ground, shelving boxes and pushing carts and trolleys. These daily activities will become much easier and also a lot more safer if functional strength is enhanced.
How much more reason do you need to exercise? The science is there, the research is there. The only thing that is not is your body. So it is time to get a move on and start lifting.
