1. Start Stepping
It may seem insignificant, familiar, and a tad too simple, but it will make a difference: Increase the amount of time you spend on your feet. It's impossible to burn enough calories in an hour-long sweat session alone, as Costello puts it. Taking regular pauses from your seat, on the other hand? That might be the difference between a daily deficit and a daily surplus. Research indicated that standing for six hours a day instead of sitting for six hours a day can assist a 140-pound person burn more than 50 calories in 24 hours. And there's no movement involved; it's just static standing. Consider how many calories you could burn if you went for daily vigorous walks.
2. HIIT It Hard
A more efficient workout means you'll blast more calories and burn more fat, in addition to taking more time to stand up. Interval workouts are the way to go for this, according to Costello.
Metcon (metabolic conditioning) workouts put the body to the test by putting its various energy systems to the test. "Once your metabolic burn rate is influenced, it remains elevated even throughout rest intervals." "You get a much more efficient gasoline to burn without feeling like you've overdone it," Costello explains. He recommends sticking to 30-minute metcon workouts and 15-minute HIIT workouts (in which you work at an even higher intensity). To allow your body to adequately recuperate, do these every other day or take two to three days off between them, according to Costello.
"You'll notice that as you become in better shape, you burn more calories week after week because you're not as tired," Costello explains. This will also assist you in achieving the necessary calorie deficit for weight and fat loss.
3. Add Some Resistance
Resistance training, in addition to sweat-inducing intervals, is another strategy to boost your fat-burning and muscle-building potential. "Strength training is essential because it is the only way to maintain muscle tissue over time," says Brad Schoenfeld, PhD, CSCS, assistant professor of exercise science at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York. "Cardio can help you burn more calories, but it won't help you avoid muscle loss." You'll also want a bigger muscle to burn more calories on a daily basis.
This necessity to lift weights for weight loss is supported by science. Cardio workouts were compared to strength training in a study involving 250 people in their 60s. While both are necessary, the researchers discovered that resistance training outperforms cardio in terms of fat loss without muscle loss.
"If you want to keep muscle while losing weight, you need to activate it with a progressive resistance training program," says Kristen Beavers, an assistant professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University and the study's lead author. (She adds that similar findings are likely to apply to younger people as well.) So, if you want to gain muscle and prevent weight loss, you can't rely solely on walking or jogging.
Another advantage of strength training, according to Costello, is that it prepares your muscles to push even harder during difficult interval workouts. "When you enhance your muscles' metabolic conditioning — think of it as creating lean muscles," he explains, "you're increasing their potential to move quicker." While many people focus on how this helps you burn more calories at rest, Costello claims that it also allows you to push yourself harder in your next workout. To put it another way, the more strength training you do, the tougher your next workout will be and the more calories you'll burn overall. Good day, calorie deficit, weight loss, and body fat loss.
Shoenfeld recommends constantly changing up your routine and adding additional resistance to notice weight reduction and muscle building while including strength training into your schedule. "You have to consistently lift at a high degree of effort and test your muscles," he explains. Shoenfeld recommends concentrating on total-body, compound motions that engage many muscles at the same time to increase calorie expenditure. He recommends doing these workouts at least three times a week. If you're increasing your weight from bodyweight, follow the Wake Forest study's strategy, selecting for 70% of your one-rep maximum and adjusting as you get stronger.
4. Focus on Burning Calories, Not Necessarily Fat
Keep in mind that you don't have to work in the fat-burning energy system to burn fat, regardless of the workouts you choose. If you've ever used a cardio machine (especially an elliptical), you've probably noticed the meter on the dashboard that shows your training zone (say, warm-up, fat-burn, cardio, and peak heart rate). Because fat-burning occurs at the lowest end of the effort spectrum — we burn fat even while sleeping, according to Costello — it's not always the best training zone for fat loss.
"People make the mistake of thinking that if they want to reduce weight, they should train in this fat-burning zone," says Costello. "The issue is that you're still not burning enough. The most essential factor is your total caloric expenditure, not the type of fuel source you're using at any given time." That means that if you choose a high-intensity interval training program, you'll burn more energy overall, even if less of it comes from fat.
Don’t Forget What’s on Your Plate.5
As previously stated, a calorie deficit is required to reduce fat (and weight), thus it's also time to examine your eating habits.
"Where the fuel supply comes from is the least crucial thing you should be considering [in terms of exercise for fat loss]." When it comes to eating, though, the opposite is true: "You need to think about where your calories are coming from," says Costello. Rather than stringent calorie control, Costello advocates focusing on fewer calorie-dense foods, such as those that will fill you up more than empty calories thanks to fiber and water. As you might expect, this implies a lot of vegetables — at least half your plate — as well as fruits and legumes.
Protein is also important, according to Schoenfeld. "Make sure you get enough protein," he says, "since it's well proven that it helps maintain lean body mass." Protein is advised in the diet at 0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight, or 46 grams for an ordinary woman, however, if you're very active, you'll need more.
Sleep Also Plays a Role.6
Finally, if you want to reduce weight, you must prioritize getting enough sleep. It's difficult to see improvements, according to Costello, if you don't adequately recuperate from exercise (read: get enough sleep!). "Sleep is a critical component in resetting and recharging your batteries so you can burn more calories the next day," he explains. "Recovery between workouts is also important." Choose three to four workouts per week where you push yourself to the limit. Then there are the moderate-effort workouts. That healing will enable you to push through the difficult times."
The Big Picture: Small Steps, Big Results.7
This is common knowledge, but it's worth stating. It takes time to lose weight and reduce your body fat percentage. Or even throughout seven nights. According to Costello, decreasing one to two percent of body fat every month is a reasonable objective. (Here are some methods for gauging your success.) If you don't notice results immediately away, don't get disheartened. Continue your interval and strength training routines, and be sure to consume a healthy diet and get plenty of relaxation in between. All good things come to those who wait...and hustle to the gym, as the saying goes.
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