A few common questions

1. Why is doing cardiovascular exercise in the "fat burning zone" one of

the most ineffective ways to lose fat?

The idea of a "fat burning zone" is misleading, it's true that there is a heart
rate zone where your body burns a larger percentage of the total calories
from fat (say 50% of 200 k/cal - 100 k/cal), however, at higher heart rate
zones, you will burn way more total calories, meaning more fat burnt overall
(say 35% of 400 k/cal – 140 k/cal).

Also, as I said above, performing slow pace aerobic exercise will burn fat,
however, if you do it regularly, your body gets better and more efficient at it,
this is not a good thing. What it means is, say your body burns 300 k/cal
after 15 minutes on the treadmill, if you get fitter, the next time you do 15
minutes of the treadmill, and you will burn around 250 k /cal.

By becoming more efficient at aerobic exercise you're actually telling your

body to burn less calories and fat!

It detects that you're regularly burning fat stores so it will automatically

store more fat to use as fuel for the next time! What this means is that you
will burn less and less fat during your workouts and in day to day life -
aerobic exercise makes it harder to burn fat!

But what exactly should you do instead of aerobics for fat loss?

Well the good news is that not all cardio is created equal, what we should be
doing is high intensity interval training. High Intensity Interval training
(HIIT) can be done on cardio equipment, but it can also be done using
almost any type of exercise or equipment. For example, circuit training, box
fit, sprints, and lifting weights can all be types of interval training.

A reason for doing HIIT is that it elevates EPOC, this stands for Exercise
Post Oxygen Consumption, it is basically the after-burn that raises your
metabolism so that you are burning calories for up to 36 hours after your
workout (think about it, even a 1 calorie a minute increase adds up to around
2,160 extra calories burnt in 36 hours!).

2. Can I spot reduce the fat in certain areas of my body? For example
crunches for stomach fat?
To put it simply, no.

Think of your body fat as a swimming pool, if you take a bucket full of
water out of the corner of a swimming pool, does the water just come from
that corner? Or does the water level of the whole pool get lower? Obviously
the latter is correct, and it's the same case with your body fat!

Crunches, triceps extensions, and the adductor/abductor machines (etc) will

not target the fat from that specific area, you may feel it working the muscle
there, and it will build some muscle, but it will not burn fat from that area
alone. Think about it, if we could spot reduce body fat, everyone would look
silly with flat, toned stomachs, but flabby arms and legs.

3. I don't want to do weights (or only light ones) as I don't want to bulk
up or get huge muscles.

Next time you're in the gym, look at the free weights area, see the skinny
guys in there lifting the big dumbbells, drinking protein shakes and
groaning? These guys are actually trying to build muscle and get bulky, and
yet having little luck. It's hard for most guys to really bulk up and build huge
amounts of muscle, and it's even harder for women too, even if they try.

Women lack the testosterone levels that men have (the hormone responsible
for muscle growth), therefore it's very, very, very unlikely that women will
get huge muscles, they are more likely to become lean, toned, athletic
looking and cellulite free (that's right, lifting weights can get rid of cellulite).

As for lifting tiny, little weights, why should you when during day to day
life you lift much heavier? How much does a suitcase weigh? A hand bag?
A shopping bag? A baby? A 1kg dumbbell is hardly equivalent to any of
these things, yet most women are scared to lift any heavier, how else are you
supposed to stay fit and strong and be able to carry out day to day activities
for the rest of you life?

Finally, muscle is the only bodily tissue that burns calories; it is energy
hungry and is responsible for your metabolism. It is estimated that for every
pound of muscle you gain, you burn an extra 30-50 calories a day, that's
without even going to gym!

So why would you not want to lift weights?!

4. I don't care about muscle; all I want to do is lose weight, especially as
muscle will make me heavier!

Firstly, before we start, throw away your scales! Who cares what the scales
say, measure your success using a tape measure, before and after pictures,
visually, clothes that used to be too small.

As for the losing weight thing, as I've said above, you muscle is what is
responsible for your metabolism, each pound of muscle burns approximately
50 calories a day, so the more muscle you have, the more calories and fat
you will burn each day. If you do too much long cardio, or eat low calorie
diets, your body will start to eat its own muscle (which would you prefer to
eat, fat or muscle? ...Your body feels the same) this will result in a saggy,
deflated look, as your muscles are what give your body its shape. Also your
metabolism will drop by 50 calories with every pound of muscle you lose,
making it even harder to lose more fat.

5. Should I follow a fad diet? What's so bad about them?

Fad diets will result in failure, what results have people got after a year of
these diets? A healthy diet should be something varied that you can follow
for the rest of your life that will result in better health.

A fad diet is a quick fix, it will give some results in the short term, but will
inevitably result in long term failure, and you will stay fat.

6. Is running essential for fat loss?

No! It's not essential for anything unless you are a runner!

For most people, especially as you get older, running is a way to ensure you
have ankle, knee and hip problems in later life. When you run, three to four
times your bodyweight goes through your legs on each step, and a mile of
running would involve around 1500 steps, that's a huge amount of joint
stress, especially if you are overweight. There are alternatives to running and
sprinting, you can work at a high intensity doing most sorts of exercise, so
limit the running.
It is definitely not essential for fat loss; aerobic training won't do much for
fat loss, even if you do it hungry!

7. What should I drink during my workout?

Drink water!

How many people do you see in the gym drinking lucozade? Quite a few I
expect, the problem with drinking sugary drinks during a workout is that the
sugar (simple carbohydrate) triggers the release of insulin, insulin will tell
your body to store glucose (which turns into fat), therefore effectively
blocking your bodies potential to burn fat. Drink sugary drinks after the
workout to replenish carbohydrate stores.

If you're overweight, avoid energy drinks and bars (etc) all together, I see so
many people working really hard during their workout, only to eat an energy
bar halfway through that replaces the 400 calories they just burnt!