There are 2 reasons why weight training is so effective for losing body fat. The first is because the actual act of lifting weights burns a large amount of calories and in a relatively short period of time in the gym. The second reason is because for every pound of muscle you have, your body burns 50 calories a day because muscle requires calories in order to not be broken down. Therefore, say you add 10 lbs of muscle onto your body you will naturally burn hundreds of calories more a day. One of the only advantages of being overweight is that it is possible to lose body fat and add muscle onto your body at the same time. Another reason why I advocate gaining muscle is because the more muscle you have, the more you can eat! And who doesn’t love to eat more and not gain weight?
Low intensity cardio is another great way to burn body fat. The reason why LOW intensity cardio is effective for losing fat is because a larger percent of calories burned come from your fat stores instead of your muscle like with high intensity cardio. The beauty of low intensity cardio is that your lungs will not feel like they want to be ripped apart during the exercise - it is much more relaxed. To perform low intensity cardio get on a stationary bike, elliptical, treadmill, or another type of machine designed for cardio and exercise so that you feel winded but do not go any farther than that.
You want your heart rate to be between 60%-65% of your max heart rate. You can find out your max heart rate by subtracting your age from 220. For example, my max heart rate would be 202 (220-18=202) and to find out what my heart rate should be for effective low intensity cardio I would multiply 202 by .65 which is 131.
If this equipment is not accessible to you another option would be to purchase a device which measures heart rate and ride a bicycle or do a fast walk until your heart rate is at the desired pace.
Tony isn't a licensed nutritionist yet, so he can't give anyone advice on what to do. Please consult your doctor for his professional opinion on a diet/nutrition program that will work for you.
Tony's blog is a journal of his experiences and what has worked for him. He lists general guidelines and suggestions only. He is NOT a professional.
What is a good way for an older woman to gain muscle? I don't lift weights.
ReplyDeleteyou can definately do some bodyweight spuats, lunges, and pushups ( even if they are on your knees) although they are not weighted they will help
DeleteSounds like some good advice! But are you saying then that to lose weight it's better to do low-intensity cardio instead of hi? If so why do you think most people keep wanting to try and sign up for the hi-intensity cardio options?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing about gaining muscle... this means we start out by gaining weight, right>? I've always heard that when you start doing a regular serious work-out, not to be surprised by a weight gain to start off with because muscle weighs more than fat....
hi intensity cardio will burn more calories which will ultimately lead to more fat loss, however this kind of cardio has also been shown to deterierate muscle which is why a diet with a good amount of protein in required in my opinion. low intensity cardio will burn less calories but the calories will come from your fat stores rather than your muscle.
ReplyDeletegaining muscle will add weight to the scale but will make you look much better, your body will look harder thus making you appear like you have less fat on your body than you actually do. one thing that i advocate is to focus on the mirror and not the scale, the scale weight is important in determining if your diet and exercise routine is working, even if you are gaining/toneing muscle you should still see a drop on the scale because the muscle gains will be minimal while you are in a caloris deficit. you will most likely see weight gain from muscle ( and a small amoutn of fat) when you are lifting weights and are in a caloric surplus
Do you have some kind of a workout for us to implement? How many reps and sets?
ReplyDeleteThanks
Hi Tony,
ReplyDeleteJust watched your video on youtube & man am I impressed or what?
I'm overweight (read obese) and am highly motivated by your success story :-)
I plan on working out 6days a week with weight training on every alternate day and cardio on other days.
I'm 6'2, weighing a whooping 286lbs and therefore for obvious reasons will be on a low calorie diet(1200-1500); but most of those calories will come from proteins ... Could you please tell me if it's the correct approach to lose fat & gain muscles side-by-side ?
Thanks in advance man
Hi Again,
ReplyDeletewell I read some other posts of yours and got my answer there.
Thanks mate for putting up this blog, I've subscribed for regular updates ... Keep up the good work.
Cheers :)
Its great getting messages like this! I'm glad my blog and videos are helpful - that's why they are there. Please keep in touch and let me know your progress. I have lots of new stuff planned for posting over the summer, so stay tuned.
Delete'Thanks again,
Tony you just genius. My result (by your nutrition tips and low intensity cardio) is about 7 kg for 2 month.Would you tell me how many lbs should be lost per month. Is it normal ? or i have to making more cardio and gaining muscle? Sorry for bad English )
ReplyDeleteIf you are losing weight at a healthy pace you should be loosing between 1-2 lbs per week. A total of 4-8 lbs per month is a great amount to lose. Losing weight at this pace will ensure that your metabolism will not stall and at the end of your weight loss you will not have lose skin.
ReplyDelete