Accelerating Fat Loss

It seems to be the $64,000 question for just about any middle aged man or woman who is looking to get that lean, sexy, flat belly or six pack by summer...And, that quetion is "How do we get that lean and sexy flat belly six pack by summer?"

Well, the answer is three fold...

1. Get your nutrition dialed in.
We need to stop messing around with the fad diets and the excuses and focus on what works every single time. Vegetarian and vegan diets may help you become a bit more healthy(maybe?), but I am pretty certain you will not be too happy with the final results. So, without my usual loquacious banter on the diet subject, this is what we will need to put in our food cart the next time we do a grocery shop: Wild caught fish, seafood, lean meats (atleast anti-biotic/hormone free...free range, grass fed is best), chicken and turkey (free range, anti-biotic/hormone free), eggs (cage-free), raw nuts and seeds (unsalted!), the best quality fruits and vegetables (locally grown and organic is best).
Dairy?... NO!
Breads, pasta, potatoes, crackers, chips?...NO!
Juice?...NO!
Tofu?...NO!
Real simple...Anything in red should not be in your shopping cart.

2. Train with resistance.
Resistance training is necessary to 'overload' muscle so we can assume a response necessary to burn unwanted bodyfat. And, that response is to simply keep and/or build MUSCLE!
We have to understand that our metabolism is in our muscles. Why do you think our metabolism craps out on us starting in our early to mid 30's?
Answer: Men and women typically lose atleast a pound of lean tissue (muscle) per year if they are not introducing resistance training into their workouts.
Long and short...Lift weights and crank up your metabolism!
Side note to women: DO NOT BE AFRAID TO LIFT WEIGHTS!
Weights for fat loss/weight loss/bone density...Great!
Aerobics classes...not so good.

3. Race the motor.
When I am with my boot camp members, I explain that in our Monday/Tuesday workouts, we are 'building the motor' (ie.building muscle). And, on our other training days we are racing the motor with HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training ). HIIT is a concept in exercise that, when properly performed fires up all of our body's cylinders (nervous system, musculo-skeletal system, endocrine system, cardio-respiratory system). These 'fired up' systems activate an acute disruption of our metabolism that potentiates the release of a relatively significant amount of stored bodyfat. This available fat can now fuel those intervals. Endurance training does not have the same effect because the intensity of an endurance activity does not activate the necessary neural and hormonal response as a more intense exercise regimen. Basically, an endurance activity such as running five miles will burn fuel as long as you are running. And it is very likely we are not be burning as much fat or calories as we may think. A more intense activity such as multi 50-100 meter sprints creates a cumulative response that ultimately causes an increase in a multitude of metabolic conditions that create an energy debt (eg. EPOC=Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) to our biological systems. This 'debt' and subsequent caloric expenditure can last anywhere from 4-38 hours post workout. And... (this is one of my fat loss secrets) as long as we are not consuming carbohydrates (and triggering an insulin response) during this post workout phase, the majority of those calories expended to recover this debt will likely come from our fat stores. (Exercise Metabolism, Mark Hargreaves, PhD, p. 103).
Another great attribute of intense exercise was shown in a paper published January 1, 2008
in The Journal of Physiology, 586, 151-160.
The study was titled:
Similar Metabolic Adaptations During Exercise After low Volume Sprint Interval and Traditional Endurance Training in Humans
Kirsten A. Burgomaster1, Krista R. Howarth1, Stuart M. Phillips1, Mark Rakobowchuk1, Maureen J. MacDonald1, Sean L. McGee2 and Martin J. Gibala1

This study compared endurance training (ET) to a more intense sprint interval training (SIT) program (running vs. sprinting). The results concluded that given the markedly lower training volume in the SIT group, the high-intensity interval training is a much more time-efficient strategy to increase skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and induce specific metabolic adaptations during exercise that are comparable to traditional ET.

Alright, I think this covers just about everything we need to cover on accelerating fat loss.
If you want to have the body of your life this summer...
and...
you like a high ROI from your fitness program...
then, follow these simple rules:
1.get your nutrition down...
2.pick up some relatively heavy iron once or twice a week...and...
3.drop the idea of long runs and do some HIIT and SIT your way to easy fat loss and a killer body!

Remember that physiology never lies.
Do the 3 things listed above and let your body 'tell' the truth this summer.

In my next post I will have 3 short video clips on sprint interval training...

Stay tuned.