A Few Simple Steps to Fat Loss

This week’s posts will be on the topic of fat loss. I will touch on 8 things I think can help in this area that are very simple to do. One of my favorite books is, Success Principles, by Jack Canfield. He recommends trying to change behaviors 1 at a time and to give it 6 months. This is only 2 behaviors a year, but think of those bad habits you can get rid of and good habits you can create in the next 10 years!
I recommend doing the same. Start out with 1 of these at a time, and when you feel comfortable with it and it becomes a natural habit or behavior, on to the next one. I will start with the first 4 that are based on training and activity. The next post later in the week will be more focused on diet.
Before I start, here is a great article I read yesterday for those of you who don’t want to lose weight, but gain slabs of muscle. This is a topic I deal with all of the time with my own athletes and this really hit home for me. http://articles.elitefts.com/articles/training-articles/the-young-skinny-training-with-add-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-gaining-mass-and-strength/
Here are your first 4 simple steps to fat loss…

1. Strength train
Study after study shows that resistance training does a number of things to improve body composition and overall health. Through resistance training, you can lower body fat, increase metabolism, burn fat more efficiently for a longer period of time and build a strong, athletic looking physique. Train with the big, compound movements and limit isolation exercises. You can build a lot of strength through squats, deadlifts, rows, pull ups, bench press, military press and lunges. If you’re just starting out, look for the owner of your gym or an older athlete to help you with form. Stay in the 8-12 rep range. If you’re a beginner, you will get stronger quickly because of your body getting more efficient at the movements.

2. NEPA
This stands for non-exercise physical activity. This can be any number of things that only need you to be actively aware of your daily actions. Taking the stairs, not the elevator. Parking farther away from the store in the parking lot. Carrying your groceries and not pushing them in a cart. Mowing the lawn with a push mower instead of the riding mower. Like I said, this can be anything that gets you moving a little bit more on a daily basis.

3. After dinner walks
This probably goes along with NEPA, but I like it so much I let it stand alone. What do most Americans do after getting home from work? Eat dinner and sit in front of the tv until they go to sleep. So the dinner you ate is not being burned off AT ALL! Getting a few of those calories burned off from dinner with a 30-60 minute walk will do wonders if your body has been used to sitting around after dinner for years. Enjoy the cool summer nights, especially since across the country right now, its pretty tough to exercise outside during the day.

4. Sprint
This is my favorite and I have been hearing more and more about it in the last couple of years. Steady-state cardio is ok, but there are more effective ways to burn fat. Sprinting is definitely one of them. This doesn’t mean you have to go out to the track and run 100 meter dash’s for an hour, but some kind of interval training is great for fat loss. The analogy I hear all of the time is, would you rather look like a marathon runner or an Olympic sprinter? Most people will say they would rather look like the strong, athletic monsters that run sprints. This is why sprinting cannot be beat.

As a side note, my favorite kind of sprinting is running hills. There are a few reasons for this: As Jason Ferrugia said in his blog, with hill sprints less of a warm-up is needed and there is a smaller chance of injury than sprinting on a flat surface. The other reason I like them is because you can work them in a couple different ways. First, you can set a certain number of sprints and time yourself. The next workout, you must try to beat that time. The other way is to set a time and try to beat the number of sprints you do each workout. I can personally tell you, hill sprints will get you in better shape in a hurry and you will most certainly benefit from them with regards to leg strength and conditioning. The last reason I like them, is because they are hard. There is no getting around it, sprinting up a hill is hard work and when you get through a workout and your legs are shaky and you feel like you might not make it to your car, it is the best feeling in the world because you know you just did a tougher workout than 90% of the population and that is a key to success. Do what others won’t or can’t do.

I’ll be back at the end of the week to talk about 4 areas that have to do with nutrition.

Don’t forget to leave any thoughts or questions below.