Exercise smart to burn fat!
When people are trying to burn fat and are struggling to see results they’d like from their workouts, the thought is usually to exercise longer, particularly longer bouts of cardio. This will not work, especially in the long run. In fact, too much cardio will work against you because your body will actually slow down metabolism to conserve energy.
This is especially true if you are too low on calories and/or not getting enough sleep. If continued over a long period of time (several months or more) your body will elevate stress and fat storage hormones, which can be very difficult to reverse.
7 Tips to burn fat during your workouts:
#1 EAT CORRECTLY: Exercising more does not counter-act poor food choices. Stop eating junk food, skipping meals, going out to restaurants, drinking soda and excessive alcohol, and eating excessive carbs. An occasional cheat meal is fine, but this does not entail weekend-long binges or vacation disasters. To burn fat, eat healthy.
#2 Have Pre-workout meals: it should include a moderate amount of protein, lots of vegetables, and a good amount of fat like nut butters, avocados, or fattier cut of meat preferably organic and grass-fed. Do not load up on starchy carbs, this will inhibit fat storage utilization.
#3 Plan your Post-workout meals: This is when you want to eat a starchy carb, I’d recommend brown rice or sweet potato. A post-workout carb will help to aid in recovery and build muscle. Also include a lean protein and alkaline vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli, or cauliflower.
#4 Lift Weights, then do cardio after. The body will typically use its available carbs for fuel before tapping into fat stores. Weight lifting is anaerobic, therefore uses primarily carbs for fuel. A person will use up available carbs during weights, then will have better ability to use fat stores during cardio. Women especially need to do MORE WEIGHTS and HEAVIER. It is a MYTH that you will “get big, bulky muscles” and look like a man. It’s damn near impossible. More muscle will in fact make a women look tighter, smaller, leaner, more shapely, and fights gravity! Weight training also increases fat burning hormones and increases metabolism for days post-exercise. Plus, muscle will burn fat for you while you’re at rest
#5 Do High Intensity Interval Training. Many studies show the effectiveness of interval training vs. steady-state cardio. Of course do not over-do interval training by going longer than 30 minutes or more than 2 times/week. Mix it up by also including days with low-intensity cardio.
#6 Take rest days. If your muscles are sore everywhere, or you are particularly tired, take the day off. Instead of working out, take a nap. : )
#7 Get Professional Help: find a good personal trainer / nutritionist to help get you stay motivated and on track. It has been shown that hiring someone to assist in your fitness goals is the fastest way to get results. Burning fat is definitely a science but it doesn’t have to be super complicated. I guarantee the above tips will work for you to burn fat!
Want to Learn More?
Check out these other great fat loss articles I wrote.