The best type of workout to burn fat

We all know that exercise has a long list of benefits. Here are some of the benefits as a quick refresher.

• Help control/lose weight

• Helps build muscle mass

• Reduce risk of chronic disease

• Improve mood/mental health

• Improve libido

• Improve digestion

• Increase bone density

• Reduce risk of injuries

• Improve quality of life

• Increase endurance/stamina

• Improve self-efficacy

• Increase focus/attention span

• Improve sleep quality

Despite knowing the many positive effects of exercise, it is difficult to fit into our busy schedules. Also, there is a lot of confusion as to what is the most beneficial or effective way to exercise. These two obstacles often lead to simply putting exercise off despite knowing the benefits.

What if there was a more effective, less time consuming way to get all of the benefits mentioned above without having to spend hours at the gym or perform complex movements? Thankfully, there is and in this blog we'll explore exactly how. But first, let's dive into the two obstacles I mentioned earlier. Number one, exercise can be time consuming. And number two, there is so much confusion around exercising, one might think he or she would be better off not doing it at all.

So, first objection, "exercise is too time consuming." If this is your reason for not exercising, you may have heard statements like "we all have the same twenty-four hours in a day" or "you're just not disciplined enough" or " you just lack the willpower". One of my clients was told by a friend that "you just don't care about yourself enough". The truth is, though these statements may be true, they are definitely not helpful or encouraging. Yes there are twenty-four hours in a day for everyone, but not everyone's circumstances are the same.

A single college student between summers working forty hours a week has a very different level of availability than a single mom with three children, two part time jobs and a house to take care of. The busy mom might get thirty minutes to herself each night after putting the kids to bed. By that time she's not going to want to workout, especially after getting yelled at by her boss when she was late to work because her seven-year-old son spilt cereal all over himself which made him late to school.

What's a busy mom to do? Is all hope of having toned arms completely lost? No.

Is she ever going to be able to lose the twenty pounds of baby weight she's wanted to lose for the past seven years? Possibly! The solution isn't easy and there's no clear cut answer. Let's pretend I'm her coach and I ask her "Why don't you just go for a thirty minute walk four times a week?" What do you think she's going to say? It would probably sound like this- "Well, like I said earlier, I only have thirty minutes to myself each night before going to bed. Half of that time is spent in the shower and the other half is spent catching up on emails or texts I missed during the day. There's no way I could fit in thirty minutes of walking four days a week".

Obviously my suggestion wasn't helpful, so what should I do? Again, the answer isn't cut and dry. If this busy mom was actually my client, I'd work with her by brainstorming some ideas she'd be willing to try. Perhaps she'd like to wake up a little earlier each day before getting her kids up for school and workout for twenty minutes. Perhaps she'd be able to walk laps during her work break. After brainstorming, she would commit to implementing whichever practice she'd like. If she finds implementing that practice too difficult, we'd either back off a bit or switch to one of the other options she gave. Fast-forward six months and she's lost fifteen pounds and dropped three pant sizes - all from implementing one small practice most days of the week.

Second objection, "There's too much confusion as to what is the best type of exercise. I might as well not exercise at all." This statement is fairly common. Another way it could be said is in the form of a question- "What's the best type of exercise for fat loss"? Again the answer is not clear cut, it's different for everyone based on their circumstances and physical capabilities. I wouldn't give an eighty-year-old client the same fat loss program as a twenty-five-year-old client. They're both in completely different stages of life with completely different abilities. Now that's not to say that there are no objective truths for fat loss oriented exercise programs. Here are some non-negotiables when looking for an effective exercise program.

1. There should be a clear expectation on how many workouts there are per week and how long each workout will last. This should ultimately be decided on by the client. If eighty-year-old Bob has two one hour breaks each week for exercise, then he should only have two one hour workouts each week- if that's what he wants.
   

2. Initial assessment. Without a place to start there is no way of knowing what intensity the client should have, what types of movements he or she is capable of or how much he or she can handle. There should be an initial assessment that's divided into 3 stages. The first stage should be a generic movement screening which takes a client through simple movement patterns to get an understanding of his or her flexibility. For example when I add a new client to my individual design service, he or she goes through movements like air squats, planks, lunges, side planks, and various stretches and holds. The second stage should be testing one's strength to know how much weight should be prescribed. This stage is not maximal unless the individual is already trained and wants to compete or has proof of competency in his or her movement ability. The third stage should be broken into two parts: A) Anaerobic conditioning -such as two minute max effort sprint on a bike or a three to five minute step test for older clients and B) Endurance phase -such as a two mile run or a one and a half mile timed walk for older clients. Of course these tests are examples and should always be individualized based on a client's age, health history, health risk factors, sport (if applicable) and goals. If high school 400m track athletes want to develop their sprinting speed, I'm not going to have them run a 5k -which leads us to my next point.
   

3. Obey the S.A.I.D Principle. Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands (SAID). Basically this means an individual will adapt to whatever stimulus is given to them and that stimulus should align with their goals. Let's take the high school 400m track athlete for example. Let's say his name is Jim. Jim wants to work on his speed-endurance so that he can have a little extra kick on the last sixty meters of the four hundred meter race. Jim is going to need a program that has a mix of speed and lactic-tolerance work. See, just doing speed work such as twenty to thirty meter sprints with five minute rests between each sprint won't be long enough to help him reach the lactic acid accumulation that happens at the end of a four hundred meter sprint. Jim needs to do multiple one hundred to three hundred meter sprints at a pace that's faster than his four hundred meter sprint in order to build up the tolerance and the efficiency of his anaerobic system. Having Jim run one mile repeats will have little benefit because one mile run is four times the distance of a four hundred meter run.
   

4. Progressive overload. Every program should get more difficult over time. There are several ways to increase the difficulty of a movement. For example you can increase the range of motion, change the stance or position, add more weight, shorten the rest period, add more reps, add more sets, combine movements into a superset, do a pre-exhausting exercise beforehand, increase the amount of time-under-tension, etc. There are many variables that can be manipulated to increase the difficulty of an exercise or a workout.
   

5. Finally, a program should be enjoyable which means it should be individualized to you. I'll be honest, I've written some programs that people found pretty boring because I simply said "here's the best thing for you". Thankfully I had clients who were gracious enough to say "I hate that program- it looks so boring and stale". At the end of the day, if you don't find your workout program enjoyable, it will be very difficult to stick to it.

I hope by now you understand what the best program is for fat loss. It's one that is unique to you. One that helps you look forward to going to the gym or the walking path or the hiking trail or the exercise bike. It's not a cookie-cutter program made for a professional bodybuilder who eats 5,000 calories a day and spends three hours in the gym six days a week. Or a program for the college student who has sixty hours of free time a week. Rather than asking "What's the best workout program?" Ask "What's a form of exercise that I can do consistently with the life I live?"

If you're wanting to improve your health through exercise, I'd love to talk with you about your goals and what YOU want.

Let's Talk!