In the first two parts of this guide I’ve covered how you need to structure your diet for fat loss (calories and protein), but what about training for fat loss?
Have you ever heard the saying “you can’t out-train a bad diet” - of course you have.
For 99.9% of people (made up statistic) that saying is true, so how should you be training when the goal is fat loss?
It’s safe to say that most people would associate cardio with fat loss and I get the logic behind that, however it is flawed. Your calorie deficit that you have created will handle that ‘fat burning’ side of things, your time in the gym would be better served lifting weights. To some that may sound counter-intuitive, but stay with me.
As we have discussed previously when it comes to losing body fat, there are some things that take precedence over others:
1. Calorie deficit 2. Protein intake 3. Strength training 4. NEAT (next post, coming this week) 5. Cardio
You’ll note that strength training comes before cardio in this hierarchy.
Why though?
If you want to lose fat and change your physique, you NEED to lift weights. If you want to look ‘lean’, ‘toned’, ‘ripped’ or whatever you want to call it, that look is predicated on how much muscle you have built and retained. That is why strength training is essential, the body needs a stimulus to build and retain muscle (especially in a caloric deficit) and the treadmill simply won’t provide it, unless you’re lifting it.
There are a host of other fat loss related benefits to lifting weights which I won’t go into as I’m conscious of turning this into another essay.
So, cardio is bad then?
Nope. Absolutely not. Cardio isn’t bad – quite the opposite.
The point I’m trying to make is that most people resort to ‘cardio’ when trying to lose fat. Cardio has its place, but it’s not the most important thing when changing your body composition is the goal, however it is a great tool that can be utilised when necessary.
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