Tag Archives: Resistance Training

The Best Exercises to Support Your Fat Loss Diet

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We’ve already established that resistance training needs to be a part of any efficient, effective fat loss effort. Anything that provides resistance will do – dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, bands, cables…even your own bodyweight. Wherever you choose to workout, and whatever resistance mode you choose, these exercises should be staples in your fat burning routine:

Squats
Whether you are using your own bodyweight, dumbbells, or barbells, squats will give your legs and core a workout! Just remember to keep your back straight and look straight ahead.

Push-ups (or barbell bench press or dumbbell press)
There are so many varieties of push-ups I get tired just thinking of them! You can also do barbell bench presses and dumbbell presses at an incline, flat or at a decline. For the more advanced, you can do dumbbell presses on a Swiss ball (the large vinyl balls you see at the gym).

Pull-ups/chin-ups (or lat pulldowns)
Pull-ups are with your palms facing away from you, chin-ups are palms facing you. If you cannot do pull-ups or chin-ups on your own, you have several options: a spotter who holds your feet and provides a boost; an assisted pull-up machine (many gyms have these – and they are one of the few machines you should use); lat pulldowns – but always (!) pull to your chest, NEVER behind your head.

Deadlifts
Form is important on deadlifts, so do your homework or ask a trainer before attempting them. You should incorporate both variations of deadlifts (regular and stiff-leg) as well as Good Mornings and back extensions.

Lunges and step-ups
Both lunges and step-ups are unilateral exercises – moving one leg at a time. Unilateral exercises help to not only burn fat but to help you correct any strength imbalances between the two sides of your body.

Part 3: The Science of a Fat Loss Diet

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I bet you’ve heard this one before – a calorie is a calorie.  So eating 100 calories worth of Cheezy Poofs is the same as eating a half-cup of cottage cheese, because they are both roughly 100 calories, according to this logic.  Well, as I have mentioned before, nothing could be further from the truth.

In a 1957 (!) study, three groups of people were put on low calorie (1000 calorie) diets.  The first group ate 90% of their calories in fat, the second group ate 90% of their calories in protein, the third group ate 90% of their calories in carbs.  Guess which group actually gained weight, despite only taking in 1000 calories per day? Yep, the carb group.  The other two groups lost between 0.5 to 1.0 pound per day!

Several studies have been done since, all coming to the same conclusion – low carbohydrate diets result in significantly greater fat loss than low fat or low calorie diets.  In fact, in several of the studies, the low carb groups were consuming more overall calories than the high carb groups and losing more fat.

So low carb diets become the next entry on the list that we started last time of most effective fat burning techniques:

  1. Eating more often (shooting for 6 small meals per day)
  2. Resistance training
  3. Interval cardio
  4. Low carbohydrate diets

One last item on the list to be added next time…

Part 2: The Science of a Fat Loss Diet

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Last time we talked about the Thermic Effect of Feeding (TEF) and its role in burning fat. TEF can represent as much as 10% of the calories burned in a day. So how do you burn the other 90%?

Physical activity can represent 20-30% of your daily energy expenditure – this is comprised of your normal physical activity (for example, lifting the kids or groceries, washing the car, walking, etc.).

So that leaves 60-70% of your daily energy expenditure coming from – get this – DOING NOTHING! That’s right, sitting around watching TV, sleeping, etc. Your Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is where most of your calorie burn comes from! When you hear people blame a “slow metabolism” for being fat, they are partially right – their RMR is not what it should be to burn the amount of calories they consume!

So, last time we learned that eating more frequently increases your TEF, but how do you increase your RMR, which is REALLY going to get the fat burning?

It’s really simple – the more muscle you have, the higher your RMR will be. When you workout, you are breaking down muscle fibers.  The process of rebuilding that muscle is intense – it requires rest and protein, and subsequently raises your metabolic rate. Once you have built the muscle, it will keep your RMR elevated as it takes a lot of the body’s effort to maintain it.

Also, the high intensity intervals, the cardio where you do all-out bursts for a short period of time followed by recovery, creates the
same demand on your metabolism as resistance training. If you choose to do cardio, this is the kind of cardio you should be doing.

So to wrap this up, science tells us these things are the most effective things you can do to lose fat:

1. Eating more often (shooting for 6 small meals per day)
2. Resistance training
3. Interval cardio

There are two more things to add to this list that I’ll cover next time.

Creating a Calorie Deficit is Crucial for Your Fat Loss Diet

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For fat loss to occur, you must burn more calories than you take in.  I can just hear the thousands of “no duhs” being muttered as you folks read this shocking revelation!  However, there are several components to creating a calorie “deficit” (not just eating less), and using them all together will be the most effective.  Plus, you won’t be starving yourself like you usually do when you diet.

My dear sweet Grandma (may she rest in peace) struggled with her weight her entire life.  I always got a good chuckle when she would say to me, “Matthew, I wish I could lose weight like you.  I don’t understand, I hardly eat anything at all.”  I never wanted to challenge my 70-something year old Grandma on the scientifically impossible statement she made.  If you are taking in less than your body requires, you will lose weight, end of story.  If your body could gain weight from eating nothing, you’d be on Dr. Phil, Oprah and the Today Show tomorrow!

So, how do you create this calorie deficit?  It is a combination of watching your intake with anaerobic training (the interval-style training) and resistance training, both of which burn calories not only during activity, but also after, as long as 36 hours after completion!  When you eat less and burn more, you have achieved the magic fat loss formula.

For a fat loss diet that creates a calorie deficit easily and without hunger, check out my new book The Burrito Diet!