Are you HIITing?

Looking to lose weight, but you're hitting a plateau? Then HIIT may be what you need. What is HIIT, you ask? HIIT (or High Intensity Interval Training) is a form of exercise where you alternate between intervals of very high intensity and low intensity training. It has been shown to burn more fat than doing consistent moderate exercise for long periods of time. I'm not sure you really care about why, but let's just say it works...lol.

A lot of people use the term to refer to exercises like jumping jacks, jump tucks, and the like, but you could really make any cardio exercise HIIT by speeding up and slowing down. For example, running at high and slow speeds and inclines is HIIT. Spinning classes do usually incorporate HIIT, and so on.

You can find so many HIIT videos on the web, but here is one of my favorites:

It is a 30 minute session you can do on your own, so beginners, no excuses! You should be feeling breathless by the end. 

Cheers Eights & Weights!

The Truth About Targeted Fat Loss

Targeted fat loss (or spot reduction) is when you do exercises to lose fat in one area of the body. Too many people I know focus on exercises to reduce their stomach fat, arm fat, or any other specific area. If you've ever watched an infomercial and gotten sucked in, you'd know that they tend to sell the idea that if you buy some machine - usually called Maxi Abs or something similar - rock back and forth for 10 minutes a day, it would target all the muscles of your core and make you get that 6-pack in no time. In no time. Even if your midsection is currently extra fatty. This is absolutely untrue.

The reason these products keep selling is because they make it sound easy. It appeals to our basic human instinct that we'd be able to lose fat in our abs if we continuously do sit-ups, right? Unfortunately, our bodies do not quite work that way. You can blame God, Mother Nature, the apes, or whoever, but unfortunately, the cards we have been dealt do not allow us to spot-reduce fat.

As I was coaching my mum through her newly discovered exercise routine, and trying to explain this same concept to her, I realized the belief in spot reduction is a universal phenomenon. Ladies, you cannot lose the fat in your midsection by doing crunches. Gentlemen, you cannot lose the fat in your midsection by doing crunches. You know what happens when you do crunches and still have fat in your abdomen? You may build muscles underneath and have fat over it. So you wouldn't see the muscles anyway until you lose the fat.

Now that we've got that out of the way, what can you then do to lose fat? The mechanics of the human body only allows us burn fat all over, and then do strengthening exercises (like sit-ups, planks, etc.) to tone the muscles underneath. To burn fat all over, we're talking about doing some cardio and changing up our diets.

To get a basic understanding of how the body processes calories and how fat burn works, check out this post. The summary is: You have to burn more than you consume to lose fat. Your body is consistently burning fat, but it usually is not enough to burn all you eat, which is why you need to supplement it with exercise. Cardio exercise will help you burn fat. 

If you are unsure of what cardio exercises to do, here are a few examples: Running, Walking, Climbing Stairs, Elliptical or Cross Trainer, Cycling, Swimming, Aerobics. As you can see, these are exercises that involve consistent motion, either high or low intensity. Higher intensity cardio exercises usually burn more fat than lower intensity ones.

Got the cardio down on lock? Great! Now you can also focus on doing the strength training exercises that help build muscle. Depending on what part of your body you are looking to tone, there are different strength exercises to work different parts. Use our 'Search' box on the side bar to find exercises to tone a specific area.

That probably made you sad for a little bit if you've been focusing only on crunches. Well, no need to worry. Follow the details outlined above and you'll be way closer to getting that body that you want :)

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Havetodiet.blogspot.com

Can't Get the Scale to Budge Anymore?

I always say that the body is like a machine; if you take it to get checked up regularly, keep it oiled, and perform your daily maintenance activities, it would run smoothly. If you don't well... it could catch up to you later on.

However, unfortunately, sometimes, the body gets used to the same routine. i.e. standard meals, standard calorie count, and the same exercise routine. So if you have been consistently working out and losing weight for a while, you may realize you have gotten to a point where the scale would no longer move. This is actually more common than you'd realize.

The good news is that you've noted the problem and can work to fix it. It may seem counter-intuitive sometimes (If you're exercising and eating right, it should be all good, no?), but here are a few steps you can take to get your body back into that fat-zapping state.

Switch up your diet: It doesn't matter whether your whole diet consists of protein shakes or veggies; your body gets used to what you put in it. It basically gets into a fuel-and-burn routine where your carbs come from the same food, your protein comes from the same food, and all your other nutrients come from the same food. To give your metabolism a kick, it is important to change your diet. You still want to keep your calories low, but change what foods your nutrients come from. Also, if you work out a lot, you need to make sure you are getting enough carbs to work out, and enough protein to rebuild muscle.

Change your calorie count: The number of calories you need is relative to your body weight, sex, and activity level. Take a look at this article for more details on the math behind your weight loss goals. Now, if you lose weight, that also means your body needs less calories and so you need to reconfigure your diet to fit your new weight. Sometimes though, you may also need to rev up your metabolism by upping your calorie intake just a little for about 2 or 3 days and then adjusting it back to what you need for your weight loss regimen.

Try new exercises: There is a term called muscle memory, where your muscles work similar to your brain. When you establish a habit, your brain automatically remembers to do it without much effort. Your muscles are similar. When you are used to doing an activity, your muscles require less effort to do the same activity. This means you may be using less energy and burning fewer calories. So mix up your routine to keep your calorie burn up.

Break up your exercise routine: After exercise, your body continues to be in fat-burn mode for a while. If you are used to exercising at one point in the day, you may be losing the chance to get your metabolism revved up during other points in the day. If you break up your routine (e.g. half of it in the morning and half in the evening), that could help burn more because your body would be in fat-burn mode during other points of the day as well.

Strength train: Sometimes, when people are trying to lose weight, they may focus just on cardio exercises. This isn't completely wrong because cardio exercises burn fat. However, building lean muscle also helps the body stay in a state where more fat is burned. And so it is important to get your body toned up so it can keep burning calories even during rest.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Fitbie.msn.com

Does More Sweat Mean More Fat Burn?

When we exercise intensely, we usually sweat intensely. Sweat is a result of the body trying to cool its core temperature down due to heating. Since our body temperatures rise during exercise, you’ll find that that is one of the times that you sweat a lot. But it isn’t the only instance, right? When the weather is warm, or when you are sick, you also sweat a lot. So when people say sweating means you are burning fat, could that be true?

Do you have friends that do hot yoga or go to saunas because they feel like they are losing more weight when they do these activities? Well, the truth is that sweat is loss of water, and so it really has nothing to do with fat. Granted, you may weigh a little less after sweating profusely, but it is water weight and not fat. Water weight can always be replaced by drinking tons of water.

But does this mean you should not do hot yoga or work out intensely? Hell no! Hot yoga burns calories because of the pace and the intensity of the poses, not because it is hot. The same goes for any cardiovascular exercise. You burn calories because of the intensity of the activity; sweating just shows you how hard your body is working. So if you were thinking of going to the sauna to burn calories, sorry to burst your bubble. Sedentary action does not expend more energy than simply sitting down at your desk.

So what should you be doing? Focus on the activity, and not the sweating. You will sweat when you work hard. But the sweat is not an accurate reflection of the calories you are burning.

Cheers Eights & Weights!

Photo credit: Clutchmagonline.com