fat loss

It is possible to lose fat and better your performance. You just need to understand the training.

Look back at your last training day. You are on your back gasping for air, making a sweat angel and rolling around the gym floor like an injured calf. How helpful is this when it comes to your training? Does this align with your goals?

Do you train just to suffer or are you training to become an effective athlete? Is every workout the worst workout you have ever done? Alright masochist, we are going to reevaluate the reason you are dying every workout.

If you decide that the reason you want to workout and train is to lose body fat then dying every workout may not be the only option for you. In all reality, there are better options to mobilize excess fat on you body. You need to start training smarter and monitoring your heart rate during your training.

Why heart rate monitoring?

Because this is the sure way to start gauging how well you mobilize fats on your body instead of glycogen (stored glucose / sugar). You see, when your body is an aerobic (with oxygen) state this is a direct reflection of how well you can use fats for energy. The heart rate is a correlation with the body’s need for oxygen.

This is not your Slow Easy Cardio.

You will still be putting in work to achieve maximum results off this protocol. We are going to work off the 180 Method and here is how you do it: Subtract 180 minus your current age. This will give you an accurate number of beats per minute(BPM) your heart rate should be at during your training. This will not be easy to maintain if you are used to training really slow all the time. Similarly, this is not easy to maintain if you are used to killing yourself every workout. You will need to target your heart rate zone but subtracting 10 BPM for the low end of your zone. So if you are a healthy active 35 year old, you will be training at a heart rate zone of 135-145 BPM. The ideal time you should be doing this is a minimum of 20 minutes per day. Every day.

There are some exceptions to this formula. If you are untrained or just getting back into training and working out, you will want to subtract 5 BPM from your initial number. So that same 35 year old will be training at a heart rate of 130-140 BPM.

Improve your Performance.

You may be used to staying a 160 BPM and now I’m asking you to stay around 140 BPM. It might be when you first start out on this journey it may take you 15 min to run a mile. Well, you’re probably not very good at utilizing fat for energy.

As you train and consistently eat right over time you will be able to get back to the times you were running before and possibly improve your best running times at a pace where you are predominantly burning fat for energy.

What if I don’t have a heart monitor?

This is an easy remedy for anyone to try. Perform your exercise with your mouth closed. This will ensure that you are optimally taking in as much oxygen as your lungs and heart can handle during the current stage of training.

Look, this is not to say that you should never redline and go hard once and awhile on your fat burning journey. But, this all depends on what your goals are and how close you are to achieving them. This is not easy and it is definitely a gut check when you first start off. You will probably want to quit and just go back to what you were doing before, especially if you were hitting personal records all the time. I will not knock you. You deserve all the benefits and rewards of training you can get. BUT, if you are having a hard time losing weight. If you are not trying to compete in a highly competitive arena for a while (or at all) then you should give this a shot for at least a month. You still need to lift heavy things and continue to work on your movement mechanics.