Posted on July 15, 2014 by Jenny Cromack

Now probably one of the most common goals we receive at our personal training studios in Leeds is weight loss. Well to be specific, individuals come and ask for weight loss but they really mean fat loss. There is a huge difference between weight loss programs promoted by magazines and social media and losing fat so this blog is going to look at training for fat loss.

First its important to understand where the calories are located in the body.

• Body fat accounts for between 30,000 – 100,000 of calories for an average body fat percentage. Obviously if you’re overweight this number is considerably higher.
• Glycogen (the preferred source of fuel) is stored in the muscles and liver, the muscles in an average individual hold roughly 1400- 2000 calories, the liver holds about 400 calories.
• There is also muscle tissue, yes this can be used as a fuel source if the body is depleted of glycogen. Proteins can be broken down to amino acids then put to use as a source of fuel.

So how do we program training sessions to start hitting on that 100,000 + calories of fat in the body?

Bear in mind that for a good 1 hour session you would be lucky to burn a total of 500 calories. I know, all that sweating for only 500 calories, which is why it’s important not to kid yourself you have burned more and allow yourself a post-training treat!

That’s right we don’t even bother targeting the fat during the session, success lays in depleting as much glycogen in a shorter period of time as possible. The best training approaches to do this are HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) sessions and lactic acid training approaches, such as the German Body Composition method. Now the reason for this is quite complicated and involves a lot of reactions and hormones but the simple equation below helps illustrate it.

HIIT + lactic acid weight training= A demand on the muscles to adapt and grow which requires more calories even post workout, combine this with a reduced calorie intake and you’ve got a greater deficit than…..

Low intensity+ magazine workouts + jogging on a treadmill + sitting on a spin bike for 2 hours reading the latest magazine article on how to burn fat = A  very low demand on the body to do anything, as soon as you step of the bike or stop exercise metabolism returns to resting levels and you stop burning calories.

If you are training for fat loss, the best way of losing fat is cycling in 4-6 week periods following the below outline:

1. HIIT focus + strength training 6-8 rep range (4 weeks)
2. Lactic acid weight training 12-15 rep range (6 weeks)
3. HIIT focus + strength training 3-5 rep range (4 weeks)
4. Lactic acid training 8-10 rep range (6 weeks)

This program will build minimal muscle if you reduce your total daily calories by 200 from your maintain calories.

So in summary if you are training for fat loss use intensity, focus on depleting glycogen, building up lactic acid and keep workouts short.

If you want more details or a program completing to get you trimmed out, drop me or one of the personal training team in Leeds a message and we’ll help you achieve your goals.