In our previous post we talked about creating a calorie deficit to loose weight but now we really want to talk about other ways to achieve this. As personal trainers and sports people (that have very sporty and active children) our biggest promotion is exercise. Creating a calorie deficit is great for basic weight loss but not so great for general health and fitness and here's where you can not only create that deficit but also do your mind and body some good.
Now, lots of people that we speak to on a daily basis talk to us about all the running they do or how long they spend on the cardio machines (cross trainers etc) to loose weight and whilst this is great for the cardio vascular system (heart and lungs) it is actually not so great for an ongoing calorie burn and can actually be detrimental to weight loss. The reason for this is that cardio actually starts to use your muscle mass as energy, therefore reducing the overall surface area in your body that is always burning calories.
Our recommendation, as well as many other personal trainers who specialise in weight loss, would be to build muscle. By building muscle you burn calories for a longer period of time because muscle uses calories to survive. For us, our programmes also incorporate HiiT (high intensity interval training) to get that cardio challenge too and maximise on calorie burn.
So when you're next thinking about your workout, consider resistance exercises or weights/machines if weight loss is your goal or chat to us for more information.