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Friday, December 5, 2008

If you are going to miss a workout…



by Rachel Cosgrove

Setting Your Priorities when it comes to Fat Loss
The majority of women I work with are extremely busy. Many of them are moms and/or career women and don’t have much time to spare. When it comes to their fat loss we have to prioritize their training to make sure their time is being used effectively and they are going to get the best results they can in the shortest period of time. 

#1 Priority when it comes to Fat Loss is….

• Metabolic Resistance Training

Benefits: Builds lean body mass, increases metabolism and burns calories
What is it missing? Nothing. 

Metabolic resistance training including using circuit style training with full body exercises. The Art of Strength workouts are a perfect example of Metabolic Resistance Training. These type of workouts build strength, increase lean body mass and boost your metabolism for the next 24-48 hours along with burning a good amount of calories during the actual workout. This type of exercise is the MOST effective for fat loss. 

The problem is many women have their priorities backward and make this their last priority and get their cardio in before they lift weights. They think that if they are going to miss a workout, they will miss their resistance workout. This doesn’t make sense since resistance training has the most benefits when it comes to losing fat and keeping it off. This type of exercise is what will give you the definition and lean you out to look the way you want. 

How much? With metabolic resistance training there is a limit to how much you can do and still recover. You should do up to 4 of these workouts a week. More than four of these workouts a week would be more than you could recover from and get the benefits. 

For most of the clients at our gym, this is all the exercise they do. A metabolic resistance training workout three days a week and that is it. 

#2 Priority when it comes to fat loss training is….

• Interval Training Cardio Workouts

Benefits: Increases metabolism and burns calories
What is missing? Doesn’t build muscle

Once you are doing 3-4 Metabolic Resistance Training workouts a week and you have extra time for more workouts you can add in an interval training session. This is a cardio workout but push yourself at a high intensity really getting your metabolism revving. Add these types of workouts in 2-3 days a week. But keep in mind, you should always take 1 day completely off every week. These workouts will burn calories during the session and will boost your metabolism for the day. 

How much? These workouts are tough. I think in addition to resistance training you can really only do up to 2 effectively per week. 

And Very Last Priority for Fat Loss…

• Steady State Cardio Workouts

Benefits: Burns calories during the workout and that is it!
What is it missing? Doesn’t build lean body mass and doesn’t increase metabolism. 

So as you can see steady state cardio has the least benefits when it comes to fat loss. Why is it that the majority of people that want to lose fat usually start with steady state cardio? It doesn’t make sense. Basically if you are doing 3 resistance training workouts a week, 2 interval training sessions and you want to add a steady state cardio session in you could but it should be your very last priority. 

If you are going to miss a workout skip your cardio and hit the weights! 

Rachel Cosgrove co-owns Results Fitness and Punch Gym Santa Clarita located in southern California. She has also been featured in Women’s Health, Oxygen Magazine, Shape Magazine, Muscle and Fitness Hers, Fitness Magazine, Men’s Fitness and Men’s Health. Check out their gym website at www.results-fitness.com or Rachel’s female specific site at www.rachelcosgrove.com. 

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