Weight Loss 101
So you’ve got some extra weight to lose. You might be tempted to do endless hours of cardio because that’s what everyone else does. We’re here to tell you that’s not the answer. Losing weight is much more than cardio. While cardio certainly plays a role in the weight loss equation, nutrition and weight training also play equal roles. We’ve put together a few tips to help you lose weight and keep it off before the holidays:
1. Get your nutrition right
Everybody has different caloric needs. You may need only 1,800 calories to function while someone may need 2,500 to maintain their weight. The key to getting your nutrition right is knowing what your needs are. If you perform vigorous exercise daily, your caloric needs will be much higher. But are all calories created equal? Yes, and no. While big companies such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola will tell you that a calorie is a calorie, we know that isn’t quite so. Eating 1,500 of calories of protein will change your body in a different way than eating 1,500 calories of fat and carbohydrates.
So what do we recommend? We recommend knowing your needs and staying within your nutritional guidelines. Need a custom nutrition plan? Our experts formulate custom nutrition plans that are built custom to your body. Learn more here!
2. Weight Training is important
Did you know that muscle actively burns calories throughout the day? That means when you sleep your muscles are still feeding. So what does this mean in terms of weight-loss? Simply put, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn throughout the day. Therefore, putting on some extra muscle can help you lose weight. Need a custom workout plan to help you build muscle and lose weight? We have you covered with our custom workout plans built just for your body and your needs!
3. Cardio is necessary
Yes, that’s right. Unfortunately cardio is the most efficient way to burn excess calories. But we’re not talking about running at a moderate pace for 30 minutes. We recommend doing HIIT to burn off the extra fat.
What exactly is HIIT? HIIT stands for High-Intensity-Interval-Training. So what does that mean? Interval Training relies on extremely vigorous exercise followed by a short cool-down period. Sprints are a great example of HITT. You may run a 100-meter sprint as fast as you can, followed by a 1-minute cool-down before performing the exercise again. HIIT works by depleting your carbohydrate (glycogen) storages and then burning straight fat off your body. We recommend at least 30 minutes of HIIT 3 days per week to burn off the extra weight.