Fat Loss 101: Part 2
Welcome back to our continuation of last week's discussion about the best way to go about your fat loss journey. If you haven't read last week's newsletter, we encourage you to read it before we get into this. Also, please realize that this newsletter tackles the topic of how we should train for long term fat loss. We do not go into the nutritional aspect in this newsletter but it will be coming soon.
***If your job or training goal requires an excellent cardio base, some of what we discuss here will not apply to you but it would still be wise to follow along. This scenario is mainly intended for someone who wants to look good, feel good, increase their overall health, and build their metabolism.***
To recap briefly, we laid out why it might not be the best idea to use cardio as your primary method of fat loss and how cardio can actually be counterproductive for long-term fat loss. This might seem quite controversial, but we are not advocating for 100% exclusion of cardio from your life forever. In fact, cardio is a vital aspect of health and longevity due to its cardiovascular, respiratory, and mitochondrial benefits. However, when it comes to body composition goals, it is almost always best to cut out cardio or at least minimize it if you want to prioritize muscle growth or maintenance.
In order to lose fat, we need to create an environment where your metabolism is firing on all cylinders and working with your body. To illustrate this, we like to use cars as an analogy and compare it to the body. A well-functioning and hot-burning metabolism is similar to a Lamborghini speeding (illegally) down the highway. This Lamborghini is burning fuel (calories in humans) and getting terrible gas mileage, but it looks sexy, and everyone wants the Lamborghini. Compare this to driving a fuel-efficient Prius at its top speed of 60 MPH down the freeway; no one really wants the Prius, and it does a great job at getting a high fuel efficiency rating (not burning calories very fast).
If you aim to have a relatively slow metabolism and get the most "mileage" from the calories you intake, you would probably want to build your body like a Prius. If we think back to the last article, the type of body and metabolism would be great for survival when food is scarce, and we need to limit muscle mass to be more efficient.
On the other hand, if we want a fast metabolism that burns hot 24/7, we would be wise to build our bodies more like a Lamborghini. We want to create an environment where we have muscle that burns calories for us (because it takes a lot of calories to even maintain) and allows our body to be resilient into old age. Creating this environment often gives us more flexibility in our diet because we are not always dependent on how many hours of cardio we did this week to allow us to have the occasional burger. We call this "dietary resilience", which is often overlooked when creating a fat loss plan.
Aside from all of the other benefits that muscle has, we know for a fact that it is very hard to focus on muscle and effectively build it compared to how easy it is to step on a treadmill. Building muscle takes time, commitment, sacrifice, and the development of other healthy habits, all of which you would want to possess to live a long and healthy life free of disease.
Want to build muscle without having great sleep habits? Good luck with that.
Want to build muscle without a diet sufficient in protein, fats, or carbs? No shot.
Do you want to build muscle without committing to the self-development time required by going to the gym and enjoy all the mental benefits (reduced anxiety, etc) that come with it? Not gonna happen without getting those lifts in.
As you can see, the end result of building muscle is so much more than simply having more muscle that creates a better metabolism. The habits you need to get there are arguably far more beneficial than just carrying more muscle.
To summarize, here's what you need to do to create a better metabolism, build more muscle, and lose fat:
If you are mainly doing cardio, stop. Start with 1-3 weight lifting sessions per week and MAYBE include 1-2 cardio sessions (no more than 20-30 minutes each session).
Progressively overload your weightlifting sessions each week. Add a small amount of weight, increase the reps, slow the eccentric, etc. Pick one variable and slightly increase the difficulty of that variable each week.
Prioritize sleep. Get 7+ hours of sleep each night and commit to your bedtime routine and sleep schedule. This is the most impactful "steroid" you have in your arsenal.
Focus on eating a well-rounded diet and consume ~1g/lb of body weight in protein (if you are overweight, adjust to 1g/lb of target body weight).
The moral of the story here is that good things take time. Deep down, cardio junkies are taking the easy route when it comes to fat loss, and, as we've seen, that strategy only gets you so far before you end up in a worse place than you started. There is a time and place to incorporate cardio, but it needs to be after you have taken the time to build a solid foundation of muscle and created the habits that come along with it. Once you get to the point where your metabolism is firing hot and working for you, add cardio in a sustainable amount that compliments your weight lifting.
We could write on this topic forever, and this will likely not be the last time we cover fat loss. If you have any questions about the best way to approach your diet or training, feel free to email us or join our nutrition coaching membership
