How to Burn Fat, Get Lean and NOT Lose Muscle!

To get the ultimate body, what do I do?

This is one of the most common questions I get asked as a Personal Trainer. As a busy professional you want to get the most bang for you buck, I completely understand this.

I shall make this super simple and briefly explain each of the 3 kinds of training (HIT, Lifting, and LIT/Cardio) and then give you the answer to what you should do.

Lift - Lifting Weights/Bodyweight

When I first started training myself and others several years ago, lifting weights started to become more mainstream and more popular. It stopped being reserved to the 'meathead' bodybuilders admiring theirs and their mates pecs and biceps... Yes it did seem weird hah! There are many reasons to lifting weights.

Benefits of Lifting weights:

1. Building some muscle increases metabolism, you burn extra calories naturally

2. Helps give definition and shape to your body

3. Strengthens joints, tendons and bones

4. When cutting down calories, lifting preserves muscle the best out of the 3 training methods

5. Increase strength comes with less pain doing day to day activities

   

HIT - High Intensity Training

HIT training requires a huge amount of effort in a short amount of time. These workouts should normally last between 10-30 mins. Best equipment to use are running machines, rowing machines, or your own bodyweight.

Benefits of HIT:

1. More calories burned overall within a 24-48 hour window due to an 'afterburner' affect
2. Can be done with bodyweight or even just one piece of equipment
3. Short workouts, if pressed for time this will be super helpful
4. Can help to build some muscle
5. Increases your fitness

LIT - Low Intensity Training/Cardio

LIT or Cardio, as commonly known, is the most common form of training for people to get into when they think of the gym, other than lifting weights. You can run, cycle, row, play sport or even just walk. It started going out of fashion recently with HIT becoming more popular however here's why you should keep doing it.

Benefits of LIT:

1. You burn mostly fat if you stay within your ideal heart rate zone
2. Your fitness greatly improves
3. Can be much easier on the joints than lifting, and definitely easier than HIT
4. Has a positive affect on the brain, with studies showing it decreases stress
5. Easily accessible, can simply put on some trainers and run

So you've explained them, which is best!?

The answer is to do a combination of all 3, one each or more per week! This is great if you get bored easily doing the same thing over and over and are pressed for time so want to optimise your results.

Quick overview.

1. Lifting weights will increase muscle, increasing the calories you burn on a day to day basis and give you a great shape (Bum, Legs, Arms, Abs etc)
2. Doing HIT will burn a huge amount of calories during the workout and 24-48 hours after, while also increasing your fitness and your bodies ability to use energy.
3. Adding LIT and staying within the fat burning heart rate zone will burn fat during your workout and increase your fitness greatly while allowing you to recover from the HIT and Lifting workouts.

So if you want the benefits of each of these training styles, its best to do each one at least once a week! Only want to train 3 times per week and receive added benefits of all 3 training? Then try combining 2 of the training methods within 1 workout, that way during 3 workouts you will have utilised each method twice!

The next step is the easy way to structure your diet... In the next Blog :)
Hope this helps and would love to know how you get on!

Any questions please ask below!

Best Health,
Mounir