The Best Exercises To Lose Weight?
Before I start telling you the best exercises to do let’s get something clear.
Often people say they want to lose weight – this is great but generally after a few questions we decide that what they really want is to lose body fat and tone up. This means that weight is not always the best measurement of success as we’ll be building muscle mass while burning the fat. For this reason it’s really important to take other measurements whether with a tape measure, skinfold callipers or a body scan machine. Muscle is denser than fat so you can build muscle, burn an equal weight of body fat and have smaller measurements (this is where it can get a bit confusing). Eg: you might build 2kg of muscle, lose 2kg of body fat (so you are the same weight) but your measurements shrink and you might even drop a pant size.
This is why your measurements can drop while your weight may not at first
There are many different “theories” on the best ways to lose fat and it will depend slightly on your goals. This article is all about what you should be doing if your goal is to lose fat, tone up and stay that way!
Let me explain….
Why should we build muscle to burn fat?
1. It helps us born more fat. Every bit of muscle you have requires energy to live – much of that energy will come from body fat. So in short – the more muscle you have the more body fat you burn!
2. Because your metabolism (the amount of energy you burn at rest) is higher the more muscle mass you have it reduces the ups and downs many weight loss goers experience. In other words if you have a bad day or week food and / or exercise wise the impact on your waist line will be less significant due to the fact that you’re burning more energy every second of the day!
3. Helps burn stress hormones. When we get stressed our body produces some nasty hormones. One of the nastiest is called Cortisol – in high levels it has a muscle wasting effect which will in turn slow down your metabolism (opposite to what we want). Strength training is a very effective way to burn cortisol.
4. Increases insulin sensitivity. Strength training helps the insulin receptors on your muscles work more efficiently – this basically means that your muscles can absorb and store blood sugars better. This enables your body to stabilise blood sugar levels and minimise the spike in the hormone insulin which can cause all sorts of nasty consequences including weight gain and storage of body fat.
So should we ditch cardio and only focus on strength training?
It’s not a simple answer as it depends on your goals but strength training should be an integral part of your program if your aim is to lose body fat and keep it off!
The best exercises to perform are the ones which use our big muscle groups and require the movement of multiple joints.
If you’ve ever been to any of our sculpt sessions you’ll know what I’m talking about – things like Deadlifts, Squats, Lunges, Bench Presses, Overhead Presses, Rows etc…
The Clontarf 9.30am Sculpt Crew smashing out their upper body session
Bare in mind…
One of the major problems with people using weights is that they can be dangerous if you’re not doing them properly. You only have to go to go to your local gym where you can see dozens of well intentioned iron warriors doing their best to keep the local chiropractor busy. If you’re not sure how to do something – seek advice or come along to some of our sculpt sessions! These are designed to help you get strong and lean with a well trained professional keeping a constant eye on you
The Rocky Crew learning how to do Barbell Squats from Simon
I don’t want to get too bulky….
This is a common one that we get from the ladies – don’t worry, females don’t have enough testosterone in their bodies to continually develop muscle mass like a man can. The female body builders you see and are scared of are doing some pretty crazy stuff to be able to look like that.
In a nutshell…
If you’re trying to lose weight you need to perform strength training along with high intensity cardio to get the best results. Our boot camps are designed specifically for people who want to lose body fat and tone up while having a good time with some like minded people!
You’ll do a combination of our Sculpt workouts for strength, Boxing for cardio, Kettlebell and interval training which are a combination of the two.
The Gladstone 5:30pm Crew ripping out a boxing session!
You can access any of the below locations with unlimited access for 4 weeks for just $47 >>> Click Here For More Info <<<
We even have FREE Child Minding at many of our sessions now
Brisbane
- Capalaba
- Toowong
- Clayfield
- Mitchelton
- Chermside
- Albany Creek
- Bracken Ridge
- Clontarf
- Narangba
- Burpengary
- Petrie
- Caboolture
Central QLD
- Rockhampton
- Gladstone
- Yeppoon
West QLD
- Roma
If you’ve been slack and need to get back to Boot Camp send me an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we’ll help you get back on track
Dedicated to your fitness success,
Jake
PS: Here’s that link again if you’d like to take up our awesome 4 Weeks of Unlimited Boot Camp For $47 offer >>> Click Here <<<