Written by Why do you train?
If your answer is “To get healthier” or “To be in better shape”, you’ll unfortunately have to do better than that. Mapping out your goals and being specific is one of the first key things that you need to do in order to be successful.
For most people in the gym, it’s about improving their body composition (i.e reducing their body weight and body fat percentage). So what do most people do? We read about workouts and what methods to use, then head into the gym and try to make a workout with enough “intensity” to feel like you’re burning fat. Or better yet, you end up with a trainer that tells you that is what’s happening.
The problem is, generally it’s not what happens. Yes, there are exceptions to the rules and some people will innately be able to use fat for energy at higher intensities of training, but it’s still pretty rare. For most people, the training that you do doesn’t actually burn any fat. Read that again.
Fat loss comes using those stores for energy, but the catch is that fat takes a long time to oxidize and be used – it also doesn’t get used if you are exercising or lifting beyond a certain intensity. So what’s the point of training then? Well, you still want to build lean muscle mass. The more you force your body to adapt, the more efficient it becomes. In addition, the fuel source that your body selects when doing these heavy lifts and higher intensity work is glycogen (carbs, basically). That means you’re pushing that side of the energy system very well if you consistently improve, but you still need to balance out the other side!
The good thing about this is that for most people, they have a big issue getting energy out of the body so by lifting weights you force your body to use those glycogen stores for energy (which do contribute to fat gain) and actually start to reduce body weight. Once again, the more we push this system, the more efficient it becomes.
So, how do we get the other side of the equation going? The Fat that can’t be used in the gym?
Nutrition will have a lot to do with it, but more importantly getting out and doing some low-intensity work will be your most effective way. Playing around with fasting and time-restrictive eating can also work wonders if you’re someone who is metabolically inflexible and you don’t have blood sugar issues. Work on stress management as well -fat will rarely be used for energy in a stressed state. Do all of these things consistently and you will be surprised at your results!
J
