THE HIERARCHY OF FAT LOSS

TAVLifestyle Bloggin’

Okay! Let’s get the ball rollin’! My hope is to create an informative, inspiring and fun blog spot for all my current clients and friends and for my future clients and friends. I want to offer my insight on anything and everything related to fitness, nutrition, balance and basically healthy living and thriving. I hope you’ll connect with me regularly.
So to kick it off strong, let’s discuss a popular topic in my notebook and in my training sessions. FAT LOSS; to aid all fitness folk at every level, it’s important to understand that there is actually a Hierarchy to Fat Loss (a quick thank you to fitness coach extraordinaire, Alwyn Cosgrove, CSCS*D, who has helped me differentiate training/activity levels and be able to clearly define them for my people on the field).
I’m into my 11th year of training as a fitness professional and all who know me are aware of how much I love, love, love what I do. The sports and fitness industry is constantly evolving and keeps me excited year after year as I continue to refine and expand my training techniques and coaching style. My work is further enriched by what I see and study in the health and fitness industry, and by the ambitions and accomplishments of my clients. Every day is an adventure for me. Challenges and thrills come my way whether I’m coaching athletes or 9-5ers. Interesting still, is time and time again and despite the diversity of my clients, the number one request I receive is for guided weight loss.
We’re all so busy! The difficulty for time efficient training and maximized weight loss is particularly high for my regular (non-athlete) clients. Most can only train 3-4 times a week, so the question is how we can get the most bang (maximized fat loss) for our buck (time invested.)
So here it goes! The more I can educate and inspire you, the more readily you can obtain your goals.
So with the help of Mr. Cosgrove, I’ve developed my own explanation on the Hierarchy of FAT LOSS.

1. First things first…NUTRITION. Bottom line is…no amount of training can be done to make up for a sloppy-diet. While still eating enough protein and essential fats, you have to create a calorie deficit. Period! There’s no other option.

2. Secondly, UNDERSTAND NUTRITION. The primary difference between training for fat loss and training for muscle gain is all about your diet. This is a tremendous oversimplification, but still it emphasizes how effective and important proper nutrition is.

3. Activities that burn calories, maintain/gain muscle mass and elevate metabolism. The majority of calories burned are determined by our resting metabolic rate. While calories burned outside our resting metabolism, via exercise, thermic effect, etc., contributes a smaller amount each day. Also your resting metabolic rate is a function of how much muscle you have on your body and how hard it works. Therefore, activities that promote/maintain mass make the muscles work hard and elevate the metabolism. Therefore this should be a priority in fat loss programs.

4. Activities that burn calories and elevate the metabolism. The next level of activities for fat loss is those that eat up calories and increase EPOC (Exercise Post Oxygen Consumption). Basically, you want exercises that continue to burn calories after the training session. However, scientifically, EPOC is defined as the “recovery of metabolic rate back to the pre-exercise levels.” And this EPOC recovery can demand several hours after hard interval training, or merely several minutes for light exercise.

5. Activities that burn calories, but don’t necessarily maintain muscle or elevate metabolism. This level of training essentially will burn up calories, but not necessarily contribute to upping your metabolism. It’s kind of like the cherry on top, and the least effective mode to fight fat as it doesn’t burn much outside of your time training.
Whew! This is a lot to digest. Take a few minutes to muddle the hierarchy I’ve described and figure out how your own current training regimen matches up. Feel free to shoot me a line with your feedback or questions. I’d love to hear from you! And please check back to TAVLifestyle BLOG next week, as I dive deeper into the topic of the FAT LOSS Hierarchy, and discuss FIVE KEY FACTORS for FAT LOSS TRAINING.

'Til then, see you on the field, track, trail…
Sweat and kisses! ~Teresa