How to Lose Fat When Personal Training

Tom Venuto, body building pioneer summarised training for the everyday person nicely when he said “Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle” 

Combine the three pillars of fitness being nutrition, cardio and strength training into your personal training program. Doing so will create a massive  synergy that activates the exponential effect for weight loss. 

Let’s talk nutrition. To lose weight you will need to intake slightly less calories than your body burns.  Women generally should restrict their daily calorie intake to between 1200-1500 calories. Men usually  should stick to between 1500-1800 daily calories. It’s best to eat whole foods like fruits, vegetables,  legumes, nuts, whole grains and lean cuts of meat to provide you with longer lasting energy because  there isn’t much room in your calorie requirement to include junk food which contains “empty calories” (non-nutrient dense calories).  Busy individuals may benefit from pre-ordered calorie meal plans. Watch you calories like a hawk because one cookie which is like 300 calories takes on average a full hour of exercise to burn off.  Remember not to drop too many calories off your daily requirement as you body may go into “starvation mode” burning away much required muscle and start storing fat by slowing its metabolism in anticipation that it next meal is uncertain. That’s why very low calorie diets often fail.

 “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well” Virginia Woolf

According to fitness guru , Tom Venuto, you should be including 30 minutes of vigorous, sweaty cardio into your weekly exercise program four to six times per week. Most people need four to six days per week. Here’s the kicker-it needs to be at least 30 minutes of continuous cardio since the oxygen uptake has to be rapid enough to activate the fat burning enzymes. Aerobic or cardio exercise means “with oxygen” and includes running, elliptical, spin cycling, treadmill or rowing. Wear a heart rate monitor to track the intensity to sustain between 70-75% of your heart rate max.

Finally, to prevent your body from losing muscle when in calorie deficit, you will need a weights program. For fat loss, compound lifts involving the major muscle groups of the back, chest, bottom, core and thighs is best. Compound exercises involve more than one muscle group and burn a heap more calories than traditional isolation exercises.  Do 8-10 reps of 70% one rep max once your technique is perfect, do 3 sets.