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I know I covered losing weight in my column this week but I decided to go into the gory detail for all of you dedicated folk out there. To be honest, losing weight isn’t that hard–if you approach it correctly. You have to pair lifting weights with regular cardiovascular exercise in a routine that changes every three weeks or so.
For your cardiovascular exercise, don’t just run or use the elliptical for 45 minutes to an hour. It’s all about efficiency, and that’s NOT the fastest (or the most efficient) way to burn calories and lower your body fat percentage. You need to incorporate HIIT into your cardio workouts–that stands for “high intensity interval training.” Basically, it means you alternate your pace via intervals. So you may start on the treadmill with one minute of jogging, then do 30 seconds of an all-out sprint, then one-minute of a fast jog, then one minute of a slow jog, then 30 seconds of an all-out sprint, etc. You can feel free to experiment with the order (or simply use the one above and repeat it for 20 minutes).
By changing up your pace like this, you turn your body into a calorie-burning machine. According to one Laval University study, interval training was nine times more effective at burning fat than running at a moderate speed for 20-60 minutes.
But that’s not the best part of interval training. Since it’s so high-intensity, you only need to perform about 20 to 30 minutes of it. For the first three weeks, start out with 20 minutes of interval training and shorter “all-out sprint” intervals (as in, about 15 seconds instead of 30 seconds). Then, during the next three weeks (or when you feel ready), tack on 5 seconds to your “all-out sprint” intervals and increase your total time to about 25 minutes.
Even for this first phase, you should try interval training about three times per week.
Other than increasing the duration of your cardio routines as the weeks progress (which you should do), you should also increase the frequency as you get closer to your goal (say, Spring Break).
But you shouldn’t just run. If you’re a beginner trying to lose weight, start out by lifting weights three times a week with about two sets per exercise, trying to train your entire body each day with compound movements like the squat and bench press (and using 6-8 repetitions per exercise, whether you’re a girl or a guy–girls, training in this repetition range actually increases your metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories…plus, it’s only for three weeks, so don’t worry about getting “huge”). Perform 20 minutes of interval training directly after your workouts. Feel free to mix up your cardio machine too–interval training can be done on a cycle, or on an elliptical, or even on a rowing machine.
After three weeks of training your body three-times per week, move into a split-training cycle, which means you start training certain muscle groups on certain days. For example, you could train chest, shoulders, and triceps on Mondays and Thursdays, and back, shoulders, and legs on Tuesdays and Fridays. Use about 12-15 repetitions per set and try to pair up exercises into supersets, where you go from one exercise to the next without any rest (like, dumbbell bench press and push ups, for example).
After three weeks of that, try incorporating giant sets into your routine. Pull out all of the stops and pick five or six exercises to perform back-to-back without any rest (resting only after the cycle’s completed). Do three or four cycles. By this point, you should be doing five-to-six sessions of 25 minutes to 30 minutes of interval training directly after your workouts on lifting days and first thing in the morning (before breakfast) on non-lifting days. Fat-burning reaches its apex in this last phase.
But no matter how hard you lift or perform cardio, you won’t see any drastic decreases in your body fat percentage unless you eat a clean diet. Try eating six times a day and minimizing your carbohydrate intake on your non-lifting days. That doesn’t mean starve yourself; while the portions depend on your current body composition, a typical off-day might look like this:
breakfast: 2 cups oatmeal, 2 scrambled eggs, 2 egg whites
snack 1: 1 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup chopped fruit
lunch: 2 cans white tuna, 1 cup green salad with low-fat dressing
snack 2: 1 large banana, 1 scoop whey protein mixed in water
dinner: 2 grilled chicken breasts, 1 large sweet potato, 1 cup green salad with low-fat dressing
snack 3: 1 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 mixed fruit
That’s it. Let the fat-burning frenzy begin!
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I had weight problem from childhood…today my weight is 80 kgs…what exercise would you advise to me…
thanks
George -
If you’re new to exercising and/or cardio, I wouldn’t recommend starting out with HIIT training. Instead, I’d tell you to walk at a moderate pace on an incline on a treadmill for about 30 to 40 minutes three to four times a week, directly after working out and/or first thing in the morning (before breakfast, on an empty stomach).
In terms of weightlifting, I’d tell you to stick to the basic, compound lifts at first. You need to develop a “foundation” of strength before you go any further. To do that, I might suggest a routine like the one below:
Leg Press: 2 x 6-8
Bench Press: 2 x 6-8
Seated Row: 2 x 6-8
Military Press: 2 x 6-8
Barbell Curls: 2 x 6-8
CG Bench Press: 2 x 6-8
Incline Barbell Bench: 2 x 6-8
WG Lat Pulldowns: 2 x 6-8
Arnold Press: 2 x 6-8
Weighted Crunch: 2 x 12-15
Hyperextensions for the lower back): 2 x 12-15
*Just type in the name of the exercise followed by “exercise” into Google and click on one of the websites (probably near the top) for a description
I would tell you to do this routine three times a week, on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.
After three weeks, I’d monitor your progress and change your routine accordingly.
As a side note, everyone responds differently to training, so some of the exercises I suggested above may not work for you (i.e., you may just not like them or feel they’re effective). In that case, try to substitute in an exercise that you like instead.
Also, I’d remind you that diet’s hugely important in achieving your weight loss goals. I would tell you to try an eat smaller, more frequent meals of clean sources like egg whites, oatmeal, steamed veggies, chicken breasts, deli turkey, etc. Also, I would tell you to cut down on your carbs (but not eliminate them) when you’re not lifting.
As always, I’m not a nutritionist or a physician, so you should consult a licensed professional with any dietary / medical questions or concerns, or just to receive an authoritative go-ahead on exercise.
Thanks George, and if you have any questions or anything else, just post a comment or shoot me an email.
best of luck!
By the way, CG Bench Press should read Close-Grip Bench Press (just an abbreviation). Force of habit, sorry!
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