Too many trainees I see miss the forest for the trees. They are approaching their fat loss programs all wrong, and stagnating as a result.  A big thanks goes to the mainstream media for all the crap advice on ”cardio” being best for fat loss, more on that in a minute.

Assuming the goal is fat loss, then metabolic optimization should be our primary focus.  Let me explain.

Your metabolic rate, or “metabolism” is the rate at which you burn calories at rest.  From a fat loss standpoint, the more calories we expend per day, the better.  So your training should be focused on precisely that – burning more calories per 24 hours – not just burning more calories during a single workout.  Far too many people I see in average gyms look the absolute same after months of “cardio” training as the day the walked in the door.

If they were to follow some basic principles, all that could change.

Big Moves = Big Results
To increase your metabolism working out with resistance is a must.  Where the weight comes from is less important.  For instance I can create a routine that would set your metabolism on fire using just your bodyweight and nothing else.  (But working out with weights can be damn fun.)

One critical piece of information we must remember is the more muscle you carry on your frame, the higher your metabolism.  (Side Note: this does NOT mean you need to look like the Hulk.)  You should want to stimulate as much of that muscle as you can.  This is because muscle is metabolically active, and it requires energy to exist.  So the goal when working out should be to cause as big a “metabolic disruption” as possible.  The more muscle you stimulate, the bigger the disruption and thus the bigger the metabolic increase.

For example a session of 10 sets of deadlifts would cause a greater metabolic shift then a session of 10 sets of bicep curls, 10 sets of sit-ups, and 10 sets of tricep extentions combined. Deadlifts use almost your entire body, while curls only use the bicep muscle (give or take).  The net effect will be increased calorie utilization over the long term as the metabolic increase from resistance sessions can last 48 hours.

From a metabolic perspective, the bigger the move the more effective your workout. This is critical especially since most of us are under a time cruch and need to get the biggest bang for our buck time wise.

Munch a Bunch
Eating regularly increases your metabolism, while skipping meals actually lowers it.   Eating multiple times per day is an easy way to keep your metabolism humming along.  For example, you will increase you metabolism more if you consume your daily allotment of calories over 5 meals than you would if it were only on 1 or 2 meals.  Here’s food for thought: Sumo wrestlers only eat one meal per day.

Do Not Drop Calories Too Low
Your body is extremely smart, or exceptionally stupid depending on how you look at it.  Your body probably does not know that you would like to drop a few pounds.  If it did, it would not create so many road blocks making that endeavor so difficult.  As you drop your calories, your body responds by lowering the rate at which your body uses those calories.  It is a survival mechanism preventing you from starving to death.

Let’s say your metabolic maintenance level is 3000 cals, and you drop your intake to 1500 cals in a effort to drop some weight. Your body will soon respond by lowering your maintenance level to meet the new lower calorie intake level. Now what do you do? Drop your calories again?

Well that sucks.

The better way is to not drastically drop your calories and take some of the other measures in this article to make certain your metabolic rate stays nice and high.

Do Not Over-Do Cardio
We have had it beaten in to our heads that cardio is the be all and end all of fat loss. But I am here to tell you it ain’t so.  The people I refereed to earlier in the article, that look the same as the day they walked in my gym-  they are the ones who come in and do nothing but extended cardio work.  Well those treadmills do look spiffy – but they aren’t doing much for your fat loss in most instances.

Here’s my beef with cardio- it does NOTHING to increase your metabolism after your workout is over. NOTHING!

It’s only saving grace is that is burns calories while you are performing it  – but big deal really, so does brushing your teeth.  How many calories you expend during a workout session (whether it be a cardio or weight session) is almost irrelevant. What matters is how many calories it expends over the course of a full day.

When you complete a traditional cardio session you are done burning calories as soon as you step off the treadmill.  This is not the case with resistance training, circuit training, and interval training.  You continue to burn calories as a result of the workout for hours, or even days (no joke).

In addition to the fat burning effects, studies have shown high intensity interval training to have a positive and significant effect on muscle building, contrary to traditional slow go cardio like running which has been shown to have little effect on fat storage and proven to increase muscle wasting. This can be shown simply by comparing two kinds of athletes.

Intervals to the Rescue
So what do you do instead of traditional cardio? Interval training.  Interval training simulates the same metabolic response as a weight training session, and revs up the metabolic rate.

What is interval training?  In it’s most basic form, it is working very hard for a short period of time, then decreasing the intensity for a quick recovery. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

It is hard and kicks your ass quick.  The good news is it doesn’t take very long (4-10 minutes in some cases) and as previously stated it can increase your metabolism for up to 48 hours.

Now, get off your but and dedicate 4-10 minutes to burning some fat. Don’t tell me you are too busy for that!