Secret Revealed: The best exercise machine for fat loss.....

Hey,

If you read the headline and got pretty excited it woudn't surprise me as a) everyone loves a secret and b) who wouldn't want to know the best machine for fat loss....takes all the guess work out right?

Now before I give you the answer (which isn't what you are expecting) let's explore the different types of machines you might typically come across in a gym or personal training studio:

Cardiovascular machines:

CV machines are set out in rows and rows within most mainstream gym chains, they are big, exciting, with flashy lights and crazy gizmo's like heart rate monitors and calorie counters and you would be pretty shocked to walk into a facility that didn't have any right?

So what are CV machines doing for our fat loss efforts?

CV machines are generally large muscle group activities, by using many muscles over a sustained period of time we can elevate your metabolism to increase calorie usage. Sounds good, if we are burning lots of calories we must be working towards fat loss?

Sure you are burning calories but is this a truly effective use of your time? for most people starting out on a fitness program from a relatively low level of fitness you really wont be burning that many calories per minute so need long periods of exercise to achieve significant calorie utilisation. So really this isn't the most effective way of training for fat loss when you first embark on your training regime and also long bouts of exercise can hinder fat loss (but that's for another article).

So the CV machine whether it be the treadmill, x-trainer, bike or rower may not be the best machine for fatloss.

How about resistance machines?

But dont they just build muscles?

Yes they do help towards building muscles but if  you avoid resistance training because that is all you think is occurring you're missing a trick!

Resistance training in it's many forms helps to build lean body mass (muscle tissue predominantly). Muscle tissue is typically more metabolically active (burns more calories at rest) than other tissue within your body so the more you have the more calories you will burn both whilst training and whilst at rest.

So build more and burn more....sounds good.

But it doesn't stop there, the physical act of resistance training is, if done correctly, so much more demanding of the bodies resources that you continue to burn calories for hours afterwards leading to double the benefits from typically a much shorter training session.

So resistance machines are the best for fat loss then?

Whoa there nelly, hold your horses....im not finished yet :)

Resistance machines are an excellent start point for those unnacustomed to resistance based training and will contribute towards your fat loss efforts....

But that's not the secret machine....

Your body is the ultimate fat loss machine

Crazy I know, but seriously the one machine that most people forget about when starting an exercise program is their own body.

Firstly your body is capable of anything. It can perform cardiovascular exercises just by performing natural movements, walking, jumping, stepping, skipping, running. It can perform strength exercises using it's own bodyweight as resistance and then for the ultimate fat loss program....

Your body can combine the two types of training.

If you perform large muscle group resistance exercises.....squats, lunges, press ups, burpees, squat thrusts, pull ups, with limited rest what do you find?

Your heart rate and breathing increase....you are training your cardiovascular system as well as developing your muscular system.

By training in this way you are using your body....the ultimate machine, to perform the ultimate fat burning training session. You will burn calories in the session and afterwards, whilst developing your musculature to promote calorie burn at rest.

Sounds pretty awesome to me :)

Add to this the use of dumbells, barbells, kettlebells, powerbags, medicine balls and you have an ever progressing training plan that will get you into great shape in minimal time.

So when you next walk into a gym or personal training studio, remember the only machine you need is your body......start using it

To your health and happiness,

Nathan

to work with Nathan find out more here

Athletic physique week 12: the final pictures

Hey guys,

thank you for following me through my journey :) your support both here, on facebook and in person has been a huge help towards keeping me on track towards my goal.

I started this mini challenge as I have been unable to commit to playing football this year so wanted a push into regular weight training to ensure I continue to practice what I preach :)

The Program

Big thanks go out to Bryan Kavanagh whose athletic physique program I have been following:

http://www.tiny9.com/u/athletic_physique

I found the program to be well organised, easy to follow, challenging and progressive which is exactly what I was looking for and the range and type of exercises involved meant it was fun to follow too (well, if you like this kinda thing like me).

The goal:

My main target was to get my body fat below 10% and to start to look more defined and athletic (As a personal trainer I felt I should look the part as well as being generally fit)

The results:

Success :) I managed to take my bodyfat down to 9.4% my shape has changed a fair bit and my abs are begining to show so i'm pretty pleased. More so than the physical appearance changes, I have enjoyed how much stronger I feel. Before starting I could barely throw together a set of 10 chin ups (the easier ones with the palms facing towards you) whereas now I am performing chin ups with weights between my feet and can do 5-6 wide grip pull ups with pretty good form. Being able to achieve these exercises is just as pleasing as the physical changes :)

The Pictures:

Week 1

Week 12

Let me know what you think with a comment below or some feedback on facebook :)

Thanks Guys,

Nathan

www.nathanlee-pt.com

Athletic physique week 8

So 8 weeks in and time to update my progress on the athletic physique program :)

So what's been happening the last 4 weeks?

Well, I feel that in the first 4 weeks although I made great progress I may have rushed into the training program trying to lift too much too soon...I get a little exciteable that way sometimes.

I figured this was the case as an old shoulder injury was rearing its ugly head and causing me mild pain on some shoulder and chest exercises. Because of this I decided to change tact slightly as I was aware that the planned overtraining was only a few weeks away eeek.

So what changed?

I didn't veer away from the basic outline of the program...the main exercises remained but I regressed the weight back slightly and increased the repetitions to take some pressure off my shoulder joint. I also spent some extra time each session working on my back and rear shoulder muscles to see if improving the balance of my upper body strength would reduce the pain....

And?

Im pleased to say it has worked...or seems to have as the shoulder pain hasn't re-appeared in the last 2 weeks of training yay, so I will be maintaining this small change as I progress through the coming 4 weeks of the challenge.

Progress?

I definately feel progress has been made as I am gradually again increasing the weight I can lift for some exercises, particularly I am pleased with my weighted pull ups...not much weight added (upto 8kg now) but considering I struggled with bodyweight pull ups 8 weeks ago it feels good to be able to perform these. Body wise I feel my back has made the most change in the last few weeks, my chest is still improving and my arms are still lagging behind but getting better :)

Goals:

So 4 weeks to go....I am pretty pleased with progress however my only target was to get my body fat % below 10%...currently I'm at eleven....4 weeks hard work then to bring it down (even 9.9% will do haha). My diet has been clean throughout (beyond the two cheat meals) however the last few weeks have been more carb heavy with an attempt to up calories for development...the coming 4 weeks I will be again stripping the carbs back to push for this last drop in fat....I might even chuck in a fast or two for good measure.

Pictures :)

Day 1

Day 56