“Find out what works, and do more of that.” — Steve de Shazer
In continuing the “struggles with exercise” theme, today I’ll be covering the challenge of:
👉 “I don’t know what to do.”
HIIT.
Powerlifting.
Boxing.
Orange Theory.
Crossfit.
Soul Cycle.
Kettlebells. Barbells. Bodyweight.
When it comes to exercise strategies, there are SO MANY options.
So I get it when clients say they feel overwhelmed and confused about what exactly they should be doing in order to reach their goals.
But before getting into the conversation of WHAT exercise to do, I want to touch on the topic of WHY you are doing exercise to begin with.
If you are not crystal clear about your end goal, you are wasting your time and energy by obsessing over:
➡ Whether you should do cardio or strength training.
➡ How many sets and reps or how much time you should do.
➡ Whether or not you should rest for 30 seconds, 1 minute or not at all.
➡ If you should do your cardio fasted or not.
The path to super human strength is not the same as it is to super human speed.
Just as the path to fat loss doesn’t look the same as the one to muscle gain.
So, before reading any further, stop and ask yourself.
Be specific.
And then,
Am I willing to commit to the path to get there?
Can you stay the course and not get distracted by:
➡ How your friend is training?
➡ What your favorite influencer is promoting?
➡ What you’re in the mood to do that day?
Can you resist exercise program A.D.D.?
Because,
👉 If you really want to get better at running, you’ll have to run more than you swim. 👉 If you really want to get SWOLE, you’ll have to cut back on your Soul Cycle addiction. 👉 If you really want to do a pull-up, you’ll have to practice doing pull-ups VERY OFTEN.
So, before I can give you advice on what to do, YOU need to make a firm decision about what you want to accomplish.
Now, since the majority of my readers have expressed the desire to lose fat, I’ll attack that end goal here.
👉 If you really want to lose fat, you’ll have to…
DIAL IN YOUR NUTRITION.
Sorry, not sorry. 🤷 Nutrition is the #1 priority (barring any hormonal issues) when it comes to fat loss, there’s just no way around this. But, after nutrition there is a hierarchy of exercise types when it comes to training for fat loss. This article, written over 13 years ago by fitness industry legend Alwyn Cosgrove, explains all you need to know about training for fat loss. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, what you’ll find in the above article is what works. But, for the sake of simplifying some of the "trainer speak" in it, I’ll summarize the main points below.
The hierarchy of fat loss is as follows:
Correct nutrition (Hate to say i told you so...NOT)
Metabolic resistance training
High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training
High Intensity Aerobic Interval Training
High Intensity Steady State Cardio
Low Intensity Steady State Cardio
👉 Let's break those down. Correct nutrition ➡ I’m not going to apologize for repeating myself. Metabolic resistance training ➡ Full body workouts in a super-set, tri-set, or circuit format using an 8-12 rep range. High Intensity Anaerobic Interval Training ➡ Short duration work intervals of very high intensity paired with long rest intervals using a 1:5 to 1:3 work to rest ratio (ex: 15 seconds work, 1 minute rest). High Intensity Aerobic Interval Training ➡ Moderate duration work intervals of high intensity paired with shorter rest intervals using a 1:3 to 1:1 work to rest ratio (ex: 1 min work, 1 minute rest). High Intensity Steady State Cardio ➡ Long duration high intensity steady state activity. (ex: running HARD for 30 minutes). Low Intensity Steady State Cardio ➡ Long duration low intensity steady state activity (ex: walking, jogging).
So, bringing it back to the struggle of "I don't know what to do",
If you want to lose fat AND you aren't working with an infinite amount of time for exercise in your week, NUTRITION and RESISTANCE TRAINING should be your top priorities.
But wait!
Don't I need to do cardio?!
What about the fat burning zone?!?!
Is cardio good for heart health?
👉 Yes.
Will it make you more athletic?
👉 Yes.
Is it the best use of your time if you want to lose fat?
👉 NO.
Low intensity cardio is not an efficient use of training time and, unless you have AT LEAST 8 hours available for exercise each week, it shouldn't be part of your weight loss program.
👇 Check out the chart below for how to prioritize the types of exercise, depending on how many hours you have available to train each week. 👇
Now listen, is it important to engage in exercise that you enjoy doing? 👉 Yes. And if you enjoy easy cardio, then you should DO IT. But understand, that it is not the most efficient path to fat loss. If you really want to: ...lose fat ...get strong ...run faster ...be more flexible ...[fill in the blank] Then you need to find out what works for that goal (by maybe working with a coach...🤔) and then DO THAT THING. Not the thing that your friend is doing. Not the thing that's really cool right now. Not the thing that's most comfortable, familiar or easy for you. 👉 The thing that works. And I hate to break it to you, but that thing is probably not jogging. 😬
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