Losing body fat is one of the most common goals for our personal training clients. Whether you are in a group exercise, boot camp, or personal training session you may be looking for weight loss. For most, too much body fat will always hold us back. But does it have to be? Sure you could try some crazy diet that makes you eat like a rabbit and you can not even enjoy what you are eating. You have to enjoy what you are doing in order to stick with it. Over the years of finding the magical cure on shredding body fat, I have realized that it is not as hard as you think it is. We just make it extremely hard! Summer is coming upon us and now is the time to try out some simple tips for shredding body fat.
17 Tips to Shred Your Body Fat for the Summer
1. If you hate running around in circles, make it fun!!
This has always been a trend for me. I used to hate doing cardio, running for long periods of time have never been amusing for me. I would run for a month and then not run for 6 months. What makes cardio not fun for people is they either are impatient about getting in shape or they just go too hard too fast. Starting out slow and building up more and more every week or so really helped me enjoy doing cardio.
Mixing up your cardio routine is also a must when trying to build muscle and shred fat. People tend to think that more is better such as you need to run miles upon miles every day. When you are incorporating HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) is designed to help keep your metabolism burning fat for you hours after working out. A great way you can do HIIT is performing 8-10 x :20/:10 Tabata runs. How this is done is you run as hard as you can for :20 and then you rest or walk for :10. To make it even harder is sprinting for :20 and jogging for :10 Some other ways that helped me were combining resistance training and running together. This could involve performing 2-3 heavier exercises along with a lap around the block. Simple things like doing 5-10 hard 30 yard sprints 3 days a week will help you not only improve your cardio, but also make cardio more enjoyable.
2. I have a fever and my prescription is more protein and fats.
Another goal I hear from a lot of people is they want to burn fat and build muscle. Protein builds muscle. If you are trying to build muscle and lose body fat, you need to lower your carb intake and increase your protein and fat intake. If you are breaking down your macronutrients, 35 % of your daily calories should come from protein, 40% from fats and 25% from carbs. If you have a 2,000 kcal diet, 700 kcal should come from protein and 800 kcal should come from fat. To optimize fat loss, try to eat about 250 fewer calories per day than you are currently consuming.
3. Lift Weights and Drop Your Body Weight
If you want to gain muscle or shred body fat, you are going to have to put the extra effort into throwing around some heavy weight. This does not mean you through on a ton a weight and avoid using perfect form. This is how you can end up hurting yourself and actually putting on more body fat and/or weight. When we do not lift with proper form, this is not going to stress the muscle enough to grow.
4. Incorporate Multi-Joint and Isolation Exercises
Are you someone who likes to stick to machines? Adding some spice to your workout will kick start your body fat loss. Combining a multi-joint exercise with an isolation exercise is always a great technique for shredding body fat. When we do the same exercises over and over, our bodies get used to and do not progress. Adding variety every 2-4 weeks will save you from plateauing and wasting time improving on body fat loss.
5. Find a Workout Buddy
Working out with a partner can be the perfect fit for you to be active. Working out with a partner not only can help motivate you to do the best you can every workout. I have always hated running, recently I have been running with a partner and it has made running fun and challenging. Your workout partner does not have to be the same person. Having someone there to motivate you and work harder can help speed up body fat and weight loss!
6. Stay Consistent
Just because you had a great workout, does not mean you can take the next 3 days off. Being productive and sticking to a schedule is how you are going to be successful. Too many times I hear I have no time to go to the gym, but you have time to sit on the couch? Do you not have at least an hour a day for yourself so you can workout. Everyone has to have their time. This time is there for you so you can get your work out in. Take the time to sit down and even plan out a couple days and you will see that you have time!
7. Keep it Simple!
Ever heard of the acronym K.I.S.S.? If you do not, it means to keep it simple stupid. Too many times I hear people saying that they are doing this ridiculous diet plans that just stick with smoothies and/or I kid you not a pineapple only diet. People listen to me, you do not have to deprive yourself just to lose weight. Most of the time it is simple things that make it hard to lose weight. All it could be is cutting back on junk food to only one day a week. For most people I am sorry but you may have to cut back on your sugary milky Starbucks crapachino. If you need more help check out the COR Monthly Nutrition Consultation for more help.
8. Call Out your Lame Excuses
A huge hurdle people endure when trying to lose weight or body fat is excuses! One of the most overused excuses is “I have no time to workout”. Disregarding the 6-8 hours of sleep per day, you do not have 30-60 mins to exercise. Take some time to sit down and map out your entire day. Take a good look at it. Are you trying to tell me that you have no time to exercise? Everytime I hear that, I ask people “how badly do you want to achieve your goals?”. If the answer is badly then you will find time to get your work out in!
“It is too hard or I have no to make my meals every day”. This is just 100% pure laziness! You do not have to make they 5 star meals, each meal that you have to cook other than an oven should not take more than 30 mins. I will be the 1st to tell you that I make the most basic meals known to man. It takes me about 20 mins to cook and I am making 2-3 meals at a time. If you really do not have enough time, take some time on a Sunday to meal prep 3-5 days of meals so you are ready to go.
9. Work with a Personal Training
Everybody needs that extra help in order to reach their goals. Even personal trainers need that extra help from other trainers. There is nothing wrong with having somebody help you achieve your goals. What is great about a personal trainer is that do all the planning for you, if you ask! They will give you a workout plan and they will even give you a nutrition script that you just have to follow it. It is that simple! As a trainer, I even go to other trainers and ask them how I can make myself better. Personal trainers are here for you, your goals are their goals. We do not take failure as an option!
10. Be Positive
Are you a person that says I can’t do this or I can’t do that? This is the kind of talk that will never get you to where you want to be. If you know me very well, “I can’t” is the one phrase that will drive me crazy! If you are a beginner to exercise a lot of things are going to hard and you may feel like it is impossible to achieve what you want. That is what is so rewarding when you reach your goals. Check out this video and you will never say “I can’t” again because anything is possible!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0NhV2SrKF8
10. Compete Against Yourself
You are your own worst enemy! When you are tired and you want to give up, how do you respond? Do you just give up or do you keep fighting? That can be the difference between seeing result fast or slow. When you lift weights, do you keep track of how much weight you lifted before? When you are doing cardio, did you work harder or did more than you did last week? Keep track of what you are doing and try to beat that each and every day or week.
11. Set Goals and Doodle Them!
Having goals is what drives us when we do anything in life. What is the point of doing anything if you do not have a goal? If your goal is to lose weight or body fat, the questions that you need to ask yourself is how much weight or body fat you want to lose? What is the time frame and how are you going to do this. For example, I want to lose 10 lb before a wedding that is happening in 2 months. A great goal could be that you are going to bust your butt and lose 1-2 lbs per week. It does not always have to be weight loss goals, it could be that you want to get back into a sport or activity that you have not done in a while.
13. Surround Yourself with Healthy People
This is a big problem for people who are trying to lose weight. If you are around people who like to sit around or eat unhealthy foods, of course if you are around them a lot, you are most likely going to do the same thing. Life can be much more simple when you have a great support group who are doing the right thing or who are in the same boat as you trying to lose weight!
14. Do the Small Things
How many of you take the escalator or elevator everywhere you go? During your lunch break when getting food, do you drive or do you walk. Do you ride your bike instead of drive to short distance places? The small things add up and will help you burn calories and shed weight. Especially is you are someone who sits at a desk all day, the small things can and will help you out.
15. Bet a Friend
As an ex-athlete and a gambling man, there is nothing worse than losing! If you are somebody who likes to compete against somebody, why not put some money on it and compete against a friend. Especially if it is somebody who is in good shape, show them who is the top dog!
16. Count your Calories
Counting calories can take a little bit of time and can be a little annoying. If you are 100% dedicated, then taking the time can and should be off in the long run. Check out how to count calories.sas
17. Join a Boot Camp
If you are someone who can not get motivated to workout on your own, why don’t you join a boot camp? Boot camps are designed for you to get a great workout in a friendly environment. Like we talked about before, putting yourself in a healthy environment around people who are trying to achieve the same goals as you will help motivate you to be better!
Need help with your nutrition and you want to lose weight? Come check how the COR Monthly Nutrition Consultation can help guide you in the right direction for weight loss!
Losing body fat and weight are as simple as burning more calories than you take in. How are we going to accomplish this? By getting off your butt and move around while balancing a well-balanced diet that hits every one of your micronutrient needs. Once we get passed the mental challenges that hold us back, accomplishing our goals can and will be quite simple!
Written by Chris Barber, CPT, ISSA Fitness Nutrition Specialist