Make Your Body Burn More Fat on Its Own!

There are many things in life that doesn't work in the "more-the-merrier" manner, unlike what most people think, dieting and exercise are just two of such examples.

Many overweight people achieved incredible amount of weight loss when they change their lifestyle, that is by eating less and exercise more. But they soon reach a weight-loss planteau, the speed and amount of weight loss start to slow down and even stop. They become so eager to continue losing weight that they stop eating proper meals, and they do cardio exercises like running and biking for few hours, DAILY.

Problem is, what if these people hit another weight-loss plateau? Are they going to increase their exercise duration to 24/7 just to lose extra pounds?! That just doesn't make any logical sense.

What really happen to these people is, as explained by Yahoo Health:

Our bodies are built to survive, so when you exercise for long periods of time (often and consistently) your body thinks it needs to hold on to fat for energy. Doing short (12-15 minute), intense exercise sessions builds strength and burns calories, but not fat, so it “feels safe” using fat stores for energy after exercise.

So if you run everyday for 30 minutes, you are turning your body into a fat-sparing machine. So what is the ideal strategy to keep your body efficient in burning fat and to spare your precious time for social life than to be stuck in endless cardio exercise?

1. Instead of running/biking everyday for 30min, exercise in short, intense bursts (interval training) for effective fat burning after exercise. E.g. Run for 10-15min at 80-85% (depends on your fitness of course ) max heart rate (MHR) instead your normal routine of 30min at 65% MHR

2. Build more lean muscle by increase the amount of resistance/strength/weight training you do. Muscle is ‘metabolically active’ and burns more calories than other body tissue even when you’re not moving. Don't worry, weight training is NOT going to make you look like body builder that easily.

3. Chill on the amount of food you are eating.

Here is a sample five-day/week training schedule for you:

Day 1 Weight training for big muscle groups (Back/Chest/ Legs) and short & very intense cardio training , e.g. 15-minute fast run/walk or fast cycling sprint intervals. Day 2 Moderately long, moderately intense session (30-45 minutes) of strong walking, cycling, or Pilates Day 3 60-90 minutes of a moderately paced walk/hike. Day 4 Short & very intense cardio session, e.g. 15-minute fast run/walk or fast cycling sprint intervals. Day 5 Weight training for big muscle groups (Back/Chest/ Legs) and moderately long, moderately intense cardio (30-45 minutes)

It would be great if you can add on daily Pilates practice to your training scheule too! But remember, more does not equal to better. Make sure you practice Pilates exercises with control and precision. Repetition is never the emphasis in Pilates.