Fat loss training made simple – guest post by Steve Cuthbert

Fat Loss – The Foundations

Training for fat loss shouldn’t be a short-term goal. It shouldn’t be the case that you work hard to lose some body fat and then three months down the line you have to start all over again.

Training for fat loss should be the basis and foundation of all your training. Once you have achieved your initial fat loss goals, then you can build on that by training for strength or functional fitness or whatever other goals you may have while maintaining your lean physique. This is how I have worked with all of my clients. Once they’ve lost the fat, we work at keeping it off.

Below are a few guidelines to follow when training for fat loss and maintaining a lean physique.

Nutrition

Training for fat loss is the key focus of this post. however, nutrition is just as important. If losing fat is your goal, you have to have a long hard look at your nutrition. Are you in a deficit? drinking enough water? are you staying away from processed foods and eating a variety of fruits and vegetables (ideally more veg than fruit I may add)? If you’re training as hard as you can but not losing fat then you need to look at your nutrition.

Reading that last statement, you may be thinking, hang on, he’s not mentioned any specific  diet to follow. That’s absolutely right. The majority of diets (think low carb, keto, Paleo, HFLC) are just fads and are not sustainable long term.

As I mentioned at the start, I want my clients to maintain their fat loss and not have to come back to be because they’ve regained it. Being in a caloric deficit is key.

Nutrition can be as complicated or as simple as you make it. I like to keep it simple. Eat natural, in processed foods, eat a wide variety of it, and eat it slowly (I’ll into more detail about this in my next post). And do you know what glues all of that together?… Meal prep.

Meal prep is where the fight for fat loss is won and lost. The more control you have over what you eat and what is put in your food, the better results you will get. Eating out or relying on food from the work canteen may seem a good idea at the time, opting for the salad over pie and chips, but trust me, preparing your own food is way more beneficial, you have complete control over the macros and nothing is left to guess work. Plus, cooking is a life a skill and makes you more disciplined in sticking to your plan rather than being tempting to buy that extra dessert. So, get stocked up on Tupperware!

Pick the Big Exercises

I’m not even half way through this post and I’ve already mentioned fad diets, so I’m going to knock myself out and mention fad training too. If a new workout or training system has come out, everyone jumps on the band wagon and wants to do it. That’s no bad thing, some work really well. However, some, just like the diets, are fads and only achieve short term goals. They are not sustainable in the long term.

This is where barbells come in. They have stood the test of time and have been proven time and again to reap the most benefits. This does not mean to say you have to do shoulder press, bench press and bicep curls. When training for fat loss, aim for the bigger, compound exercises like squats and deadlifts. These exercises provide more bang for your buck, working the bigger muscles of your body and using more energy, all factors that contribute to burning fat.

This leads me nicely into my next point.

Get Strong!

I may be biased when it comes to strength training as it’s at the heart of my training focus. However, it should also be prioritised when your goal is fat loss. I’ve said it time and time again, thinking that you are going to run fat off your body is an out-dated concept.

If you run, you get better at running, your body gets used to it. There is not much variation you can really do with running. That’s where getting stronger comes in. To burn fat, you have to make your body inefficient (this does not mean do all exercises wrong, that’s how people get killed by barbells). This will cause you to use more energy to complete an exercise. With strength training, the better you get, the more weight you shift. The more weight you shift the more energy you need to complete the lift. The more energy you use the more likely you are to tap into and use your fat stores. See where I’m going with this?

Burn Fat after Training

Now what would you say if I could give you the formula to burn fat even when you’ve stopped training? A million pounds you say? Well alright then.

To burn fat after training you need to create an oxygen debt (within science circles this is known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). This is caused by a build-up of lactic acid and depletion of oxygen within in your muscles from high intensity conditioning workouts. Now, you need oxygen for your muscles to function, so it needs to be paid back. This means that 16-24 hours’ post workout, your body is working over time to flush out the lactic acid and repay its oxygen debt. So even though you’ve stopped training, you’re still using energy and burning fat.

Here’s a video I put together showing a few conditioning workouts you can try out.

Putting it all together

The four points I’ve just gone through are a broad guideline of what to include when training for fat loss. Think of them as your instructions, and below, are your tools to finish the job. The programme shown is one that I have used with clients before and has provided great results. It is split into two slow days (strength training) and two fast days (conditioning days).

I hope this has pointed you in the right direction reading this if your goal is fat loss. Remember, you shouldn’t have to come back to fat loss training. Follow these guidelines and then you can set your next goals.

Any questions or information on programming, drop mean email at steven@getprimal.co.ukor message me on my Facebook page SteveCuthbert – Strength & Performance.

Thanks for reading,

Coach Steve

About the author

Steven Cuthbert is a Personal Trainer and Strength & Conditioning Coach based in Leeds. Currently working at Primal Gym and having experience of working with Bradford Bulls and Aussie Rules teams down under, his goal is to make people the best version of themselves. A competitive powerlifter, qualifying for national competitions, and a keen rugby player, he has been a Personal Trainer for just under 3 years and shares his thoughts and bad jokes on his Facebook page,  and blog.