THE ONLY WAY WOMEN SHOULD TRAIN TO LOSE WEIGHT AND BODY FAT

For as long as I remember there were different workouts and exercises recommended for men and women and I followed that trend for a while.

Yes, we (women) tend to focus on different areas of our body than men, but that does not mean we have to really train differently.

When it comes to research, quite often we are being told only a part of the truth.

Do you remember hearing that the steady cardio burns more fat than glucose for fuel? Or that HIIT training is the fastest way to lose fat/weight?

As women main goal is to lose weight/body fat, while many men want to gain weight, we expect that there must be a whole different workout that is better for women than men. Moreover, fitness industry, as their marketing campaign, kept on separating us and creating ‘special’ workouts/classes for women…

These are just partial truths… It is time to look at facts and start changing that mentality. Let’s look at two most over abused types of training by women who do want to lose weight/fat.

During steady cardio our body starts using more fat than glucose for energy after about 20 minutes of activity. Yet overall, 60 min running on the treadmill or cross trainer burns less energy and less fat than other types of training. What is even more worrying is that our body quickly adapts to this new activity and we must train more and more to keep the weight off… Otherwise the same cardio workout will actually have the opposite effect: more body fat stored rather than burnt.

There is a term for that actually: “THE CHUNKY AEROBIC INSTRUCTOR SYNDROME” identified by the Canadian strength and conditioning coach to Olympic medallists, Charles Poliquin. As Poliquin found aerobics instructors quickly adapted to the workload of teaching classes, often performing three hours of exercise a day. Despite this being the equivalent training level of a professional athlete, some instructors maintained disproportionately high levels of body fat. The same happens to anyone who just does a 60-minute steady run few times a week for weight/fat loss… Trust me, you are wasting your time! It will only work for about two-three weeks, before your body adapts and the results are totally opposite.

Yet there is a place for a steady intensity jog. It is perfect to be used as a recovery or calorie burning activity but only if you combine it with strength training…

The second craze is HIIT training. I must say it is one of my favourite training styles, as I definitely am a cortisol junkie (this is the same reason why I am now limiting it in my training routine).

It is true that HIIT training burns more calories in one session that the steady jog or strength training. But the same as with the steady cardio our body quickly adapts to it and you have to do more and more to keep on getting the results you want. You stop burning that many calories in one session, you stop losing that much fat and if it is done poorly you may even start losing muscles.

Also, normally people who prefer this type of workout should not be doing it. These people are called “Corisol or Stress Junkies”.

In the book Stressaholic: 5 Steps to Transform Your Relationship with Stress, Heidi Hanna explains that multiple demands on our time and energy and have caused a neurochemical dependence on stress. She comperes the exhilaration we feel when pushing against a deadline to the rush an addict gets when they shoot up, simply calling stress a DRUG. When we are under the pressure stress can temporarily boost performance, explaining why some of us appear to get so much done then. It activates the dopamine reward centre in the brain that feeds us feel-good endorphins. Over time, as our brain adapts, we need more and more of stress inducing activities/situations to get the same results.

As you may know our body releases cortisol while we exercise. The longer or more intense the activity, the more cortisol is being released. This is what makes “Stress Junkies” feel so good afterwards.

One tip that may help you identify if you actually are a stress junkie… There is a theory that we keep our schedules too busy, always running late… Yup, that is me…

Chronic stress has important health implications. It causes inflammation and make the body less resilient to illness. If you are a stress junkie, one of the recommendations is to start reducing the rush driving activities, including HIIT training. The good news is that when you switch it for strength training you will see incredible physical change and fat reduction in your body. Reduced cortisol will make it much easier for you to burn off that fat.

Let’s talk about strength training. This is the only training that will actually give you lean and sexy body, without increasing the time you spend in the gym… The more muscles you have, the higher your metabolism, the more calories you burn with every other activity. And yes, you may not be burning as many calories in your training session in comparison to other types of training, but you will get much better, long lasting results instead. You will have lean, toned body, that you are looking for.

And I know that many women think about Arnold Schwarzenegger when I talk about weights but that will not happen. Women do not have enough testosterone, muscle building hormone, to have his bicep.

Strength training is a must for anyone who wants to repair their metabolism after crush diets. The truth about jo-jo effect is that our body CREATES (yes, creates) more fat cells when we go from crush dieting to eating ‘normal’ as soon as we decide that we’ve had enough. If you have done that many times before (like many other women), you will know very well what I am talking about. Crush diets make our body convert muscles to energy, increasing the amount of fat. They slow down essential bodily processed like digestion, rather than burn fat. Less muscles mean lower metabolism, which then results in more weight put back on when you stop dieting… This is why strength training is a MUST to fix your metabolism and reduce your weight.

So is there a different strength training recommended to women vs men… No… we train the same way to get results. The difference is that women will look leaner and toned (btw, there is no such a thing but because we use the word “toned” daily, I used it in this article as well), while men will look muscular.

Final point is the diet… no training will work if you make poor food choices… or overeat… so make sure you make the appropriate adjustments in this area as well.