Body fat reduction

[WhatAlexDidNext]

Hey guys,

So, since March i have lost around 30lbs of body weight and around 6% body fat. This comes with the help of a personal trainer who has been fantastic and i am still continuing with him. I only do 2 x 60 minute sessions with him a week and after using my fitbit I'm doing around 95% of my workout is fat burn. He has left me to my own devices when it comes to cardio but I'm just wondering what exercises are beneficial to keeping the majority of my workout as fat burn.

I started out at 26% body fat and he wants me to reach a goal of 15% of which i am now at 19%. My goal for Pride is what is keeping me going (not to mention i have put my before picture as my wallpaper on my phone) any help would be greatly appreciated. (btw, i am sticking to my diet plan so theres no worries in the eating department)

Cheers guys 🙂 

[Baltoscott]

Hi @WhatAlexDidNext. When you say 95% of your workout is fat burn are you referring to your heart rate zone?  Or are you saying that 95% of the 30 lbs you lost was from fat?  If the latter, WOW, you should be advising us!  

If your question is how to keep your workouts in the "fat burning" zone, I would advise ignoring that unless it is all you can manage.  It takes longer to get things done.  If you burn in the "cardio zone" during any particular workout that just means you are using up the energy in your muscle cells before recruiting energy from fat cells. So long as you wind up in an ongoing weekly calorie deficit your body will eventually recruit energy from the fat cells either to support ongoing exercise or to replenish the energy muscle cells used during your workouts and to support other ongoing bodily functions. 

Your best chance of maintaining muscle while losing weight is to continue doing any exercise you enjoy, trying to get as many muscle fibers engaged as possible (so those muscle fibers signal the need for the nutrients you are consuming).  Full body weight-lifting exercises (squad, deadlift, bench and shoulder presses, push ups, pull ups, etc.) that compliment what your trainer has you doing would be a good idea, as well as any other movement (biking, running, swimming, row machine, etc.) you like to do.  If you keep your weight loss slow (1/2 to 1% of your body weight/week) while working out, you will improve the likelihood that most of the loss will come from fat.  

[Dominique]

The term "fat burning zone" is misleading. You actually burn fat by being in a caloric deficit for long enough (this is how you lost 30 pounds, a significant portion of it may have come from body fat). Any activity that contributes to your caloric deficit will lead to body fat reduction, regardless of what time you spent in what HR zones).

You can spend two hours a day in the "fat burning" zone and lose no body fat at all (if you eat so much you end up in a caloric surplus). OTOH, you can spend 0 minute in "fat burning" zone, but 20 minutes in "cardio" and 10 minutes in "peak" (short high-intensity workout) and lose body fat (if you are in a caloric deficit at the same time).

Which is to say: pick up workouts you enjoy and you feel are beneficial to your health and fitness, without bothering too much about the HR zones they have you land in. Besides, the HR zones you will be spending time in will vary over time for the same exercises / the same intensity: as you get fitter, the threshold for getting into the higher HR zones will be lifted upwards. 

[emili]

@WhatAlexDidNext cheers to you on your weight loss and your commitment to your goals. The only other thing I would add to what Scott and Dominique already suggested is to not lose sight of eating. I know you said no worries there- keep it that way. mixing up cardio with strength training is a great way to mix up workouts and reap benefits from both. during cardio- or extensive cardio and dieting there is muscle loss. keeping up with some form of strength training helps to preserve what you have. you can add boxing, zumba or something simple like jumping rope to keep your HR up and help burn through calories- which results in fat loss when combined with a caloric deficit.. 

[oh_suzanney]

Honestly, both my personal trainer and several of my friends who are trainers have told me not to pay too much attention to "heart rate zones" and just train hard. I am on pretty much a similar program as you are - I do 2x week weight training, and then 3x week cardio. Lift heavy, train hard, keep a caloric deficit. BYE, FAT. 🙂 Congrats on your progress so far!