All About Fat Loss

There are so many questions about fat. What is it?  Why is it stored in different areas?  What is the most effective way to lose it?  Although most people spend a great deal of time and money trying to lose fat, it is vital to the proper function on your cells. Fat has a key role in the flexibility and structure of cell membranes, affects immune function, and is an energy reserve. Did you know that it has been estimated that a lean adult male stores 131,000 calories in fat? That is enough energy reserve to keep him alive for roughly 65 days. The majority of your fat stores are in the form of triacylglycerols in storage cells called adipocytes. Whether your body stores fat or releases it into the bloodstream is based on caloric supply and demand. When energy supply is high, insulin keeps fat inside adipocytes. During exercise or periods of fasting insulin is lowered releasing fat into the bloodstream where it is carried by proteins to cells where it can be broken down into ATP (energy for your muscles) or stored.

Now that we know what fat is and how it is stored, let’s look at what is the best way to burn already stored fat cells. As previously stated, fat storage and use is determined by an energy surplus or deficit. Meaning to lose fat, we need to create an energy deficit. Furthermore, insulin plays a major role in fat storage and release. The lower your insulin levels are (either by exercising or altering food intake) the more fat will be released and used as an energy source to meet energy demands placed on the body. This is why a lower carbohydrate diet is generally effective in weight loss (lower carbohydrates mean lower insulin levels).   

Exercise intensity also plays a role in fat loss. Research finds that we burn the most fat when exercising at low to moderate intensities. When exercising at high intensities the majority of your energy comes from the breakdown of carbohydrates instead of fat.  Now does this mean that exercising at a high intensity isn’t good for fat loss? Let’s not jump to conclusions. We also have to consider exercise recovery. After we finish exercising our bodies need to use more energy to help cells recover and replace lost glycogen. In short, our metabolisms are running at a much higher rate. And this happens at the most accelerated rate after bouts of high intensity resistance training. 

So, what is the most comprehensive attack against fat? The answer is an exercise program that alternates between high-intensity training and moderate-intensity training on different days while eating a lower carbohydrate-reduced calorie diet. This maximizes the body’s two ways of burning fat: in a single bout of exercise and in recovery. 

So there you have it..."Fat Loss" in a nutshell.  Still have questions?  Be sure to talk with one of our fitness professionals and/or nutrition specialists for more info.  Good luck!! 

Joseph's Tips for Quick Fat Loss!!

Here's another blog entry from one of our trainers, Joseph Mattingly.

How do I quickly lose fat?  The million dollar question right?  Every day we hear so many answers to this question.  Countless programs attempt to answer this, with so much conflicting information, so many products, so many infomercials.  The following is a mostly exhaustive list, of my own personal beliefs, gained from experience, studies of recent scientific research, and my own anecdotal observations from training others for 5 years, along with training myself and friends since high school. 

1. No wheat or gluten-containing products.  This includes the obvious like cereal, bread, pizza, pasta, pastries etc., and the not-so-obvious, like basically any man-made snack, including pretzels, peanut butter crackers, to whole wheat pitas.  Gluten is everywhere, so be on the look for it on packages, and better yet just avoid man-made foods which will make things much easier. 
2. At least one salad with greens every day.  No iceberg lettuce here.  We are talking spinach, radicchio, etc. 
3. Overall general diet makeup that consists of Protein, Good Fats, and Low Carbs...to be consumed in that order.
   • Good Protein:  Lean meats such as chicken and turkey, or anything grass-fed, eggs, game meat, whey protein, but NO SOY! 

• Good Fats:  Butter from grass-fed cows, coconut products, extra virgin olive oil, walnut oil, flax seed oil, avocados, raw nuts such as: almonds, walnuts, and peanuts and peanut butter sparingly. 

• Good Carbs:  Vegetables of all kinds, but especially greens like broccoli and spinach, and colorful varieties like red bell peppers and carrots.

Good luck!!

The Ultimate Holiday Fat Loss Workout

Today's post is from one of our trainers, Joseph Mattingly.  Even though the holidays are over, you can still use this workout to burn some fat!!  The holidays are a tough time to achieve fitness goals, and for most people to just maintain their current fitness/leanness level is a major victory.  To anyone in this predicament here is a workout that will really stoke the metabolism and burn major calories.  It’s a simple workout and all you need is a pair of dumbbells and a jump rope.   If you don’t have the space for a jump rope, just feigning the movement will work well enough.   It can be done at home, on the road, or PROMATx Health Club!!  In general, whole body workouts are going to burn the most calories and this series of movements should more than cover all the major muscle groups.  Now on to the workout….

The workout will be done in a circuit fashion for as many rounds as you can do for at least 30 minutes.  Try to rest as little as possible, preferably going from one exercise right into the next if you can.  Try to avoid complete failure and sloppy repetitions, until the last round of the workout, as you will save your nervous system from early decline and get more overall quality repetitions and volume out of the workout.  If you must rest, try to only rest after each circuit is completed.

1. PUSHUPS:     From the knees or full pushups depending on your ability.  For me, this usually means sets of 30-50.  It may mean 10 or 20 for you.  However many you do, just make sure you are not going to complete failure right out of the gate.
2. BENT OVER ROWS:  (15 reps)  Main key here is to keep a tight core and low back arched with eyes ahead. Don’t jerk the weight up, squeeze it up.
3. JUMP ROPE:    (60 seconds)   Variations of the regular jump will ramp up the intensity and hence calorie burn, and are encouraged.  These would include high jumps, double jumps, one leg at a time, high knees, lateral bounce, jumping jack (feet land close together and then wide) etc.
4. THRUSTERS:   (15 reps)    Go into a full squat holding two dumbbells at shoulder level.  As you come out of the bottom of the squat, start pressing the dumbbells overhead until you are standing with the dumbbells extended overhead.
5. ONE-ARM ROW:   (20-25 reps)  Do these free standing to make them more difficult.  You support yourself with opposite arm on knee/thigh, instead of bench or other fixed support.  If you have heavy dumbbells, then drop down to 10-15 rep range. 
6. LATERAL JUMPS:  (30 seconds)   Find a line on the floor or lay your jump-rope down in a straight line.  Now jump laterally over the line and back, trying to never step on the line/rope.

Do this workout with as much intensity as possible, as little rest as possible, for as long as possible, and reap the results.  If done on an empty stomach your fat burning will be increased even more.  Happy Holidays!