Let’s start by specifying that the best way to lose weight, taking for granted that it is indispensable.
It is to reduce the weight excess by causing as little psycho-physical stress as possible.
For this, specific recommendations suggest how and how to eat, how and with what frequency to train, etc.
On the other hand, each of us is on our own, and the general guidelines do not always meet our specific habits.
This article will shed more light on the essential “milestones” to subjectively build the best way to lose weight.
Lose Weight
To lose weight means reducing the amount of fatty tissue, which leads inevitably to a decrease in weight and one or more body circumference.
In general, while it is undeniable that reducing weight will not increase fat folds.
With certainty, we can say that – due to certain nutritional conditions and training habits – not always seeing the scaling needle can be slim effectively.
Why does body fat sometimes go down in weight, but not in body fat?
Because, in addition to fatty tissue, there are other bodily compartments subject to fluctuation.
The state of hydration is the first affect by diet and training.
This parameter usually fluctuates due to sweating but falls within the normal range in the immediate post-workout.
For this reason, it is always inadvisable to weigh or undergo the evaluation of body composition (BIA or plicometry) immediately after training.
In certain subjects, especially during prolonged summer sessions, weight losses of 1.5-3.0 kg may occur, exclusively at the expense of the expelled sweat (water + minerals).
It has a significant effect on hydration.
First of all, because of the quantity of water consumed with food and drink, which, if insufficient, places the organism in a chronic deficit.
Secondly, the number of food carbohydrates; if introduced in inadequate quantities, then progressively depletion of the hepatic and muscular glycogen stocks occurs.
Also, glycogen needs a lot of water to be stored, also dispersed with the emptying of reserves.
Suppose the diet is ketogenic, in addition to these losses.
To find out more:
Keto Diet: What is it?
In that case, there is also an increase in renal filtration and diuresis – indispensable for the expulsion of ketone bodies.
Less implicated than most health and fitness lovers can believe, but still worth noting, is the extent of muscle mass.
A depletion of contractile fibers can reduce body weight independently. However, it is unlikely that weight loss will occur.
More often than not, due to too restrictive, poorly distributed diets or over-the-counter motor activity – but always in the presence of a compromised nutritional state – the reduction of muscle mass results from a very high weight loss and not solely due to weight loss.
That means a person who typically takes 2,300 kcal and stays stable on weight by training 3 times a week in the weights room.
Suppose he’s going to start eating only 1,150 them by putting in two more exercises of aerobic exercises.
In that case, he’s likely to lose up to 5-6 kg in a month.
Of these, a maximum of 3-4 would consist of fatty tissue.
The other 2-3 would most likely represent a loss of muscle tissue associated with dehydration.
What is the best way to lose weight?
The mechanism that leads to actual weight loss, which is the reduction of the fat stocks, is the so-called negative calorie balance: [Energy IN – Energy Out].
If calories are higher than food, the body reacts to increase lipid and cellular consumption.
This means that action can be taken on two fronts on the practical side: the energy consumed in the diet and the calories actively consumed.
In both areas, much misinformation is still widespread today, mainly due to the river of news available on the internet.
Here we will discuss in more detail the variable of the training.
There is no more suitable training than others for weight loss because, as is often said, “the abdominals are at the table.”
The daily energy expenditure is, on average, 60 % due to the basal metabolism, 10 % due to the specific dynamic action of the food, and only 30 % due to physical activity.
On the other hand, it is undeniable that different protocols have different impacts on the body. We will now try to clarify the various slimming coaching strategies.
Increase overall physical activity to lose weight
Increasing general physical activity means increasing calorie consumption without giving too much importance to the type of movement or activity.
For example:
- walk or bicycle only
- rather than by car or public transport
- staircase instead of lift, etc.
It might sound strange, but even replacing technology automation with gestures that, until a generation ago, characterized daily life would solve much of the problem.
Looking at some old color photography (and not too old), it is evident that the percentage of overweight in the USA general population was very low.
That’s because people were moving more and consuming meals between the domestic walls.
Try to think: how many kilometers away is my workplace? The supermarket? My son’s school? The gym? Trying to reach all these places on foot or pedaling, the daily energy expenditure would easily rise by 10-15 %.
The big benefits of this system are economics, savings on motorized vehicles, reductions in polluting emissions.
A modest increase in appetite, low impact on joints and tendons, and unlimited effectiveness will be adopted indefinitely as it is a lifestyle.
The disadvantage is that, for logistical issues, it makes it difficult to transport things and people.
And it is not applicable for those who have to make extensive trips.
Aerobic workout for weight loss
Aerobic training – commonly referred to as “resistance training” – fully activates oxidative energy production metabolism using oxygen.
Some examples are:
- running
- jogging
- walking fast
- Nordic walking
- exercise bike, etc.
To lose weight, aerobic training must be performed for a sufficient period and at an appropriate intensity.
This can be done by staying in the so-called aerobic range, which is below the anaerobic threshold.
Possibly, around the well-known political spectrum.
However, it offers more results when characterized by high-intensity rhythm variations, activation of the anaerobic lactic metabolism.
- Compared to “pure” anaerobic training, aerobic exercise can be extended with higher volumes
- duration of each session
- number of treatments in the microcycle
- trains the cardiovascular
Respiratory systems improve metabolic parameters.
Allow proper use of dietary carbohydrates, directly consumes a percentage of fat, and have a high overall caloric cost – provided that a high volume is maintained.
On the other hand, it increases the appetite.
It creates a greater need for carbohydrates – without which it can affect the muscular masses – of fluids and minerals – without which it predisposes more to the onset of muscle cramps.
Also, the percentage of oxidized fats, while maintaining an appropriate intensity – not too high and not too low – is lower than you might think.
It should also be remembered that aerobic training can only create a relevant EPOC when performed at a significant exercise load.
EPOC means “Excess Post-test Oxygen Consumption.”
It consists of increased extended energy consumption even after training; this parameter is proportional to the workout’s commitment.
Anaerobic workout for weight loss
Anaerobic training is another indication of high-intensity training (HIT).
Generally, in the form of workouts to increase muscle mass, short-lived strength or strength (resistance training with weights or TRX, various calisthenics, etc.).
This type of training has a lower volume than the previous one – excluding passive recoveries – but still has a high energy cost.
Some examples are bodybuilding training, CrossFit, Olympic weight lifting, power lift and the like, functional training, boot camp, etc.
It is usually performed in the form of interlaced training – High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT).
The substrates used are mainly phosphates and glycogen, but high EPOC promotes relative post-workout lipid oxidation.
It has the advantage of maintaining high basal metabolism, increasing less appetite, and optimizing strength expression. However, it allows you to consume fewer calories.
Mixed workout for weight loss
It’s the best strategy.
It can be understood by inserting an aerobic and anaerobic part of each session – alternating or separate – or by differentiating between sessions.
The size of one or the other component varies subjectively, even depending on physical tastes or needs.
Mixed training offers all the advantages of the two systems and limits the disadvantages of mutual compensation.
If we combine this with an increase in general physical activity, we will have great chances of success.
Reflections
Many people think it’s enough to take a couple of steps or exercise sessions a week to dispose of the extra pounds.
Unfortunately, this is much more complicated than that.
First, as we have said, motor activity is just one “of the two sides of the medal.”
Without curing the diet, weight loss is almost impossible. Then, the collective tendency is to believe the theorists that are closest to personal taste.
As a trivial example, a lazy subject will prefer activities with low intensity, such as “camouflaged” walks by jogging.
The same applies to a person in the weights room.
This category generally rejects aerobic activity because of its poor ability to maintain overall resistance.
So what is the activity that makes you lose more weight? None. Although it is undeniable that low- or medium-intensity high-volume aerobic training induces higher energy consumption.
To understand what and how to do, we are forced to do a mathematical calculation.
Why isn’t aerobic activity necessarily the right one to lose weight?
Let’s start from some formulas designed in the physiological field to calculate the calorie/lipid cost of travel and walking.
The two most common aerobic activities in the world:
- Race
- Energy-saving = 0.9 x km (2200 X 500) routes x kg (25 lb 10 oz) of lean body weight
- Lipid usage = (kg body weight x km route) / 20
- Walk
- Energy-saving = 0.5 x km (500 feet) routes x kg (35 lb 10 oz) of lean body weight
- Lipid usage = (kg body weight x km route) / 35.
If you took an example of a 70-kg person — remember, this weight should be equal to the lean mass, not the total weight — that goes, running, 10 kilometers a day
Which is not like a beginner — we would have:
- Energy expenditure: 0.9 x 10 x 70 = 630 kcal
- Lipid Usage: (10 x 70) / 20 = 35 g fat
So, because we used as an example a rather “muscle” person (70 kg of lean mass is many), who makes a quarter of a marathon per day (10 km).
And stating for sure that these are formulas tested on athletes – scientific studies have shown them to effectively use lipids.
In our example, we have a fat consumption of about 30 – 35 g.
Not everyone knows, though, that 1 kg of fat contains about 7000 kcal, or 800 g of energy lipids (in addition to water, cells, etc.).
We can then easily calculate that to “deflate” 1 kg of fatty tissue.
The subject will have to travel about 240 km, 24 days of consecutive training – if he can always travel 10 Km per day.
This conclusion makes it clear that aerobic training does not have this high fat intake.
All the calories left to appeal are glycogen and a small slice of amino acids.
Another dutiful observation is the use of heart rate as a reference to intensity.
Many people think that the higher the intensity of work, the higher the energy cost.
Very true but incomplete. It becomes impossible to maintain high levels of training, which increases the intensity excessively, or it is difficult to recover between days.
Moreover, as the intensity increases, fat consumption becomes proportionally less important than carbohydrates.
Supporters of aerobic political activity can also be considered partially “wrong.”
It is true that to burn the fattest, you should remain between 60 and 70 % of the upper heart rate (FCmax, which can be calculated as 220-age).
On the other hand, our organism is not “stupid.”
Each time the oxidation of a particular substrate is significantly increased, the body reacts accordingly by recovering it at the next meal.
In practice, the deposit increases.
Conclusions
Ultimately, physical activity is significant for weight loss.
Even more important is the type of activity that takes place.
60 % of daily caloric costs are indeed due to the basal metabolism slimming down.
It would be unintelligent to draw up a training protocol that does not include an enhancement session.
Muscle hypertrophy is responsible for an increased metabolic cost at rest.
That is why the winning strategies are always mixed and include aerobic endurance training and anaerobic muscle sessions.