May 19, 2008
The Secret Key To Fat Loss Is…(Part One)
Ooooohhh....
I know everyone is waiting to hear this one.
Ok, first things first. There are many misconceptions about fat loss. Here are just a few:
1. Doing crunches will help you trim the fat from your midsection.
Oh, it would be fantastic if this were true! While doing abdominal specific training can and will help build the abdominal muscles, there is no way to “spot-lose” fat. So doing tricep work will not help burn the fat from “old-lady” arms. Your body will burn fat based on your genetic make-up. And unfortunately, the first place that you gain weight is usually the last place that you lose it.
2. The best way to burn fat is to do at least 1 hour of low-intensity cardio work.
This one is very popular. This myth comes from the idea of a cardio vascular “fat-burning zone.” This principle is based upon the fact that when you are operating at 50% of your VO2 Max (Maximum Volume of Oxygen), that the primary source of calories burned is fat(We’ll talk more about why in a moment). While this is true, the idea is a bit misleading. At 50% of your VO2 Max, you aren’t working very hard at all. This means you are barely burning any calories. So while almost every calorie you burn comes from fat, you aren’t getting very far if you only burn 100 calories in an hour when a pound of fat has 3500 calories.
3.The main reason for doing cardio work is to burn calories.
While you do, in fact, burn calories as you do your cardiovascular training, that isn’t the true goal. Ultimately, you do cardio to increase your VO2 Max. By doing this, you increase your body’s ability to burn fat for energy, not just carbohydratres…
Stay tuned for the conclusion, and the REAL secret ingredient to fat loss!