Resistance Training and Estimanting Energy Expenditure Calculations
Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah, 1200 cal/day isn't really set it stone just yet. I know I used to be obsessed with scale weight. You're right though, it's more of how you look & BF% than numbers on the scale. So what kind of resistance training do you suggest? And what about number of calories/day?
Losing Fat
You will lose fat by dieting alone, but not as effectively as you would using a calorie controlled diet AND exercise plan. If you just dieted, you would end up as a smaller version of yourself right now. Exercise helps you to build muscle (which helps you to burn more calories and lose more fat in the process), as well as helping you feel good about yourself, and providing a way to distress.
Exercise Programme for Fat Loss
The best exercise programme for losing fat is one that includes weights, cardio (mostly in the form of high intensity stuff), and some flexibility (just to help your joints).
For resistance training it depends on what experience you have. I would highly recommend that you do some research and looking of your own, to see what's out there, and to experiment with different things. However, here is a quick rundown on some stuff you could do:
Resistance Training
If you are a beginner, you can start off with 2 days per week (full-body sessions, look at my log for some ideas of what you could do here for these). Otherwise, I would recommend a 3 or 4 day split. Each bodypart should be trained ONCE a week; this gives it plenty of time to recover before the next training session. For example, Monday = Legs & Abs, Tuesday = Chest & Back, Thursday = Shoulders & Traps, Friday = Arms & Abs. (You only need to do Abs twice a week; it woks the same as any other bodypart). Exercises that you should be doing are multijoint, compound exercises, as they use more than one muscle, and are the most effective for not only building muscle, but also in burning fat, because they are recruiting more of your body to perform the exercise than isolation exercises (these are a waste of time unless you are looking for a pump close to competition, really). The best compound exercises that you can do are the squat and the deadlift, as they use pretty much EVERY muscle in your body. Other compound exercises that are good to include are the power clean, bench press, shoulder press, pull-ups, dips, as well as calf raises (the only isolation exercise that’s really good).You should be doing at least 2 exercises for each muscle group, with 4 sets of 6-10 (even up to 12) reps per exercise, with 1-2 minutes recovery in between (the shorter the recovery, the lighter your weights will possibly be, which will give you a ‘cardio’ workout as well). You should never spend longer than 45-50 minutes in total lifting (i.e. your session should take that long from the time you walk in to the time you walk out, excluding if you do a warm-up – and this is strictly your own preference); otherwise you become too catabolic and end up losing muscle. You also need to change your weights programme around slightly every 4-6 weeks, just so that your body does not get used to it and stop adapting. This can be as little as changing the order of exercises in a session or the number of sets and/or reps that you do for an exercise (and it only needs to be one exercise changed at a time, small adjustments over the weeks).
Here’s a sample resistance plan:
Legs & Abs:
1. Barbell (BB) Squat 4 x 8-10 (can do this either front or back)
2. BB Deadlift 4 x 6-8
3. Standing Calf Raises 6 x 6 (This set-rep combination has given me the best development and definition in my calves).
4. Abs – ~100 reps total of any ab exercises (stick to the basics, like crunches, weighted crunches, rope crunches, knee raises, hanging knee raises, etc.) – i.e. 3-4 exercises of 10-15 reps per exercise, done as a superset, with 30-60 seconds recovery in between
Chest & Back:
1. Flat BB Bench Press (BP) 4 x 8-10
2. Close-Grip Pull-Ups 4 x as many as possible (this is a VERY hard exercise, and if you can only do 1-2 to start with by yourself, put a bench under your feet, so that you can start yourself up at the top, and then lower yourself SLOWLY for a negative rep; this still works the muscle big-time!) – i.e. aim for 6-8 reps, and do whatever you can by yourself and then do negative reps to make it up to 6-8
3. Incline BB BP 4 x 8-10
4. 4. Bent Over BB Row 4 x 8-10
NB: You may want to use dumbbells (DB) instead of the BB for BP; it’s your preference, really.
Shoulders & Traps:
1. Seated BB/DB Shoulder Press 4 x 10
2. Standing DB Lateral Raises 4 x 10-12
3. Lying DB Rear Raises 4 x 10-12
4. DB Shrugs or BB Upright Row 4 x 8-10
Arms & Abs:
1. Dips 4 x as many as possible (you can do bench dips if you want instead, where you put your hands shoulder-width apart on a bench and your feet on the floor, knees bent at 90 degrees, thighs parallel to the floor, and lower yourself until your elbows are at 90 degrees flexion) – this is a very hard exercise.
2. Close-Grip Flat BB BP 4 x 6-8
3. Standing Close-Grip BB Bicep Curl (BC) 4 x 8-10
4. Incline DB BC 4 x 8-10
5. Abs - ~100 reps total
This is just a basic sample programme. You may want to do a different split – i.e. push/pull, or upper body/lower body etc. Whatever suits you is ok.
Be sure that you ALWAYS use good form for EVERY exercise; otherwise you are putting yourself at risk for injury. All reps should be CONTROLLED and with good form (don’t cheat). It’s not about how MUCH you can lift, but how WELL you lift. You WILL get stronger as you keep at it (although maybe not so much when trying to lose fat, but this depends on the individual).
Make sure that you have a protein shake with some simple sugar (i.e. fruit smoothie with ice and protein powder is great here) as soon as possible after your resistance training, and then a PROPER meal (i.e. including ~50 grams of complex CHO, ~30 grams of protein, fibrous CHO) about 30 minutes after your post-workout shake.
Cardio
Long, slow cardio burns calories, yes, but you are doing that for a long period of time. The most effective way to burn fat through cardio is to do a) Interval training (i.e. efforts), or b) do your cardio at a HIGHER intensity (i.e. just going out and running as fast as you can over a certain distance, instead of 45 minutes at a 60% HRmax). Forget about the ‘Fat Burning Zone’; the harder you work during cardio, the more fat you will lose. When I first attempted to lose fat (and I still do this NOW) I did something called ‘Guerrilla Cardio’ (GC). It is tabata intervals done sprinting (instead of on a bike). All you do jog lightly for 4 minutes as a ‘warm-up’; then you do 8 x 20 seconds hard-out-as-fast-as-you-can sprints/efforts, and jog easy for 10 seconds after each one; finishing with a 4 minutes easy jog ‘cool-down’. I do GC (or variations of it; now I increase how many efforts I do, and sometimes do up to 32) 3 days a week, with a rest day between each one, as it is very hard and takes a lot out of you. If you do this, and you are doing weights and eating to lose fat, then you will most definitely see results. If you feel that you NEED to do MORE cardio, you can do brisk walks every other day, or perhaps a run (but no MORE than 30 minutes; after 30 minutes of running you are very catabolic and are likely to lose muscle, which you don’t want to happen). Skipping, stair sprinting/running, or rowing, are the next highest calorie burners after sprinting. Some people will tell you that you need to be doing 2 hours of cardio a day, or double cardio sessions, to lose fat, but as long as you are eating RIGHT, doing weights 2-4 times per week, doing cardio 3 or more times per week for 12-30 minutes per day (depending on the intensity; the higher the intensity the shorter you do it for!), and allowing your body to RECOVER (this is VERY important; if you do TOO much, then your body won’t be able to recover properly and you won’t get the results you want, since your body only adapts and gets results in the RECOVERY time!), then you will lose fat!
Flexibility
Just stretch for 10-20 minutes per day, preferably AFTER you have done either cardio or weights, while your muscles are still warm. This just makes sure that you can move freely and easily.
Remember that MORE is not always best! You want maximal results for minimal time. You also need to remember that some of this is experimental, and about finding what works best for YOU, since everyone is different and responds differently to diet and exercise.
Calculating Energy Expenditure
I've attach the calculations for estimating your 'maintenace' calories (this is the method that I use for clients in estimating their energy expenditure (otherwise I get them to record everything they do for a day and then go through energy expenditure tables for that, but that takes ages), and is easy enough to do). I would suggest that you decrease your calories by 200 calories from maintenance initially, and see what the results are at the end of the week, and then decrease by 100 (but no more than 500) a week if you're not happy with things. Or you could calorie cycle; this is when you do 2-3 days of fat-loss calories (i.e. 100-500 less than maintenance calories), and then 1-2 days of higher calories (i.e. either maintenance or bulking (up to 500 (or more) ABOVE maintenance calories) calories).