The key to fat loss- Inefficiency

Let's face it, in nearly all aspects of life it makes more sense to be efficient. Time management, productivity, and squeezing more into our busy days are all topics of articles and books written to better our lives. Whether or not doing more means happiness is debatable and not the topic of this post. What I would like to discuss is an area of your life where being downright inefficient is preferable- your quest to burn stubborn body fat.

We have been in business for nearly 18 years and the overwhelmingly largest percentage of our clients' stated goals involve weight loss (fat loss). You could say we have built our business around fat loss and we are now well versed in the best and most efficient ways to lose fat quickly and effectively. How? By being as inefficient as possible.

In most athletic endeavors it pays to be efficient at certain movements or skills. You want to be a good distance runner? Run longer and more often and you will become a more efficient runner, thus allowing you to cover more distance in less time and with less effort. How about the coveted bench press max for young guys? If you want a big number on the bench, guess what you need to practice? You guessed it. The bench press.

NFL players have months to prepare for the combine where millions of dollars are riding on their ability to perform well on tests such as the 40, vertical leap and max number of bench press reps. Though these numbers do not always translate into true performance on the field, these guys practice these "skills" diligently leading up to the combine to ensure the best test results possible. They are not necessarily becoming better players in the process, but are simply getting more efficient at certain tests. Smart move of you want to slide up a few spots in the draft.

What if you are a regular Joe or Jane and you simply want to get in the best shape possible for this little thing called life? You want to lose a few lbs and squeeze into those skinny jeans or those 32/34 slacks. If you started a solid exercise program that involved a circuit based weight training program you would at first burn loads of calories. Why at first? Your body is not used to the new stimuli and this would cause a positive stress for the body that requires tons of energy. Now, what if you were still performing the same weight training program 3 months later? You would be more efficient at the particular movements in your workout, but you would be using less energy to complete your program than you were at first. You are now more efficient. This means you may be able to lift more weight on say your dead lifts, but you are using less energy to do so. Great for a big DL, not ideal for fat loss.

We have seen better results in the last 12 months with our fat loss clients than we have at any other time in our 18 year history. One of the main reasons for this success is moving to a template based system for training. In the past we stuck to the idea that each individual should perform a specific program for 4-6 weeks before we tweaked it. We could then track progress on each and every exercise and register the incremental differences in strength. But, were clients really moving towards their ultimate goal (fat loss) or just becoming more efficient at particular movements during the 4-6 weeks? You could argue a little of both, but still not a perfect environment for fat loss. We have since changed our thinking a bit and the results speak for themselves.

The strategy is simple- change the workouts each and every week to create enough variety that your body never becomes efficient at just certain exercises. Not huge variations mind you because the basic movements still reign supreme. A basic example would be push-ups and floor presses. Both horizontal pressing movements, yet different enough to not allow the body to become efficient at just one movement. We manipulate the volume, load and reps in the same way so that the outcome is the same without ever becoming too efficient (burning less calories).

This type of programming also eliminates overuse injuries associated with performing the same movements over and over again.

Lastly, who can discount the entertainment value of variety for clients? While we trainers may be able to stick with the same program for 6 weeks while seeking a few more pull-ups or 5 more lbs on our squat, fat loss clients want results and they also need some motivation to show up for their workouts. Variety is just more entertaining (I've heard it's the spice of life).

So there you have it. One aspect of your life where it really does pay to be as inefficient as possible.



RM