How did he melt 14 pounds of pure fat? What did he do? How and what did he eat? How much cardio did he do? Just read on, follow the process and get the answers to the above questions and more. Find out exactly, how he burnt away a total of 49000 calories, exclusively from fat while at the same time increasing his lean muscle mass. |
Starting Point When I met Steve I knew right away he was going to achieve fruitful and long lasting results. His attitude and mind-set was that of someone who knew what he was going to get and how he was going to get it. He was fully aware that getting in shape was going to be a process. He was not hesitant about making the move and hiring a professional Personal Trainer to help him achieve his fitness goals but, in the same manner: · He was not expecting miracles to happen. · He was not expecting to change his body composition in a matter of weeks.
He knew it will take a reasonable time to get rid of his extra fat and body weight. With all these pros as starting point, I was very pleased to work and take Steve through the pathway of fitness and health. Steve's Fitness Goals At this point and time, Steve’s main goal was to regain his athletic capabilities and be active as he had being in previous years. His short term goal was to reduce body fat % and make his waist smaller. In the long term, his goal was to become stronger and healthier. Additionally, Steve wanted to be able to bench press his own body weight.
The Assessment The result of the fit test I took Steve through, reflected what living life confined to an office’s cubicle does to people. In our modern society the need to accomplish more and more apparently does not allow us to make a healthy lifestyle, a choice. Having the time to exercise, relax and just shifting your focus towards anything that is not work related, is a very difficult task in itself. However, regardless of having all these statistics as cons, Steve had made the commitment to improve his health and physical appearance. Fitness Test and Body Composition: The purpose of the fitness test is to find out general fitness condition meaning: the minimal levels of physical exertion that can be tolerated. Steve’s general fitness was fairly good, his cardiovascular condition, endurance and muscular strength were within the average range. His lower body was Steve' strength and his upper body; his weakness. The body composition test revealed Steve's extra body fat and consequently increased circumference measurements especially around his waist. Program Overview The workout program I took Steve through was split into three phases each of them, having a specific purpose. Workout Phase One For this first phase, the purpose was to get Steve back in overall condition. In this month of daily workouts, I had him doing overall exercises emphasizing core strengthening, balance and coordination. Workout Phase Two In this phase and after Steve had gotten back into overall condition, I put him through a more strengthening and muscles gaining oriented routine. I worked his upper and lower body one day at a time. Workout Phase Three For this the final phase, the entire focus was to enhance his lean muscle mass. At his point, Steve was very happy with how much fat he had dropped throughout the two months of intense work. He was leaner, felt lighter and at his work place his co-workers have no choice but to complement his effort and dedication; it was that obvious. The only downside as Steve pointed out, was the fact that he would have to come up with a budget to acquire a new wardrobe. It was at this time also when Steve added a new wish to his fitness goals list. He wanted to increase his lean muscles mass and his overall size further even though, he had told me at first, he did not want to become bigger. It did not come as a surprise to me since, it is usual for my male clients to change their mind on this regard. In order to add more lean muscles and increase overall size as requested by Steve, I divided the whole body into segments of big and small muscle groups to be worked one day at a time. In addition, I took him to the supplements store and had him buy a couple of new nutritional support products. In the same way, we reduced the amount of cardiovascular activity. Nutritional Strategy More Than Enough
I have learned through the years that when a person decides to engage an exercise program they are adding extra stress to their already stressed life and the last thing this person needs is to start counting calories and everything else that is involved when following a conventional diet program. I personally think that having this person doing bursts of physical exertion will be more than enough to improve his/her life in many aspects in the first phase of an exercise program. Therefore, I do not think that is suitable to overwhelm this person with an extensive list of tasks to accomplish in addition to the commitment of exercising regularly. I do believe that regardless of how this person is eating at that point in time, the workout itself will be enough to improve his/her cardiovascular condition, strength, endurance and lipid profile (cholesterol/ triglycerides) additionally, extra calories will be burnt thus improving their body composition. One Focus...Exercise. When Steve asked me about the diet program he should follow, I instructed him not to worry about anything other than putting all his energy into the daily workout. We will work on improving his eating habits as we went on with the program, I told Steve. And that was exactly what we did, and as I had said to Steve, I started one at a time making changes to his diet. No Drastic Changes We did not have to do a lot, just to re-arrange his regular eating so as to match the proper ratio carbohydrates, protein and fats. That was the main goal to achieve in order to get his eating plan in sync with the workout program. Increasing his daily protein intake was the first thing I had Steve doing after reviewing his nutrition food log. Besides eating more meats and eggs, I had him buying high quality and natural isolated whey protein powder. In addition, I had him buying some supplements to support his overall health including: multivitamins, antioxidants etc. Finally, I went with Steve to the places he had being getting his food from and I put together a menu with the foods he was already eating. Nothing crazy, just controlling the size of the portion and matching the ratio between carbohydrates, protein and fats. By the end of the month, we had put together an array of tools that would help Steve to accomplish his fitness goals. No Deprivation, Instead... I would like to bring to the attention the fact that Steve did not have to experience and go through deprivation as normally people do when following a regular nutritional plan. Rather, he continued eating in the same places and restaurants he had being used to, also I moved him from eating chicken to eating beef instead. This is believed to be a no-no in a healthy diet plan because of the saturated fat present. But I do not particularly see it that way. Increase Overall Fat Intake? In addition, I increased his overall fat intake and not just the so called healthy fats; he was eating more animal sources fats (whole eggs, beef) I personally believe that as long as you exercise and eat accordingly, your body will metabolize anything you eat and use it to fuel and refuel your body so it meets the demands put upon through physical activity instead of storing it. besides, when you eat natural fats you are getting the related benefits since, these natural fats come in ratios meant to be part of a proper nutrition. What is very important to keep in mind however, is that you have to eat the right proportions of carbohydrates (40%), protein (30%) and fats (30%) at all time, even when you eat a snack. · If you exercise daily, you have the right to eat. If you do not exercise daily then you have to refrain from eating the foods you would be able to eat if you were otherwise exercising.
Smooth Transition. The process of making Steve healthier and fitter had being straightforward. The transition from his old way of life to his new lifestyle had being smooth for him as well. Steve had moved up in his lifestyle and in the process had moved his body composition down. He was very happy. Not only was he feeling closer to his fitness goals but, he was engaging in a new way of life. He was happy to notice that unlike before, he was not indulging himself with heavy carbohydrate meals like pasta which he was enjoying a bit too much before. Instead, he was eating healthier, lighter on carbohydrates and more protein loaded meals. This small sacrifice had paid of big dividends, as Steve himself and even his co-worker had noticed. Steve’s Achievements At the end of the third and into the fourth month, Steve’s overall body composition had improved immensely. He had turned his body almost into what he wanted it to be. He was not just leaner, stronger, and clearly more muscular but he had a flat abdominal and an emerging six pack was very noticeable. This was seen by Steve as an extraordinary bonus. In the same way, Steve’s waist had gone down and it was almost five inches smaller. Not to mention, his overall strength which, had tremendously increased and was about fifty percent stronger than he did when I started training him. The most remarkable achievement from my point of view, was the fact that Steve was now able to handle and lift his own body weight. When we started training he needed it the assistance of a machine meant to help people to pull themselves up. Being able to lift your own body weight is in my opinion, something that every person should be able to do, not just to keep their functional strength in check but to help themselves in case that an emergency situation requires them to lift or pull their bodies away from danger. In the same manner, Steve was able to bench press his own body weight. Steve's fitness goals have being met: He had reduced his body fat as much as he wanted. His waist was smaller just as he wanted to be. He was now able to bench press his own body weight.
He was now able to pull himself up many times (pull ups). He had become stronger and healthier. As I mentioned before, Steve was doing free pull ups and even though lifting himself up was not originally in the list of fitness goals, it is something that as a Personal Trainer I encourage all my clients to be able to do, for the reason I just mentioned above. Steve was very happy he could do it now. Steve’s Results The following table shows the continue progress of Steve along the six months of training. When looking at this table, keep in mind that what you have to look for is the variable lean mass vs. fat mass. In a healthy weight loss protocol, the lean mass should increase or a least remain stable as the body fat goes down. You should not lose fat at the cost of sacrificing lean mass. Before | After | Body weight 215 | Body weight 200 | Body fat % 21 | Body fat % 13 | Lean mass 169.8 | Lean mass 174 | Fat mass 45.1 | Fat mass 26 |
Total Calories Burnt As you can see on the above table, Steve's total fat mass had gone down to almost 20 pounds. From the total fat mass he had lost, 14 of those were from pure fat which translate into a total calorie count of an amazing 49000. The remaining pounds of total fat mass (4) had being replaced by lean mass. That explains the increase in total lean mass. Daily Calories Burnt The average amount of calories Steve was burning away daily throughout the weight training and short cardio routine (under 20 minutes); was over 400 calories which did not exceed the 500 calories deficit limit to be burnt in a day as the scientific prescription suggest. Message To Take Home There are a few things we can learn from Steve's case among them: You do not need to do an hour of cardio a day. You do can eat and enjoy food as long as you keep the proper ratios carbohydrates, protein and fats. You do need to incorporate weight training and make it the main component of your fitness plan. You do need to allow a reasonable time to achieve your goals (3 to 6 months).
You do not need to give up your life; you can easily incorporate a fitness routine into your life and no your life into your fitness routine.
There are ways to eat well and nutritionally balanced (supplements) regardless of how busy you are.
You do not need to restrict your food intake to eating just vegetables and salads.
You do not need to relay on non-fat food. What is more, you should increase your daily fat intake.
Things To Be Aware Of So As To Stay Motivated Having the motivation to stay on an exercise program is basically a mind set. Having the appropriate frame of mind is crucial if one's desire is to stay fit and healthy. In order to stay on the right frame of mind, health should be your motivation and main goal. If health is the force that drives you, it will be easier for you cope with all the pitfalls you will be faced when attempting to reshape your body. On the other hand, if meeting today's beauty' standards is the motive you engage an exercise program then; the likelihood of staying on that program for the long haul could be slim. In the same way, trying to live up to what the latest fashion suggest is not always doable, at least, not when it comes to your body shape. There are three body types and once you fit one of the three; you can not change it, not without changing your natural look and appearance in the process. As an example: I have seen a woman that fits the endomorph body type trying to look like the woman that was born with an ectomorph physiology as it is with the typical skinny model we see on the covers of magazines. I have seen this woman putting herself through a hell of extreme diet and non-ending cardiovascular sessions. She had in fact end up skinny but in the process; she had downsized her natural look and end up looking like she had wasted herself away. She may be skinny but looks unhealthy and certainly, no more beautiful than she did before. It is not possible to modify the body type you already own. What you can do however, is to work with the type of body you were born with and within its limits change its composition (body fat/ lean body mass). You could improve immensely if you work on modifying the ratios body fat/ lean mass. You could change as much that it could be possible to accept the body type you were born with. What To Aim For (when trying to lose weight) This is what you have to aim for when following a weight loss program. Your goal should be to lose body fat rather than just focusing on losing body weight. Do not rely on the scale to measure your results. The scale is not going to give you a real perspective and it may mislead you as it will not tell you whether the weight you lose is from fat or from lean mass. What to look for (when changing body composition) Looking at and comparing the lean mass vs. body fat ratios is the only way of knowing you are doing things right because, as opposite to the scale, measuring your body fat percentage will give you a better picture of what is going on inside your body as you follow an exercise or weight loss program. You will be setting up yourself for failure if just losing total body weight is your only concern and goal since, losing just body weight and especially if you do it at a pace that exceeds more than 2 pounds a week, will burn lean muscles mass most of the time, which in turn, will slow down your basic metabolic rate. This basically means that your capacity to burn calories at rest will be lower. Once you finish your exercise and diet plan and return to your regular eating habits; your body will automatically store more calories as fat than it did previously. Again, this is a direct consequence of a lowered metabolism. Final Note Steve's successful transformation proves that if you really want it you too can make an effort and put time aside to take care of yourself regardless of how busy you are. As a matter of fact, Steve is in charge of a department at a big corporation and regardless of how busy he is, he makes the time to take care of what matters the most; his well-being as well as his appearance. · Do you work nonstop just for yourself or just to comply with what society impose upon you?
As much as Steve likes having financial security he knows how important is to put himself first. · Having financial health without the corresponding well-being to enjoy it is pointless.
I personally think Steve made one of the best moves when he decided to look for a Professional Personal Trainer. · Do you lack of motivation to exercise on your own?· Have not idea on how to safely follow an exercise program?
Apply the right strategy and you will be able to achieve your fitness goals just as Steve did. One of those strategies is to have a Personal Trainer designing and teaching you how things should be done; it is the right thing to do. There are some more reasons you need a Personal trainer designing your workout program among those: You need a workout program that is specific to your needs and not just a one size fits all type of thing. You need a fitness program you can incorporate into your busy life. Not the other way around. You need a fitness program you can follow for life. You need a workout program that is not really a program but a way of life.
Remember, if you want to achieve your fitness goals and change your body just the way you want it, you have to look for professional help just in the same way you go to the doctor when you are sick. Nobody else knows better how to set up the specific workout and nutritional program for you than a good Personal Trainer. RIGHT NOW, YOU HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HIRE ONE OF THE BEST PERSONAL TRAINERS IN THE CITY OF TORONTO. Please, Contact me or call me right now! 647 227 5638 for a no obligation consultation. | 
