When you come to Core Results to get personal training for weight loss, there are three tools that our trainers will use to help you lose weight: weight training, cardio, and diet.
Weight Training
While weight training to lose weight, there are two main factors that determine the effectiveness of your weight loss workout: Volume and intensity.
In order to burn calories and build muscle mass, you want to have a high volume. Volume is a count of the total number of reps (repetitions) you complete during your entire workout. For example:
20 pushups + 20 squats + 20 pull-ups = Volume: 60
Intensity measures how hard you are working. It can be a subjective measurement, but your personal trainer will use two of the most common ways to measure your intensity in a workout:
- Failure is the point at which you simply cannot do any more reps in a given set with proper form. Most sets should be done to failure or close to failure.
- Cumulative exertion is how tired you feel during a given workout.
To maximize your weight loss, both volume and intensity must be high.
Cardio Workouts
Cardio is the second component to a great weight loss program. Most clients assume that more is better, but when it comes to cardio, variety cannot be stressed enough. A cardio program that helps you lose weight should mix it up as much as possible – both in duration and intensity.
Cardio can be broken into three types:
- Steady state: the entire workout is performed at a constant intensity.
- Intervals: the workout has blocks of varied intensity, changing either the speed or resistance.
- Short burst training: like intervals above, but in shorter sessions, and the blocks are are split into maximum effort segments, and recovery.
This variation will insure that your cardio workouts will maintain their optimal weight loss effectiveness.
Diet
Diet is the final key to weight loss. There are many ways to make adjustments to a diet beyond just “eating less”. In the long run, starvation and over-restriction is more likely to lead to self-sabotage, bingeing, and “yo-yoing” than it is to bring you long-term health.
Your personal trainer will help you to build a sustainable meal plan that is tailored to your needs and your lifestyle, and that will keep you on track as you lose weight. A diet that is based on the sound science of nutrition and biology sets you up for weight loss success that sticks.
