Is Exercise the Secret to Shedding Pounds?
An honest trainer will tell you there is no specific exercise or plan you need to lose weight, but exercise will help.
What determines weight management are the calories you consume. Imagine a balanced pendulum scale. Let’s say the scale is 10kg in total… if you add 1 or 2kgs on one side, the scale will be unbalanced. Now imagine that you have a weekly calorie intake/goal. If your weekly target is 14K Kcals (2K per day) to maintain your current weight, then if you eat less than this amount, you will lose weight and if you eat over this amount, you will gain weight. Macronutrients (Carbs, Fats, Protein) are important dependent on your overall requirements, as well as micronutrients for overall health but calories are key to weight management.
Cardio can be an excellent tool for weight management. Cardio is great for overall aerobic endurance and heart health. It is also a great tool to help you with your energy expenditure/calorie management. However, a common problem we see is people aiming to lose weight through cardio alone. They often become ravenous due to the amount of energy they expend, and they eat more calories than they need, so they end up putting weight on rather than losing it. Other negatives cardio can present is stress to joints through high impact. If your goal is to lose weight and you are overweight or obese, I would highly recommend you don’t plan to run regularly or sign up to a 10K run to lose weight. Resistance Training would be more beneficial with calorie management or daily food swaps - sweets to fruit etc - to lower your energy expenditure throughout the week to lose weight.
Resistance Training is a great way to get stronger, develop anaerobic fitness and improve posture as well as countless other benefits. The main benefit to doing this as part of your weight-loss goal is that as you get stronger, develop muscle and become more confident, you will be left with visible muscle and strength improvements when you lose fat. In comparison, if you did no resistance training and shed all the weight you aimed to lose you would be left with a very thin frame. That’s fine but you may have lost muscle you had at a higher fat percentage as you continued to focus on weight loss. This loss in muscle mass can lead to potential injuries in the future as the joints aren’t protected efficiently.
What is NEAT and EAT? NEAT or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is the exercise or movement you do that isn’t planned. For example, walking to the shops, walking the dogs or taking the stairs instead of the lift is all NEAT. EAT or Exercise Activity Thermogenesis is planned exercise, for example a run or going to the gym to do weight training.
I would recommend everyone finds a sport or physical activity they enjoy, for example, gardening, football, badminton etc. This is a great way to increase steps and your EAT while having fun. Some people find walking or running on a treadmill boring. This will help you to increase your cardiovascular fitness and health while enjoying the activity you choose to do.
Ideally a mix of both aerobic and anaerobic training would be great. However, we’re not all athletes and some of us don’t have time for all this. I would suggest prioritising resistance training, at least once a week, and aim to get 10K steps a day. I would also suggest you apply NEAT daily (no planned exercise, take the stairs, walk to the shops etc.) as well as finding an activity or sport you enjoy.