Just a quick reminder, today is the last day to enroll in ShapeHER coaching and you can do that right —–>HERE.<—- You ever wonder why you see the same people day in and day out at the gym and they look exactly the same?
They spend hours on the treadmill at a moderate pace, take tons of fitness classes and use the machines? I’ve seen it and I’ve been there. I was up to 3 hours a day in the gym trying all these different things and nothing was working, so I thought I had to do MORE to get the results I wanted. Can you relate? That no matter how long you were on that treadmill you were seeing zero results and your physique wasn’t budging? I want to tell you why and how to change that mindset of ours that can become our worst enemy.
First, until we don’t know any different, we will continue to do the same thing over and over thinking that somehow the outcome will be drastically different. Even when we know this method is no longer working, it doesn’t matter, we go back to what feels familiar, don’t we? Here’s where we break the cycle and try something new, something that challenges us and creates a new cycle of change.
Start with short and sweet.
I used to do long hours of cardio hoping I could drop weight quicker and more effectively. Here’s the problem with that….Our bodies get used to the cardio and therefore we have to do more of it to see any shift. Sure, we might see some changes in the beginning of adding the cardio piece but over time the results become stagnant and we have to continue to add more and more. Instead of running for an hour on the treadmill how about incorporating some sprints? Sure, these are more challenging and feel harder but if we’re looking for fat loss this is a must. Start simple: we can do sprints on any cardio machine we choose. Maybe 20 seconds FAST, 1 minute SLOW on the tread and repeat 10 times. Or even hopping on the stair master and doing some interval training. Any of these are good and can really speed up the process if fat loss is the goal.
Be mindful of the amount of food we’re eating.
It’s important to note the more cardio we do the more hungry we will become. It’s inevitable because as we’re burning tons of calories during the session it’s what we do AFTER that’s the most important. Are we craving more sweets, carbs and sugar? I’m not saying that we can’t do longer durations of cardio at times but I do want to stress the importance of being aware of how much we’re eating post workout. I know for me as the day goes on I become more and more hungry when I’ve done longer workout sessions which is absolutely normal. Again, being mindful of the cycle of working out lots, eating lots and trying to burn off what we just ate is something to keep in consideration. That cycle of training and eating can become exhausting quickly. I know for me it was easy to indulge in that extra piece of bread or the few bites of dessert when I thought I earned it through my workouts. Again, that’s okay but just be aware of the feelings you have after you eat that stuff. Are you immediately thinking, Oh god, I have to workout now!
Combine these 2 for the best results:
Weights and cardio, when combined together are hands down the best way to fat loss. When we throw in the weights which help build our lean muscle mass and increase our metabolism along with higher intensity cardio, that combo it’s golden. Do you ever see those people at the gym that are in their own little corner killing it, not talking to anyone and they look pretty damn good? Those are the ones to look out for. Those are the ones that will reap the results so many of us are looking for. The tighter, toned body that looks healthy and fit. All the compound movements are my favorite such as the lunge with the bicep curl or the deadlift with the bent over row. These exercises work so many different muscles at once vs. standing there only doing a bicep curl. I can promise the compound movements I mentioned above will get our heart rates pumping and burn more calories than a seated shoulder raise. There’s a time and place for more isolated movements but when we are in a hurry and want to get the greatest benefit from training I highly recommend these movements.