Many years ago I had a flatmate who was stuck on the disheartening energy in v. energy out see-saw.

She’d emotionally eat healthy low fat stuff like yoghurt – juice – cereal – muesli bars. Then feel guilty. In desperation she’d hit the gym for a couple of hours cardio. She’d often do it twice a day.

It always struck me as a massive, boring, time eat.

Hours and hours of cardio – to stay the same shape.

A shape she continually expressed extreme frustration and disappointment with.

To be fair, this was back in the day when I was a massive carb guzzler… although I thankfully also spent most of my gym time on the weights floor.

Lifting weights is a proactive approach to training – it allows you to change your body composition.                                        

To Choose Your Curves!

Yes, it absolutely will blast fat. Both during the session and after you actually finish training. Even more importantly, it’ll allow you to increase your lean muscle mass and this is the only way to increase your metabolism.

Muscle burns fat 24/7. 

It’s sexy – it’s strong AND it’s metabolically active tissue. As opposed to fat, which just sits there doing nothing but slowing you down, squeezing you out of your fav clothes and eating away at your confidence.

If all you focus on is cardio, all you will ever see results for are the HOURS of cardio you drag your body through. It’s a constant struggle to stay ahead of your energy intake.

You’ve heard you can never out-train a bad diet?

100% accurate.

How far can you cut your food and increase your cardio?

Your body is clever. It’s designed to MOVE – like ALOT – and also to survive through the tough times where our hunter gatherer fore-bearers had to go hungry.

Less food and more cardio?

Your body activates the starvation response and SLOWS YOUR METABOLISM DOWN.

Even worse, excessive cardio will make it NEAR IMPOSSIBLE to control the quality and quantity of your food. Your body will demand carbs to ‘refuel’ after that mammoth cardio sesh. It ‘deserves’ those carbs right? Wrong!

How many times have you overeaten above and beyond your calorie expenditure in a cardio session?  Fitter and fatter is not a common goal yet sadly it’s a common outcome.

Thankfully with weights your body will not demand you refuel it with excessive amounts of carbohydrate. Lean protein, good fat, fibrous veg and dependent on your goal some quality complex carbs AND a decent recovery are all it’ll ask.

In return you’ll see the benefits of a proactive approach to training.

A lean, fit, muscly body that doesn’t spit the dummy and inflate at one ‘bad’ meal. 

Or one off the plan weekend. When you’re consistent with your approach to lifting weights and eating clean, unprocessed food… it’s like your body trusts you. Yeah, that may sound funny. However it’s absolutely been my experience. Your body knows that a couple of skipped work-outs or cheat meals doesn’t equal disaster… it trusts that you’ll get back to giving it good fuel and great exercise – because that’s what you’ve been doing.

It’s never about ‘tricking’ or ‘depriving’ your body.

Treat your body right and it’ll look after you, because that really is what it was designed to do. Ok. Love to hear your fav bod part to train – lets get the weights love flowing!