Exercise and weight loss

We all know you need to burn more calories than you consume.

Exercise can help you achieve this by burning off some extra calories.

However, some people claim that exercise isn't effective for weight loss on its own.

This may be because exercise increases hunger in some people, making them eat more calories than they burned during the workout.

Is exercise really helpful for weight loss?

Think Fat Loss, Not Weight Loss

We seem to live by the saying 'I need to lose weight. At HLA we are not the biggest fan of total body weight (weight) as a measurable guide as there are so many contributing factors, water, muscle,fat, bone etc.

What we prefer, if anything, is body recomposition. In other words, lose fat and gain muscle.

If you simply reduce your calorie intake to lose weight, without exercising, you will probably lose muscle as well as fat. In fact, it's been estimated that when people lose weight, about a quarter of the weight they lose is muscle.

Including an exercise plan alongside your diet can reduce the amount of muscle you lose. This is also important because muscle is more metabolically active than fat.

Preventing muscle loss can help counter the drop in metabolic rate that occurs when you lose weight, making it harder to lose weight and keep it off. Additionally, most of the benefits of exercise seem to improve body composition, overall fitness and metabolic health, not just weight loss.

Even if you don't lose "weight," you may still be losing fat and building muscle instead. This is why we are such a big fan of progress pictures of body tape measurements. The scale doesn't tell the whole story.

LISS & HIIT

LISS or Low Intensity Steady State Cardio, is a form of aerobic (“with oxygen”) exercise. This means that it improves your oxygen intake. LISS is typically performed for 30-60 minutes at a steady pace with limited changes in speed or intensity. It is referred to as low intensity as you usually only hit 45-65% of your estimated maximum heart rate.

HIIT aka High Intensity Interval Training. HIIT has become a buzzword in the fitness industry, gaining momentum in popularity.

HIIT consists of shorter more intense sessions of 10-60 seconds of work. This is alternated with rest or light activity time (this is where the interval part of the name comes in). HIIT brings your heart rate up to 70-90% of your maximum heart rate.

Unlike LISS, HIIT is anaerobic (“without oxygen”) exercise because your body uses more oxygen than it can supply. So when you perform HIIT, you will run out of breath more quickly and your muscles will burn (caused by the buildup of lactic acid in the muscles). The rest periods in HIIT are important because it allows your body to clear the lactic acid and rebuild oxygen levels.

Should I Choose HIIT or LISS?

The answer does depend on your preference and lifestyle. If you find yourself skipping workouts because you're dreading the hour-long jog, then try giving HIIT a go. If you hate the intensity of HIIT, then turn to LISS. However, a good idea would be to do both on alternate days and rotate between the two so that you can reap the benefits of each.

Even if you don't lose "weight," you may still be losing fat and building muscle instead. This is why we are such a big fan of progress pictures of body tape measurements. The scale doesn't tell the whole story.

Should I Choose HIIT or LISS?

The answer does depend on your preference and lifestyle. If you find yourself skipping workouts because you're dreading the hour-long jog, then try giving HIIT a go. If you hate the intensity of HIIT, then turn to LISS. However, a good idea would be to do both on alternate days and rotate between the two so that you can reap the benefits of each.

Lifting weights

While lifting weights can help you build muscle mass, muscle mass will help you lose fat mass. And if you just want to lose fat and don't want to get hugely muscular, don't worry, that takes a lot of concentrated effort and won't happen just by showing up to the weights room a few times a week.

Does lifting weights make you bulky?

While you can build muscle with weightlifting, becoming bulky is difficult. In order to build substantial muscle mass, you need to lift heavy weights and eat more calories than you burn — and even then, it can take months to years. Further, women typically have lower levels of anabolic — muscle-building — hormones such as testosterone and growth hormone, which means it’s harder for them to gain muscle mass.

Factors such as genetics, diet, and body type, as well as exercise load, volume, and intensity, also affect the rate and extent to which you can build muscle.

If you’re worried that you’ll suddenly bulk up from lifting weights, rest assured you won’t.

Does it help you lose weight?

As we said at the start of the article In order to lose weight and burn fat, you need to be in a calorie deficit, which can be achieved in three main ways:

eating fewer calories per day than you need

burning more calories through exercise than you consume

a combination of eating fewer calories and increasing physical activity

Though lifting weights can burn calories, it's not the most efficient way to do so. Cardio — which includes running, cycling, and swimming — burns more calories per workout session' than weight training. However, weightlifting can support weight loss by building muscle mass. Simply put, muscles are metabolically efficient and support weight loss by burning more calories at rest. Thus, it's typically best to add both weight training and cardio to your workout regimen.

When you lose weight, you're not losing pure fat — rather, you're losing fat mass, glycogen stores, and muscle. Weight training helps preserve muscle mass during weight loss, thus increasing fat loss and keeping your metabolism from changing too much.

Although weight training will contribute to fat loss, you may not see a large change in the number on the scale, depending on your starting weight and goals. That's because muscle is denser than fat, meaning it takes up less space on your body pound for pound. Therefore, as you lose fat and gain muscle, you may lose inches from your waistline but see no change on the scale.

Cardio vs. Weight Lifting: Which Is Better for Weight Loss?

Both cardio and weights can help you become healthier and more fit.

A cardio workout burns more calories than a weight-training workout.

However, your metabolism may stay elevated for longer after weights than cardio, and weight lifting is better for building muscle.

Thus, the ideal exercise program for improving body composition and health includes cardio and weights. It is best to do both.