Question:I am a middle aged mom and I have been trying to lose weight with running for over a year. I cannot seem to lose any weight and am extremely frustrated. I want to use weights but do not want to get big, plus I am embarrassed to say I do not know how to use weights or machines. All my girlfriends run, but hate weights. Can you help me with a direction to take and a little info on why I can't lose weight?
Great question! Picture this......you go into a fitness facility and the cardio machines are full of women and men fighting the fight to lose those extra fat pounds.....but this is the extent of their fight! No weight training, doing the same cardio workout and eating the same diet they lost 10lbs on 14years ago!
There are a numerous areas to look at here to help you improve, so lets look at these for now:
What is your nutrition like?
How long are your cardio sessions and how many days per week?
What is the intensity of your cardio, 5 easy - 10 really hard?
A few questions to be answered here, but you can see the point. Aerobic exercise solo just doesn't cut it with fat loss, it needs to have a few more partners for help:
1.) Weight Lifting = iincorporating weight training into your program will create some FAT HUNGRY MUSCLE (not huge muscles ladies, this is a myth). you body will turn into a fat burning machine as your metabolic rate rises from weight training! Muscles burn fat! After a good weight training session your metabolic rate will stay up for hours burning fat.
2.) Nutrition! = 90% of the fitness ball game is what you eat.
3.) Anaerobic interval training = yes aerobic cardio is good, but most find a comfort zone in which they run in....this comfort zone will not burn that much fat (the mysterious fat burning zone....yes your still looking for it) as you are not bringing any intensity in your session. Try getting out of your comfort zone and start burning more fat by introducing anaerobic intervals to your cardio. The more you mix it up, the less your body adapts to the workout and the body keeps guessing, helping the body burn fat.
* Circuit training with weights is a another fantastic way to hit some anaerobic intervals and you will still hit your aerobic conditioning while lifting weights.... a 3 in 1 BANG for your fat BUCK!
Here is a great journal article; have a read
Effect of Diet and Exercise, Alone or Combined, on Weight and Body Composition in Overweight-to-Obese Postmenopausal Women.
439 obese women were split into four groups:
- Nutrition only
- Aerobic exercise only
- Nutrition plus aerobic exercise
- Control group
The diet group lost 8.5% of their starting weight over the course of a year (hmm nutrition does work!)
The aerobic exercise group lost only 2.4% (no proper nutrition only aerobic cardio))
The diet plus exercise group lost 10.8%....(only a small increase from nutrition only!)
Why do you think this was only a small increase? = Because it was only aerobic and NOT anaerobic cardio! Plus the cardio was not partnered with weight training...(you need all four to see results!)
You can see in the article nutrition is VITAL for fat loss. When coupled with aerobic exercise its increase is minimal for fat loss! This demonstrates that aerobic exercise alone does not give optimal fat burning results.
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