I felt like a loser just writing that title, but TikTok has ruined me and now I say stuff like that. In case you haven’t deduced the premise of this blog post from the title, we’re talking about workouts. I figured that today would be a good day to talk about exercise because I’m mourning my usual routine. The gyms have been closed for a week now due to Covid, and the government said they will come out with new rules two weeks from now. I’m having a really hard time with this on a mental health basis. The gym is my happy place. It’s my one hour of the day to let go of everything else and just focus on me – I love it. Just because the gyms are closed doesn’t mean that I’ve fallen off track, I’m just a lot less cheerful.
I’m going to break down three different ways to target weight loss through exercise. I’d like to preface this with a HUGE disclaimer: I AM NOT A TRAINER. These are things that I’ve read about, watched videos, and have found to be true in my life.
Exercise Myths
Before we get into it we need to debunk a few things:
MYTH 1: You can target weight loss in your stomach by doing core exercises.
You cannot target fat loss to a certain area of your body by exercising that part of the body. The only way to lose weight is through nutrition/caloric deficit. I’ll write about that next week.
MYTH 2: Cardio burns more calories so it’s how to best lose weight.
Cardio will not help you lose weight, despite the high number of calories your Apple Watch says you’re burning. Cardio burns muscle, not fat. Running is good for you, don’t get me wrong, just not for weight loss.
Strength Training
I’m obviously going to start with my favourite. This one is somewhat difficult to do without the gym but not impossible. When I am able to do my routine at the gym I rotate days of legs, core, arms, and back/shoulders. I go as heavy as I can each time. Sometimes I like to do drop sets which means I do each exercise as long and as heavy as I can and then take some weight off and keep going. I’ve been told that this really helps to tone muscle.
Again I need to reiterate that doing a tons of core strength training WILL NOT make you lose weight on your stomach. What it will do is help to tone and define your muscles underneath the fat so that when (not if) you lose the weight, your muscles look and feel great.
The benefit to strength training is that this form of workout keeps your heart rate pretty high and your muscles super warm. This will increase your resting metabolic rate so you’ll burn calories a lot longer throughout the day.
HITT
High intensity interval training. The absolute death of me. The kill Shelby’s brain cells workout. Yes, it is true that I hate HITT workouts, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important and super helpful. HITT workouts use bodyweight to go really hard for a few minutes, take a short break and go again. Here’s a screenshot of what my HITT workout today looked like. I did all the workouts in the set, took a one-minute break, and then continued to the next set. This whole workout took me 30 minutes.
Similar to strength training, HITT workouts increase your metabolic rate. They say after a good session, your body will burn calories for upwards or 48 hours. What I love about HITT workouts is that they target areas of your body and movements that other workouts don’t. If you only do strength training and never switch it up you won’t exercise all of your muscles.
Walk, Please
Getting your steps in might be the most important movement you can do on your weight loss journey. Our society has become alarmingly sedentary. So many people have desk jobs or jobs that require very little movement. I am one of those people, and that’s not bad. It just becomes harder to to get right amount of movement in. If you’re in a position to take a walk on your lunch break, you’ll thank yourself for it.
Not only is walking incredible for general health and wellness, it’s become crucial for my mental health. Taking a step back from what I’m doing to go outside and move my body has helped me refocus and gain SO MUCH energy, Also, side note, my dogs are much happier since I started walking more. This is also so easy and fun to do with friends, especially in lock down.
I aim to get between 7,000-10,000 steps every day. It used to be a chore but now my body craves it.
Just Move
Now that I’ve filled your brain with more information than you probably wanted or needed I want to invite you to forget it all. Obviously if you can incorporate these things in your life, great. But please just move your body. Do whatever you like to do that’s not sitting on the couch. Do the Disney dance videos on Youtube, do Yoga (I fully love yoga), go for a run, a swim, a kayak ride. If you’re moving and getting your heart rate up, even a little, you’re being kind to yourself. I’m not an expert on all things exercise, these are the things I’ve learnt. Let me know if you want expanded thoughts on any of these or if anything didn’t make sense.
Bye for now!
Starting Weight: 352
Current Weight: 296
Goal Weight: 150