Fitness & Fat Loss: Beyond The Traditional Gym Routine

Have you ever wondered why people spend a crazy amount of time doing exercise in the gym, especially those who will spend an hour on a treadmill.

Their hopes centres on the fact that they believe the more they move, the quicker their fat loss will be.

You may have heard phrases that are similar to "fat loss is 80% diet, 20% exercise". Yet for a lot of people those percentages are reversed. Whats more, they get stressed out trying to make 4 or more gym sessions a week, and fail to really focus on what is important - the diet.

The biggest failure of the fitness industry is that they tell you that you have to get in those 4 or more sessions to have any chance of losing the fat. Eventually, this becomes too stressful and you have given up, and again you feel like you are failure in your goals - but you are not, you have just been let down and it's time to shift the perspective on exercise.

A Shift in Perspective

Traditionally, fat loss strategies have heavily focused on combining strict diets with rigorous gym routines. However, this approach, while effective for a few, does not resonate with everyone's lifestyle or preferences. The emphasis on gym workouts as the sole solution for fat loss should be reconsidered, with a new emphasis on the importance of diet and finding joy in physical activities.

The worst bit of all, running on a treadmill for all non-athletes will result in as little as 0.5g / min of fat being burnt - so in 1 hour slogging away you have burnt only 30g of fat - that is the equivalent weight of just 1 small chocolate square!

That is a terrible return on your time and effort! No wonder you may feel defeated in your efforts, so it is time to take a different approach.

The Role of Enjoyment in Exercise

Exercise should be an enjoyment-focused activity that individuals look forward to, whether it's playing sports, dancing, hiking, or cycling, because let's face it if you enjoy these activities because they fill up your soul, rather than the soul destroying and monotonous hours on the cardio machines.

So, when you compare to the amount of fat being burnt per hour, you need to get something out of and be consistent. In my experience, clients who tend to focus on exercise for enjoyment found they were more encouraged to be consistent as well as getting the benefits exercise gave to them. This shift towards enjoyable exercise not only helps in creating a sustainable calorie deficit but also improves mental health by reducing stress, which can often lead to stress-induced eating.

A More Sustainable Model

The move towards finding pleasure in physical activity, alongside maintaining a balanced diet, presents a more holistic and sustainable approach to weight loss. This perspective encourages clients to explore various forms of exercise beyond the gym, aiming to make physical activity a more integral and enjoyable part of daily life.

Moreover, because clients have activities to look forward to that work for their lifestyle and preferences, they have more mental capacity to focus on the important aspect of their transformation - their diet.

When those two aspects are in harmony, the magic starts happening and is entirely possible to lose as much as a stone a month (6.39kg / 14lbs).

Clients of mine have done that. They have been taken away from the one-size-fits-all solution to fat loss and gone on individual journeys that they initially thought were impossible, but now realise are a possible reality.

The reason they have had the success is because of the individual approaches they have gone on - and you can hear about them ??HERE??.

Broadening the Approach to Fitness

This evolving approach challenges the traditional gym-centric model, advocating for a broader understanding of fitness that encompasses a variety of physical activities. The one-size-fits-all solution for fat loss needs to removed in favour of actual tailor made exercise and diet schedules that are in tune to an individuals lifestyle and preferences.

A fitness industry that embraces this wider perspective on exercise and fat loss, leads to the journey towards health and fitness becoming more inclusive and accessible. This shift not only has the potential to enhance physical well-being but also to enrich mental health, offering a comprehensive path to a healthier lifestyle for a broader audience.

If you have read this article, and are tired of the endless hours slogging away on a treadmill, then I invite you to visit the J Bryant Coaching website so that you can hear the stories of people who, like you, have been let down by the fitness industry and book a call to find out how you can make massive progress with a completely different approach.

To your new success!