Exercise for weight loss and what the studies are saying
SWITCH YOUR FOCUS TO PERFORMANCE AND ALLOW YOURSELF TO MOVE FORWARD
Last week I shared an amazing article siting more than 60 studies examining the efficacy of exercise for weight loss. That relationship underpins the whole fitness industry and the most recognisable thought process is that if you train harder, you’ll lose more weight.
Without going into too much detail on this subject; that’s a whole other ball game – the main take home message for me was this:
If a client switches their mindset to focus on performance, for example getting stronger or faster, then they allow themselves to move forward on their weight-loss journey more so than if they focused on weight-loss itself. The logic behind this is that they become interested in nutrition that allows them to both recover and progress with a training programme.
The train harder, lose more weight mindset is the reverse of this. An example might be:
“I CAN HAVE MY JUNKY MEAL THIS WEEK BECAUSE I’VE HAD MY PT SESSION”
“I CAN HAVE THAT EXTRA COCKTAIL TOMORROW EVENING BECAUSE I’VE DONE EXTRA CARDIO THIS WEEK”
By asking someone to switch their interest to performance an example would then be:
“I NEED TO EAT WELL OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS SO THAT I CAN BEAT MY LAST PERSONAL BEST”
“IF I DON’T DRINK ALCOHOL THIS WEEKEND I’LL FEEL SO MUCH BETTER SMASHING THAT TARGET IN THE GYM”
In turn, this totally transforms what personal trainers are able offer to their clients and allows long term results.
I ask all my clients to focus on strength; bearing in mind we are only talking about weight loss in this article and that there are a whole host of other benefits that come with weight training and exercise as a whole. When focusing on strength and quality of movement all of the clients that I see in the studio think less about how hard they are working and what that session equates to. Their interest is instead focused on their health, long term benefits to their body, and quality of exercise.
Exercise for weight loss is a stressful relationship to have and if someone never moves past that stage of thinking they might never enjoy the process; limiting weight-loss results until this thought paradigm changes. My own skills as a personal trainer lie in improving someones ability to move. Improving joint health, muscular function, and getting a client proficient in key movements allowing them a better quality of life. During the process I hope they fall in love with the energy they get from exercise and then the work they put in is no longer a challenge.
FOCUS ON PERFORMANCE, AND YOU’LL BE HAPPY WITH THE RESULTS.