Everyone knows that healthy eating is essential for weight loss. But it usually isn’t enough. Those who want to lose weight know that long-term weight loss involves lifestyle changes, because your weight is based on a balanced combination of

• nutrition
• training
• and your individual metabolism (basal metabolic rate).

Proper nutrition is an important element, but above all you need to be doing the right type of training. In this article you will find more information on our strength training program, specifically designed to help you lose weight.

A training program focusing on fat reduction has to cover two basic elements:

1. It has to burn as much fat as possible: plenty of movement and a high heart rate during training increase the number of calories burned.
2. It has to result in a long-term increase in (fat) metabolism: increasing muscle mass increases your individual metabolism (basal metabolic rate). In addition, your fat metabolism improves as your endurance increases.

Classic training programs usually try to achieve these goals using separate strength and endurance training sessions. But we at EGYM take a modern training approach that combines endurance and strength training in a single method: circuit training.

This approach allows for simultaneous strength and endurance training, which is why this type of training is particularly suited to weight loss. Those of you who want to learn more can follow the links below to studies regarding the effectiveness of circuit training for this purpose: Alcaraz et al. 2011; Camargo et al. 2007; Kaikkonen et al. 2000; Gettman et al. 1982.

At EGYM, we divide our training programs into different phases to provide the optimal training stimulus at exactly the right time based on your goals and the progress you have made (periodisation). Each phase begins by measuring your strength, in order to continuously adjust the training weight to your individual needs.
 

The Four Phases of the Weight Loss Training Program

Phase 1: Endurance (regular)

Laying the foundation

In the first phase, we improve muscle endurance and your cardiovascular system to provide a solid foundation on which to base the rest of the training program. Regular training, featuring a large number of repetitions, is perfect for this, because it raises your heart rate higher than, for example, the negative training method. (Mayer et al. 1999).

Phase 2: Fat Burn (isokinetic)

Eyes on the prize – maximum caloric expenditure

Isokinetic training improves muscle utilisation with every repetition and in every position of your joints. Your heart beats faster than during regular training, burning as many calories as possible. In addition, the relatively large number of repetitions strengthens and defines your muscles without increasing their size.

Phase 3: Muscle Building (adaptive)

Muscle building for increased energy basal metabolic rate

Adaptive Training is much more intense than the previous methods – here, we build muscle mass. After all: your daily basal metabolic rate increases by approximately 25 kilocalories per kilogram of muscle mass. However, to make that happen, you have to train until the muscles are completely exhausted. Which is easy to do during adaptive training, as the training weight is automatically adjusted to match your remaining muscle strength. Sounds exhausting, but the high intensity training is worth it afterwards: your fat metabolism will remain considerably more active for up to 48 hours after training, a result known as the afterburn effect.

Phase 4: Fat Burn (isokinetic)

Burn more calories

In the fourth and final phase we will build on the success of the previous phases. We return to isokinetic training in order to burn as many calories as possible. But the increased muscle mass means we are burning even more calories than before. And the large number of repetitions defines and shapes the muscles one last time to round off the program.