by Russ Howe


If you were to ask any online search engine how to lose weight you would likely be met by a world of over-complicated, conflicting information. Likewise, in the real world many trainers will tell you so many different opinions that fat loss can occasionally come across as a fine art or rocket science.

If you were to ask a thousand people in gyms across your country for their biggest problem in the gym, weight loss would almost certainly top that list.

Bizarrely, despite the number of people who claim to need assistance with this particular issue, we have reached a point of information overload. With too much information, much of it conflicting, many gym users have reverted back to trial and error methods and trying to figure things out for themselves. There are a few scientifically proven methods you can use.

The four rules to fat loss are as follows:

1. Increase your protein intake right now.

2. Avoid cutting out nutrients like carbohydrates and fats.

3. Get in your barn and find those old dumbbells. Lifting weights is highly recommended.

4. Ditch long cardio sessions and incorporate HIIT.

An increase in your protein intake will work wonders for your body - particularly those who have fat loss goals in mind. Many people unfairly label protein, and particularly whey protein supplements, as a nutrient for people who want to get big and muscular. This is completely false, of course. Protein is your best friend when you are trying to cut down body fat levels. Eat around 1.5g per kilo of your body weight. So an 80kg person would eat around 160g protein on a daily basis.

This will do you no good, of course, if you then fall for the commonly made mistake of avoiding fat and carbohydrate based foods. This misconception was first made popular in the early 2000's by celebrity diets who believed that cutting these two vital nutrients would lead to quicker weight loss. It did, but at a very high price. Individuals often felt very ill and then piled on any pounds they had lost the moment they went back to eating a regular diet. An eating plan high in protein, moderate in carbohydrate and quite high in healthy fats is a perfect match here.

Weight training is probably the most underrated tool at your disposal in your gym facility.

This may be a surprising addition to the list for many people, who falsely believe that weights are just for building big muscles. But weight training is among the most effective fitness methods to shift unwanted body fat. Not only will it help you to get leaner and fitter, the after-effect of your gym sessions will see your body's metabolism boosted for up to 14 hours - during which time you will burn a serious amount of body fat!

If you have never previously trained with weights at all then you should be able to enjoy fabulous results by hitting a three day program each week. Try to focus on full body workouts, beginning with the safety of the resistance machines in your local gym before moving on to free bar work when you feel confident enough to do so.

Long, steady state cardiovascular exercise is now yesterday's advice. High intensity interval training not only allows you to spend less time working out, it has been proven to increase results by up to nine times! So the sooner you can end those hour long aerobic workouts, the better.

A combination of HIIT with a targeted resistance training routine is definitely a move in the right direction if you are learning how to lose weight that you can keep off forever once it is gone. It's easy to progress, unlike steady state cardiovascular routines, and it offers a much needed dosage of variety into your training sessions.




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More information: Receive proven advice on how to lose weight with sought-after personal trainer Russ Howe PTI. South Shields personal trainer produces new tips to his workout and dieting blog weekly for his fans.