When it comes to fat loss, science says the road to success is to burn more calories than you consume. Well DUH! That’s no big secret there! But how do you do that? What is the difference between weight loss and fat loss? Most of us turn to cardio to burn fat and lose weight, however any trainer worth their weight in protein powder will tell you: strength training is a major factor and component to a fat loss routine. Now let’s dive into these burning questions!
Fat Loss vs Weight Loss
According to healthline.com, weight loss refers to a decrease in overall bodyweight, whereas fat loss is more specifically from losses in fat mass. Basically it is the measurements around your hips, waist, and thighs (in females). The goal is to lose fat rather than muscle mass. See how your clothes fit after you have been on a fat loss diet and see if there is any changes. The priority of fat loss is to increase your protein, exercises while restricting your calories.
Weight loss is just restricting your calories but not really doing a lot of exercising, strength training or cardio. The weight will decrease if your calories decrease, however, you might also lose muscle mass, which is not good when you get up in age. It is possible, although challenging, to decrease fat loss and increase muscle mass. Don’t worry women, you won’t build muscle and look like a bodybuilder, it’s more of a tone and definition thing. That is a whole different Blog post that I can write about if you want. Just let me know in the comments or shoot me an e-mail and let me know what you want me to write about.
How to burn Fat
In order to figure out how to burn fat, let’s check to see what the “average” fat percentage is for different categories for age, gender, and activity level. So based on these your fat % will change. Make sense?
| Category | Percentage |
| Essential fat | 10-13% |
| Athletes | 14-20% |
| Fitness | 21-24% |
| Acceptable | 25-31% |
| Obesity | >32% |
| Age | Percentage |
| 20-39 | 21-32% |
| 40-59 | 23-33% |
| 60-79 | 24-35% |
Men will have a little lower fat % due to the lean tissue to body fat ratio vs women. So for men the % is a little lower but not really that lower to list them all here, just keep that in mind. For example, men between the ages 20-39 the percentage might be 8-19%. I don’t recommend getting down to 8% when you are 39 years old. When I did my competition in 2019 I was 48 years old and got down to 11.6% body fat. It was a struggle and a lot of work. AND not sustainable! I am currently 51 at 16.8 %. I added a little bit of body fat after my competition to gain more muscle and bulk up a little, but 11% is pretty low. You will see the chart at the top, athletes are between 14-20%.
There are so many ways to calculate your body fat %, BMI, and weight that I might write about that in another Blog post because depending on what website you look at or what doctor or trainer you talk to, they (might) will use a different method. So for now let’s just stick to these general guidelines and go from there.
Now how to burn fat. So I recommend a combination exercise routine for best results and long term success. Long term is the key. Once you decrease the fat the goal is to keep it off. So I recommend a resistance routine combined with a mobility and cardio routine for fat loss. This would look something like this:
Resistance routine- Kettlebell swings- 20 reps
Kettlebell Goblet squats -20 reps
Single arm push press-20 reps
Alternating reverse lunges with chest press -20 reps
Tip: You can use dumbbells if you don’t have kettlebells
Mobility Routine- Hamstring stretch either seated or standing- 10-15 times holding the stretch for 5-10 seconds
Half- kneel hip flexor stretch- 10-15 reps holding the stretch between 5-10 seconds
90/90 hip stretch- 10 reps with holding 5-10 seconds each.
Windmill- 10-15 reps
Squat Lean- 10-15 reps
Cardio Routine- Jog, run, swim, bike whatever you are able to do safely and what you have access to. Most cardio can be done outside with walking and running, however during the rainy days and cold days or if you are doing it in the morning waiting for the kids to get up, pop in some music and do a routine at home. I believe cardio is a personal thing because what cardio exercise I do might not work for someone else. I usually leave cardio up to the client to decide what works for them. My advice is to start with a 15-30 minute routine followed by some static stretches then maybe another 15-30 minute routine.
The best part of this routine is that you can turn it into an interval training routine a circuit routine or a challenge routine. Also, you can combine the strength and cardio routine to get more bang for your buck! Such as:
5 min warm up jog
10 bodyweight squats
10 push-ups
2 minute jog
10 windmills
20 KB swings
2 minute jog
20 jumping jacks
20 KB goblet squats
10 push-ups
5 min. cool down jog
This could be 1 round and you could do 2, 3, 4 rounds depending on your fitness level. Just mix it up a little and have fun with it. This routine is not long but intense and gets you going in the fat loss direction. Use any of these exercises and make up your own routine. Just see what works for you and what you can accomplish!
Thanks for reading my Blog and I hope this helps you with your fat loss journey. If you would like to see more posts like this one just shoot me an e-mail and let me know. I might be writing about the topics discussed here and clear up some confusion in the fitness world. There is soooooo much info out there, a lot of people don’t know where to start or what to do so hopefully I can clear up some confusion and set you on the right path.
I hope you live a happy, healthy life!
Take Care,
Darren
Harmony Shift 