‘Losing weight’ should not be anyones goal when it comes to training. Anyone can lose weight. Weigh yourself last thing at night and then weigh yourself first thing in the morning, you’ll weigh less! That’s losing weight right?

Most people, most of the time when losing weight are in fact just losing lean mass – the good stuff, not the fat mass which should be targeted. Fat loss is a more appropriate term in this case.

People who ‘lose weight’ are lighter on the scales but do they really look much different? Most of the time, people who try to achieve weight loss usually start by beginning a fad diet where they eat a potato cake first thing and then a carrot just before bed and snacking on grapes throughout the day!

So, what SHOULD be your goal instead? Answer…Changing body composition, in other words, changing the way you look (losing fat) not what the number on the scale says. It’s irrelevant. This can easily be done whilst maintaining a healthy balanced diet. NOT starving yourself!

The most effective way in which we can change body composition is through controlled diet and exercise. It can take as little as 20 minutes 3-4 times a week – easily manageable for anyone. Most people spend more time sat in front of the tv!

Remember 20 minutes of the right training is enough to help achieve most goals. Bare in mind the example goal for this article is not just weight loss, but the right weight loss. We want to target fat, not lean mass so we have to get our training right.

Keeping training at the right intensity for short bursts is the perfect start. Look at sprinters, they have fantastic body composition – lean yet muscular. Their training is based around short, hard, explosive training. Now compare that physique with a marathon runner who’s training is based around long, steady state training. Steady state cardio is terrible for fat loss – look at the amount of fat people who finish marathons!

Circuits are a fantastic way in which you can improve body composition. A 20 minute high intensity circuit 3-4 times per week is great and will help you on your way to reaching your fat loss goals. These can be bodyweight circuits or you can use weights depending on where you are.

Another effective exercise approach to fat loss is HIRT- High Intensity Resistance Training. If you can get to gym take this approach – I find it works great and think it should be incorporated into every fat loss regime! Start this type of training and I can guarantee that you will see the results! Generally when performing HIRT it is best to adapt a full body approach to your workout, with minimal rest between exercises.

As with all of your training, you should be giving 100% throughout. You will have to set up all stations required before hand and make sure machines, if you’re using them are free. Once you have completed an exercise you move onto the next, just like a circuit! Weights shouldn’t be super heavy but nor should they be light. You should be able to complete around 15 repetitions (not to failure). Here is a workout I have performed…

This is a very basic example, perfect for both men and women. It does the job – I know it works because I do the workout myself! It’s simple, but it’s supposed to be simple.

Changing the way you look is not difficult, anyone can do it. Keep things simple, be patient and put the work in. It won’t happen overnight but if you’re consistent it will happen eventually! It didn’t take you a week to get to where you are now in terms of your physique so why expect it to change dramatically in that amount of time?

If you have more than 20 minutes to train then I would suggest a different approach, however I would definitely add this in at some point in the week. More than 20 minutes means you could perform a full body resistance training plan that follows a more traditional bodybuilding approach of 4 sets of 10, on 6 exercises compound exercises with 45 seconds rest between sets.

If anyone is interested in a specific programme to follow or more HIRT type workouts then please message me directly on my page.

Next week we will look at part 2 – nutrition and how this is another vital part of losing weight.

As ever, follow my journey at my facebook page here.