How to Reduce Body Fat

By Neil Beirne

Most people that exercise are doing so to reduce their body fat, whether it is a person in the gym for personal reasons or an athlete doing specific training. I know some of my friends that are trying to lose fat but when exercising in the gym always try and lift heavy weights and rarely engage in cardio. As time goes on they are frustrated by the small gains which they have made. They may be putting on muscle mass which is one of their goals but without reducing body fat this muscle mass which they have gained is barely visible due to the layer of fat surrounding their body. 

There is no easy solution to losing fat (NO PAIN NO GAIN), when doing cardio whether it be on a treadmill, rower, cross-trainer, bike intensity in the workout is vital. A lot of people go onto a treadmill and stay on it for 45mins to an hour thinking they have done a serious fat burning session, when in fact they have not. Keeping your heart rate high is very important and sustaining that high heart rate is of most importance. So maybe instead of going on a treadmill at 4km/hr for 40mins, you do 15mins at 8km/hr after which you quickly change machines and continue this high intensity workout at a fast pace.

With weights training high intensity is rarely used by most people. Most do one exercise 8-10 reps and have a minute rest. Very little fat burning will occur. By using super-sets where you complete two exercises one after the other and then take a small rest, fat burning will take place. Doing circuit sessions is probably the best weights session for fat burning so try and get involved with them.