How woMen Should Train To Burn Fat

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The Vegan Fat Loss Formula

There are 3 things that you must do to achieve vegan fat loss success: 1) you must maintain a caloric deficit, 2) you must maintain a high protein intake, and 3) you must focus your training in the gym on heavy compound weightlifting.

We discussed the first two parts of the Vegan Fat Loss Formula in the last lesson and we'll discuss part 3 in this one.

Part 3 of The Vegan Fat Loss Formula: Lift Heavy Weights to Preserve Muscle and Target Body Fat

We want to follow a training (i.e. exercise) program that allows us to rapidly shred body fat. But we also want our training program to preserve lean body mass, or even build lean muscle if possible.

Unfortunately, a widely cited ‘rule’ in weight loss research suggests that approximately 25% of weight loss will be due to lost muscle mass. This rule is at best an approximation, but other studies have confirmed it.

In an article published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers analyzed the findings of 28 publications that had extensively studied the effects of exercise on body composition during periods of caloric restriction. The researchers used regression analysis on the findings of these 28 publications to predict that losing 10 kilograms (22 pounds) with dieting alone causes a 29% loss in lean body mass. They also found that the addition of endurance exercise (i.e. cardio) to dieting reduces lean body mass losses to 17% of total weight loss. While this is a notable improvement, losing 17% of your lean body mass when dieting will still negatively impact your physique.

And that’s where resistance training comes in.

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University designed a study to examine the physiological effects of a weight-loss dietary regimen with or without exercise. The researchers randomly placed 35 healthy men into one of four groups: 1) a control group, 2) a diet only group, 3) a diet plus cardio group, and 4) a diet plus cardio and heavy resistance training group.

Their findings were remarkably close to findings published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The Pennsylvania State University researchers observed an average lean body mass loss of 31% in the diet only group and an average lean body mass loss of 22% in the diet plus cardio group. While adding cardio on top of a diet may reduce lean body mass loss, 22% is simply unacceptable.

But have no fear, the Pennsylvania State University researchers found that the inclusion of heavy resistance training three times per week resulted in nearly complete preservation of lean body mass. Through the 12-week study, the diet plus cardio and heavy resistance training group shredded 9.57 kilograms (21.1 pounds) of body fat while only losing 0.33 kilograms (0.73 pounds) of lean body mass. In other words, 97% of the total weight loss for the resistance training group was pure body fat, while a mere 3% can be attributed to losses in lean body mass. And despite maintaining a caloric deficit, the resistance training group also significantly increased their maximum strength in the bench press (+19.6%) and squat (+32.6%) in just 12 weeks.

Numerous other studies have also proven that resistance training helps preserve – or in some cases increase – lean body mass during periods of moderate caloric restriction. And this holds true regardless of age or gender.

In a weight-loss study conducted at the University of Michigan, researchers randomly assigned 40 women to one of four groups: 1) a control group, 2) a diet only group, 3) a diet plus weight training group, and 4) a weight training without diet group.

Both the diet only group and diet plus weight training group followed diet plans that maintained a 1,000-calorie deficit with macro ratios of 50% carbohydrate, 27% protein, and 23% dietary fat. Both diet groups also received protein supplements to ensure protein intake surpassed 1.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight (0.45 grams of protein per pound of body weight) per day.

After eight weeks, the diet plus weight training group experienced the most favorable changes in body composition by shredding an average of 4.32 kilograms (9.52 pounds) of body fat and gaining 0.43 kilograms (0.95 pounds) of lean body mass. Similarly, the diet only group shredded an average of 3.56 kilograms (7.85 pounds) of body fat, but unlike the weight training group, they also lost an average of 0.91 kilograms (2.01 pounds) of lean body mass.

When resistance training is used in combination with a high-protein diet, the results are even better. A review of the scientific metabolic literature, conducted by researchers at the University of Westminster, determined that a combination of intense resistance training and high-protein intake is optimal for shredding fat while maintaining lean body mass.

The research is clear: to offset potential losses of lean body mass, resistance training should be performed to stimulate muscle growth. Even though hypertrophy (an increase in muscle mass) is unlikely during periods of caloric restriction, total muscle mass is a product of muscle protein balance, which is the combination of muscle protein breakdown and synthesis. You can positively influence muscle protein balance with a well-designed resistance training program that focuses on progressive overload, which is the primary driver of muscle growth and lean body mass retention.

The Powerful Principle of Progressive Overload

Skeletal muscle is made up of long fibrous chains containing proteins. Bundles containing thousands of these fibers make up the muscle itself. When you engage in a heavy workout, you damage your muscles, causing tiny micro-tears in your muscle fibers. Muscle protein synthesis is the process of rebuilding your muscle tissue after this damage.

The damage causes your body to string together amino acids into new proteins to repair the micro-tears. The damage also activates satellite cells, which flood the damaged area where they multiply and fuse onto the muscle fibers to repair them, making them bigger and stronger than before. Your body naturally repairs micro-tear damage by mending the torn fibers using amino acids, which are the basic building blocks of protein.

It takes about 48 hours for your muscles to repair themselves after a strenuous workout.[100] This recovery process is known as cellular repair. The result is a muscle that is larger and stronger than before. To cause micro-tear damage to your larger, stronger muscles, you must gradually increase the exercise-induced stress that your muscles experience. In other words, you need to lift heavier weights over time. For example, in a meta-analysis of 140 related studies, researchers from Arizona State University found that a progression in resistance over time optimizes strength gains and muscle growth. This gradual progression in resistance over time is called progressive overload.

Let’s say you can bench press 100 pounds (45.4 kilograms) for four repetitions. If you consistently bench press 100 pounds every week, your strength will eventually improve, and you'll soon be able to perform five or six repetitions. Over time, your muscles will adapt to the 100 pounds of weight and become stronger.

You could continue working with the same amount of weight every week for a year and gradually increase your maximum repetitions, but the more effective approach for gaining muscle and strength would be to add more weight to the bar. Let’s say that you decide to add 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) to your bench press for a total of 110 pounds (49.9 kilograms), and you’re now only able to complete four repetitions. Determined to keep making progress, you continue to train with intensity every week and your maximum repetitions increase accordingly.
Once you can comfortably perform eight repetitions, you decide to add on another 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) for a total of 120 pounds (54.4 kilograms), and the process of progressive overload continues.

While I refer to progressive overload in the context of weightlifting, the same principle applies to other forms of exercise. For example, let’s consider a sedentary man, John, who decides to commit to running a half-marathon in six months. At first, John is only capable of running one mile (1.6 kilometers) in 12 minutes before becoming fatigued. But this doesn’t deter him. He sets a goal to run one mile three times per week.

After a few weeks of pushing himself, John is capable of running one mile in 10 minutes. At this point, he decides to increase his running distance to two miles. Running a greater distance causes John to again slow down to a pace of 12 minutes per mile, but he’s not discouraged. In fact, John is bolstered by his progress and continues his training schedule. Pretty soon, he is capable of running two miles at a 10-minute-per-mile pace.

John will repeat this process of progressive overload for the next few months until he is capable of completing a half-marathon at a 10-minute-per-mile pace.

These examples show the power of progressive overload in action. Whether you are working to shred fat or build muscle, progressive overload should be your main objective. Forget the light weights, drop sets, and supersets. Those training methods will not produce results that justify your time investment. To shred fat as quickly and efficiently as possible while maintaining lean body mass, you should focus on heavy compound exercises.

A compound exercise is an exercise that involves multiple joints and muscle groups. The best compound exercises are the squat, deadlift, bench press, and overhead press (also called the shoulder press). Because compound exercises employ multiple muscle groups and therefore allow you to lift heavier weights through a large range of motion, compound exercises progressively overload your muscles much more effectively than isolation exercises (like the bicep curl and leg extension).

Compound exercises are also highly “functional,” meaning that the strength you develop from them is far more applicable to daily life than targeted isolation exercises. For example, lifting a heavy 100-pound box will be fairly easy if you can perform 300-pound deadlifts in the gym. No matter who you are or what your fitness goals are, compound exercises deserve far more attention than isolation exercises.

Many people are concerned about injuring themselves by doing heavy compound exercises, but these concerns are not justified. Heavy compound weightlifting is extremely safe when executed with proper form, and with an appropriate amount of weight. Injuries arise when lifters jeopardize form in an attempt to lift too much weight.

Although compound exercises are the most effective exercises for building muscle and shredding fat, isolation exercises are important too. Without supplemental isolation exercises in your training program, compound exercises can create imbalances in your muscle size and strength gains. To avoid imbalances, I use isolation exercises to target muscle groups, such as biceps and calves, that are difficult to hit when working with heavy, compound exercises.

For example, if your leg training consisted of only back squats, you’d likely develop an imbalance between the strength and size of your quadriceps and your hamstrings. This is because back squats place more force on your quadriceps. In the long-term, this imbalance could result in hamstring injury or knee problems. A well-designed weightlifting routine will include both compound and isolation exercises.

Should Women Train Differently?

Walk into any gym and you’ll quickly notice that women and men tend to have drastically different approaches to training. Women tend to focus on cardio while men gravitate towards weightlifting. This is understandable as women tend to want to get lean and toned while men want to build large muscles and get ripped.

But at the end of the day, both men and women want to improve their body composition by reducing body fat and building muscle. And when it comes to the optimal training approach to improving body composition, there is no evidence that says women should train differently than men. Regardless of your gender, heavy compound weightlifting should be your primary training focus.

Many dieters do understand the importance of resistance training, but tend to believe that lifting light weights for tons of reps is the key to getting lean and toned. This is completely false. Performing countless repetitions with light weights does not improve leanness, muscle separation, muscle density, or vascularity. High-repetition, light-weight training also doesn’t burn more calories in comparison to a training program with fewer repetitions centered around heavy weights.
In a study conducted at Ball State University, researchers analyzed the body composition and performance differences between a high-repetition, light-weight training program, and a low-repetition, heavy-weight training program in healthy women.

The 34 women in this study were randomly assigned to one of three groups:
Group 1: Performed high-repetition, light-weight training with minimal rest between sets.
Group 2: Performed a heavy-weight strength training program with most of their repetitions between 70% and 90% of their one-rep max (1RM). Note: Your 1RM is the maximum amount of weight that you can lift with proper form for an exercise. If your 1RM on deadlift is 200 pounds, then lifting weights between 70% and 90% of your 1RM would mean that you are lifting between 140 pounds and 180 pounds.
Group 3: Performed no resistance training. This was the control group.

In 24 weeks, Group 1 shredded 3.3 pounds (1.5 kilograms) of body fat and gained 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of lean muscle. Not bad! However, Group 2 blew their results out of the water by shredding 8.8 pounds (4 kilograms) of body fat and gaining 7.3 pounds (3.3 kilograms) of lean muscle. Group 2 also demonstrated greater increases in upper and lower body maximal strength, increases in muscular power and speed, and increases in high-intensity local muscular endurance. This study proves that heavy-weight strength training is far more beneficial than light-weight training for women who want to shred fat and get toned.

As illustrated by this study, there are enormous benefits of resistance training for women, but the idea of lifting heavy weights is often met with concern. In my experience, many women tend to refuse lifting weights altogether, or they lift weights that are so light that they will never be challenged and will never make progress. The major fear that holds most women back is that they don’t want to get “big” and “bulky” by lifting weights. But in reality, naturally low testosterone levels prevent women from looking manly.

Women, you must understand that you simply do not have the right mix of hormones that enables men to get big and bulky. Men typically have about seven to eight times as much testosterone as women, yet it takes years of heavy weight training and proper eating for us to get big and bulky. The super muscular women that you see on the cover of bodybuilding magazines use tons of supplements to achieve their physiques. In many cases, they also use drugs. So you’re not going to lift weights one day and look like the Hulk tomorrow. Your body will slowly change over time and you can always alter your exercise program or meal plan if you get to a point of muscularity that you do not want to cross.

The one potential exception is women with elevated testosterone levels, such as for women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). But again, even if you have elevated testosterone levels, you might gain muscle relatively quickly in comparison to most women, but you won’t get big and bulky overnight. The process still takes many years, and again, you can always adjust your exercise or meal plan when you achieve your ideal physique.

Furthermore, most women don’t seem to acknowledge the fact that doing tons of cardio will kill your curves. That’s what happens when you focus on weight loss, not fat loss. Most women want to look lean, athletic, and fit, not just skinny. And the best way to look lean, athletic, and fit is to maintain or increase your lean body mass. Female fitness models and professional female athletes, who have lean and toned physiques, tend to do lots of intense weightlifting. If you want to be functionally fit and look lean and toned, then you must focus on heavy compound weightlifting.

Another major benefit of weightlifting, that is especially important to many women, is its positive effect on bone mineral density. Resistance training has even been proven to be a safe and effective method for improving bone mineral density in women with osteopenia and osteoporosis. Lifting weights builds your muscles and strengthens your bones.
So it’s time to stop slaving away on the treadmill, or wasting hours of time lifting light weights. Focus on training with heavy weights. In time, you will achieve a lean, toned, athletic physique without becoming big and bulky.

Lesson Review

In conclusion, lifting heavy weights is the absolute best way to achieve your fat loss goals and build a physique that makes you feel confident, powerful, and proud. Stop spending hours every week on cardio machines or doing hundreds of reps with tiny weights.

Now that you've learned the whole Vegan Fat Loss Formula, please head back to Facebook Messenger so I can teach you how to guarantee lasting fitness results in Lesson 3!