The Hierarchy of Fat Loss

I went for an easy 3 km jog this morning.

Those that know me, or have read some of my articles/posts on exercise would probably be amazed. I'm the guy who hates jogging, who doesn't allow his clients to jog, who tries to cut down on the miles his endurance clients run.

Yet, I went jogging today and have been doing the odd jog for about a month now. I've also been riding my bike to the gym and going for after dinner walks. Why? I'm increasing my level of fat burning in anticipation of summer holidays.

And again, those of you who know my stance on exercise must be shaking your head - 'I thought you didn't believe in slow, steady cardio for fat loss Darren?'

Well I don't.........at least not as a stand alone solution. The problem is that slow, steady cardio is usually the ONLY thing people do when they want to lose weight. Once the weather warms up, it's like the wildebeest migration down at Mission Bay.......power walkers as far as the eye can see. But the fact of the matter is that steady cardio should be the LAST piece of your fat loss puzzle.

If all the things you could do to burn fat were ranked by effectiveness, you would discover what Alwyn Cosgrove calls The Hierarchy of Fat Loss.

1. Nutrition - I'm sorry, but you can't out-train a crappy diet. It may have worked when you were 20 years old, but nowadays if you can't get your nutrition sorted, all the exercise in the world will only go so far. Make a healthier diet your priority when getting into shape.
2. Weight lifting - Whether you are a mother of three, an endurance athlete, or a grandparent; if fat loss is your goal, then lifting weights will turbo charge your efforts. Without the metabolism boosting effect of lean muscle mass, your system will go into hibernation during a diet, in order to hang on to every last bit of fat it can.
3. High intensity Intervals and Circuits - Sprints on the bike, rower, treadmill and outdoors; kettlebell work, complexes, and Crossfit style workouts. This sort of exercise not only burns a ton of energy, it increases your rate of fat burning for up to 36 hours after you finish exercising!!
4. Steady cardio - Finally now you can add in the slow, boring stuff. If you've got the first 3 components in order, then a little extra activity can be the icing on the cake; whittling away at the last couple of kgs, to reveal the six pack you always suspected was there, but had never seen before. Also once you're lifting weights 4-5 days a week, and running sprints another 2-3 times, steady cardio is about all the extra work your body can cope with and not break down.
   

But stick to the correct order! Mess with the hierarchy of fat loss and you're messing with your progress.