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GUIDE TO HEATHY FAT LOSS

GUIDE TO HEALTHY FAT LOSS

For more information on classes & memberships, visit us at PROPELFIT.COM.AU© Grant Jenkins 2019

Grant is both a Strength & Conditioning Coach & an Accredited Exercise Physiologist. He is the founder and director of Propel.

Recently, he received the distinguished recognition of being awarded ‘Master Coach’ by the Australian Strength & Conditioning Association – the highest level of qualification in Australia.

Grant brings the same High Performance mindset that elite and developmental athletes have trained under for those who want to lose fat, gain muscle or just get fitter.

You can often hear him on the ABC Radio (612) giving his insight to the world of high performance and health; catch him on ESPN’s series ‘Search for Hurt’ or read his interviews in Men’s Health.

About the Author

Grant JenkinsHead Coach, Director

@Grant_Jenkins @propelfit

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About the Author01

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Table of Contents

The Barbell Principle

The Gradual Progressive Overload

Principle

Nutrition

Exercise

Recovery

Conclusion

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Page 5

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Page 7

Page 10

Page 12

Page 14

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PRINCIPLES

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The Barbell Principle

I lived in true suburbia for a few years. And I hated it. When my wife and I started exploring where to move to, we narrowed it down to either New York City or a small country/seaside village.

No one could understand how we could be interested in moving into the middle of one of the busiest cities in the world AND be simultaneously be interested in moving to a small village – it made no sense (to them).

It made sense to us though: we either wanted to the excitement of a big city or the tranquility of a small village; suburbia didn’t give us any excitement nor much tranquility.

This is an example of the Barbell Principle.

Picture a loaded barbell: most of the weight is distributed on the ends (the extremes) while very little of the weight is in the middle of the barbell.

Nassim Talab, who coined the phrase, was referencing a financial strategy but it is applicable to so much in life, especially your health.

For example:

Most people snack every few hours (never feeling really hungry nor getting really full) when it’s probably healthier to fast (one extreme) and feast (the other extreme).

Most people jog (it’s not fast enough to get great benefits but there’s quite a bit of wear and tear) when it’s probably healthier to combine sprinting (one extreme) and walking (the other extreme).

We apply this principle to our Nutrition, to our Exercise and to our Recovery (including Sleep): we take them to the extremes.

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The Gradual Progressive Overload Principle

One of the principles we apply in the sports-performance world is the ‘Gradual Progressive Overload’ principle.

Let’s break that down:

• Overload – doing a bit more than you did before.• Progressive – making it a little bit harder, faster or longer than the previous time.• Gradual – no big jumps, build slowly.

Whenever you’re making changes to your nutrition or exercise program it is important to adhere to this principle.

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NUTRITION

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NutritionBefore we talk too much about nutrition, let’s get one thing straight:

“YOU CAN NOT OUTRUN A BAD DIET” ~ unknownIn other words, it doesn’t matter what training you’re doing, if your nutrition isn’t as good as it could be, you won’t achieve the goals you want.

At Propel we apply a few rules for our clients around nutrition before we start to investigate a person’s eating habits. Even these few steps are more challenging than you think.

1) No Fast Food – If you are still eating food from a fast food ‘restaurant’ than you are not serious about nutrition, therefore you are not serious about fat loss.

2) Only eat food in its most natural, unprocessed form. e.g – no packets, no tins, no boxes.

3) Stick to foods that ran, swam, flew or grew. Think about beef, fish, chicken and vegetable.

4) Low Carb (or rather, High Protein)

While the Establishment (universities and their funding partners, dietician associations and their sponsors, etc.) resisted the Low Carb movement there is now too much evidence for them to ignore the benefits of the Low Carb paradigm.

Here’s the truth of the matter:

If you want to lose weight fast, minimise your carbohydrates.

If you want to lose weight easily, maximise your protein.

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Other paradigms we talk about at Propelare:

Fasting (or Tapping into the Natural Rhythm):

Before you worry about ‘starving’ yourself let’s acknowledge you already fast, daily: you don’t eat while you sleep! So, without thinking about it, you’re already fasting around eight hours every day.

Think of the Barbell Principle: Fast OR Feast.

Timing

In the world of sports performance, we talk about ‘nutrient timing’ all the time.

However, in the world of fat-loss it is only recently becoming more prevalent.

For my own training, I use this technique a lot!

For the same amount of effort (think: exercise) I can manipulate my body to ‘use my stores’ or ‘save my stores’ of energy.

For fat loss, you want to ‘use your stores’.

In fact, there is a good chance we’re going to have to train your body to use your own stored energy.

But when we eat just before or just after exercise we’re not really training bodies to use our own stores.

So, your goal is to train your body to use the energy (fat and carbs, called glycogen) it has stored by timing your training and nutrition.

It’s an incredibly simple paradigm.

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EXERCISE

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Exercise1) Strength Exercises

You should learn to perform the following correctly.

Body Weight Exercises:• Push ups• Chin ups• Supine Row• Lunges• Pistol (or Single Leg) Squats

Equipment Exercises:• Squats (either Front or Back)• Deadlifts• Bench Press• Seated Row

You notice that all of the exercises listed above are either ‘total body’ exercises or multi-joint exercises.

One of advantage of this is you’re burning a lot of energy in a short time.

2) Steady State v Intermittent

Again, think of the Barbell Principle: Sprint, don’t Jog.

When doing ‘cardio’ work, most people do what we call ‘steady state’ exercise: they’ll jog or walk continuously for the duration of their training.

I don’t blame them because this is the information we were taught at university in the 90s. A term like ‘fat-burning zone’ was all the rage.

However, that might not be the best way to train.

We want to work hard for a short period of time (e.g. 10 seconds) and take it easy for a period of time (e.g. 50 seconds).

Aim to complete 20 minutes of high intensity, short duration, intermittent exercise.

Think of intensity as ‘how hard you work’ (sometimes referred to as ‘quality’).

You want to work hard (high intensity), but not necessarily for a long time (low volume).

Terrain or Equipment You’ll Need for “Cardio”• Hill• Stairs• Field• Rower• Stationary Bike• Treadmill• Assault Bike

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RECOVERY

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Recovery

Did you know there is evidence that we can consume 300 to 500 calories extra per day after a bad night’s sleep.

You could be looking after your nutrition, training appropriately and still not be achieving your goals because of your disturbed sleep!

Here are some tips:

1) Make Your Room like a Cave

Think of a cave: its’ dark, quiet; it has fresh air; it’s cool.

Make your room like this.

2) No gadgets in the bedroom

Your bedroom should be a place to sleep so no TVs, no laptops and no anything-that-distracts-you-from-sleeping.

Yup, if you wake up to check your phone leave it outside your room.

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CONCLUSION

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Conclusion

So, there you have it, apply the Barbell Principle by getting out of the ‘middle’; minimize your risk of injury and damage by applying the Gradual Progression Overload principle.

Clean up your general eating habits, eat a low carb, high protein lifestyle and introduce some periods of fasting.

Include short bursts of high intensity, intermittent exercises that use a lot of muscle mass.

Also, don’t forget your recovery and sleep!