Health

My Top Secret fat burning tips


Everyone has a theory welcome to mine…

It’s been a goal of mine to make the front cover of a fitness magazine, it brings me great joy to share this with you today! To celebrate this, I wanted to share my top 4 tips that help me achieve this. Some of these things seem so easy, perhaps even common sense, but this is what I believe you need to do to maintain a good physique. I don’t expect all of these things to be brand new concepts for you, even if it gives you a little reminder about the basics, I’ll feel like I have done my job here.

A little bit about myself…

I’m an athlete and sports model, therefore keeping in reaching distance of a good physique is important to me. I could receive a phone call on Monday and have to be ready for a shoot by Friday. This blog is my way to keep you as close to your best shape, and how to go about it. I don’t look like the picture above all year round but I am never far from it.

As you all may know, there is a ton of information out there on how to get into shape, or get ripped, cut, shredded and so on. I have sat back for a while from giving my input, but what better circumstance than to share how I achieved one of my goals through this blog. So let’s start with the basics…

  1. Sleep


Sleep is key, I think we don’t talk about this enough. People should stop counting the amount of sits ups they are doing and start counting the amount of hours they are sleeping. There are times in my life where I get extremely busy and my sleep gets affected in a negative way. I have to take back control by literally setting an alarm clock to go to sleep, otherwise it has a knock on affect.

Lack of sleep can lead me to the following:

– Lack of performance in training
– Increase of hunger, which then leads me to an increased calorie intake
– Lack of focus throughout the day

I hear a lot that getting results in the gym is 80% food 20% training (which I don’t agree with) but sleep definitely should get a piece of this pie.

The Research

Below is a link to some research on sleep and obesity. The summary of this is how a good nights sleep will help you towards weight loss.
CLICK HERE

 

My top tips 

  • Try to keep a good sleeping pattern

Try to stick to the times you go to sleep and wake up.

 

  • Unwind before you sleep

Be aware of what you are doing before sleeping, a spike of adrenaline can play a negative affect on your sleep. So playing call of duty or stalking your ex on social media before sleeping won’t be doing you any good.

 

  • Time the caffeine right

Everyone reacts differently to caffeine, but my general rule is no caffeine after 2pm. Common mistakes I see people make is getting to the gym for 8pm after work and taking their pre-workout/coffee at this time. Having an outstanding workout is not worth sacrificing a good nights sleep.

 

  • Keep the lights out

Just as you wind down, keep the lights dimmed and out of sight. Also once you have switch off all lights check for any TV lights, outside lighting or anything else that could interrupt your deep sleep.

  1. Calorie Control


Diet is always a tricky one, I would say to anyone reading this next part take it with a pinch of salt. This is something that makes a lot of sense and is working for me, but can also work for you. If you were to consume 1500 calories of McDonalds versus 3000 calories of organic fresh vegetables, nuts, chicken and fish. Which one do you think is going to make you put on more weight while doing the same activity?

You would have more success with weight loss eating the McDonalds. Surprising? Now I am not saying to go out and get yourself a big Mac, just beware of the calories you consume.

Now the reason why you can’t afford to waste calories on junk food, is if you’re planning to control your calories, you need foods high in micronutrients (vitamins and minerals). This will keep your energy levels higher, you’ll recover quicker, and enjoy better quality of sleep. Overall increasing in performance to reach your goals.

All year round I am always going in and out of a calorie deficit, this is a shortage of calories you need to maintain body weight. Especially 7-10 days before a fitness shoot, this allows me to look leaner. I don’t make the amateur mistake of over eating once the shoot is over for a few days, I just go back to my normal calorie control.

There are a few different ways to put you in to a calorie deficit or to control the intake, for me at this time it’s intermittent fasting. I will only have a window time for feeding between 6-8 hours of the day.

My top tips

  • Find out how many calories you need

Check out the link below for a rough idea of how much you should be consuming
CLICK HERE

  • Control your intake

I control my intake of calories with intermittent fasting. There are of course other ways that help. For example, calorie counting or being aware of your portion sizes.

  • Check you’re not over eating

If you have struggled with weight loss or even weight gain and you think your eating right, I would advise to download the fitness app ‘My Fitness Pal’. People are shocked by amount of food they intake when they start writing it down. Be real with yourself, don’t change anything and see what your intake is.

  • Keep it consistent

We are all human and some times we just want to over eat, I get it and I am the same. When that time comes (which is normally once a week) I have 5 days of controlled eating and one day of over eating and one day of under eating.

 

3.Weights & Cardio



If dropping body fat is your number one goal then lifting weights and doing cardio makes a lot of sense. Don’t get me wrong you can do one or the other and get great results. Doing both works best for me.

Here is a rough summary on how my training routine looks:

 Monday – Interval cardio training and full body weights routine

 Tuesday – Steady state cardio with core and mobility

 Wednesday – Interval and full body weights routine

 Thursday – Rest or steady state cardio with core and mobility

 Friday – Interval cardio training and full body weights routine

Saturday – Lactic cardio session with core

 

  1. Consistency

I am going to finish off with my personal favourite, consistency. What ever you like to do when training and eating, it will not work unless you stick with it! Its not easy and there has to be both discipline and sacrifice.

I tell my clients all the time, I would rather you go to the gym twice a week for a year instead of 5 times a week for just half the year. On to your next question, “how many times a week should I train?” Below is a rough summary of what I believe it takes to get average results to great results.

Average results
Train 1-2 times a week: paying attention to your food half heartedly, but still having a great social life.

Medium results
Train 3-4 times week: eating well 5 days a week and still having a social life without spending all your time exercising whilst eating and drinking at social events.

 Great results
Train 5-6 times a week: watching what you eat 6 days of the week with one half cheat day. This will have a massive effect on your social life, due to being in bed at certain times and restrictions on food and drinks, but you will see the results!

This is a rough summary of what I think it takes, remember okay results for one person can be great results for another

I left this last because I personally think you need to be consistent with sleep, diet and training to keep seeing results. There is no magic diet, pill or short cut to keeping in good shape. Just get these basics right for better physical and mental health.

Summary

Before you go of buying a bunch of supplements or looking for next quick fix, take a look at your sleep, calorie control and your training routine. These will all play a big role in you seeing and feeling great results.  

If you’re not getting the results you’re looking for, really sit back and answer these questions:

  1. Am I getting over 50 hours sleep a week?
  2. Am I consuming the right amount of calories for me?
  3. Am I doing cardio, weights, and training enough?
  4. Am I consistent with everything above?

 

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