Perfect Synergy - The 3 Pillars Of Fat Loss

"Synergy - The bonus that is achieved when things work together harmoniously" Mark Twain

It is well understood how perfect synergy can create the potential for faster, easier and more effective results in many walks of life. Obvious examples include great synergy on the sporting pitch leading to all-conquering teams or great synergy in the workplace leading to a happier and more productive workforce. It is less well understood how perfect synergy can be used to create outstanding fat loss results and body transformations. The aim of this article and free accompanying eBook is to outline the 3 main pillars of fat loss and provide you with a simple framework for synergistically putting them into action. Too many people focus all their efforts on just one of these pillars when looking to improve their body composition and struggle to make any headway. It needn't be this way, by successfully mixing all the primary body re-composition ingredients together you will achieve the power of synergy......faster, easier and more effective results.

Pillar 1 - Consistent, Progressive Training

The bulk of your body composition improvements will be dictated by your lifestyle and nutritional choices, however effective training will only help accelerate the process. Not only will an effective exercise program act as a catalyst to your fat loss goals, you will also reap all the other tremendous benefits of regular exercise including:

Forget the conventional fat loss formula of endless, energy sapping cardio sessions, the focus should be on on quality not quantity or put another way... work harder not longer! For fat loss the two most effective (and time efficient) training methods you should be practising on a consistent/progressive basis are strength training and sprint conditioning.

Get stronger to build muscle, elevate your metabolism and reshape your body

Nutrition aside, strength training is probably the most important activity you can pursue to successfully burn away unwanted fat and reshape your body. Strength training stimulates lean muscle development, permanently elevates your metabolism and promotes optimal hormone secretion thus helping transform your body from soft, weak and flabby to hard, strong and lean. In my experience, full body strength workouts trump body splits for fat loss and should be performed two to three times per week depending on how well you are able to recover. Again, the focus should be on quality not quantity. Short sharp sessions containing lots of quality work trump long lazy sessions! In terms of what equipment you should use.... it really doesn't matter! Great results can be achieved using your own bodyweight, great results can be achieved using barbells, great results can be achieved using kettlebells. Choose what works for you, what you enjoy training with and what you will actually stick with. More important than the equipment you choose to use is the consistency of your workouts and the progressive nature of your workouts.

Sprint to burn fat, boost cardio fitness and drastically improve your body composition

You will be hard pressed to find a workout that is more effective at burning fat and improving your body composition than high intensity sprint intervals. The combination of strength, speed and stamina needed to drive your body through a tough sprint conditioning session produces a cascade of lactic acid in your muscles which helps trigger the release of potent fat burning hormones such as HGH. This type of training can take many forms (with hill sprints being my personal favourite) and like the strength workouts you should aim to work harder, not longer for optimum results!

To help get you started and training effectively I have created a free 7 Day Quick-Start Program which you can download at the bottom of this article (no opt-in required). The eBook contains a series of daily exercise challenges which include some basic equipment-free strength and sprint workouts... the perfect starting point for the fitness newbie! Scroll down to the bottom of the page to get your free copy.

Pillar 2 - Real Food From Good Sources

The single most dominant factor (by far) in any fat loss campaign is the food you choose to power your body with. Unfortunately through the marketing power of the industrial food giants and the stream of conflicting messages pouring out of magazines, television and the world wide web it can be a daunting task trying to decipher what you should eat, when you should eat it and how you should eat it. Whilst nutritional science is an undeniably complex area there is one common denominator shared by almost any successful approach to eating:

Eating real, unprocessed food from good sources!  

Eating lots of nutrient dense plants and animals (real food) from good sources instead of processed fats, refined carbohydrates and excessive sugar is a sure-fire way to moderate insulin production, promote fat burning, reduce inflammation and fill your body with all the building blocks, fuel, vitamins and minerals it needs to thrive. Don't believe me? Try this simple experiment... for the next 7 days I challenge you to fill your body with only the nourishing foods found in the left hand column of this table and ditch all the stuff in the right hand column which drives fat gain and poor health. 

For now, don't worry about counting calories, stressing about meal timings or calculating precise macronutrient breakdowns. If you are already eating the right things these are tedious and more often than not unnecessary practices. Instead just focus on eating real, unprocessed food from good sources and I can guarantee you will see some positive improvements in the way your body looks and feels.

Meal inspiration 

Try to ensure each meal contains some good quality protein, plenty of veggies and some healthy fats. If this formula leaves you struggling for ideas, don't panic... the internet is awash with some great blogs which can provide all the inspiration you need. The Foodee Project is one of my favourites. Alternatively there are a number of excellent cookbooks available which all revolve around using real foods from good sources...

Food For Thought…  

The foods you eat form such a crucial piece of the body transformation puzzle yet nearly always present the biggest barrier to people achieving their ideal body composition! To their credit some people just get it and never look back, whilst others have a harder time adjusting, dig their heels in and seek loopholes which allow them to continue making poor food choices. Remember, I didn’t make these rules, two million years of human evolution did. Unfortunately the link between the foods we eat and the health we are genetically programmed to enjoy has got lost under the heavy bombardment of industrial food production and the powerful profit driven marketing that surrounds it. The reality is manufactured food with all its bogus health claims is simply not what our genetic make-up demands and we cannot thrive on it.

Pillar 3 - High Quality Sleep

Getting plenty of quality sleep is not only the single most powerful hormone optimiser and health boost you can give your body, it is also the glue which ties all the other pieces of the body composition puzzle together. Improved sleep leads to greater energy and improved recovery from exercise. This in turn allows you to workout with greater intensity on a more frequent basis. Elsewhere improved sleep will reduce stress and cause fewer hunger cravings both of which will reduce the likelihood of you making poor food choices.  

How much sleep do you need? Sadly there is no one-size-fits-all solution but the answer is likely to be more than you are currently getting. If you are waking up naturally (no alarm clock) feeling fresh and revived you are probably doing ok. If you wake up feeling worse than when you went to sleep we have a problem! Getting more quality sleep is not rocket science but here are a few tips which may help you:

 

# Getting more sleep generally means going to bed sooner. Trade the late night internet surfing or channel hopping for more sleep

# Try to minimise your exposure to bright lights in the hours before bed, use dimmer switches, low watt light bulbs etc.

# Sleep in a completely dark room.

# Avoid consuming stimulants (think caffeine, sugar, nicotine) particularly in the evening.

# Performing some relaxing stretches before you go to bed may help to calm the nervous system and relax the mind

# Read before bed. Many people find this soon sends them off into a deep sleep.

# Turn off all electrical items in the vicinity of your bed. The electromagnetic radiation they omit could interfere with your sleep quality

# Avoid being jolted awake by an alarm clock, there is no worse start to the day and it is a sure sign you are not getting enough sleep.

Conclusions...

So there you have it, a brief introduction to the 3 pillars of fat loss. Remember, the power of combining these pillars together is exponentially more effective than relying on just one or two alone... train well, eat well and sleep well to harness the power of synergy and rapidly progress towards your body composition and performance goals. To help get you started I have created a free 7 Day Quick-Start Program which you can download below......

 

To download your free copy simply click on the file below and save to your computer. If you have any questions or feedback I am keen to hear from you and happy to help...

Stay updated....

Every few weeks I create, publish and share my Gymless.com Newsletter packed full of information to help you improve your body composition, strength and fitness using bodyweight exercise. To get your free copy sent direct to your inbox just follow the instructions below:

1. Enter your details into the subsciption box below
2. You will then be sent a confirmation email
   
3. Find this email and confirm your subscription

Once these steps are completed you will be successfully subscribed to the Gymless.com Newsletter!