By Benjamin Petitpas, CSCS, CPT

Having an increase in your metabolism means that there is an increase in the amount of calories that your body is burning to maintain its normal functions. If you have been having a difficult time burning fat and losing weight these 5 tips can help you get over the hump and help you maximize your metabolism and have you burning more calories all day long even while you are resting.

1. Strength Training

Strength training can help increase your metabolism in a few different ways. The first way is from the calories that you will burn during the workout itself. The second way is from the afterburn effect strength training has on your body, known as Excessive Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC). EPOC can be described as an increase in your body’s metabolic activity following a strength training workout as your body is trying to recover and return itself to a pre-exercise state.   A third way strength training increases the metabolism, is because it builds build lean muscle mass. This is important because the more lean muscle mass that you have, the more calories it takes for your body to maintain it. So as a result it causes an increase in your metabolism, so even will you are resting, your body will be burning more calories to support your lean muscle mass.

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By Benjamin Petitpas, CSCS, CPT

How can I lose fat from my stomach and thighs?

Unfortunately, there is no such thing as spot reduction. I can’t just tell you to go do 1,000 crunches to lose your belly fat. Your muscles in that specific area would get stronger, but in the big picture the crunches won’t help you lose the fat surrounding your midsection.

What happens is that your body stores the excess calories that you consume through your diet as body fat to be used as a source of energy at a later time. If you are constantly consuming more calories than you are burning on a daily basis, your body will continue to store more and more calories as fat instead of using the fat as energy. Read the rest of this entry

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“I am doing the same workouts that has helped me lose 10 pounds initially, but I have not been able to lose any more weight.  How come I have stopped seeing results?”

This is a common question that I hear all of the time. This is something that can happen after a few months on the same program and doing the same thing every time you go to the gym.

One thing about the human body is that it has an amazing ability to adapt to whatever stresses that you put on it.

Initially, you may have seen some great results when you started your exercise program, because the exercises program was new.  Your body was not use to the new program and was under more stress that what its use was to.

In order to get stronger you must overload the muscles and give them more work that what they are use to. As a result the muscles will grow and become stronger as a way of adapting to the stimulus.

What happens in many cases is that most people begin an exercise program and initially they get instant result, but after a few months on the same program using the same amount of weight, sets, reps, time, or intensity levels the body adapts and you will hit a plateau and stop seeing results.

In order to get over this plateau you must change some of the variables. Here are a few changes to help you get over the hump so you can start getting results again quickly.

·         Change the exercises

·         Change the order of exercises

·         Change the weight

·         Change the sets

·         Change the reps

·         Change the rest time

·         Change the tempo

·         Change your program- circuit training, split routines, total body

This does not mean that you should switch your workout up every time that you come to the gym. No, the key is to give your muscles a chance to adapt before you switch up your program. Usually I will switch up the workouts every four weeks. This gives your muscles enough time to adapt and grow stronger from the new workout, but not enough time to for your muscles to hit a plateau.

By Benjamin Petitpas, CSCS

Personal Trainer Connecticut

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It seems as though most people feel like they need to spend an hour or two at the gym 7 days a week in order to get any real results. Well this simply is not true. The real problem is that people don’t know how to use their time efficiently in the gym.

This is the biggest problem I see at the gym. People walk around aimlessly doing a one set of an exercise and then spending the next 5 minutes resting or talking with friends before they do another set. No wonder why you can see the same people at the gym every day, but you never notice any changing in their bodies.

I am going to share a few of my training secrets with you so you can use manage your time more efficiently. This way you can spend less time in the gym and more of your time doing the things that you enjoy. The best part is that you will burn more fat, lose more weight, and get some serious results in less time.

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Body fat is also known as adipose tissue. Body fat comes from the excess calories that we consume through our diets. Your body will store the extra calories as fat to be used as a source of energy later on. It does not make a difference where the sources of calories come from. Calories from carbohydrates, fats, protein, and even alcohol, all can be turned into fat. Your body will store the extra calories as fat to be used as a source of energy later on.

You have two different types of body fat

Essential Body Fat

We all have a certain percentage of essential body fat. Men carry approximately 3-4% body fat, while women carry approximately 10-12% body fat. Women carry more essential body fat than men, because of their hormones and reproductive system.

It is important for your body to carry a certain amount of essential body fat in order for it to function properly. This type of fat can be found surrounding your body’s vital organs as a layer of protection. It is also stored in the body’s organs, intestines, muscles and other tissues.

Storage Body Fat

Storage body fat is the type of fat that can be associated with love handles and flabby bellies. This is the type of fat that we need to lose. It is linked with all kinds of health risks like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer.

 When we consume too much food are body will automatically store the extra calories as fat to be used as a source of energy at a later time as part of its survival mechanism. The problem is that if we continue to over eat we accumulate an excess storage of fat. This is why it is so important that we consume the right size food portions and remain active in order to use up the left over calories.

We all have a certain amount of fat cells in our bodies that we are genetically given at birth. These cells shrink and expand as your body fat is either stored or used as a source of energy. The more fat that your body stores the larger your fat cells will expand.

Fat is stored primarily in two categories: Subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. Subcutaneous fat is the type of fat located just underneath the skin, think flab. Visceral fat is the fat that is stored surrounding the body’s internal organs. Excess visceral fat is the most dangerous fat because of it puts you at a high risk for diabetes and heart disease. 

Measuring Body Fat Percentages

Body Fat can be measured in a few different ways. The two most common ways to measure body fat percentages are; Skin Fold measurements and Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BMI). These two methods are easy and cost effective. 

Skin fold measurements are done by using calipers to measure pinches of subcutaneous body fat, taken from a series of points on the body. These measurements are then converted into body fat percentages by using a mathematical formula.

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis measures body fat percentages by sending a small electrical current through the body and recording the amount of time it takes for the signal to pass through the body.

The following chart from the American Council on Exercise puts body fat percentages into categories ranging from obese to athletic.

 Where do on this chart do you measure up?

Once you have your body fat percentage, you can calculate the amount of lean body mass and the amount of fat mass that you have.

(Body weight x Body Fat %) = Fat Mass

(Body weight – Fat mass) = Lean Body mass

Lean body mass is a measurement of muscle and bone structure in the body

Fat Mass is the amount of fat you have on your body.

Why is it important to know what your body fat percentage is?

It is important to know what your body fat percentage is so that you can understand what body fat category that you follow under. This information is important when you begin an exercise program. This information can be valuable for goal setting and as a way of monitoring the progress you’re making with your exercise and nutrition programs.

Whether I am working with my personal training clients, boot camp classes, or online training clients, we always have an initial fitness assessment prior to beginning a new exercise program. During this fitness assessment we will measure body fat, girth measurements, height, weight, and a few other fitness tests.

The reason for this is that these numbers give valuable information that we use for goal setting and exercise program planning.  Every 4-6 weeks I will continue to retest my clients as a way of monitoring their progress and motivating them.

If you have not had a fitness assessment done already I strongly recommend asking your doctor or local personal trainer to give you an assessment.  This way you can give yourself a starting point to work from.

You can also give yourself an assessment. All you need is a scale, tape measure, and a hand held bioelectrical impedance analysis devise.

More information on Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis

By Benjamin Petitpas, CSCS

Personal Trainer Connecticut

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