How To Burn Fat & Be More Robust....At The Same Time

Fat loss via corrective exercise.

If you're going to use exercise time doing a cyclic exercise, could you be using the same time to better use?

The main reason for many exercises to do cyclic exercise (like walking, running, rowing, cycling, swimming) is for improved fitness. Another reason is for the soothing effect it has on their state of mind (endorphin release, meditative and repetitive practice). Another reason is to burn calories. It's at this point that it's absolutely worth mentioning that the aerobic system can burn fat or glycogen - fat at the lower end of the heart rate, eg. around 120-135, and glycogen at a higher rate, eg. 135-150bpm (obviously this range is a general statement and will change according to age, state of training and many other metabolic variants). The burning of glycogen in the higher end of the aerobic range is not a preferred option. Glycogen doesn't provide as much energy as fat does. Glycogen has to be replaced through food. Rarely does anyone have too much glycogen they need to burn. Burning glycogen makes you hungry for sugars.

The burning of glycogen becomes required when exercise intensity goes up, but for the main reasons of doing aerobic exercise, burning fat predominantly is a preferred option, which means exercising at a lower heart rate for longer.

This kind of training does NOT induce post-exercise oxygen consumption to the same extent as higher intensity (the afterburn that is sought after by high intensity exercise enthusiasts). It does however stimulate your metabolism to improve it's ability to burn fat and reduce your body's cravings for sugar. Which brings me to my main point.

If you're going to spend time in a lower heart rate zone (approximately 120-135bpm), is there a better way to use your time? There is. Combining cyclic, repetitive movements with challenging movements that allow you to manage your movement mistakes on the edge of your ability. This has been called the essence of corrective exercise and implies that an evaluation has highlighted limitations and asymmetries in mobility and motor control (two of the two four modifiable risk factors for getting injured and not being able to continue exercising as planned).

We know that the core looks great when there’s proportion. Mini-waists have had their turn. Bloated mid-sections appeal to the hedonists who love their food and drink a little (or a lot) more than their exploration of the “moving arts”. The current appeal is right on the money – thick, powerful cores built for show and go. That means development of muscle and reduction of body fat. Nothing covers those two more than combinations that include cardio, or aerobic training, and workouts that include exercises driven by both arms and legs. 

Here's some examples.

1. Groundwork on hands and feet. Eminent clinicians and strength coaches Dr. Mark Cheng, with Dr. Jimmy Yuan, recently produced groundwork progressions for prehab and rehab  that dial the right numbers when it comes to safely bringing arms and legs into specific injury-prevention core exercises. Combining these great exercises with other ground workouts like Animal Flow ticks injury prevention, dynamic strength, mobility with stability and aerobic conditioning. Doc Cheng says, “If you don’t own it, you’re correcting. If you own the movement, you can condition.” The combination of these programs is game changing – think pushups meets crawling meets wrestling with the earth. Here's a look at a front plank to knee-drive to opposite elbow – so many benefits! When the Chinese Women Volleyball Team wanted an abdominal workout, to supplement their performance training, this was at the heart of a brutal 12 minutes workout – this stoic group of highly trained athletes who never complained in their gruelling 7 hour training days let out all sorts of groans, huffs and puffs, patting their stomachs like a tap out.
2. Weighted carries +/- overhead carry for more precise stimulation. The weight perturbs the postural alignment of segments, forcing motor control of said alignment, whilst moving. Small adjustments to posture are required constantly, with alignment errors magnified at the hand, creating instant feedback to balance. Constant movement via walking ensures global stabilisers, ie prime movers, can not play a part in joint alignment integrity, leaving segmental stabilisers to reflexively control posture from the foot through the lower leg, pelvis, spine and to the upper limb.
   
3. Reactive neuromuscular training of split squats. Correcting split squat drills is best done at a subconscious level, since stability is reflex driven, not conscious driven. 
   
   The use of a FMT (Functional Movement Tubing) or kettlebell, introduces destabilising force in planes of movement (coronal and transverse) that is perturbing the main plane of movement - sagittal. 
   
   In the presence of minimum, or improved, mobility, to get into the start and finish position, the FMT creates reactive neuromuscular training to the pattern, improving the pattern for other training events that require power in a split squat, like the Bulgarian Split Squat.
   
4. Linear and lateral movement drills for foot, knee, hip and core rehab, as well as movement prep for field and court sports. Based on eight essential mobility drills by Coach Mike Boyle, this sequence is a go-to.