Wonder why your weight loss efforts don’t pay off? After all, you’re working out and eating clean. Perhaps you’re tracking calories and hitting the gym day in and day out. The most common diet and training mistakes are not always the most obvious ones. You could be doing something wrong without even realizing it.
Remember that diet is just as important as training. What you eat affects your exercise performance and overall progress. Not even the best workout plan can compensate for poor nutrition. Thus, it’s necessary to tweak both your diet and training program. This will help you break through plateaus and reach your fitness goals.
Ready for a change? Here are some common weight-loss mistakes that stall your progress:
Thinking It’s All About Calories
Contrary to popular belief, weight loss isn’t just about calories in versus calories out. Food quality is what matters the most. For instance, 500 calories worth of steak and veggies are not the same as 500 calories worth of fries or ice cream.
Whole, natural foods provide the nutrients needed to keep your metabolism up and build lean muscle. Beef and fish, for example, are loaded with protein and healthy fats.
Your body needs protein to create new tissues and recover from exercise. Otherwise, it starts to break down muscle protein, which leads to catabolism. The less muscle you have, the fewer calories you’ll burn.
Not Doing Compound Exercises
Squats, deadlifts, lunges, military presses, push-ups, and other compound movements should come first in your workout. These exercises hit nearly every muscle, so you’ll get a full-body workout. Moreover, they stimulate the release of testosterone and growth hormone, improve insulin response, and boost your metabolism.
Testosterone and growth hormone, the primary anabolic hormones, promote hypertrophy and improve body composition aka muscle-to-fat ratio. Basically, they cause faster gains in muscle size and strength while burning fat.
Start your workouts with compound exercises and finish with isolation movements. If you’re a newbie, bodyweight exercises will do the trick. Push-ups, pull-ups, chin-ups, and other bodyweight moves increase your strength and endurance. Due to their intense nature, they rev up your metabolism and cause your muscles to work harder. As you progress, add weights to the mix.
Not Lifting Heavy Enough
Heavy lifting is crucial to muscle growth and fat loss. Ideally, you should stay in the 85-95 percent range of your one-rep max. This will stimulate hypertrophy and prevent plateaus while increasing the release of anabolic hormones.
For instance, if your max squat is 200 pounds, you should be lifting 170 to 190 pounds with each rep.
This approach applies to women too. Don’t fear heavyweights! Contrary to popular belief, lifting heavy won’t make you bulky. It will actually kick-start your fat-burning engine and shape your body. Your waist will get smaller, your legs will become stronger, and your arms will look firm and toned.
These are just a few of the many weight loss mistakes you should be aware of. If you still need help, supplement your diet with a quality fat burner.
Now that you know what it takes to get leaner, give it a try! Remember that strenuous workouts and crash diets are not the answer.
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