Jason working it with the Swiss ball. Photograph: Jason DiproseWant to shift some weight? York personal trainer Jason Diprose reveals how. Scroll down to watch his video and see if you’re doing it right
1. Use it all
The more you use, the more you lose. It’s great to isolate different areas of your body in order to fully develop your physique, but to begin with we need to concentrate on the whole picture.
Trying to fully develop your physique by concentrating on individual muscle groups and their respective areas is like decorating a house before the walls are in place.
If you’re starting off for the first time, you’d do yourself a huge favour if you covered your entire body during your session using one simple and effective compound exercise per muscle group in a circuit format (a compound exercise involves targeting an area by using the area itself in combination with surrounding stabilisation muscles).
The “use it all” mentality also transfers to how you train; not just where. Use a combination of resistance and cardio for the best results.
2. Go (a little) harder, or go to waste
You’ve all seen them; the guilty crowd who tiptoe their way over to the stationary bikes and proceed to pedal at a leisurely pace whilst reading the latest gossip magazine. It actually looks rather appealing!
But it just isn’t effective if you’re really serious about achieving your goals. You’ve got to train with intensity. If your heart rate doesn’t hit at least 70 per cent of your maximum capacity and stay there throughout your session, then you may as well get used to staring at the body of that model in the glamour magazine you’re reading instead of training – because that’s as close as you’ll get to achieving it!
Put some elbow grease into it… you’ll be amazed at how far it takes you.
3. Intensity over time
And on the subject of intensity, how long do you have to train for to be able to say that you’ve had an intense session? The answer is simple; when you simply can’t do any more.
Take it to your absolute limit, whether that takes 15 minutes today, or even ten – just make sure you give it your all whilst using safe form and making sure you stop when you know you need to.
Increase the duration of your session by aiming for one more circuit next time, or 5 more reps, or one more kilometre. It doesn’t matter how you increase the session duration, what matters is that you keep pushing your limit higher than it was during your previous session by increasing any of these variables.
4. Think big
Big movements mean big results when it comes to weight loss! Performing bicep curls and leg extensions may make you feel the burn, but that doesn’t mean you’re providing the right training stimulus to achieve the results you’re really looking for.
It’s all about the big five:
Squats
Dead lifts
Rows
Chest press
Shoulder press
These exercises cover your entire body effectively; not only do they target one specific area, they also make use of the muscles surrounding that area too.
That means they are more tiring than the movements that just target one small area, but they burn far more calories and are much more effective for shredding body fat when used as part of a full body resistance routine in conjunction with cardiovascular exercise.
5. It all works
Some lift heavy, some lift light, some do hundreds of reps, some do few…
It all aids your goal! Depending on who you are, you’ll respond better to some forms of exercise than others too.
Everyone should start off by using a resistance they can control for 15-20 reps on every exercise if they are a total beginner in order to steadily develop their frame and prepare their skeleton for more demanding resistances further down the line.
Once you start to see the changes taking place, it’s time to make some changes!
Your body will eventually adapt to what you’re currently doing after roughly six to eight weeks (often sooner). So you’ve got to keep things changing if you want to keep progressing.
We are all different, So by changing your rep range to eight to ten while using heavier weights, for example, or even three to five eventually with very high level resistance, you may just find that you’ve stumbled upon the key needed to unlock the next level of your physique development.
Change things up monthly after the first three months. Make sure you perform both cardiovascular and resistance based exercise when you first start too as the combination of the two will yield the fastest results.
6. More challenging, more often
Funnily enough, many people forget the most important ingredient when trying to lose weight…
Movement!
You absolutely must exercise more regularly, with an ever-increasing intensity if you hope to achieve your end result. Aim for three half an hour sessions per week aiming to keep your heart rate at a minimum of 70 per cent of its maximum capacity and increase the days and session duration up to a maximum of an hour from there whilst always striving to break your personal bests from one session to the next.
Perform cardio one day, resistance the next…change things up, crank up the speed, increase the resistance, change the exercise order – do it all and do it often!
Jason Diprose is co-founder of FightBody, a weight loss and fitness programme at the One Club in York. It is a 30-minute class exercise programme designed to give participants a toned, honed and fit physique.
One Club can be found at: Pioneer Business Park, Clifton Moor, York, YO30 4TN. To find out more, visit the Fight Body website.
Want to shift some weight? York personal trainer Jason Diprose reveals how. Scroll down to watch his video and see if you’re doing it right