How to modify any program to improve your body fitness.
Asif Butt is a force to be reckoned with. The martial artist-turned-fitness guru has been a 14-time national champion, having represented a Pakistan at leading international forums. The celebrity fitness trainer is certified from UK and has been named as one of the top 10 fitness trainers of the world by an American publication.
Asif Butt has mastery over lean body transformation, physique sculpting and strengthening. Weight loss is the easy part in his opinion, attaining a functionally strong and fit physique is his expertise.
He offers a comprehensive and complete training regime and incorporates elements of functional and strength training, cardio and muscle tone conditioning as well as high Intensity Interval Training to give a holistic training plan to his clients.
Since being in shape and being fit has taken over our mindsets of late, people are seen thronging their gymnasium premises, dishing out thousands of rupees for memberships.
Keeping that in mind, the fitness and sport veteran revealed the top 10 mistakes we might be making in our gyms.
Focusing on high reps with light weights — strength-training is intrinsic to gaining a six-pack, even for a woman. When you lose weight without lifting weights, one-quarter of every pound you lose comes from valuable lean mass. Muscle takes more calories for your body to burn during activity and during rest, giving your metabolism a boost. Aim to strength train a minimum of three times per week.
Judging your weight loss journey through a weighing machine — if you’ve been training hard and get on the scales and see you’ve gained a few kilos (but still feel the same weight, or slimmer), chances are you’ve gained muscle. “Since dense muscle tissue takes up less space than fat, it’s possible you may weigh the same (or even more) yet appear slimmer than another person with the same weight, a similar height and frame because of the difference in your body composition. So while you may be losing weight, if you’re working out you’re inevitably putting muscle on too which is going to help fire up your metabolism, but may not give the whole picture on the scales as you find yourself either weighing the same, or sometimes weighing more, despite having lost fat mass,” Butt says.
Consuming too many calories after workout – a calorie deficit is required for weight loss. This means you need to burn more calories than you consume. You may feel as though you’re not eating many calories. But in fact, most of us have a tendency to underestimate and under report what we eat. You may be consuming too many foods that are healthy but also high in calories, such as nuts and cheese. Watching portion sizes is key. On the other hand, decreasing your calorie intake too much can be counterproductive. Bottom Line: Consuming too many calories can stop you from losing weight. On the other hand, too few calories can make you ravenously hungry and reduce your metabolism and muscle mass.
‘Comparing yourself with others means you are disrespecting yourself. Looking at others for inspiration is great but remember, everyone has their own journey,
Not taking guidance from a trainer — if you’re confused about what to do, a trainer can revamp your routine and help you do more with your exercise time.
Focusing on only one form of workout — while you are working out, it is important to perform different kinds of workouts. Cardio and strength training workouts both play an important role in fitness. Cardio helps in burning fat, whereas strength training exercises help in metabolism burning. Hence, it is important that you combine both of these forms of workouts to make sure that you achieve appropriate results.
Comparing yourself with others — comparing yourself with others means you are disrespecting yourself. Looking at others for inspiration is great but remember, everyone has their own journey.
Overtraining — too much gym time can lead to a burnout or injury.
Relying on supplements — protein powders and other products are popular but they aren’t necessarily the fastest path to fat loss and muscle gain. “Powders have their place, but if you’re trying to get lean I like to see people eating as much solid food as possible. Not only are whole foods more nutrient dense, but they fill you up better, which is so important in a hypo-caloric environment,” AB says.
Ignoring Leg Day — this could possibly be one of the worst mistakes you could make. More so than skipping high intensity cardio work. Not only are the legs a huge engine of fuel burning potential, but they are also the key to building real strength and even make gains in your upper body strength. First off, if you want to be strong… and I mean real strength, not that how-mush-weight-can-you-curl type strength… do some deadlifts and squats. Not only will your lower body strength improve, but your upper body strength will also increase. When you lift weights, you challenge and damage muscle tissue. When this happens your body releases testosterone and growth hormone. Given that your legs are a larger mass of muscles, when you lift them, they will result in a larger release of GH and testosterone. These circulating hormones influence all of your muscles. Skip leg day and you are skipping a powerful and beneficial hormonal response. I have heard quite a few men tell me that leg day isn’t needed because the ladies like strong arms and chests. Well, go ask 10 ladies what they think about that and I am willing to bet they all like strong legs on a man. Also. If your prime focus is the leg press, change your focus to deadlifts and squats. Use the leg press as an accessory. You will have more range of motion with both the deadlift and squat and both are more functional. Leg-pressing 1000lbs is not impressive. Deadlifting twice your body weight is much more impressive.
Not taking cardio seriously — strength training should be your focus, but how you lift weights greatly changes your results. You can do traditional cardio or you can do it with weights via circuit training. I like to have a flexible definition of cardio: any exercise that is done to deliberately keep your heart rate up. Traditional strength training is awesome, but if you are not getting your heart rate up, you are missing out on burning a ton of calories. Cardio is perfect for teaching your muscles how to burn fat efficiently. Also, your muscles can become more efficient at storing glucose and triglycerides. This is good for you, because an efficient storage system decreases your risk of type 2 diabetes. Unless you are a power lifter or Olympic lifter, you need to do some kind of cardio. Lastly, as mentioned in the article linked above, do your cardio with a purpose. Long slow cardio has its place, but you can be more efficient with your time by getting your heart rate up and keeping it up. We can count intervals as cardiovascular training if you keep your rest short enough.
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The Common category includes then following block: Paragraph, image, heading, latest gallery, quote, audio, cover, video. The paragraphs block is the default block type. This is should not have any alignment of any kind.
The Common category includes then following block: Paragraph, image, heading, latest gallery, quote, audio, cover, video. The paragraphs block is the default block type. This is should not have any alignment of any kind. Category and then there are many things too following blocks and many more.
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