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Doing high intensity cardio at 100 per cent of your maximum heart rate is not the secret to effective fat burning, one of Australia’s top personal trainers has claimed.
Rachael Attard, the Gold Coast-based founder of the Lean Legs Program, prides herself in helping clients lose extra body fat and weight in the most efficient way; to do this she teaches them the ‘fat burning zone’.
‘When you work out, most people think that you need to give the workout all the energy you have and to work out as hard as you can,’ Rachael, a sports nutritionist, said.
‘However, the fat burning zone theory says that you shouldn’t push your body all the way to 100. Instead, you’ll burn the most fat when you working at 60 to 70 per cent of your maximum heart rate.’
Doing high intensity cardio at 100 per cent of your heart rate is not the secret to effective fat burning, one of Australia’s top personal trainers has claimed
Rachael Attard, the Gold Coast-based founder of the Lean Legs Program, prides herself in helping clients lose extra body fat and weight in the most efficient way; to do this she teaches them the ‘fat burning zone’
Rachael explains that fat burning takes place when carbs and fat are turned into energy called adenosine triphosphate (ATP).
The body needs oxygen to convert fat into ATP and when you’re doing low to moderate-intensity exercise, you’re able to breathe easier so your body gets more oxygen than when you’re doing high intensity training.
‘The most efficient thing your body can do during lower and moderate forms of exercise is to turn to your stored fat into energy,’ she said.
‘The most efficient thing your body can do during lower and moderate forms of exercise is to turn to your stored fat into energy,’ she said
‘So according to the fat burning theory, you should do long low-intensity exercises in order to use up fat storage and to burn enough calories in order to see weight loss.’
Rachael added that during high intensity training the body is more likely to burn carbs (glycogen) rather than fat as it doesn’t have enough energy to burn fat.
‘When you do a high-intensity workout, your body burns through your glycogen stores and may eventually turn back to fat burning depending on the length of the workout, and your body’s amount of stored carbs,’ she added.
‘But if you eat before doing a high-intensity workout (and especially if your diet is high in carbs), your body will most probably burn way more carbs than fat.’
‘So according to the fat burning theory, you should do long low-intensity exercises in order to use up fat storage and to burn enough calories in order to see weight loss,’ she said
This explains why walking is Rachael’s top exercise recommendation – and the one she says is the key to lean, toned legs.
‘Walking is the best type of exercise for lean legs. It will help get rid of excess fat on your legs and lean them out,’ she said previously.
‘The longer you exercise, the more fat your body will burn. So, by doing longer power walks, your body will burn more fat and it will help you get lean legs,’ she said.
Rachael said she tried ‘every single workout under the sun’ but found ‘nothing is as effective in getting thinner thighs and legs overall as walking’.
What does your body type say about how you should train?
ECTOMORPH
Ectomorphs are usually naturally slim (like Victoria’s Secret models) and they find it difficult to build muscle.
If you are an ectomorph body type, you probably already have naturally thinner legs. So, your goal here is to maintain (or perhaps lose a bit of stubborn lower body fat) while building lean muscle.
This way your legs will get tone and definition and you’ll avoid the skinny fat look.
MESOMORPH
Mesomorphs can be quite athletic and respond quickly to exercise, which means they build muscle easily.
They can lose weight very fast, but can also gain weight quickly too. Usually, they are of average size.
If you are a mesomorph, overdoing workouts like squats and lunges can easily result in bulky legs. So, your goal here is to reduce body fat percentage and avoid exercises that will bulk up your legs in the process.
ENDOMORPH
Endomorphs naturally have a strong build and larger frame. They can build muscle very quickly and it’s slightly harder for them to lose weight. But, it’s not impossible!
If you are an endomorph body type, your goal is to really focus on reducing overall body fat and to completely avoid any workouts that may cause you to bulk up.
Rachael’s workouts have help thousands of women sculpt their dream bodies fast
‘Through my years of working as a PT with girls that had the same goal (specifically to get skinny legs), this has always been the best method,’ she added.
Rachael added that a walk first thing in the morning will lead to better results.
‘If you do cardio before you eat in the morning you will have less stored glycogen, and your body will, therefore, burn more fat and muscle,’ Rachael said.
‘Less fat and less muscle size equals slimmer legs but for this to work, you need to eat low carb (try not to eat carbs for dinner the night before so your glycogen levels are already low) and you need to do cardio for a fairly long period of time (over 60-90 minutes).’
Bottom line is there are three main steps to reducing muscle size and sculpting slim, toned legs: learning your body type, doing the right type of cardio (walking) and eating at a slight calorie deficit with low carbs.
To learn more about the fat burning zone, click here.
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