Ep 020: Efficient Exercise for Weight Loss with Shawn Stevenson

Feb 28, 2015

Are you ready for this? We are tackling the major myths about exercise for weight loss and establishing the most effective workout strategies for lasting fat loss and optimal hormone balance. We’ll be talking about what works, what doesn’t and what is a total waste of your time (and might be holding you back).

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Who is Shawn Stevenson? Sure, Shawn is a best-selling author, incredibly popular podcast host and renowned fitness expert, but more than that – he is a passionate guy with a heart for helping people get healthy. One thing I love about Shawn is his genuine heart and desire to make a positive change in the world. He is about making a difference, reaching people, transforming lives and helping people reclaim their health. He has overcome personal adversity and is a fantastic example of the incredible changes you can make in your life with a few fundamental shifts in diet, movement and lifestyle.

The Problem: Unfortunately, most people still fall victim to the “eat less, move more” paradigm. They feel like they’ll accelerate their weight loss by spending hours in the gym huffing and puffing their life away on the treadmill. In fact, chronic cardio inhibits fat loss. It creates a negative hormonal response that increases hunger and cravings while impairing fat burning and decreasing energy. There’s no doubt that there are ineffective exercise strategies and those are the ones most people engage in! No good! We’re investing time and energy without seeing the results we’re after! There’s a better way!

The Solution: First and foremost, you can’t out-exercise a bad diet. There is no amount of any kind of exercise that can compensate for poor food choices. Are we on the same page? Get your diet right first. Exercise comes faaaaaar second to good, clean nutrition. It’s also important to remember that if you aren’t ready to workout, that is ok. You don’t need to do everything all at once. However, when you’re ready, you need to be strategic about fitness. There are three types of activity that are best for fat loss:

  • Leisure walking
  • Heavy lifting
  • High intensity intervals and/or sprints

Practical Implementation: 

  1. Walk your buns off. We aren’t talking about arm-swinging, track-suit-wearing, huffing/puffing walking. Walk slowly. Breathe deeply. Do this often. We humans were built to move and we spend most of our time sitting. Get up and walk. It is fantastic for fat loss and hormonal balance. It decreases stress hormones and helps to reduce hunger and cravings. There’s no maximum amount. There’s no minimum amount. Walk as much as you can.
  2. Lift heavy things. For the love of food, please put down the tiny dumbbells. However, keep in mind that “heavy” is relative. It’s about choosing a weight that challenges YOU. Don’t sacrifice form for weight – that’s just silly and a recipe for injury, but don’t play it so easy that you could easily pump out 15 reps. That’s not heavy. There are a few core movements that create an incredible hormonal response for fat loss when you push yourself. Those include the squat, deadlift, bench press, shoulder press and pull-up. Public Service Announcement: If this is new to you, invest in a trainer. Form matters. If you aren’t sure if you have great form, you probably don’t. Ask for help. Don’t be silly.
  3. Include sprint or high intensity interval workouts. These are super short workouts but they are high intensity. We understand that some people are intimidated by the idea of “sprinting” but remember that it is relative. A sprint just refers to your maximum effort and output. You sprint for a very short interval – as little as 20 seconds and rarely more than 30 seconds. Then you rest and recover until you’re ready to go again.

Connect with Shawn
Shawn’s Website
The Model Health Show
Shawn on Twitter
Shawn on Instagram
Shawn on Facebook

Other Resources
Shawn’s Book: Sleep Smarter
Elizabeth’s ebook: Hormones & Fat Loss

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