About 2 weeks have passed since the start of a new year and gyms everywhere have been consistently filled with hopefuls who are determined to improve their overall body composition in time for the upcoming beach season. These trainees often make treadmills and stationary bikes their home away from home, dedicating countless hours in a day in order to burn off that extra bit of unwanted fat.
Runners on treadmills. Author: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph M. Buliavac, via Wikimedia Commons.
Despite the amount of hard work and effort put it by plenty of gym-goers, gym attendance unfortunately declines as the year progresses. Many people lose hope due to their obtained results not living up to their initial expectations. While fat loss is no walk in the park, it definitely is not the nightmare many people seem to think it is.
Standing on a weigh scale. Author: Bill Branson, National Cancer Institute, via Wikimedia Commons
If you were to ask anyone off the street, they would most likely mention that hours upon hours of running or biking is the key to fat loss. However, a more efficient strategy to improve one’s body composition could be defined in two parts. The first component involves setting caloric restrictions on an individual’s diet to achieve body fat reduction. In order to do this, you need calculate your body’s total daily caloric requirements and aim to eat below this amount. Mifflin et al. proposed the following equation to calculate this number:
For men:
BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] – [4.92 x age (years)] + 5
For women:
BMR = [9.99 x weight (kg)] + [6.25 x height (cm)] – [4.92 x age (years)] -161
In the above formulas, BMR stands for basal metabolic rate. This value represents the minimum amount of calories your body needs to consume in order to maintain vital processes like breathing and gastrointestinal activity. Mifflin et al. multiplied the results of the BMR equation by an activity factor , which was based on the lifestyle of the individual, to determine the total amount of calories required for the entire day.
Studies have shown that by simply reducing daily food intake below an individual’s total daily caloric requirement over a period of 24 weeks resulted in a 27% decrease in total fat mass in men and a 22% decrease in total fat mass in women. This loss in fat was independent of the amount of cardiovascular exercise done by participants of the study.
An overview of caloric intake vs caloric output. (attributed to Youtube user: leanbodylifestyle)
While it is true that you can lose fat on a calorie restrictive diet alone, it doesn’t mean one can’t lose muscle mass as well. The second part of the strategy to improve body composition is the incorporation of resistance training which can help retain an individual’s useful lean body mass. In the study above, participants that underwent daily caloric restrictions and resistance training 3 days a week still exhibited overall body fat reduction and their ability to lift weights showed no signs of decrease for the entire duration of the 8 week study.
Dumbbells on a rack. Author: www.spreadfilms.de (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
-Earvin Remandaban
