Gym Users Frequently Asked Questions

1 – How can I lose fat and tone up?

The word ‘toning’ is somewhat misconstrued. One can not tone, shape, or define our muscles. Our shape is pre-determined by genetics and the insertion points of various muscles/ To use the word tone in the general context we mean losing fat and putting on muscle.

To do this one would have to address the issue of fatloss. 3 key factors determine fat loss. Diet, Exercise and Rest. With your diet you need to eat 5 – 6 small meals a day containing proteins, complex carbohydrates and good fats. Eating just above you maintenance range on workout days and slightly below on off days is way one could achieve fat loss. With regards to exercising and toning up, this would involve you dong cardio and weight training. Try and 3 – 4 cardio session, between 30 – 35mins varying from medium to high intensity sessions. Definition and tone are simply the result by body fat levels changing. Muscles can either grow or shrink; body fat can increase, stay the same, or decrease.

These are the only methods in which the body can change their body shape. So to ‘tone’ up. One would need to lift weights that would increase muscle growth. The 8 – 12 reps. It should be noted that doing very light weights would never get that desired tone’ look. Many Gym users make the mistake of doing very high reps with light weights thinking it would make them more toned. One needs to left reasonably heavy weights within the 8 -1 2 rep range

2 – How important is joining a gym?

Joining a gym has several benefits. Firstly, you have a variety of equipment and personal advice to help you achieve your goals. Also, having people around working out in a gym helps motivate one to work out. To further motivate you most gyms have various classes to cater for its members. It should also be noted that attending a gym regularly brings some balance and routine into your life. For many gym users, going to the gym is now part of their everyday life.

3 – How many days should one workout in gym?

3 days a week would be a good starting point. The average gym user spends 3 - 4 days a week. While some more active gym users won’t function spending unless 5 days a week. It’s all relative. The key thing is to make sure you are consistent in a week in week out basis.

4 – How do I improve my eating habits?

The best way to improve you eating habits is by improving your knowledge about nutrition. While it’s a good idea to get a nutrition plan from a Personal trainer or nutritionist follow the diet of someone who’s successfully changed their body composition. Nothing beats knowledge. The best thing is to read about what foods are good and how to incorporate them into your eating plan.

5 – Would I lose the fat on my abs if I keep doing sit-ups and crunches?

There is unfortunately no way to spot reduce. Even training a specific area does not guarantee that you will lose body fat from that specific region. There are a few things to consider though. You mentioned that you have made significant progress, this may prove that patience is the key. It may take some time, but you should see body fat come off from this area.

6 – How can I avoid a plateau?

If you are consistently achieving body composition changes then you are definitely on the right path and I would continue the program you are following. However, in every program changes need to be made in some form or another to avoid a plateau.

Change exercise order*
Decrease rest intervals*
3. Use a different stance, grip, or bar
4. Perform exercises you are not good at
5. Change the pairing of muscle groups
6. Use various set/rep schemes
7. Change the speed of movement
The factor one can not neglect is the nutrition variable

7 - Would I put on more muscle if I go to the gym everyday?

While it’s feasible to train 7 days a week, the key thing to note is that one grows outside the gym. When you eat the right foods and rest, your body recovers and repairs its muscle fibres hence leading to growth. Working out 7 days a weeks can leading to overtraining and less chance of recuperation.

8 - I need to lose weight and tone up quickly for holiday, what’s the best way to achieve this?

There are certain ways to lose weight quickly however, one should not that drastic weight lose ie. by cutting calories and working out intensely could lead to two thing

A- Overtraining B – A rebound in weight gain. Depending on the time frame take for instance 2 weeks, one would need to dress 2 things. Diet and training, regarding diet, the 2 things one should take into account and calories reduction and macronutrient change. Reducing calories by 500 calories a day and changing ones diet to a higher protein diet and lower carb diet would give the quickest results. Also, one would need to address water retention. You would need to increase your water intake to about 3 – 6 litres a day.

Some people use a safe herbal diuretic like dandelion root would get rid of water retention too and give you a leaner appearance. As for training, you would need to increase weight and cardio training. Early morning light intensity cardio on an empty stomach for 30 – 45mins, 5 days a week and weight training exercises in the evening 5 days a week.

9 – How can I increase my strength in the gym?

Strength training involves lifting within 3 -5 reps of your maximum load. Try 5 reps and 5 sets of any given exercise, focusing on compound exercises. (Squats, Dead lifts, Bench press, Military press). You should aim to gradually increase your weights over a period of time to continually load the muscle hence increasing strength. .

10 – How can I improve my overall fitness?

Overall fitness could be improved my focusing on ones cardio and weight training. If you are just starting out and trying to improve your cardiovascular fitness. You should take a long term approach and start slow to avoid 2 things - Injury and burnout. Start with a cardio session that requires 60 – 70% of your optimum effort. For example, if you could run non-stop for 10mins, try running for 7mins then walk for 7mins and then repeat till the total time spent running (not walking) would be around 30mins.

Aim to increase the running time and decrease the rest time on a weekly basis until you run for 30mins non stop. One advantage of this is that it serves as a motivating factor and gradually improves your cardiovascular endurance.