There are two main types of fat on the body:
Subcutaneous – just beneath the skin that everyone sees.
Visceral – around our internal organs
Excess Visceral fat can lead to heart problems, diabetes, and prostate and breast cancers and because of where it’s located is not easy to detect.
This is why some naturally ‘thin / skinny’ people who look fine on the surface can actually have a body fat % of 40% – 50%.
If they only ever used the scales and their BMI readings then it would appear that they are perfectly healthy, but in actual fact they are a heart attack waiting to happen.
This is why I go one step further with my clients and measure their body fat %. This is the most important figure that needs to be reduced to healthy levels. If a lady’s weight is not changing that much but their body fat % is coming down then this is great as they will be getting a much more toned look as well as becoming significantly more healthy. Of course, if someone is overweight then both body fat % and weight will come down.
What are the healthy body fat % guidelines?
How Do You Reduce Visceral Fat?
- Eat healthy – opt for more vegetables, lean proteins, grains, nuts, lentils, legumes.
- High Intensity Interval Training – exercising at a high intensity with short breaks helps to burn fat a lot more efficiently.
- Tone your abdominal muscles – this is so much more than just doing crunches. Lot’s of different abdominal exercises to help develop the rectus abdominus (near the surface), transverse abdominus (deep abdominal muscles) and the obliques (sides).
- This has other spin off benefits such as improved posture as well.
- Strength training – using light weights. This again is a really effective way to lose fat as it speeds up your metabolism. Not only during the workout but for the next 24 hours with the use of afterburn (read previous article for more information on afterburn) – http://www.fitterbodybootcamp.com/blog/whatisafterburn/
The Fitter Body Boot Camp workouts and nutritional guidance is designed to do all of the above. This is then combined with regular checks on both weight and body fat % to monitor improvements.
We are not a gym and we are not a ‘boxercise’ or ‘body pump’ class. We are much more than this. Our clients are not just numbers on a database. They are women that are looking for specific results. Our service is the closest thing to hiring a quality Personal Trainer but at a fraction of the cost.
If you’re not already part of the programme then give us a call on 01604 769778 and give it a try.
To your healthy body,
Ricky