Keep Burning!
This is the motto for the Orange Theory gyms popping up all around us.
Seems like a great marketing tactic. Isn’t that what you are seeking?
The ultimate calorie burn?!
Most think that this is what it’s all about. “The more I burn the faster I will lose weight.”
What if I told you this is deception that has been planted into your brain?
A fitness club will say anything to get you in the door of their club.
Now if you are choosing to exercise then I say great job! Doesn’t matter how you get your exercise just do it! However, you should understand the science behind exercise and diet and how these scales balance or outweigh one another to create or inhibit a result or change in your body and ultimately your health.
You see the slogan is correct, keep burning.
That is exactly what you will have to do, keep going, keep burning calories to stay running in the metaphorical hamster wheel day in and day out. And when you stop “burning” you will notice a quick return of any lost pounds whether they be fat or water weight.
Is Orange Theory a good cardio outlet…sure!
But is it a weight loss solution? Is it an overall health program for you? Maybe, maybe not.
The reason it is not all inclusive is because they have no strength focus and of course there is nutrition.
Everything is a competition for calories. Who burns the most is praised.
Then often the result is that the praised person feels so great about how hard they worked that they go and indulge in a high caloric meal and then other meals throughout the day as they normally would.
“I earned this!”
It isn’t that they go eat a hamburger although that may be the case, it’s more that they eat too many of the wrong foods that are labeled healthy. Let’s say a juice or smoothie plus a bagel with low fat cream cheese. This healthy snack probably set them back 100g of carbs or more, 20g of fat or more and 700 calories or more.
Well if they were just rewarded for burning 800 calories for their hour workout, you can see how this leaves them with all that hard work paying off only 100 calories lost for the day. This is simply not a sufficient rate for loss.
Now let’s tackle strength and lean muscle gain.
Because this class is cardio they aren’t developing enough lean muscle mass to assist them in the weight loss process. 10 pounds of lean muscle burns 100 extra calories per day. So by making sure you increase lean muscle while decreasing fat rather than just decreasing fat, you are getting that 100 cals with ease now lets add your workout calories. Weight lifting can produce 350-600 calories burned in a 30 minute session at Crave PT, even more if you lift heavy weights vigorously.
Moral of the story is that for an optimal result you need Strength, Cardio and Nutrition for a complete training program. Any gym that doesn’t offer you all three solutions is only helping you with a fraction of your health goals so consider that when you chose your gym.
You want an all-inclusive program and if you are seeking the fastest results then you need all three methods of training and nutrition. That is the truth!
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