Are you exercising and eating healthy but still not losing weight? Fitness experts say there may be a hidden reason why.
Experts agree that weight loss occurs when your body is in a calorie deficit — that is, when you burn more calories than you take in.
But Chloe Thomas, a British personal trainer and nutrition coach, explains: mirrorIts deficiency can lead to a phenomenon called “metabolic adaptation.”
“When you reduce your calorie intake, your metabolism slows down,” Thomas told the outlet this week. “This adaptation can make it harder to lose weight or keep it off.”
Thomas argues that every person has a “set point”: this marker, influenced by body composition, metabolic rate, genetics, and appetite regulation, represents the weight at which the body is most stable and functions at an optimal level.
“Although your set weight may fluctuate slightly in response to changes in lifestyle and environmental factors, your body typically maintains this weight range through mechanisms that regulate hunger, energy expenditure, and fat storage,” Thomas says.
This defense mechanism kicks into gear if we deviate too far from this point, and our body resists weight loss no matter how hard we try.
Another reason you may not be gaining weight is because you are prioritizing cardio over strength training.
Fitness Expert and Online Coach River Hardy He told the Mirror that strength training should be the backbone of any fitness plan.
“Cardio is a great supplemental tool to burn off excess calories and get you into a larger calorie deficit than you’re currently in through nutrition alone,” Hardy says, “but the most important part of any training routine is weightlifting.”
Strength training may not burn as many calories as aerobic exercise right away, but it does build muscle tissue, and maintaining muscle tissue requires more energy and calories over time.
Hardy’s advice is echoed by Jenna Rizzo, a Georgia-based weight-loss coach for women, who recently said her No. 1 recommendation for weight loss is strength training.
She explains: “You don’t need to waste precious time in the gym doing hours of cardio. Strength training allows you to target specific muscles to tone and sculpt them.”
Science supports squats: Stanford University researchers reported that people who strength train lose more fat and maintain blood sugar levels better than those who do aerobic exercise or a combination of strength and cardio.
In another study, Published in the British Journal of Sports MedicineStrength training has been shown to strengthen muscles The brain as well.By improving the brain’s ability to access and process glucose, exercise lowers the risk of a variety of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
Ready to get started? New York-based fitness coach and personal trainer Claudette Sarrija We have shared six basic moves to master.
She encourages everyone to master the squat, hinge, push, pull, lunge and carry using only their own body weight before reaching for weights.
“Once you become comfortable with these movements, you can combine them to create more complex movements,” she advises.
