Let’s be clear there is no such thing as exercises that are going to make you lose fat, just like there is not such thing as food that will make you lose weight. I am referring to the ‘myth’ of spot reducing fat which basically means you are (magically) able to lose fat by targeting a specific body region through exercise. For instance, doing sit ups to lose weight around the abdominal region. If you have been doing endless amounts of sit ups in the gym because you want to get abs… I’m sorry to break it to you but you’re wasting your time. But hey, don’t get me wrong a strong core is important for sport, back and spine stability, etc. but what I’m saying is you can be spending the last 10 minutes of your workout doing something better with your time.

This is the same with food it would make a lot of health professional’s jobs easier just by telling us exactly what to eat to lose fat. This is a common misconception now days, why? Could it be what is in our hand’s aka: social media or is it the morning news letting us know Beyoncé’s 7-day workout regime leading up to Coachella… ‘cos dang she looked amazing’, or is all the click bate news articles that say “Supermodels try these three simple tricks to help define their inner thighs”. I think it’s a mix of all of them and it’s so confusing and to a point frustrating because it’s so misleading. Let me give you some straight facts:

1. A reduction in OVERALL body fat percentage gives ab definition. For men to have abdominal definition their body fat percentage has to be around 15-20% and for women its 20-23% body fat. These levels are significantly lower than the healthy recommendation of body fat. 
2. Ahh the good old #ThighGap is really based on the width of your hips, the angle of the pelvic bone and genetics.  
3. My queens we are not men for several wonderful reasons such as we are child bearers and thus have higher body fat levels, this is why it is a little harder for us to lose weight.
4. Stop crab walking on the treadmills with your booty bands – sorry I just had to say it.
5. Abs are made in the kitchen – I’m sure you have heard it before but its TRUE. If you want to lose weight and start to define/tighten/tone your body you have to look at what you’re eating and either (with assistance from a health professional) create a calorie deficit meal plan, eat leaner i.e. no sugar/processed food, no alcohol, lots of vegetables fruits and lean protein and combine this with an exercise plan that doesn’t involve lots one jointed movements and basic running, which brings me to numero 6;
6. Cardio isn’t the best nor the most enjoyable workout – don’t get me wrong sure it’s great for energy expenditure, but Kemosabe you can be doing something much better with your time. Compound movements through progressive overload (i.e. overtime increasing reps, timing your sets, etc.) is a great way to start because these use multiple muscle groups and joints  which are going to be burning more energy than isolation exercises (basically machine work). Isolation exercises are great for sculpting muscle but that’s another story.
7. Just to be clear! Cardio does not burn fat (like I said it’s great for energy expenditure) but the actual exercise like running for example does not burn fat… you can be eating too many calories and spending up to 5 hours a week on cardio and still be gaining weight.

You probably can start to see now why workouts like high-intensive interval training (HIIT) is becoming a great way to help lose weight. Like the name suggests it is high-intensive training which incorporates timed intervals with compound movements that are not necessarily advanced but just require you to move majority of your joints, and therefore several muscle groups. HIIT isn’t the only style of training but it’s definitely one of my favourites and if you’re someone that isn’t ready for weights this is a great place to start. As I mentioned earlier progressive overload is basically forcing your muscles to adapt to tension that is above and beyond what your body has previously experienced.

So, it can either be an increase each week in weight, you may time each set and progressively get more reps in as you become stronger or simply increase the amount of reps over time. Please remember that weights do not make you bulky do not be afraid of them they help sculpt our bodies the trick here is that by adding weight onto exercises increases the intensity consequently increasing your heart rate and if you time your sets and keep a slow and controlled manner you’re basically doing a low intensity version of HIIT… so it’s LIIT (fam) ;).

Now if you’re still sitting here thinking but how does [insert ‘fit’ influencer] look so good… Umm he/she probably (does some of the above points) fuels their body correctly, has discipline and bloody works hard in the gym (and kitchen) to get results. If your still sitting here and now thinking but I do that as well, first of all you are not them “You are you, that is truer than true…” – Dr. Seuss, what works for one person does not always for another, you do not have their genetics, or I’m sorry to say it but you may need to be more honest with yourself. Sure, you work out extremely hard but are you really disciplined?Splurging on alcohol or those cookies in the break room each day can add up. “I believe when your disciplines turn in to habits that is when you are truly disciplined” – Taylah Di-Filippo 😉.