Making A Difference

The majority of things you'll learn on Fat Burn With TJ comes from my own experiences: experiences consisting of hard work, determination, discipline, passion, trials and errors, and extensive research. From these experiences, I intend to make a difference in your life and help you to reach your target goal in health and fitness. But I can't do it alone: you have to give the dedication and the effort needed to make a difference in your own health and fitness. Just as I've made a difference in my own life, I believe you can too.

This is my hope for you.

Regards,
T.J.

Calorie Cycling: Using It To Effectively Build Muscle And Burn Fat

In my previous article, Fat Loss Pre- and Post- Christmas Season: An Effective Strategy, I talked about using Calorie Cycling to minimize fat gain around the Christmas season. Christmas is usually a time where I increase my calorie consumption, and this has been one of the most effective methods I've used for both avoiding excess fat gain and burning off fat after the season ends.

However, this method goes beyond any special occasion: calorie cycling can be effectively used for burning fat while building or maintaining muscle based on any schedule that accommodates your time, flexibility, and discipline.

This method will also be useful in helping individuals who've experienced stagnation in their fat loss progress, understand why it happens, and a corrective measure.

The Necessity Of Strength Training For Fat Loss

Stop me if you've heard this one before: "To drop the body fat, you need to exercise to burn the fat" OR "I want to lose weight first before I start gym". So what do we usually do? We start performing cardio training sessions to accommodate this goal. In combination with a good meal plan, cardiovascular workouts are undoubtedly an effective method of body weight reduction.

But they are only part of the equation. What about strength training (also called resistance training)? A lot of people exclude strength training from their fitness plan.

As I stated earlier, cardio is effective at reducing body weight. But a problem emerges right there: that body weight usually includes fat, water weight, and muscle. That's right: precious muscle is lost in the burning process, which is a negative end-result of a cardio-only fat loss plan.

This goes back to my first article, Fat Loss or Weight Loss? Why The Focus Should Always Be Fat Loss. The aim of any fat loss plan should always be to maximize as much fat loss as possible, while minimizing as much muscle loss as possible. This is crucial. And this is where strength training comes in.