Tackling a Weight Loss Plateau With Exercise

Tackling a Weight Loss Plateau With Exercise

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3) Physical activity
Capitalise on the small things. Often we think the weight loss is achieved through exercise and nutrition and often we overlook what we actually do with our bodies for the entirety of a given day. Look at your daily routines and see what tiny changes you could make that would easily allow you to burn more calories through general activities. i.e. park further away from work/gym (why do people always try to park outside the door of a health club?!), cycle or walk to work if possible. Try an evening stroll after dinner 1-2 times a week if you don't already. Pump up the volume on your favourite music while you do the dishes, housework etc and get dancing; take the stars instead of a lift/escalator. These small things really DO make the difference because generally people's lifestyles don't encourage a lot of movement and we spend too great a time in a car, at a desk or on a couch.

4) Train more
If you train 3 times a week then consider 4 sessions. Whatever frequency of sessions you do a week, consider upping it, even by a mini session, a 30 min express workout!

5) Intensity
If you are enjoying your running or rowing, you could vary the intensities of your training sessions as this too will force the body to work harder and kick start your fat-burning potential.

You could work at an intensity of 70-90% (or 8-9 out of 10 on a scale of your personal effort) for a lesser time 15-35 mins (you simply won't be able to train for as long at this intensity). The higher the intensity, the more calories that are burned in the session and the longer the metabolic rate remains elevated therefore using up more fat cells! Even though your duration is shorter you can still burn as many calories and actually burn more body fat in the following days.