(Newswire.net — November 25, 2019) — Most women who try to lose weight want to drop body fat, but sometimes it can be challenging to lose fat mass and still preserve lean mass. Unfortunately, with typical low-calorie diet plans, women may end up losing muscle mass and looking untoned.
Despite this fact, there are strategic ways to lose fat while still building lean muscle and creating a toned, strong body. Take it from renowned personal trainer Jolene Cherry who has built her career on helping her clients achieve their fitness goals in a healthy and safe fashion.
Read on to learn about Jolene Cherry’s three secrets for blasting fat, building muscle, and achieving a lean, toned appearance.
Prioritize Strength Training
If you have focused most of your energy on cardio exercise, you may be selling yourself short, because it turns out that strength training has significant benefits for women who want to get lean. A 2015 study in the journal Open Medicine compared the effects of cardio exercise to those of strength training among a group of overweight women. The women performed either aerobic exercise or strength training three days per week for 16 weeks.
Study results showed that the two groups lost equal amounts of weight, but those in the strength-training group lost more weight in the midsection. They also increased their muscle mass and enjoyed an increase in metabolism compared to those in the aerobic training group. These findings indicate that strength training can burn belly fat and promote weight loss while building muscle and elevating metabolism. This makes weight lifting ideal for women who want to build a lean, toned figure.
Up Protein Intake
Beyond lifting weights, increasing protein intake can have benefits for women who want to drop fat and become more toned. In a 2018 study in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, women who were completing an eight-week strength training routine consumed either a high-protein or a low-protein diet. Those following the high-protein diet gained significantly more muscle mass and lost a significant amount of body fat. In contrast, those on the low-protein diet did not significantly decrease body fat. A high protein diet appears to be effective for promoting fat loss and muscle gain in conjunction with a weight lifting program.
If consuming lean protein such as chicken and fish just isn’t your thing, try boosting your diet with a healthy and delicious protein shake. Jolene Cherry recommends experimenting with several flavors to find what works best for your tastebuds. Remember to make it fun, and don’t shy away from bold combinations.
Add Interval Training
While strength training is preferable to cardio exercise for women who want to shed fat and maintain muscle mass, a specific type of cardio training, called high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, can be beneficial. With HIIT, exercisers alternate periods of high-intensity activity, such as sprinting, with recovery periods like walking or slow jogging. Women participating in a 2014 study in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism completed an interval-training workout three times per week for six weeks. The workout involved running four to six 30-second sprints, followed by four minutes of rest between sprints. Study results showed that women lost a significant amount of fat and reduced their waist sizes while increasing muscle mass. Much like strength training, interval training supports a toned physique by burning fat and building muscle.
With interval training, strength training, and a high-protein diet, it is possible for women to shed excess body fat and build muscle at the same time. This ensures the development of a lean, toned physique and prevents women from becoming “skinny fat” or slowing their metabolisms as they lose weight. With this trio of strategies, it is easy for women to achieve their ideal figures.
About Jolene Cherry:
Jolene Cherry is a certified and experienced yoga instructor and personal trainer based in Portland, Oregon. She has always been interested in fitness, meditation, and nutrition and decided to help others reach their desired levels of physical fitness. Her international training and experience, ranging from Hawaii to Thailand, along with her nurturing one-on-one sessions have helped propel her to a prominent personal trainer and yoga instructor in the Pacific Northwest. She excels in a variety of yoga styles, especially Vinyasa Yoga, traditional Ashtanga Yoga, Power Yoga, as well as meditation-oriented Yin Yoga.