Given that one of our main office services is functional nutrition, we naturally have patients galore who are interested in losing weight.  Along with this comes the question as to what are the best exercises to compliment the diet.  I often find that a common emphasis for the exercise becomes “to lose weight”, understandibly so since this in fact is their goal.  And so, they go on and on with lengthy cardiovascular sessions as a sole means to achieve this in hopes that their body fat will melt away.

Put the brakes on this line of thinking! Fitness is much more than simply performing a “cardio” routine.  To be fit one must consider the different elements that comprise fitness, including flexibility, muscular endurance, balance, coordination, speed, strength, power, and of course, cardiovascular endurance.  When you have or acquire the skills that follow the performance of each of the above mentioned categories, the byproduct is an attractive phyique that is proportional in terms of fat and muscle, along with securing all the health benefits associated with each one.

So, your focus on how to improve your physique should be on the development of these skills.  As your skills become more refined, your body composition changes because there becomes a greater need for strength, for power, for muscular endurance, etc. as you train accordingly.  In other words, your body changes in order to give you the required skills to perform the activities demanded of it.

 Hence, not only do you ultimately burn more calories, improve your muscle to fat ratio, and lose weight faster, but you will also be enjoying the many other benefits derived from working on these other aspects of fitness, which are often disregarded. 

So, give it a try.  If you are unsure on how to incorporate these different elements of fitness, contact us.  We’ll get you on the right path.

Rick Duenas, DC, NASM-CPT