1. Cardio burns the most fat

Losing fat comes down to burning more calories than you consume in a day. Rather than just looking at how much fat you burn during an exercise session you need to be aware of what is happening throughout the day. Along with being mindful of the food/drink you consume you must also look at ways to increase your Daily Metabolic Rate (the amount of calories you burn in one day).

There are many benefits to cardio vascular training and it is a great calorie burner. Jogging for 30 minutes will burn you around 300 calories (which is a third higher than resistance training for the same period. However don’t be fooled by the calories burnt during your workout. We must also look at the calories burnt post workout. After a resistance workout your body needs to repair the damaged muscle tissue through protein synthesis and this leads to an increase in your calorie expenditure for a number of hours after your workout.

In summary, what you eat is one of the most important things when it comes to burning fat. Whilst aerobic (cardio) training helps, combining it with weight training will yield the best results – not just for calorie burn but for all the health benefits of exercise.

2. Longer is better

Firstly, we must remember that fitness is specific and the type of training you do should be tailored to the individual and their desired outcomes. Therefore you can never really say one type of exercise is better than another, or that longer is better than shorter, without putting it into context. For example if you are training for a marathon you need to prepare the body to cope with running for a long period of time. Only doing high intensity training for 20 minutes at a time will yield some health benefits but probably isn’t get you through 26 miles of running.

What yields the biggest results in our studio is adherence to an exercise program. We ask clients to look at the time they have available and then devise a training program around the time that they can realistically commit to.

HIIT, and any form of interval training can be very efficient if you are short on time but remember it is a tool that should be used as part of a bigger training plan. Interval training is hard and it can take longer to recover from. It is not suitable for people that are new to exercise and in essence, you can only do so much HIIT before your body wears out.

In summary, if you are short on time and familiar with exercise adhere to a HIIT program for a phase of 6-8 weeks of training. Following this, change your workout to ensure your body doesn’t plateau and you can keep progressing.

3. Working out before breakfast is best

Firstly, lets remember that getting a workout in is more important than trying to push for a PB (personal best) every time you train.

There are studies, including this one from the International Journal of Obesity, proving that those that eat earlier in the day lose more weight than those who eat later in the day or skipped a meal.

There has also been some hype regarding Intermittent Fasting arguing that exercising after a 10-12hour over night fast will allow the body to burn down fat stores (fat oxidation) as your body won’t have access to energy provided from food.

For me it is personal preference. I personally “feel” more energised and focused when I have breakfast within an hour of waking up, thus before my workout as these are usually 11am.

I believe that a well-balanced, healthy breakfast is the best breakfast for most individuals. Whether it’s before a workout or after a workout is personal preference.

4. Protein shakes make you bulky 

Protein shakes will only make you bulky if you are consuming more calories than you burn. Your total dietary picture needs to be reviewed. Ultimately, protein shakes are a food. A common mistake is adding a protein shake on top of usual daily food and even mixing it with big calorie items such a milk or porridge when there is no requirement to do so.

At Eqvvs, we are firm believers that food comes first. Are you measuring your dietary protein? Do you even need to supplement it with a shake?

If you need to add to your dietary protein try and buy a product with minimal ingredients. Often products that don’t state low calorie or low carbs on the label contain lots of other additives to make it palatable. There are also some great dietary products on the market that can aid muscle repair however, an adequate cool down and post workout stretch can also help to reduce DOMS.

5. Thigh Gap 

I have been asked a few times now by clients “what can I do to get me a thigh gap?” My response is very simple “that’s like looking at someone who is 6 foot 2 and saying what can I do to be 6 foot 2!”

It all comes down your genetics, anatomy and bone structure. There is not a great deal you can do about the width of your hips or the length of your femoral head!

No amount of dieting or squats will get you a desired thigh gap. Don’t get me wrong, you can reduce overall body fat and tone the thighs through exercise and diet but that’s as far as it goes.

So why set yourself up for a fail? Give your self-esteem a break and choose a realistic goal.

Words by Nicola Addison

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We spend a third of our waking life at work, so it makes sense that our office environment should support us in our pursuits of optimum health and all-round well being. As humans we were built to move thirty kilometres a day; in our modern day we cover an average of a single kilometre. Such sedentary lives are a given symptom of our globalised, technology-aided and desk-bound working days and have become a symbol of the state of modern health. Yet it is entirely possible to integrate healthy habits into the office to reduce the negative effects of being seated at the computer for long periods of time, eating fast food on the go and generally missing out on that all-important work/life balance.

One company is making it its aim to demonstrate that the workplace need not be a contributor to the general decline of global health: Better known for its yellow-coded gym equipment, Technogym is now leading the way in eradicating the synonymous relationship between the corporate environment and poor health, as demonstrated with its head office in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. The Technogym office is the icon of the Technogym lifestyle and a forerunner in the drive to change workplace health.

Referred to as the Technogym ‘ecosystem’, or ‘Wellness Village’, the space which physically represents the company philosophy and houses 1000 of its employees has been designed as a futuristic idyll, because, according to company founder Nerio Alessandri, inhabiting innovative and comfortable environments is integral to employee happiness. The human-centric design of the village utilises natural light and draws from the architecture of its green and hilly surroundings which are mirrored in the use of natural, high performance materials inside the building to remain as close to nature as possible, therefore providing a calm and tranquil working environment.

As a brand, Technogym promotes a focus on the concept of ‘wellness’ over the more body-specific ‘fitness’. Wellness, it says, is an inclusive term referring to overall holistic health, thus encompassing the full spectrum of total wellbeing which it strives to represent. ‘Wellness’, says Nerio, ‘is not three times per week in the gym, it is 24 hours in terms of approach, culture, design, quality of life’.

To utilise the village’s facilities each of the company’s workers is given a leisurely two-hour lunch break in which they are encouraged to workout in the state-of-the-art, fully equipped, dual-floor gym. Because ultimately, its gym products are what the company is known for above all else. Employees can make use of the vast array of Technogym equipment from every product line, including every runner’s dream, the new MyRun treadmill, which choreographs personalised workouts and training plans and adjusts the user’s playlists to match their running paces, making it a revolutionary in the concept of static running. There is also the almost-too-beautifully-designed-to-sweat-on mirrored Kinesis (Madonna has one..) to have fun building muscle with. When a vitamin D boost is required, there’s the outdoor running track and wooded trail and basketball court to enjoy in the Italian sunshine.

Every employee’s physical activity is logged in the ‘wellness cloud’, the most active employee is given a movement reward and, for added benevolence, all exercise is transferred into points which are converted into food donations for charity through their #letsmoveforabetterworld campaign. So not only do workers improve their own physical health, they are giving back to their communities and getting a good dose of charity-induced well-being to boot. Collecting movement points is not difficult for those working out of the Wellness Village. All offices and meeting rooms are chair-less, meaning only standing or balancing on balls, to lengthen the spine and engage the core, is possible. There are also jugs permanently filled with filtered water and vending machines stocked up with clean snacks in all communal spaces. Quirkier details to encourage healthier choices include lift doors which instruct you to take the stairs and food pyramids decorating the subsidised staff canteen, which represents the integral role nutrition plays in wellness with its locally-sourced, seasonal and organic menus.

Whilst the majority of corporate settings are, of course, unable to provide such lavish emotional and physical benefits to staff, the waves Technogym is making in the quest to eliminate work-related stress and inactivity is proving that even small changes in the workplace can contribute to improved wellness and that work need not be a barrier to a fulfilling an active and healthy life.

Words by Rachel Bednarski

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