Plan your Fat Loss Phase like this..
When it comes to programming a training program, we factor in periodisation which is a word used for planning. Just like programming for training, we also need to program and plan for fat loss. At Frontline Fitness we use a 3-stage model when it comes to planning out a fat loss journey.
Follow along this blog to get a better understanding about how to set yourself up for a positive outcome with your fat loss process.
Stage 1 - PRIME
This is probably the most important phase. Why?
I will tell you why. Being in a calorie deficit is stressful on the body. If you are under an extreme amount of stress and maybe in a chronically stressed out position with life, adding this into the picture will run you into the floor. The last thing you want to do is put yourself into a physiologically stressed out state while being psychologically and physically stressed.
So this is why we do a PRIMING phase.
This is where we:
Eat at maintenance calories for 2-4 weeks and this may even push to 2-3 months if we think bio-feedback needs to be improved greatly.
Focus on improving bio-feedback which includes - Sleep, Mood, Sex Drive, Energy and Readiness to train.
Mentally preparing for a Fat loss Phase.
Progressively overloading in the gym to get stronger
By doing this, we can get into a healthier state to get us ready for the fat loss journey ahead. It takes time to optimise the body, improve hormonal function and increase our metabolism.
There can be a massive upside to the PRIMING phase and that is in a scenario where someone is chronically fatigued and stressed. If we are to build up their bio-feedback, increase their calories and perform better in the gym this will lead to building more muscle, moving more on a day to day basis which in turn may lead to an increase in FAT LOSS! So we milk this process for as long as we can until we can lose as much as possible without restricting food.
Stage 2 - PERFORM
Fat loss begins. It is time to PERFORM. This is our Fat Loss Phase and we can take this up to at least 8 weeks and potentially all the way to 24 weeks. It is always context dependant with a fat loss journey.
How much weight do you have to lose?
How much time do we have to reach your desired goal?
What social events are coming up across the next 2-4 months?
What does your social life consist of?
Where you live?
The list can truely go on and on, but we take a lot into account before prescribing a Fat Loss phase to an individual.
On a very rare occasion, if someone comes to us with a very well balanced lifestyle and seems to be in a healthy position then we may progress them instantly to the PERFORM phase.
Stage 3 - PROTECT
Once we are complete and achieve our desired goal it doesn't stop there. This is where people usually mess it all up and rebound. Rebounding is when you basically put on all or most of the weight lost. This is not fun. For anyone reading this that has experienced it you can relate.
Now let's talk about how we can enhance and PROTECT yourself from rebounding.
We focus on some key points:
How much weight did you lose?
How lean did you get?
What is your relationship with food now?
Has there been much of a depreciation in your bio-feedback?
In the Protect phase it is important that we increase your calories to a certain point that will get you out of the deficit and ideally maintaining weight. Initially you will increase in weight due to an increase in muscle glycogen (Carbs in the muscle) but that shouldn't be an issue within a week or two.
Two key data collections we go for during this phase are:
Progress pictures
Performance increase in the gym
In Summary
This method has worked successfully for us with hundreds of our clients through our coaching services.
This does take longer than most fat loss phases you may see out there, but we aim for educating our clients and ensuring there is a sustainable and effective fat loss journey. Learn, adapt and grow!
