This article is the 2nd of an 8-part series! I sent his information out to all of my Transformation Challenge Participants. Click the link if you want to learn more about it or participate in the next one! Cash prizes for the winners!

In week 1, we discussed how to build muscle and lose fat at the same time. Since we now recognize that your training is the driving force, next I need you to understand that you can't out-train a bad diet. Pictured below, you will see that your body burns calories in 4 different ways and we will talk about how to increase your resting metabolic rate.

Unfortunately, exercise doesn't burn that many calories. As you can see from the pie chart below, formal training burns very few calories (10-20%) compared to the total number of calories you burn throughout the entire day. This is why the saying "you can't out-train a bad diet" is so true.

If your resting metabolic rate is the key to weight loss then you're probably asking, "How do I increase my resting metabolic rate (RMR)?" You can spend several hours exercising to burn 1000 calories but eating 1000 calories can take as little as 10 minutes. This doesn't mean you should stop exercising because remember, like we talked about in week 1, your training is like the engine in a car. Without the engine, you aren't going anywhere. You can have the best diet in the world but without proper training, you will not build muscle and you will not improve your body composition. You will just become skinny fat.

This chart just means you should stop trying to use exercise as the ONLY tool for controlling your weight and body composition. So if you're someone who stresses about the number of calories burned during a workout on your Apple watch, I hope this shifts your focus to your resting metabolic rate and nutrtion instead.

Tips to Improve RMR

• Increase Your Muscle Mass - This is where resistance training comes into play. Muscle burns more calories than fat because muscles are high-maintenance tissues. Your body needs to expel more energy in order to maintain them because they are constantly in use. People with higher muscle mass end up burning more calories than people with low muscle mass, even when they’re just sitting. This is why the saying "it is easier to stay in shape than to get in shape" exists. It doesn't sound fair but I'll get you there.

• Maintain Your Caloric Intake - This may sound counter-intuitive, but when you restrict your calories too much, your body enters survival mode and tries to hold onto the calories it gets. Your metabolism will drop as a result. When entering a caloric deficit, it is best to do small drops each week to let your body adapt instead of cutting calories by 50% all at once.

• Eat More Protein - Foods that are high in protein are usually low in fat and calories. When you increase your protein intake, your body will use more energy to burn them than it would for fats and carbs. An adequate amount of protein is necessary for both fat loss and muscle growth!

• Get a Good Night Sleep - Sleep deprivation has a negative effect on your metabolism. The video last week also talked about a very interesting study where participants who slept an hour more than the control group burned significantly more fat. The March newsletter covered sleep in more depth so if you did not receive that one, feel free to ask me for it!
   

Long story, shot…. Progressive Resistance Training + Dialed-In Nutrition = Success

Look at exercise as training to improve performance, learn new skills, longevity, build muscle, and get really freakin strong. Then, use your nutrition, recovery, health parameters, etc. to control what happens on the scale, in the mirror, and how your clothes fit. Training and nutrition complement each other when executed properly. This will not only help you succeed in fitness but it will also save you from heading down the dangerous path of overtraining and undernourishing your body.

Please reach out with questions at any time and check out the next article in this series!

Paul Rabic