By Dr. Davide Cacciola
Muscle toning and weight loss are two factors related to training that cannot be considered separately.
Mating is necessary because unfortunately it is still believed that losing weight means losing weight and that's it. A weight loss is not necessarily synonymous with fat reduction, especially when it occurs in a short time, such as following an uncontrolled diet. In this case, first of all, the body water and the protein mass, ie the cell mass, and not the fat mass vary.
Proper weight loss means decreasing fat mass while maintaining or increasing lean mass. Conversely, an increase in weight following a period of training in the gym is not always correlated to an increase in muscle mass.
Unlike what you may think, the element to which to refer is always the lean mass, not the fat one, since the metabolism is essentially linked to it. It is the lean mass that produces metabolism and therefore must be controlled, well fed and stimulated in order not to incur malnutrition. It is through an increased activity of the metabolism that it is possible to obtain the reduction of excess body fat, preventing an overweight from degenerating into obesity. Often, however, the attention falls erroneously and obsessively on the fat mass.
It must also be said that adopting the classic "bi-compartmental" model Lean mass / Fat mass gives no indication of the subject's state of nutrition and hydration: it is possible to meet healthy, sick, decompensated, malnourished, well-fed, dehydrated obese individuals or oedematous and from the estimate of the lean and fat masses it is absolutely not possible to go up or monitor any of these states.
Desiring precision in estimating, a more adequate body composition model is needed, which divides the body into several compartments, sensitive to hydration and nutrition, with which to explain all weight variations, regardless of whether they occur in the fat mass, in the mass muscle or body fluids.
To this end, the "tri-compartmental" model to which one of the most sophisticated assessment methods for body composition refers, Bioimpedentiometria (BIA), is certainly more suitable.
The model consists of:
- Fat Mass: Expresses all the body fat that goes from the essential fat to the adipose tissue.
- Cell Mass: Compartment that contains the tissue inside the cells, rich in potassium, which exchanges oxygen, which oxidizes glucose.
- Extracellular mass: Component that includes the extra cellular tissues, therefore the plasma, the interstitial fluids (extracellular water), the transcellular water (cerebrospinal fluid, articular fluids), the tendons, the dermis, the collagen, the elastin and the skeleton.
Extracellular water is the most significant volumetric compartment of the Extra Cellular Mass and is the space subject to the most rapid and significant variations.
The Lean Mass is the result of the sum of the Cell Mass with the Extra Cellular Mass.
After having carried out an initial evaluation of the body composition, we will proceed with setting up a schedule of training sessions, with variable periods. Specifically, training will involve modulation of factors such as intensity, volume, loads, series, repetitions and recoveries, in order to develop constant and progressive adaptations to the training sessions.
The risk you face is to lose kg of lean mass, which leads to a reduction in basal metabolism, with a consequent slowing of the slimming process.
To avoid this unpleasant inconvenience, very often unfortunately due to misconceptions about training, I will list below some general rules to follow to set up a training program:
- Train intensely but with moderation: with this statement I mean that you don't need to go to the gym every day, 2-3 weekly training sessions are enough, as long as they are intense enough to stimulate the metabolism and cause adaptations.
- Train in the weight room first, then move on to aerobic work: The type of effort required in the weight room is "anaerobic", intense and of short duration. Therefore the energy source required to carry out these efforts is purely "glucose". To make the most of the carbohydrate reserves, the work in the weight room must precede the aerobic one.
- Always select exercises that allow you to use multiple muscle groups at the same time: So, go ahead for bending on the legs, on the arms, pulling, pushing etc. These "global" movements compel our body to a higher caloric expenditure and also increase strength, coordination and balance more than isolated movements.
- Do not overdo it with aerobics: Aerobic activity (long run, exercise bike) must be moderate, even in this case you do not need to run for hours on the treadmill, it takes 10 to 20 minutes after training. I do not agree much with the theory of activation of fat metabolism after 30'-40 'of low-intensity aerobic activity. If it is true that in this way the fat metabolism is activated, it is true that there is a huge loss of liquids and sometimes of lean mass.
- Avoid overtraining: As mentioned above, exercising too often causes loss of muscle tone in many cases. This is just one of the signs of overtraining. Stubbornly ignoring the signals of overtraining has only one consequence: to make the training counterproductive. This is why it is important to listen to your body: at the first signs of loss of appetite, joint pain and general feeling of weakness, it is important to take a few days of recovery.
Other important rules to follow are the power supply. No training program produces significant results in a short time if not accompanied by correct eating habits. Therefore the following dietary recommendations should be combined with the rules listed above:
- Divide the meals into 5-6 daily dishes every three hours: Then add two snacks to the three main meals of the day, mid-morning and mid-afternoon. If necessary, insert a meal before going to bed.
- Increasing the daily protein quantity if moderate / intense physical activity is practiced, is necessary to counteract catabolism, therefore maintaining the lean mass; choose protein sources like meat, fish and low-fat dairy products
- Reduce sugars, refined carbohydrates and saturated fats: sugar intake creates a rapid increase in blood glucose levels (blood sugar). This phenomenon stimulates the release of a hormone called insulin, which promotes the absorption of glucose into the cells. The latter, if in excess, is transformed into fat. Saturated fats are harmful because they increase cholesterol levels.
- Replace them with low / medium glycemic index carbohydrates, mono and polyunsaturated fats, such as whole foods, fruit, vegetables, extra virgin olive oil, walnuts or almonds.
- Drink at least 1 ½ / 2 liters of water per day.
