I’ve been talking to a friend about how to lose weight, get fit etc. Each time I do this find myself explaining some concepts that I really think belong here because I feel the industry and media tell us all one thing but the evidence and in particular my personal experience tells me other things.

What type?

On the question of whether explosive and strength work should be excluded in favour of conditioning work. I feel you can research all you like at the mo but the knowledge just isn’t out there. My view is that if you increased explosive work you’d be improving your sprint ability. Doing this helps you get a faster rate of movement and thus burn more calories per step. It also puts a massive load on your system and thus a massive training stimulus. Strength work can work in a simlar way because you can carry greater loads. Anything you do when carrying a greater load increases the calories needed to get the job done. It’s not all an exact science because it depends how you carry it and a multitude of factors but I’m really saying lots of different kinds of activity, training and exercise can all benefit you in the search for weight loss will also making you more capable in your day to day life.

These things may not be considered conditioning work but I often think conditioning work is too limited. Work within your limits but make sure you keep checking what your real limits are. I remember showing people at the gym that what they thought they could squat was about half to two thirds what they could actually squat. So that’s why they weren’t improving much. Cos they weren’t really pushing themselves.

Learn about you

So use your training this time to learn about yourself and how your body works. Try different things out and keep spicing things up. I’ve spent years trying different things and I still find new takes on things. All this experience stays with you and helps you long term. So just don’t think for the short term too much otherwise it will all end up being wasted.

Keep adjusting your goals

Another way to put it is that you need to regularly re-establish new limits. Conditioning standards for this month should be out of date next month. Each week you should be trying to figure out how many calories in total you’re burning. Just a rough guess. It’s worth knowing that for about every 1 mile you cover you burn around 100 cals. That’s why you need to focus on running further for every 10 minutes running, jogging or walking you do. So increasing your top speed can help with this.

Focus on the process not the numbers

There seems to be a discrepancy in the numbers that indicate how much fat we burn while running. However, I believe that these numbers may not be entirely accurate, as there are other energy costs associated with running that we cannot yet measure. It is a common misconception that most weight loss is achieved through dieting alone.

In fact, we often overlook the nutrients that we lose by restricting our food intake. Additionally, there is a lack of research on the energy that is expended as heat while running and rebuilding our bodies. What bothers me is that the only way we currently measure this energy is by looking at the oxygen we breathe in and out during exercise. This assumption can be misleading, and there is a need for further investigation into the true energy costs of running.

There are numerous levels of misconceptions in that assumption, but it was what I was taught during my degree. In my opinion, our bodies have the ability to adapt and use the energy from various sources efficiently. We also recycle some of the carbon dioxide, which doesn’t get released into our breath.

Additionally, nobody has ever informed me about the cost that the body bears to repair and rebuild cells. I believe it is considerable, considering the amount required by babies and kids in comparison to their body weight.

Anyway I hope you get the picture. I’m just waiting until someone adds this up properly

Focus on quality

I hope I’m making sense. My point is that you should challenge yourself in various ways and learn how to measure your limits and progress through methods that can be applied anywhere. That’s why I suggest tracking your calories per mile or kilometer. This will enable you to assess the quality of your training and compare it to previous sessions. By monitoring your speed in miles or kilometers per hour, you can track your progress over time and see improvements week by week.ek.