Skye Boyland Says...

Legendary DNA cover model and Victorian Natural Bodybuilding champ, Skye Boyland, is a part of the XWear Team. Check out his advice column "Skye Says..." for all your latest hints on Nutrition, Health and Well Being and General Fitness.

Skye is also a Australian Sports Nutrition Team Member, Sponsored Athlete and Fitness Model. He is based in Melbourne and has his own Personal Training business, OneLifeMethod.

Skye's Advice.... Weight Training VS Cardio For people who decide it's time to begin doing some exercise in order to trim down excess bodyfat, this is a common question - what is the best way for me to get lean? Should I be doing hours of cardio or should I be doing weights? The simple answer is, both. Before I explain why, let's examine the reason why we turn to exercise in the first place. The excess bodyfat has been stored on our bodies because the food we have consumed contains more energy than we have been able to spend with our daily activities. Excess energy (calories) have been stored as fat. Bummer. In order to turn this trend around, we need to restructure both our daily nutrition along with an exercise regime that will lead to us using MORE energy than we consume. This will see our bodies turning to the excess stored bodyfat for energy as we need it, essentially exiting our bodies. That's the good part. It really is a simple formula. (see my last article for more detail on calorie control) So once you've got your nutrition under control, it’s time to begin burning into those excess fat stores.

Everything we do uses energy, even sleeping. The trick with burning bodyfat is to maximise calorie expenditure by selecting movements that have a high energy output. Exercises with a high energy output are pretty easy to find since they are generally the ones that people find the most difficult and intense.

Jogging on a treadmill or pedalling on a bike have become the most popular exercises for fat loss, but they are certainly not the most effective. Think of the effort used to jog on a treadmill for a minute compared to the effort used to perform a heavy set of weights. It's obvious that the weights have a higher energy output.

Another factor to look at is muscle mass. Live tissue, or muscles, on the human body require large amounts of energy just to keep them alive. Extensive cardio activity will often lead to muscle tissue breakdown, which will mean your body will be burning LESS energy at rest. If you train with the intent of gaining muscle tissue, this new tissue will demand more energy once you leave the gym, compounding into more & more energy output while you rest!

For all the people out there who are concerned that weight training will make them too big and 'bulky' let me assure you it's not that easy to gain size. Trust me, the more muscle you have, the easier it will be to get lean and STAY lean. It doesn’t need to be much, just a little more than you have now will drastically increase your energy output. And I guarantee you won't one day wake up and say "Oh no, too much!".

Now I'm not outlawing cardio, it certainly has its place. It's very possible for us to go berserk on cardio equipment and get ridiculously lean.

However, without that slight increase in muscle mass, our resting energy output will either remain the same or become even less due to muscle tissue breakdown, which means it will be much harder for us to stay lean.

Unfortunately we can't decide where the bodyfat comes from, in much the same way as we can't decide where it goes when we eat a bowl of ice cream. Eg. Doing only leg exercises will not speed the rate your body burns fat from your legs. You're just as likely to burn that fat doing a push-up. Energy will be pulled from all over your body during excerise.

A great weight loss regime would involve a good weight training circuit, using relatively heavy weights with sets of reps between 10-12, followed with some cardio:

The food energy we’ve recently consumed will be expended during the weight session, leaving nothing but fat stores left for energy during the cardio at the end. Makes sense doesn't it?

Happy Training,
Skye :)

Make sure that you have signed up to get the newsletter so you can be one of the first to know when Skye's advice is released!

To contact Skye for more advice and information please click here to email him.

SPECIALISED SPORTS NUTRITION

Image couresy of DNA Magazine. Photography by Ross Brownsdon
Disclaimer: Figures used are for illustrative purposes only and will vary greatly between individuals. This is to be used as a guide only. The information contained on these pages is for information purposes only and is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition. Please see your doctor or physician prior to starting any nutritional plan or diet, exercise routine or workout plan. XWear accepts no responsibility or liability for any products advertised, dietary changes or exercises demonstrated on the website.