Priority #1 in Weight Loss: Keep your Muscle

A while back we talked about the hard WORK of weight loss and the problem with typical diet techniques that result in a 95% rate of regaining the weight.

To get off the yo-yo cycle and keep weight off for good, a dieter’s first priority needs to be to maintain their muscle. This is the only way for one’s metabolic rate to maintain as their weight is decreased. This doesn’t result in the fastest weight loss, that's for sure. Muscle does after all have weight. So what does this mean from a diet and exercise standpoint? First of all, it completely unvalidates any weight loss programs that do not promote fitness. Maintaining muscle in periods of calorie reduction can only be done through exercise. Strength training especially will help to maintain this muscle.

Second, it means we have to be conservative about cutting calories so that our bodies have enough nutrition to maintain our muscle mass while we lose. If you are serious about long term weight maintenance and health, don’t allow yourself to lose weight too fast. Depending on how much you have to lose, even 1 or 2 pounds a week could mean you are losing muscle along with the fat. Consider creating your calorie reduction by exercising more, which improves your metabolic rate, over eating less, which decreases your metabolism.

Lastly, it means that weight in itself is not a good measure of your progress towards losing body fat. A body composition test is a service provided by most personal trainers that shows you the amount of fat you’re losing. If slow results have been a deterrent in the past, body fat testing can be instrumental in keeping you motivated.

Strengthen your Low Back

Strengthening your low back as you strenghten your frontal core muscles is important to keeping your muscles in balance and preventing low back pain. I recommend the following basic low back exercise because it is easy to do with no equipment and is very effective, requiring very little time.

Lie on your stomach with arms extended above your head. (Think: Superman!)
Lift one arm while simultaneously lifting the opposite leg. Keep your head down and lift from the lower back. Alternate sides, lifting slowly and in a controlled fashion. As you get used to the exercise, hold this position for 15 seconds and then switch sides. Do each side 2-4 times. As this becomes easy, lengthen the holds to 30 seconds and then 1 minute. When one minute becomes comfortable, try adding a "pulse" - just a small movement up and down instead of holding steady. Start at 30 seconds and then work up again.

The video below shows the initial exercise, slow lifts without the hold or pulse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNbun_9jNPQ&feature=related

If lying all the way on the ground is uncomfortable, you also can do this exercise by balancing on one knee and one hand:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKphoBQZnpE&feature=related

You are well on your way to a strong and healthy back!