With all the pills and powders that promise fast fat loss results, it’s hard to know what’s necessary to reach your fitness goals. What does it take to see your abs? When should you do HIIT to avoid overtraining and get the most benefit from the workout? We’ll answer all these questions and a couple more in this weeks Q&A weekly roundup.
- Are supplements necessary for fat loss?
- Does eating a lot of protein make you gain muscle mass?
- Is white rice healthy?
- Do abs get defined by burning body fat, or doing abs exercises?
- When should I do HIIT cardio?
Question #1 | Are supplements necessary for fat loss?
Supplements are not necessary for fat loss. If you base your diet on whole foods, and consume fewer calories than you expend, you will be able to lose fat. Fill your meals with lean protein, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, and possibly some whole carbohydrates. You’ll need to play around with your carb intake to find out what works best for your body. You also want to make sure that you’re eating adequate amounts of protein to preserve muscle. In addition to nutrition, incorporate resistance training and high intensity interval cardio into your program to ensure you are targeting body fat and preserving lean muscle. Check out the Free Get Lean Guide for more advice and a sample workout.
Hope this answers your question!
- Kristin ( Kristin Rooke, CPT)
Question #2 | Does eating a lot of protein make you gain muscle mass?
Big fan of the website, thanks for all the tips! I’ve been losing weight for about 2 years now, going from 240 lbs, down to about 160-165 lbs, and about 15% bodyfat. Lately though, I’ve been religiously writing down everything I eat along with calories and macro-nutrients. I have been aiming for about 120-150 grams of protein per day, while staying around 1500-1800 calories for the past two weeks. This is the first time in my life, (21 years old) that I have really tried to keep my protein up, and I find that it’s adding some unwanted muscle mass. I can’t tell if it’s in my head, and I’m just noticing more muscle the leaner I get, or if I’m actually getting bigger. Is this normal, and should I maybe just bring my protein intake down?
Cheers – Justin
- Marc ( Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)
Question #3 | Is white rice healthy?
White rice is another name for milled rice, which means the beneficial nutrients within the rice has been removed in an effort to preserve storage life. There are better alternatives such as brown and or wild rice, than still contain the husk, bran, and germ which are removed from white milled rice. As far as rice or noodles, it all depends on the type of noodles (just as with rice). There are whole grain options as well as general noodles. The nutritional composition of rice and noodles vary, but brown rice and whole grain noodles are likely the better options.
Best,
- Kwesi (Kwesi Peters, CPT, Community Manager)
Question #4 | Do abs get defined by burning body fat, or doing abs exercises?
Thanks! – David
That is exactly correct: burn the fat off your abs and you will see your abs! The best way to see your abs is to lose fat with efficient workouts and proper eating, which is what the BuiltLean Program is all about. Doing a bunch of abs exercises unfortunately does not help remove any more fat off your abs. I intentionally did not include too many abs routines because working your legs is going to make your body look better and feel stronger than working your abs.
When you are done with the program, you can focus on making your abs “pop” with more abs exercises, but you still need to see your abs first 
Good luck!
Best,
- Marc ( Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)
Question #5 | When should I do HIIT cardio?
- Marc ( Marc Perry, CSCS, CPT)
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Are Supplements Necessary for Fat Loss?,
Q5 reminds me of something I was wondering earlier this week:
I just started training for a century as a way to add a challenge to my health routine. Since I’m focusing on endurance I did a zone 2 – 3 ride for an hour and with the help of my heart rate monitor I noticed I burned more calories (both fat and carbs) than with a shorter HIIT spinning session at mostly higher zones. I know HIIT is more efficient despite the lower calories burnt per session because of the after burn effect. But if I’m already lifting heavy three times a week, aren’t I already getting the after burn effect? Would I be getting the best of both worlds (more calories/fat burned per session plus after burn effect) if I do low HR sessions for a longer time (which I need anyway for the century) alternating with heavy weight lifting? My alternative plan is alternating one or two HIIT rides and one low HR ride per week with three lifting sessions.
Thanks! Great site and great program.
Hey, I am too thin. I have started exercise. What diet do you suggest to have for me. Any fat food?
how many weeks will improve your chest by doing pushups?
Hey Mark, Im 16 and when I work out I feel great after, but when I do cardio such as running and training for my soccer team, after doing the cardio I feel like my abs shrunk and I feel fat again for some reason.
Any advice would help Thanks! Your support and program really helps.