Kayla Kilba
Team Member

H* you been going to the gym for
a while now, but feel like you are

getting nowhere? Whether your goals are
weight loss, muscle definition, or muscle
bulk, everybody hits fitness walls. Results
take time, dedication, commitment, and
persistence. So let’s talk about a couple
common misconceptions in regards to
fitness.

Cardio king or queen: 1 must do
hours of cardio to lose weight.

False. It is true cardio aids in weight loss,
part of that being fat loss, but your body

will adapt to the amount of cardio you

do. What do I mean by this? Let’s say you
start off doing 30 minutes of cardio a day,
and a couple weeks go by and you notice a
difference. You think great, I am just going
to increase my time to keep increasing my
weight loss. This may be effective for awhile,

but eventually you will plateau- hit a wall.
So what should you do instead? Based on my

personal experience (as well as Bodybuilding.

com, Builtlean.com, Simplyshredded.
com, and many others) I suggest high
intensity interval training cardio, which
includes short sprint intervals followed by
intervals of low to moderate intensity.

An example of this would be walking on

a treadmill for 4 minutes at a moderate
pace, and then sprinting as hard as

you can for 1 minute, and repeat four
times for 20 minutes total. According

to bodybuilding.com, HIIT cardio burns
fat up to 50% more effectively than low-
intensity exercise (jogging on a treadmill).

Other studies have also shown that HIIT
training can speed up your metabolism,
and the faster your metabolism is the more
calories you will burn throughout the

day! Long stints of cardio will also cause
the body to lose muscle mass. So let’s skip
the hours of cardio and work smarter not

UNBC Life 7

harder, and give HIIT intervals a try!

Beast in the gym, slacker on the diet: I give
it my all in the gym, but have no results.

First off, it is vital to remember that results
take time. You will not see results overnight,
maybe not even in a week. When | first
started my fitness journey, I took photos
and weighed myself every month, not every
day, or week because you set yourself up for
disappointment and, consequently, failure.
Some say achieving your fitness goals is 70%
diet and 30% exercise, while others say 80%
and 20%. Nevertheless, you can go as hard
in the gym as you want and for as long as
you want, but without a proper balanced
diet, there is almost no point. Eat healthy
and eat smart. Get your vegetables, fruits,
proteins, carbohydrates, etc. Carbs are your
friend; they just have to be in moderation.
Complex carbs like brown rice, quinoa, and
yams, are healthier than simple or refined

carbs like white rice, white bread or potatoes.

Eat five to six smaller portioned meals

throughout the day versus three big ones.
This will speed up your metabolism and keep
your body and muscles fed. Drink plenty of
water. Have your treats every once in awhile,
but not every day. It takes consistency and
discipline to see results, so give your diet a
revamp and you will be pleased with what
you start seeing; every day that you exercise
and eat healthy is one day closer to your
goals than before; every day that you push
through is one more day closer to results.

It can be hard getting started with exercise
and diet, but if you push through, it will
soon become second nature to you and

will be worth the initial struggle. It took
time to gain weight; it will take time to lose
weight too. Still not sure where to start?
Buy a fitness magazine, a healthy cookbook,
or visit health and fitness websites such

as bodybuilding.com or even YouTube!
There are lots of resources out there for
diet tips and exercise routines. Remember
that everyone starts somewhere!