Frequently Asked Fitness Questions

What diet program do you recommend for losing weight?

None. Simply put, you cannot go "on" a diet. If you consume anything, at any time, you are already on a diet. To achieve your fitness goals, you must alter your diet. To lose weight, you have to burn more calories per day than you consume (caloric deficit). Even though there are short-term diet alterations that can help you with specific short-term goals (i.e. competition, summer beach bod, etc.), I will always recommend long-term, gradual alterations first.

What is the best exercise for weight loss?

There is no such thing as a “weight loss exercise.” Losing weight comes from a consistent, daily caloric deficit (consume less than you burn). Gaining weight comes from a consistent, daily caloric surplus (consume more than you burn). Exercise programs such as High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and Tabata can be used to burn more calories than traditional cardio. It is important to understand that burning calories is not the same thing as burning fat and that fitness goals cannot be achieved with exercise alone.

What is the best exercise for getting abs?

There isn’t a specific exercise for “getting” abs.” Planks, crunches, leg lifts, knee-ups…they all assist in building and toning core muscles (transversus abdominis, internal and external oblique, rectus abdominis, etc.). To “get” abs, the stored fat in front of the abdomen muscles has to removed, preferably with nutrition changes.