THE FINAL PUSH!

It's nearing the end of your transformation challenge, and you want to push that extra bit, for maximum results!

Avoid the urge to drastically restrict your food intake whilst increasing your exercise in an attempt to burn extra fat. Whilst calorie restriction combined with an increase in exercise volume is a strategy employed by body builders to get shredded before a competition, it is a carefully calculated process that takes experience and a thorough understanding of your own body. If done incorrectly, the combination will only result in a loss of muscle mass, not fat, and instead of the hard, toned look you desire, you will likely look soft and flat in your final weigh in.

My advice:- keep it healthy! Eat enough to sustain energy and performance levels, and eat really clean:- as a general recommendation, eat your carbohydrates around training times, eat plenty of lean protein, and vegetables at each meal, drink plenty of water and get a good balance of fats in your diet to fuel your daily activity. If you restrict calories, do it slowly, start with a 250 calorie per day restriction and continue to make small adjustments to quantities based on how your body is responding. Restrict calories from carbohydrates and fat, to ensure lean protein intake is adequate.

 In the gym, put in a big effort in the weights room and maximize your HIIT sessions (assuming you are not on a very low calorie diet). This doesn't necessarily require more time, but you can intensify your workouts by upping the weights, reducing rest time and changing combinations. Increase your volume slowly depending on how your body is responding. Increase your daily activity level, by taking opportunities for relatively low intensity exercise throughout the day, over and above your daily exercise schedule, eg walking,taking the stairs at work etc to burn extra calories.

If you have already drastically restricted your calorie intake (which I don't recommend), minimise your cardiovascular activity and keep it at a relatively low intensity at a steady state - your goal here is to spare muscle and access fat reserves. Preferably do weight training in favour of cardio and reduce the intensity and volume of your weights sessions (low calorie diets are not conducive to heavy weights sessions and long hours spent in the gym - this will over stress your system, and break down muscle in untrained athletes.) Take the weights down a bit when calorie intake is low, focus on form, and keep sessions shorter. You may want to throw in some low intensity focused sessions eg yoga or pilates.

I always look forward to seeing the amazing transformation pics.  Remember, this is just the beginning! Healthy eating and daily exercise is a lifestyle choice for you and your family - you'll never regret it!

(Ashley Galliard 2015)