Geschatte leestijd: 2 minuten“How can I burn that last bit of fat?” A question we often hear. You’ve been training hard and eating well all winter and spring. You want to emerge as ripped and dry as possible for the summer, so you decide to start cutting just before summer. But to your frustration, you can’t get rid of that last bit of belly fat. How can you burn that last bit of fat and cut optimally without losing muscle mass? You’ll find out here.
Table of Contents
Keep Training Heavy
One of the most ridiculous stories going around is that when you’re cutting, you should use light weights for high repetitions.
Don’t.
Do.
That.
We’ve already written an extensive article about this, and the conclusion was that you don’t need to change your training for fat loss. Doing more repetitions can increase your fat burning slightly, but you should aim to keep training as heavy as possible (just shy of muscle failure).
When you train heavy, you maintain your strength and thus your muscle mass. Additionally, research has shown that you burn quite a lot of calories with strength training, which can contribute to creating a calorie deficit. After all, the calorie deficit is what will help you burn that last bit of fat.
Keep Your Protein Intake High
When creating your calorie deficit to lose that last bit of fat, make sure to keep the calories from your protein high. This is particularly important because you want to maintain your muscles and keep them supplied with enough protein. It’s not as if you’ll quickly lose muscle mass if your protein intake isn’t sufficient, but you want to ensure your protein intake is adequate.
Do HIIT Cardio
Adjusting your cardio training is a good way to burn more calories. Long cardio sessions require a lot of energy, which can have the opposite effect and cause you to lose muscle mass. After all, you already have few reserves because you’re in a calorie deficit, and a long cardio session can require extra energy, preventing you from losing belly fat but causing your muscle mass to decrease.
Therefore, do a HIIT cardio training instead of a long cardio workout.
Several studies have shown that High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is very effective if you want to burn that last bit of fat. It’s more effective than regular cardio. HIIT improves insulin resistance, helps suppress hunger, and can aid in the fat oxidation process. Additionally, HIIT improves your endurance and aerobic and anaerobic thresholds.
Train on an Empty Stomach
If doing High-Intensity Training doesn’t yield the desired results, you can always try the extreme: training on an empty stomach.
When you have no fuel in your body to burn and you continue to train heavily while keeping your protein intake high, your body may start tapping into your fat reserves. This may lead to suboptimal training because you don’t have enough energy for a good workout, but you’ll see the results in the mirror, with less fat around your waist.
This is due to the absence of the hormone insulin. Since you haven’t eaten for several hours before your workout, this hormone is less present, allowing your body to tap into the energy from fat reserves. Many athletes also train on an empty stomach when they wake up.
