How many SQUATS does it take to make a 6-pack?

I'm forever asked how to lose belly fat - it kind of comes with the territory when you spend your days measuring and monitoring important metrics like people's fat mass and percentage, and particularly when discussing the amount of Visceral Fat some clients carry. The numbers we talk about in our consultations can be confronting and often stimulate a sense of urgency and questions on how to achieve fat loss around the mid-section / how to get that elusive 6-pack (that I think we all on some level would love to achieve).

So what's my answer when I'm asked how to target that stubborn belly fat? The answer is simple;

Feed your FFM (and then some), or it'll FEED ITSELF! (hint - that's bad!)

Fat Free Mass (FFM), is one metric I find myself talking about a lot in my line of work... it's an important number to measure and to understand - put simply, this is why...

Feed your FFM (and then some), or it'll FEED ITSELF! (hint - that's bad!).

As the name suggests, FFM is the collection of tissues in our body that is not fat. It consists of our internal organs, the muscles and connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments, the skeleton, skin, blood, lymphatic fluids, nerves, etc. I often describe FFM as the metabolically active part of your body that needs to be fed, as opposed to the fat mass (which amongst it's several important functions, is stored energy that is there to feed us when intake is low).

Understanding that FFM needs to be fed is a great way to begin explaining your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) and it's significance. People very often assume that your BMR is the number of calories you need to eat if you're trying to 'maintain' your weight; so naturally if you want to loose weight you will need to have a deficit - so they eat less than this number - WRONG!

Why measuring your Body Fat Percentage DOESN'T tell you how fat you are!

Many of our clients come to us for Body Composition Analysis, with one question in mind... "What's my Percentage of Body Fat?" - I actually have fairly regular requests where the client asks me specifically how much it costs for me to ONLY tell them their PBF! Of course, I refuse to do this because Fitness Key is a COACHING service, not a 'scanning service' that is willing to send their clients away more confused than they arrived! Ok - Off my high-horse now... let me explain WHY this single metric, when viewed separately to the collection of information that actually creates it, can be very misleading!

Simply put, your Percentage of Body Fat is not a statement of how fat you are - it is a statement of how fat you are, compared to how 'everything else you are'. The question of how fat an individual is, can really only be assessed by measuring the Body Fat MASS (the total grams of fat in the body). 

To illustrate my point, lets compare two females (that are incidentally both 38 years old and within 1.5cm of the same height).

What does it take to grow muscle? The 'Hypertrophy Triangle' - a simple analogy for a complex question!

Since 2014, we’ve educated many thousands of clients and have measured almost every variation in body type and shape, heritage, etc.  If there is ONE consistent ‘need’, that we could single out amongst almost all of the individuals we meet, it is this… 

Whether it’s a medical/metabolic need, or purely an aesthetic or sporting/lifestyle associated motivation for our clients, the goal of achieving hypertrophy of muscle (increasing overall muscle size) is almost universally a major component of our discussions.

Achieving hypertrophy of muscle is certainly a complex process, and is subject to many variations caused by many conditions. We strive to clarify the basic requirements and simplify the topic with this simple analogy;

Remember The Fire Triangle?

We all understand what it takes to create and maintain fire 🔥🔥🔥 - most of us learn it in primary school science class; 

• Fire REQUIRES three components, to exist.

◦ Oxygen (to feed/fan the flames)

◦ Fuel (to burn)

◦ Heat/Ignition Source (to start the fire in the first place)

• ALL THREE components are INEXTRICABLY linked.

• Removing just one of these components will extinguish the strongest fire almost immediately (or fail to start it).

Here's a picture of 'The Fire Triangle' to jog your memory...

Our first blog! Introducing Fitness Key's Blogger Blog!

Welcome to our Blogger Blog! The purpose of this blog is to update and educate our clients and followers on Body Composition Analysis and the associated coaching service we deliver with our scans.

During our consultations, we're obviously asked lots of questions - and often asked the same questions fairly consistently... this blog will serve as a repository for the written answers to many of these questions, so that hopefully the education we give to some, can benefit the many!

Please feel very free to 'Request-a-Blog' here, if you have any questions regarding the composition of the human body and the impact variations in composition may have on general health. We look forward to helping you in the understanding of your health, and in the pursuit of improving it!

There's plenty of information already on our main website too - please visit getscanned.com.au :) We hope you enjoy our blog!