Isenhurst Country Club

Excess weight is a prime coronary risk factor, and is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people every year.

Our priority as fitness professionals is to reduce this risk by ensuring that you reach your optimal weight through sensible diet and exercise. The good news for you is that you will also look and feel much better. It is a myth to assume that exercise will turn fat into muscles. This is a physical impossibility, as the two have completely different properties.

However, we can show you how to lose fat, tone muscle and change your body composition for the better.

In simple terms, body fat is a collection of unused calories stored in a substance called adipose tissue. Strictly speaking your goal is not to lose weight, but to lose fat by burning those extra calories.

We will go into a great deal more detail about nutrition and exercise in due course. At this juncture it is important to focus on two critical factors:

1. Man was made to move, but modern man moves less than at any time in history. Most people do not do enough in the course of their daily lives to balance the calorie equation, and consequently they put on weight. In order to reverse this process we must perform some form of extra work. Usually this takes the form of exercise.

2. If we eat sensibly, it is possible to control our intake of calories, which will also have a positive effect on the equation. Foods to beware of are the ones we love the most ie dairy products. Some people seem to be able to eat what they like and stay thin, while others only have to look at a doughnut and put on a kilo. Regular exercise will increase your metabolic rate, which means you will burn more calories during your workout, and at rest.

To return to our opening theme, if in common with most of us, you are carrying a little extra fat, it is very simple to reverse the process. You have already taken the all-important step, so take heart.

Summary

1. Body fat is simply stored calories.
2. It is not possible to turn fat into muscle or vice versa.
3. It is possible to burn fat through regular exercise, which will speed up your metabolic rate.
4. It is also possible to limit the build up of fat, through a sensible diet.
5. The most important benefit of fat loss is a reduced risk of coronary heart disease.