Now, through her online training platform \u2013 Muscle Method: Build to Lose<\/a> \u2013 Coulombe is helping more women discover the benefits of strength training from home. <\/p>\n But if your goal is sustainable weight loss, the picture is bigger than strength training alone \u2013 although that is key \u2013 as Coulombe highlighted in a recent Instagram post<\/a> about her own fitness journey. It was the below four habits in conjunction, she says, that helped her lose 10kg. <\/p>\n The habits<\/p>\n \u2018I put in real effort – no more half-assing it,\u2019 writes Coulombe. \u2018Comfortable sets don\u2019t change your body. The growth signal only fires when the weight genuinely fights back. If you finish a set and could\u2019ve done 5 more, that wasn\u2019t a working set – it was a warm-up. Push to the point where the last 2-3 reps are hard.\u2019<\/p>\n 2. She used progressive overload<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2018Same movements, but never the same effort,\u2019 Coulombe notes of her dumbbell home workouts. \u2018Every session had to beat the last – one more rep, a little more weight, a slower tempo. Write it down. If you\u2019re not tracking what you lifted last week, you can\u2019t beat it, and your body has no reason to change.\u2019 <\/p>\n She\u2019s referring to progressive overload<\/a>, a science-backed<\/a> training principle that helps facilitate effective muscle growth. As Coulombe highlights, it involves incrementally increasing training stress (eg, reps, weight, time under tension) over time.<\/p>\n \u2018When you exercise, you place a stress on the body. Your body then recovers and adapts to this stressor, so that when that same stressor happens again, you can do it with much less effort,\u2019 strength and conditioning coach Andy Vincent previously explained to Women\u2019s Health.<\/p>\n 3. She walked a lot <\/strong><\/p>\n \u201810K steps a day. Not cardio, just movement. It does more for midlife fat loss than any joint-pounding treadmill session, and it doesn\u2019t steal from your recovery,\u2019 writes Coulombe. \u2018Park farther. Walk while you\u2019re on the phone. Stack the steps,\u2019 she says of the habit stacking that helped her increase her daily steps. <\/p>\n While a daily 10K step count isn\u2019t the be all and end all, experts typically agree that walking is a crucial part of the puzzle in midlife if your goal is fat loss. <\/p>\n A type of \u2018zone 2 training<\/a>\u2019, brisk walking helps keep you in the heart rate zone (around 60-70% of your maximum heart rate) where your body typically uses a greater proportion of fat for fuel than at higher exercise intensities. <\/p>\n Indeed, a 12-week study<\/a> published in the journal Scientific Reports found that moderate-intensity walking (at 64-76% of participants’ maximum heart rate) reduced body weight and body fat percentage in older women with obesity.<\/p>\n 4. She focused on her nutrition <\/strong><\/p>\n Another vital part of the puzzle? Nutrition, adds Coulombe. \u2018I stopped guessing and found my numbers. Google TDEE calculator, take 250-500 off for a deficit, and hit 0.7-1g of protein per pound of bodyweight – protein<\/a> first at every meal,\u2019 she notes of her approach. \u2018This is the one most women skip, and it\u2019s the one that decides whether the work shows.\u2019 <\/p>\n Indeed, while Zone 2 exercise can play a valuable role in supporting sustainable weight loss, being in a calorie deficit<\/a> \u2013 expending more energy than you consume \u2013 remains the primary driver of fat loss. <\/p>\n One of our most frequently asked questions here at <\/strong>Women\u2019s Health<\/strong>? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer <\/strong>Oyinda Okunowo<\/strong><\/a> exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan \u2013 created exclusively for <\/strong>Women\u2019s Health<\/strong> COLLECTIVE members \u2013 you\u2019ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.<\/strong><\/p>\n
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