REVL Training Ambassador and Fitness Influencer – Danielle Bazer Reveals her Top 5 Tips…
Trying to shift that lingering pandemic weight gain in preparation for beach bod season? You’re not alone! Statistics from around the world have recurrently revealed that throughout 2020 weight and emotional wellbeing suffered throughout the Covid-19 lockdown, with many of us left trying to combat the ‘quarantine 15’ as we slowly start to return to normal life following a challenging year.
“A decrease in incidental exercise and fitness regimes coupled with increased food consumption, increased stress levels and more sedentary time has led to moderate weight gain and the loss of pre-pandemic fitness levels for many people around the world,” reveals REVL Training Ambassador Danielle Bazergy. “Firstly, it’s important to tell yourself that it’s ok and you’re not alone! However, if you are wanting to shift those ‘pandemic pounds’ then it’s time to break the cycle and start making small, achievable changes to see big results!”
Below Danielle Bazergy @daniellebazergy reveals her top 5 simple tips for combatting pandemic weight gain:
1. A mix of strength and conditioning training
When it comes to a starting point of wanting to burn fat and lose weight, it is common for people to go down the extreme cardio and dieting route, with strength training being tossed to the side and forgotten about. Participating in a combination of both strength and conditioning (cardio) will not only help you shed those unwanted kilos, but it will simultaneously help you build shape and strength.
I try to implement at least 3 strength and conditioning sessions a week into my training routine at REVL Training to help myself stay consistent and accountable. I’m a big fan of their MOVE strength sessions, which are a blend of resistance training, conditioning, mobility and core stability with a strong focus on the weight you’re moving and the way you’re moving it, and in turn help to achieve a desired body composition. I’ve been loving these coming into summer!
2. Walking
Become besties with walking! One of the easiest ways to get your calorie output up (the number of calories that you’re burning) is through incidental exercise. Try walking instead of driving where possible, or even organise catch-ups with friends to go for a walk. If you’re heading out for a walk for the sole purpose exercise, use this time wisely and multitask to make the time go quicker too. I like listening to podcasts, or even making work/personal phone calls to catch-up with friends or relatives.
3. Sleep
In this day and age, people tend to underestimate the value of sleep. It is essential for memory, mood, and physical and mental restoration. In fact, it has been found that sleep deprivation has similar effects to that of being intoxicated. Being awake for around 18 hours has the same effects on the body and the mind as having a blood alcohol level of 0.05% and being awake for 24 hours is like having a blood alcohol level of 0.1%. Consistently lacking sufficient quality sleep is not only going to influence your decision-making abilities, but you’re going to find it much harder to see results from your training and diet. You may have heard of leptin, it’s a hormone that suppresses appetite and encourages your body to expend energy. Lack of sleep actually reduces the amount of leptin in the body which is why you’re always so hungry after a terrible sleep. To help shed those excess quarantine kilos, make sleep a priority! Add ‘getting 8 hours of sleep a night’ to your goals list to be able to compliment all your hard work in the gym and the kitchen!
4. Alcohol
Alcohol is not the enemy, but it can be in excess. There’s no point in working hard towards your goals at home and in the gym all week to then throw it away on the weekend. The parts of your body that would normally be burning fat are then being forced to burn off that alcohol (and extra food that comes with it) instead, so drink in moderation and keep an eye on the food you’re consuming with it too – this includes the next morning when making healthy decisions may not be your strong suit!
5. Intensity
Don’t expect just showing up to the gym to be enough to get the results you want. You need to be training with intensity and doing it regularly. This is important for both your strength and conditioning sessions. Where you can, lift that little bit of extra weight, go that little bit faster on the sprint efforts, and push that little bit more when working on your endurance. Giving yourself some goals can be a great way to achieve this, whether that be lifting a certain weight for a movement or hitting a certain time on a distanced effort.
At REVL Training, we test every 12 weeks to keep us accountable and to make sure that we’re progressing. I love coming in week to week and feeling stronger and faster on the ski erg, which is something that I used to struggle with REVL sessions programmed are based off RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) and percentage-based programming, so the weight you lift each week is relative to the week before and it is easy to keep track of progress and see yourself getting stronger and faster.
