Summer Weight Loss in the Gym.

Cardiovascular Exercise

An essential part of fitness and weight loss, cardiovascular exercise is a great way to start burning calories, and increase fitness levels for summer. For weight loss it is important to do at least 5 days of cardio exercise a week, each at the very least 20 minutes in length. This should be built up gradually if you have not done cardiovascular exercise in a while. Some people find it easier to split  these workouts up into short intervals throughout the day. This can be just as effective as continuous longer exercise, but it is better to add variety by doing both and changing the type of activity. The most important thing to do is choose an activity you think you can enjoy, this will ensure you keep up with your cardio exercise and continue in the future.

There is a huge range of Cardiovascular Equipment in our Gym and Fitness Centre in Cross Hills, near Skipton. These include rowing machines, treadmills, cross-trainers and a variety of bikes. No 1 Fitness Centre also offers a variety of Aerobic exercise classes including Zumba, Yoga, Spinning and Boxercise Classes

Strength Training


As well as cardio exercise, strength training is important for weight loss. By strength training you can build lean muscle, tone and raise your metabolism. For the most efficient fat burn, concentrate on compound exercises like deadlifts, squats and pull ups. All your muscle groups should be targeted at least twice per week, preferably three times, with recovery days in between. Again, for more effective workouts, add variety by varying reps and sets. For strength building do 4-8 reps, for muscle build do 8-12 reps, and for endurance 12-15. It is important that you lift weights that are heavy enough to challenge muscles, don’t be afraid of heavier weights if you want true weight loss.

The Gym and Fitness Centre in Cross Hills, near Skipton, has a huge range of both resistance machines and free weights to help you achieve the strength training aims of your summer weight loss program.

Diet Plan

For weight loss, diet is just as important as exercise. If you are consuming more calories than you are burning you are not going to lose weight. There are a huge variety of diets you can follow. Some, hard to follow diets, will encourage rapid weight loss. The problem comes when you stop these diet and you gain weight just as rapidly as you lost it. Others are easier to follow and keep up with. It is important you choose a diet you are comfortable with.

Some people choose low fat diets, but my diet of choice would be a low carb diet, and in particular the Tim Ferriss slow carb diet. This diet is easy to follow and makes use of a few simple rules:

1. No “white carbohydrates” like bread, rice pasta and potatoes, except for within 1.5 hours of completing a strength training workout.
2. Eat 4 meals per day until you feel full and repeat the same few meals containing vegetables, protein and legumes over and over.
3. Don’t drink calories, including fruit juice, or eat sugar, including fruit.
4. Take one day off per week to eat whatever you want and to stop your body going into calorie conservation mode.

Whichever diet you decide to choose, try to follow a healthy, high vegetable diet. Don’t follow a massively extreme diet that you will not be able to keep up with, and don’t choose one that encourages meal skipping. Some people may just want to make small changes to their existing diet to make it healthier.