Just like the number on the scale, your body fat percentage is just one factor in the overall picture of your health. Paying attention to how much energy you have, how your clothes fit, your food quality and mental health are just as important to pay attention to on your journey.
That said, lowering your body fat percentage might help you achieve the lean look you’re going for, and may also increase your energy, performance and confidence.
Keep reading for the 5 best strategies for lowering your body fat percentage …
1. Eat at a calorie deficit and hit your macros consistently.
Losing weight requires a calorie deficit.
Getting specific about losing fat mass (and not muscle mass) requires getting specific about what your calories are made of. Prioritize hitting your protein, carb and fat targets consistently to achieve a regular calorie deficit while also maintaining muscle mass to lower your total body fat percentage.
2. Lift weights.
Regular strength training can help you maintain and build muscle mass while you lose fat. And compared to other types of exercise, strength training has a higher excess post-exercise oxygen consumption, or EPOC. This means that your metabolism may stay higher for longer after weightlifting, so you can burn more calories even after your workout is over.
3. Try high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
HIIT involves alternating short bursts of high intensity exercise with slightly longer periods of low intensity exercise. Research shows that HIIT can increase your metabolic rate and reduce both subcutaneous fat and belly fat better than other types of exercise, including moderate-intensity training and aerobic exercise.
4. Manage your stress level.
It’s not all about diet and exercise. Your mental health and the way you handle stress can also impact your body composition. When you’re stressed out all the time, the amount of cortisol in your blood increases, which can make you store more body fat. While it’s impossible to get rid of stress completely, you can become more resilient to the effects by regularly practicing things like yoga, meditation and deep breathing exercises.
5. Get enough sleep
Lack of sleep negatively impacts several hormones related to body composition – it can cause a spike in cortisol, increase ghrelin (which signals hunger) and decrease leptin (which signals fullness.) If that’s not enough, you’re more likely to move a lot less throughout the day after a poor night of sleep.
Sleeping on a regular schedule and focusing on a high quality sleep environment plays an imperative role in body composition.
Coaching By Kevin 