To have a professional personal trainer on hand is the perfect source of motivation and accountability.

There is no surprise, that the questions our clients have asked us, are very repetitive. Trainers get asked the same questions over and over again,  and we bet that you, yourself thought of asking us these same exact questions.

Here are the 5. most common things out lead personal trainer Rob gets asked often:

1. Can I just do cardio and lose fat?

Yes, little cardio is good, not only physically but also mentally. Cardio is great for your heart, may help in lowering your blood pressure and is beneficial for your overall well being.

The problem is that too much cardio can literally eat away your muscles! While muscle tissue is what you want to maximise to burn more calories, because muscles help burn body fat.

So when it comes to cardio, the good old - everything in moderation definitely applies here, because you lose weight by burning more calories than you eat. And strength training is actually a better way of doing that than steady cardio.

Take resistance training for example, a form of exercise that we also include in our TRANSFORM programmes, will help you build more muscle, which will spike your metabolism and eventually help you burn more calories

The more calories is your body able to burn on its own, the easier it will be for you to lose weight. So if your goal is to lose weight, building some muscle through weight or resistance training is a good idea.

2. Will I get bulky like Schwarzenegger?!

Often asked and often feared mostly by female clients, and the answer is no. Following our previous Q&A we now know that having some muscle tissue is good and will actually help with weight loss.

Women are naturally less able to gain muscles and get as big unless they do something out of the ordinary, it is not natural. Generally speaking, women can get defined and toned, but not really bulky.

While adding little muscle to burn fat, you'll do yourself a favour. Doing cardio, your body loses both - fat and muscle. By lifting weights, on the other hand, your body actively adds on muscle while loses fat.

We'll give you one more good reason to start using weights: resistance training reduces oxidative stress in older women. Oxidative stress is basically what causes us to age.

And that's not all! Have you heard about the "after-burn" effect? When ding cardio you're only burning calories while you're at it. While with resistance training, you continue burning calories for the rest of the day.

3. After I eat fruit I get hungry again soon, why is that?

This goes down to how fast your body digests food, carbohydrates for instance take about an hour to leave your stomach, leaving you hungry again in an hour. This is why we always recommended to eat a complex - balanced meal consisted of protein and little fat with carbohydrates. This will keep your blood sugar levels steady, keeping you fuller for longer (2/3 hours) and avoid sugar crash.

If you only eat a piece of fruit, the macronutrient content isn't sufficient to satisfy your hunger. Also, have you ever noticed that you might feel bloated if you only eat sugary foods on empty stomach? Sugar is sugar and fruit is full of it, even worse if you reach out for fruit juices. Not only you are getting all the sugar and only sugar, you are also lacking the beneficial fibre fruit has to offer.

Ingestion of fructose (fruit sugar) or glucose (a simple sugar) - [you can read more about sugars HERE] - results in activation of certain brain regions that are connected to your reward system and may promote over eating or binge eating.

For our TRANSFORM PT clients we prepare nutritionally balanced meals, as well as snack according to their preference. These snacks always have a little carbohydrate along with fruit or non-starchy vegetables, to keep the blood sugars at check while providing sufficient nutrition.

Find out more > BOOK a free consult!

4. When will I see results?

This does depend on each individual, the type of a fitness programme you're following and your diet. You may be able to see results within the first 4-8 weeks. You can work out hard, but if you do not eat right, you will not get very far too soon.

One important rule here is patience, changes don't happen over night and slow changes might be harder to notice. That's why most people need those moments, when they meet a friend after a few month of following a weight loss, and the friend says 'Oh my, you lost so much weight!' this is when the hard work pays off and the sense of achievement and increased motivation kicks in!

5. Do I really have to workout every day?

You can, but we don't recommend it - your body needs rest too. Your muscles actually grow and recover when you are at rest. If you are new to exercise try to start off with working out twice a week for about 30 minutes at a time. Gradually, as you progress, you can increase the time to 3 times a week for the duration of 45 to 60 minutes. Generally, 4 times a week is sufficient to gain muscle strength and achieve weight loss.

Let us guide through this fitness world filled with unanswered questions > BOOK a free consult!