Weekly Tips for Lean Track: Week 3

Welcome to Week 3 of the Lean Track. You’ve found a pace you can repeat. Now it’s about holding it to a higher standard.

ATHLETICS TIPS:

Week 3: Sustain the Effort
You don’t need to max out every class to make progress. Consistent effort across the week beats going all-out and burning out by Thursday. This week, focus on cleaner work and smoother transitions, and keep your breathing controlled so you can hold your effort from the first round to the last.

Your Cue this Week
After a heavy cardio day, commit to a 30-minute low-intensity walk. It’s easy active recovery that keeps you moving, goes easy on your joints, and helps you show up fresh for the next session.

NUTRITION
Carbohydrates Can Fit Into Fat Loss

Carbohydrates often get a bad reputation when it comes to fat loss, but eliminating them isn’t necessary to achieve your body composition goals.

Carbohydrate-rich foods such as oats, rice, potatoes, pasta, wholegrains, bread and fruit provide an important source of energy to support your training, daily activities and recovery.

Fat loss is primarily influenced by maintaining an appropriate energy deficit over time, rather than avoiding any particular macronutrient. Including adequate carbohydrates can help you maintain training quality and support the resistance training that helps preserve lean muscle mass during fat loss.

Your carbohydrate needs will vary depending on your training demands, activity levels, overall energy requirements and individual goals. Rather than cutting carbohydrates altogether, focus on appropriate portions and including them alongside protein, vegetables and healthy fats as part of balanced meals.

Try this: Before your next training session, consider whether you’ve included enough carbohydrate in your meals to support your workout. For example, oats at breakfast, rice or potatoes with lunch, or fruit alongside yoghurt as a snack.

Use the F45 Challenge app meal plans to identify balanced meals containing carbohydrates and protein, and adjust portions according to your individual needs and goals.

Carbohydrates can support your fat-loss goals: You don’t need to avoid carbohydrates to achieve fat loss. Higher-fibre options such as oats, wholegrains and fruit can support fullness and digestive health throughout the day, while smaller, easily digested, lower-fibre carbohydrate snacks may be useful closer to training. If needed, try a banana, a pikelet with jam, a slice of raisin toast or a few rice cakes 30–60 minutes beforehand. Focus on matching your portions to your training demands and overall energy needs rather than unnecessarily restricting carbohydrates.

Key message: Carbohydrates don’t prevent fat loss. It’s your overall energy balance that matters, and including enough

WELLNESS
More Isn’t Always Better

When working towards fat loss, it’s easy to assume that adding more exercise or eating less will lead to faster progress. However, more isn’t always better.

Consistent resistance training, daily movement, adequate nutrition, quality sleep and recovery all contribute to sustainable progress.

If you’re experiencing persistent fatigue, declining performance, excessive soreness or difficulty recovering, it may be worth reviewing your overall training and nutrition approach, rather than automatically adding another workout or reducing your food intake.

Remember, sustainable progress comes from consistency, not constantly pushing harder or eating less.

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK
How to Get Faster: 7 Ways to Improve Speed & Agility

Improving speed and agility takes more than sprinting. Building lower-body strength, developing explosive power, refining technique, and practicing acceleration and changes of direction can help you move more efficiently and react faster. Consistent conditioning, adequate recovery, and tracking your progress can help you maintain speed and improve overall athletic performance.

WEEK 3 TAKEAWAY
Focus on building consistency while supporting your goal of reducing body fat and preserving muscle. Fuel your training with balanced meals, adjust your carbohydrate intake to match your activity, and keep showing up. Small, sustainable habits add up to progress over time.

Written and published by F45 Training HQ, and reposted here for the F45 North Paramus community.