LIVFIT Favorite Exercises

WHICH IS BETTER, WEIGHT TRAINING or CARDIO TO LOSE WEIGHT???, you ask....🤔

You’re right.... but you’re wrong! You shouldn’t lift weights to lose weight. You shouldn’t do cardio to lose weight. You shouldn’t exercise to lose weight. You should just eat less to lose weight. Cardio does generally speaking actually burn more calories than resistance training. If you do enough cardio your body will make adaptations that make your body more efficient while performing cardio exercises. Cardio also makes you hungry, your body will want to refuel the tank. Many people actually overeat as a result.

Weight training is great at making you stronger and improving your basal metabolic rate (BMR) by adding more tissues to maintain. Weight training will improve your heart health, bone health, joint health and obviously muscle health. While it does improve your BMR, muscle burns about 10cal a day but it will also make you hungry and potentially cause you to overeat. As you’re losing weight it’s good to lift weights to maintain your strength. If you eat enough protein, it’s possible to maintain your muscle mass and even build more as you go. 💪🏻 The only way to burn fat and weight is to have a sustained caloric deficit even if you’re incredibly fit you will still gain fat if you overeat. Exercise can help but is not effective by itself. Focus on your diet first to lose fat. Abs are made in the kitchen not the gym. Eat food and not too much. Lots of greens, the right amount of carbs and protein. If you’re not losing weight you’re still eating too much. 

Builds Lower Body Strength

• Targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and adductors.

• Strengthens the soleus and calves for improved stability.

Enhances Athletic Performance

• Increases power and explosiveness, essential for sports like sprinting and jumping.

• Improves speed, agility, and overall leg drive.

Promotes Functional Strength

• Mimics real-life movements like standing, lifting, and jumping.

• Improves mobility and flexibility in the hips, knees, and ankles.

Strengthens the Core

• Engages the core muscles (abdominals, obliques, and lower back) to stabilize the body under load.

• Reduces the risk of lower back injuries.

Boosts Hormonal Response

• Encourages the release of testosterone and growth hormone, promoting muscle growth and fat loss.

Improves Posture and Stability

• Strengthens the erector spinae and postural muscles.

• Enhances balance and coordination.

Supports Bone Health

• Increases bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

Enhances Fat Burning and Metabolism

• Squats are a compound movement that burns a significant amount of calories.

• Helps with body recomposition (muscle gain + fat loss).

Squats are a fundamental movement for athletes, powerlifters, bodybuilders, and general fitness enthusiasts. Proper form and progression are essential to maximize benefits and minimize injury risk.

WHICH MUSCLE COULD NEVER BE TOO STRONG? Well, your posterior deltoids (back shoulder) These are one of my favorites to train, love them! They are tiny muscles that, when strengthened, can prevent a host of common injuries and ailments. They are commonly weak because as humans most everything we use our arms to do is in the front of us, so a lot more emphasis is placed on the anterior or the front and lateral deltoids. When the anterior and lateral deltoids get much stronger than the posterior, being also bigger muscles, to begin with, you get forward-rolled shoulders and BAD back posture that we all know about. Secondly, for any gym going people or those who exercise otherwise, the same thing occurs except it gets further amplified because we are incorporating resistance training into the equation, most of which is in the front of us involves holding onto something. Even worse than that is everybody wants to bench press and do push-ups which actively builds the crap out of anterior delts while neglecting the posterior and creating the quickest most effective way to achieve problematic muscular imbalance.

SOLUTION?? Work the rear delts regularly, and if you lift weights do it at a very minimum one upper body pull exercise for every one upper body pushing exercise you do.

The image illustrates the barbell back squat and highlights the primary muscles activated during the movement. Here are some key benefits of squatting with a barbell:

Builds Lower Body Strength

• Targets the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and adductors.

• Strengthens the soleus and calves for improved stability.

Enhances Athletic Performance

• Increases power and explosiveness, essential for sports like sprinting and jumping.

• Improves speed, agility, and overall leg drive.

Promotes Functional Strength

• Mimics real-life movements like standing, lifting, and jumping.

• Improves mobility and flexibility in the hips, knees, and ankles.

Strengthens the Core

• Engages the core muscles (abdominals, obliques, and lower back) to stabilize the body under load.

• Reduces the risk of lower back injuries.

Boosts Hormonal Response

• Encourages the release of testosterone and growth hormone, promoting muscle growth and fat loss.

Improves Posture and Stability

• Strengthens the erector spinae and postural muscles.

• Enhances balance and coordination.

Supports Bone Health

• Increases bone density, reducing the risk of osteoporosis.

Enhances Fat Burning and Metabolism

• Squats are a compound movement that burns a significant amount of calories.

• Helps with body recomposition (muscle gain + fat loss).

Squats are a fundamental movement for athletes, powerlifters, bodybuilders, and general fitness enthusiasts. Proper form and progression are essential to maximize benefits and minimize injury risk.