2797: Why Getting a Six Pack Will Take Longer Than You Think by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo

[00:00:00] Brauchen wir wirklich noch einen Computer? Alle wahrscheinlich nicht. Aber wenn du Musik mit der Power eines Neuralprozessors neu erfindest oder unterwegs Migrationsmuster mit einem ganztägigen Akku analysierst oder deine Ideen mit dem KI-gesteuerten Co-Creator zum Leben erwächst, dann kann ein Co-Pilot Plus PC einen Unterschied machen. Nicht alle brauchen einen leistungsstärkeren KI-Computer. Aber wenn du versuchst, die Welt zu verändern, auch wenn es nur deine eigene ist, haben wir einen für dich entwickelt. Microsoft Co-Pilot Plus PC mit Snapdragon. Die bisher schnellsten und intelligentesten Windows-PCs. Die Akkulaufzeit variiert hier nach Nutzung und Einstellungen.

[00:00:30] This is Optimal Health Daily. Why Getting a Six Pack Will Take Longer Than You Think by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net. And I'm Dr. Neal, your very own personal narrator.

[00:00:41] Hey there, happy Saturday and welcome back to Optimal Health Daily or OHD, where I act as your narrator of popular health and fitness blogs and always with a bit of my commentary at the end.

[00:00:52] Now don't forget, we have a bunch of shows covering different topics. Just search for Optimal Living Daily in any podcast app to find them.

[00:01:01] But for now, let's get right to it and start optimizing your life.

[00:01:09] Why Getting a Six Pack Will Take Longer Than You Think by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net.

[00:01:15] The latest version of the Bugatti Veyron, the Supersport, is the fastest production car in the world with a top speed of 268 mph.

[00:01:26] I'm going to use the Veyron to illustrate an important point about why getting your body fat percentage into single digits, the minimum requirement for ripped status,

[00:01:35] is going to take longer than you think, which I'll get to in a minute.

[00:01:39] What prompted me to write this was an email I got from JM, a reader who was frustrated with the fact that his rate of weight loss had slowed down.

[00:01:49] JM wrote, quote,

[00:01:50] I have lost a considerable amount of fat over the last two months, but in the last three to four weeks,

[00:01:56] I've really struggled to lose the last little bit to reveal my abs.

[00:01:59] I feel like I'm doing everything right, but things seem to have slowed down to a crawl.

[00:02:03] When I watch The Biggest Loser on TV, I see the contestants losing anywhere between 5 and 10 pounds a week.

[00:02:10] And that's after the first week, when early fluid losses have been taken into account.

[00:02:15] Does fat loss slow down over time, or should I be doing things differently?

[00:02:20] End quote.

[00:02:21] Here's what I told JM.

[00:02:23] People who are very overweight or obese, that is your typical Biggest Loser contestant,

[00:02:28] can lose fat a lot more quickly than someone with an average physique who just wants to drop 10 or 15 pounds to look good on the beach.

[00:02:36] Why?

[00:02:37] There was a study published a while back that attempted to put a number on the maximum amount of fat you can burn in a day without losing muscle.

[00:02:46] The author came up with a theoretical figure of 290 kilojoules, or 69 calories, per kilogram of fat per day, or about 31 calories per pound.

[00:02:57] What this means is that over the course of a week, you'll be able to lose around 6.2% of your initial fat mass without dipping into muscle stores.

[00:03:09] How did I come up with that 6.2% number?

[00:03:12] Well, 31 calories per pound times 7 over 3500 equals 0.062, or 6.2%.

[00:03:23] Let's say you weigh 190 pounds with 18% body fat.

[00:03:27] That means you have 34 pounds of fat.

[00:03:30] Using the figures I've just given you, over the course of a week, you'll be able to lose a maximum of 2 pounds of fat,

[00:03:37] or 34 times 0.062, or 6.2%, equals 2.1.

[00:03:45] Over the course of, say, the next 6 to 8 weeks, you lose 10 pounds with no loss of muscle.

[00:03:50] You now weigh 180 pounds with a body fat percentage of 13%.

[00:03:55] But now you only have 24 pounds to lose.

[00:03:59] As a result, you'll be able to lose a maximum of 1.5 pounds of fat without dipping into muscle stores.

[00:04:06] Because the amount of fat available to lose has gone down, your maximum rate of fat loss has dropped from 2 to 1.5 pounds per week,

[00:04:16] and it'll continue dropping the leaner you get.

[00:04:19] Of course, these numbers are not set in stone, and there are a lot of estimates and assumptions being made.

[00:04:24] You might be able to lose a little more, or you might lose a little less.

[00:04:28] Like most things, it depends on the individual.

[00:04:32] What does all of this have to do with a Bugatti Veyron Supersport?

[00:04:36] The top speed of the original Veyron was 253 miles per hour.

[00:04:41] To increase the speed to 268 miles per hour, an increase of just 15 miles per hour,

[00:04:47] the horsepower of the engine had to be increased from 987 to 1184 horsepower.

[00:04:55] That extra 200 horsepower by itself is a lot more than you'll get from a lot of cars.

[00:05:02] Why so much extra horsepower for such a small amount of extra speed?

[00:05:07] Aerodynamic drag increases exponentially with speed.

[00:05:12] Ignoring the effect of rolling resistance,

[00:05:14] if 100 horsepower would push a car 100 miles per hour through the air,

[00:05:19] doubling the speed to 200 miles per hour would require not just 200 horsepower,

[00:05:24] but 400 horsepower in order to overcome air resistance.

[00:05:29] A speed of 300 miles per hour would require 900 horsepower.

[00:05:34] To put it another way, the faster the car goes, the harder it is to go even faster.

[00:05:40] And that's exactly what happens when you're losing fat.

[00:05:43] The more fat you lose, the harder it gets to lose even more.

[00:05:47] As an example, an overweight or obese male will typically be able to lose somewhere between

[00:05:53] 2 and 5 pounds of fat per week.

[00:05:56] But someone who is lean and wants to get even leaner

[00:05:59] will need to be happy losing just 1 pound of fat every other week.

[00:06:03] In short, you should expect your rate of fat loss to gradually slow down the leaner you get.

[00:06:09] It's quite normal and doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong,

[00:06:12] but it will mean that getting a six-pack will probably take longer than you think.

[00:06:20] You just listened to the post titled,

[00:06:22] Why Getting a Six-Pack Will Take Longer Than You Think

[00:06:25] by Christian Finn of MuscleEvo.net

[00:06:28] and I'll be right back with my commentary.

[00:06:31] Dr. Neil here for my commentary.

[00:06:33] I love that today's author, Christian, was able to do some math for us

[00:06:37] to really drive home the point about

[00:06:39] how much fat we might actually be able to lose each week.

[00:06:43] And the numbers Christian gave us are under the most ideal conditions.

[00:06:47] Meaning, our exercise, diet, sleep, and stress need to be on point

[00:06:52] for us to consistently lose body fat week after week.

[00:06:55] And that's why we always talk about the importance of consistency.

[00:06:59] Unless we're aiming to get into bodybuilder shape,

[00:07:01] there will likely be weeks when we may have missed a workout or two

[00:07:05] or ate a bit too much dessert.

[00:07:07] And that's okay.

[00:07:08] If we're consistent, more days than not,

[00:07:11] we will continue to make some progress.

[00:07:13] Oh, and if you really want six-pack abs,

[00:07:16] don't forget to actually perform abdominal strengthening moves too.

[00:07:21] All right, that'll do it for today.

[00:07:23] Thank you so much for being here and listening every day.

[00:07:25] Thank you.

[00:07:26] If you've ever shared this show with someone,

[00:07:28] that's one of the best ways to keep this show going.

[00:07:30] All right, I hope you're having a great weekend,

[00:07:32] and I'll see you back here tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.