About Philipp Halfmann

Content crafter at Tennis Conditioning. You can find me on the ITF/WTA/ATP tour coaching tennis players or online writing about tennis, strength & conditioning, exercise science or health-related issues. Champions find a way, others find excuses!

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Losing body weight and staying in good shape is challenging; it requires a plan and determination. The prerequisite for a successful weight loss strategy is that you are willing to change the way you live your life with respect to nutrition and regular activity. Learn how to calculate your daily caloric needs to lose weight or watch the video.

The weight loss plan includes two components:

1. Nutrition
   • Calculate Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)

i. Body Composition Test (%BF)

ii. Calculate Lean Mass

iii. Use Harris-Benedict Formula

• Supplements

2. Workout Program
   • Resistance Training Program
   • Aerobic Training Program

Nutrition

How much body fat one deposits or withdraws from fat cells depends on the energy balance each day: the amount of energy (kcal) consumed vs. energy expended. The goal of the diet is to limit the amount of energy intake while supplying the body with enough nutrients to maintain good health. More specifically, you need to know how many calories (energy) you burn each day if you commit to minimal activity: the basal metabolic rate (BMR). In order to calculate your BMR, you first need to undergo a body composition test to find out your percentage of body fat (%BF) to calculate lean (muscle) mass (kg).

1. Determine body weight (lb)

2. Determine body fat percentage (%BF)

use a fat loss monitor to find out your %BF

3. Calculate body fat (in lb)

body fat (in lb) = total body weight (in lb) x %BF

4. Calculate Lean (Muscle) Mass (kg)

Lean Mass [kg] = (total body mass [lb] – fat mass [lb]) / 2.2

5. Use Harris-Benedict Formula to calculate the BMR

BMR = (Lean Mass {kg} x 21.6) + 370

6. Daily calories = BMR x lifestyle multiplier

Chose appropriate lifestyle multiplier

Example

Let’s assume a male athlete has an “active” lifestyle, weights 220 lb and has a %BF = 20%. Calculate the BMR.

1. Body Weight = 220 lb

2. BF% = 20% (= 0.2)

3. Fat Mass = 220 lb x 0.2 = 44 lb

4. Lean Mass [kg] = (220 lb – 44 lb) / 2.2

= 176 lb / 2.2

= 80 kg

5. BMR = (80kg x 21.6) + 370

= 1,728 + 370

= 2,098 kcal

6. Daily calories = 2,098 x active lifestyle multiplier

= 2,098 x 1.65

= 3461.7 kcal

The athlete requires ~ 3,500kcal to meet his daily caloric needs. Therefore, the athlete shouldn’t consume more than 3,000kcal per day in order to lose 1lb of body fat (not body weight!) per week.

Why losing “only” 1lb of body fat/week?

1lb of body fat represents ~3,500 kcal because adipose tissue (fat cells) is composed of fat, protein, and water, where the fat content of 1lb body fat is ~87% and 1lb equals 454g. Therefore, 395g out of 454g is pure fat (454g x 0.87 = 395g) and hence yields 3,555 kcal (395g x 9kcal/g = 3,555 kcal).

Ergogenic Aids

An ergogenic aid is any external influence which can positively affect physical performance or mental focus and athletes can use ergogenic aids, such as supplements, to support any weight loss strategy.

There following weight loss supplements can be used to support your efforts in losing body weight:

Workout Program

Committing to resistance training in conjunction with aerobic training is most beneficial with respect to weight loss. In order to lose 1lb/week of fat mass, you need to work out every day for approximately 60 minutes per workout session. That’s where your level of determination comes into play; it is advisable to train early in the day.

Sample Hypertrophy Program

* You can calculate your personal 1 repetition maximum (1RM). If you don’t know the (1RM) then use weight so that you feel a burn for the last 2 reps per set.

Aerobic Training

On average you will burn 100kcal/mile of jogging regardless how fast you run since the amount of work (force x distance) remains the same. Since 1lb of fat corresponds to 3,500kcal you need to burn 500kcal/day if you train 7 days/week, which means you have to run at least 5 miles/day.

In general, you will need 6-8 min/mile depending on your fitness levels, which means you will need 30-40 minutes to run 5 miles. Therefore, when you include warm up and stretching, the workout session will last 45-60 minutes.

The intensity should be moderate. You can either use a runner’s watch with Heart Rate Monitor Watch or you can run at a tempo that permits you to have a conversation while running. The advantage of the heart rate monitors is that they allow you to control your heart rate during training to ensure the intensity is ideal for burning fat.

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Philipp Halfmann