5 Super-Cheap Hacks That Deliver Asymmetric Fat Loss & Health Gains

Everybody loves a so-called silver-bullet when it comes to getting stronger or leaner or fitter. Sprinkle in some ‘fat loss’ pixie-dust and it’s game over.

And don’t the consumer brands just know it?

Humans are absolutely spanked with all manner of get-rich-quick schemes that offer a promised land of vitality and happiness, and usually most of them don’t offer very much except than making our wallets that bit lighter.

You only need to hit the supplements aisle in any supermarket or pharmacy and you’ll see it’s awash with literally thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of different supplements, each offering the promised land of making us feel a tiny bit better.

All are, of course, completely useless and worthless (mostly).

This post from yesteryear  (back in 2017) discusses some of the supplements you might need to get “jacked & juicy”.

I was younger and dumber then and could quite easily snip at least 3 from that list.

Nowadays I think the only supplements you really need (if you’re active and training) would be whey protein and creatine. 

Which brings me onto the subject of this post: free things you can do that have a dis-proportional benefit to your health given the cost and / or effort involved in doing it. 

Put simply, where is the best bang for your buck (especially in a cost of living crisis)?

The Top 5

1. Walking (Or Walking Backwards)

If you up your daily steps, you will start to burn off calories and this, ultimately, will help to tip the fat loss equation in your favour.

Try making a conscious effort to up your current daily rate by 5-10% or ideally 15%+ – so from 8,000 to 10,000 or 10k to 12k and so on. It’s a secret helper that burns off a surprising number of calories.

Take or make work calls on your phone whilst on the move – you’ll catch some free steps and might be able to think more clearly & cleverly on your feet. At least if the meeting is shit, it won’t have been a totally wasted 30 minute or hour.

Pro Tip: I used to take my work daily stand-up on the move. It gave me a 7,000 step walk before 9am once everyone had finished prattling on. Then I got told to attend in person / on video which put paid to this little ruse.

Walking backwards is being mentioned a lot lately. I heard Lawrence Van Lingen on Dr Rangen Chattergee’s ‘Live Better, Feel More’ podcast (linked here) talking about the benefits of walking backwards for running but also for living generally. I strongly recommend giving it a listen if movement and moving more freely is important to you.

This article from the Cleveland Clinic gives another perspective on walking backwards.

It seems like the biggest drawback with walking backwards is the fact that you look like a twat whilst doing it, but I’m sure we’d all agree we’re a bit too old to be worried about that any more.

2. Drinking Electrolytes

Maybe it’s one to many wines with dinner, or just that drinking water throughout the day sometimes get pushed to the back of the priority queue, but I can wake up feeling pretty dehydrated.

In fact, when this happens it nearly always correlates with a sub-par sleep score on my Oura Ring.

So I’ve been taking a range of different electrolyte / rehydration supplements to combat this and I’ll be darned if I don’t feel a lot better generally when I do throw back a liter or two of the stuff per day.

Some of the brands I’ve tried include: Staminade, Endura, Powerade (low sugar), LvL Up, Peak Hydration, Bodyscience.

Things to watch out for when selecting your hydration drink of choice: 

a) how much sugar does it contain? Supermarket stuff (Staminade, Powerade) tends to be full of sugar.

b) What’s the ratio of sodium to potassium? This is important in terms of how you’re replacing electrolytes lost during exercise. Generally 5:1 S to P is considered optimal.

c) The price – I like Staminade because it’s cheap and it’s name sounds like it’s from the 70’s or 80’s. Most of the new ones, whilst scientifically sound I’m sure, just feel like a grift for podcasters to be sponsored by. And, well, fuck that.

3. Creatine Supplementation

I’m not a scientist but I’ve still yet to read any article or post or listen to any podcast from anyone – doctor, spruiker, con-man, sponsored podcaster, athlete, bodybuilder, preacher, Youtube fitness guru – that says you SHOULDN’T be supplementing with creatine.

The fact that folks with nothing to spruik or sell ALL also say that you should be taking creatine points me evidencially to the fact that they may be right.

If you’re worried about the water retention that may come with creatine monohydrate, you can switch to creatine HCL which purports to negate this – read a bit more about that in this post.

Some benefits of creatine include:

Exercise Performance

Recovery Speeds

Cognitive Ability & Performance

Strength

Glucose Tolerance

I’d be surprised if there’s a professional athlete out there who isn’t supplementing with creatine.

In fact, at a recent talk by Cam McEvoy (Olympic 50m Champion 2024), I asked about any hacks, tricks or gadgets he uses to aid performance.

He replied that because of the explosive nature of his event, he doesn’t over-emphasise or track too much in terms of wearables, for example, but he did say matter-of-factly “and obviously creatine.”

4. Eating 150-200g Protein Per Day

Age-related muscle loss (aka sarcopenia) occurs at an increasing rate as men get older.

Age-related muscle loss, called sarcopenia, is a natural part of aging. After age 30, you begin to lose as much as 3% to 5% per decade. Most men will lose about 30% of their muscle mass during their lifetimes.  [Harvard Health]

One of the best (correction: the best) ways to counter this is through resistance training (weight training) and increased protein consumption.

Think of protein as the building blocks of muscle. Your weight training will only be successful or will be most effective if you have enough protein in your cells to lay the foundations for muscle growth.

Some of the best foods for muscle building are:

Chicken

Red meat

Fish

Greek yogurt

Eggs

Milk

Some beans (apparently)

Protein powder

Good, lean carbs are: sweet potato, rice, pasta (not perfect but then, who is?)

These foods can appear boring and mundane, flavourless even. 

To this I simply say one thing: hot sauce.

There is nary a meal that can’t be rescued, resurrected and remedied by the addition of hot sauce.

I’m talking in jest obviously, but basically the message is to limit too many white carbs, whilst finding ways to crowbar more protein into your diet and make it a fun challenge.

To whit: in the city for work the other day I was devoid of any protein having fasted during the morning. The old me would’ve headed straight to the Australia Square food court for a kebab, but what did the new and improved version of me do?

I went to Coles (a supermarket for those not in Aus) and bought a protein bar (45g protein), a protein shake (30g protein) and a Siggi’s yogurt pouch in raspberry (15g protein).

Total protein: 90g (half of my day’s protein requirement)
Total cost: $12 (not the best, not the worst)

Would I do this everyday? Hell, no.

Was it somewhat slow and clarty to eat? Er, yep, kinda.

Was it effective? Hell, yes.

Did I feel smug at having avoided the kebab? Fuck, yes.

The lesson: as we age, those delicious, quick-fix meals become a little bit harder to shift and it’s worth (sometimes, to start with) sacrificing the odd one in favour of something full of protein that gives you better a muscle-building / fat-stripping ROI.

5. Sprinting

“Sprint & Lift Heavy” is the mantra of Martin Rooney, founder of Training For Warriors, who’s seminars I attended in, gosh, 2016.

Rooney is a renowned UFC trainer (Jim Miller) who has also worked with NFL, NHL and NBA players.

The mantra can be boiled down to the belief that once we hit a certain vintage, say 39 for argument’s sake, and you’re a busy person with lots of conflicting responsibilities, then your exercise focus should be solely on getting the best return on your fitness minutes.

And lifting heavy-ish weights and sprinting can definitely be considered to be at the top end when it comes to bang-for-buck activities.

A decent, fat-torching sprint workout can easily be knocked out in 20-30 minutes, including warm-ups and cool-downs. I especially recommend doing this on the sand if you live near a beach.

As for lifting heavy (or even just lifting), you can crank through Dan John’s kettlebell swings / goblet squats protocol in 12-15 mins and do a dumbbell cluster of 10 reps of 5 exercises without a break.

The first workout requires a kettlebell. The second requires a pair of dumbbells.

They look like this:

1) Dan John’s Basic Kettlebell Workout

15 kettlebell swings

10 goblet squats

X 5 rounds

You can either rest as long as you need between rounds OR time the first round and if it takes 1 min 15 secs, then go every 2 minutes – so the entire workout takes 10 minutes.

Do 6 rounds if you’re feeling emboldened.

Obviously warm-up thoroughly beforehand and ensure your technique is solid to avoid back issues, which can often affect those whose form is a little off. Always starlight, too, and work up.

2) Basic Dumbbell Cluster

10 DB deadlifts

10 DB shoulder press

10 DB squats

10 DB bicep curls

10 DB front raises (single dumbbell)

X 5 rounds

For this one you do all exercises back-to-back and then rest at the end. Use the same time protocol as above i.e. if the 5 exercises take 2:10 then rest until 3 mins and go again.

Use 6 or 8 kgs if you’re a beginner and then build up to 10 or 12.5 or even 15kg if you’re a strong Dad.

The downside of this sort of workout is that it isn’t completely optimal because you’d usually squat and deadlift with much heavier weights that you’d curl or press overhead.

The upside is that it is quick, effective, good for conditioning (i.e. becomes a cardio workout as well as a strength workout) and, well, if you only have one set of dumbbells at home, what else are you going to do?

As always warm up well, start light and build up.