{"id":789720,"date":"2026-07-09T04:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/789720\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T04:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:01:09","slug":"fitness-coach-puneet-rao-says-your-workout-is-not-a-fat-burning-magic-trick-shares-what-actually-helps-you-lose-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/789720\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitness coach Puneet Rao says, &#8216;your workout is not a fat-burning magic trick&#8217;; shares what actually helps you lose fat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"content\">Many people head to the gym believing that endless squats will reduce thigh fat or that bicep curls will slim their arms. But according to fitness coach Puneet Rao, that&#8217;s one of the biggest misconceptions about <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/lifestyle\/health\/longevity-doctor-explains-how-overtraining-can-slow-down-fat-loss-pushing-harder-is-not-always-smarter-101783251088725.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"fat loss\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">fat loss<\/a>. In his July 3 Instagram post, he explained why workouts don&#8217;t burn fat from specific body parts and what actually helps you lose fat sustainably. (Also read: <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/lifestyle\/health\/stop-tea-stop-rice-celebrity-nutritionist-rujuta-diwekar-calls-out-biggest-weight-loss-scam-hiding-on-social-media-101782212015172.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"\u2018Stop tea, stop rice\u2019: Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar calls out biggest weight-loss scam hiding on social media\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u2018Stop tea, stop rice\u2019: Celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar calls out biggest weight-loss scam hiding on social media<\/a> )<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/photo-1571019613454-1cb2f99b2d8b_1775820359015_1783520199276_bee3205c-e53e-4ff8-85df-7567f2129919.jp.jpeg\" alt=\"Fitness coach Puneet Rao highlights the importance of muscle over targeted exercises. (Unsplash)\" title=\"Fitness coach Puneet Rao highlights the importance of muscle over targeted exercises. (Unsplash)\" width=\"360\" height=\"202\" loading=\"eager\"\/>Fitness coach Puneet Rao highlights the importance of muscle over targeted exercises. (Unsplash)Why strength training doesn&#8217;t directly burn fat<\/p>\n<p>Puneet began by debunking the idea that individual exercises target fat in specific body parts. &#8220;You pick those dumbbells up and do squats. Does that help in burning fat from your hips or legs? No. You do <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/lifestyle\/health\/tiger-shroff-shows-off-his-ripped-muscles-and-nails-dumbbell-bicep-curls-in-a-new-shirtless-workout-video-watch-101653723582607.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"bicep curls.\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">bicep curls.<\/a> Does that help in burning fat from your arms? No. Then you do lat pull-downs, hip thrusts or shoulder presses. Does that help in burning fat from anywhere? No. Nobody&#8217;s arms got leaner by doing curls ever,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">He explained that \u201cyour workout is not a fat-burning magic trick. Your workout is a signal. Every time you lift, your body gets a message: &#8216;We need strength. We need muscle. We need to become capable.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">According to Puneet, building muscle helps improve overall fitness. &#8220;More muscle changes everything. You move better. You train harder. Your body burns more even at rest,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>What actually helps you lose fat<\/p>\n<p>Puneet emphasised that fat loss is the result of multiple healthy habits working together rather than one specific exercise. &#8220;Add the right food, enough protein, <a class=\"backlink\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/lifestyle\/health\/nutritionist-reveals-9-1-rules-to-make-weight-loss-simple-3-main-meals-9k-daily-steps-8-glasses-of-water-101760683009877.html\" data-vars-page-type=\"story\" data-vars-link-type=\"Manual\" data-vars-anchor-text=\"daily steps\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">daily steps<\/a>, good sleep and consistency. That is when fat loss happens. It&#8217;s not because one exercise burned one fat cell, it&#8217;s because your entire system started working together,&#8221; he explained.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">He encouraged people to shift their mindset, saying, &#8220;Can we please stop asking which exercise burns fat? Ask this instead: Which habits help my body become stronger, healthier and harder to break?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Summing up his message, Puneet said, &#8220;Fat loss is not one exercise. It&#8217;s training, food, sleep, steps and recovery working together. Fourteen years in, this is the only game I&#8217;ve seen work.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Puneet Rao is an Indian fitness coach and the founder of EvolveX. With 14 years of experience in the fitness industry, he has built a community of over 6.6 lakh followers on Instagram, where he posts practical fitness tips and educational content.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"content \">This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many people head to the gym believing that endless squats will reduce thigh fat or that bicep curls&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[49,48,15173,407,13105,84,15177,46640,278972,7430],"class_list":["post-789720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fat-loss","tag-fitness","tag-gym","tag-health","tag-healthy-habits","tag-muscle-building","tag-overall-fitness","tag-protein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}