Most people are doing the wrong kind of exercise for weight loss, or they are doing it the hard way. You should not need to work an hour or more on cardio equipment, like elliptical machines or stationary bicycles, every day to get fit and lose weight.
There is a better way.
I believe in both cardio and strength training exercises for weight loss, but even resistance training is often done the hard way.
When you cut calories and train too long, your body goes into a survival mode, to help keep it from crashing. Your body is starving for energy and it is trying to save you by holding on to the stored fat and adapting your metabolism to the new situation. Unfortunately this means you have little energy, cravings for energy foods like sugar and fat, and little or no real permanent weight loss.
So, what can you do to get the body to build muscle and burn fat?
First, you need to look at your diet. It is almost impossible to lose weight with exercise alone. To start, cut back processed and high carbohydrate foods. Avoid corn syrup, sugar white flour, and processed grains. Stick to whole grains and natural sweeteners like honey and maple sugar (in small quantities). Don't use any synthetic sweeteners like Equal or Nutrasweet. (Do a search on Google for "dangers of aspartame" sometime if you want to scare yourself!) Stevia is a good natural alternative.
Also avoid all processed oils like corn, vegetable (soy) and canola. Switch to coconut oil, which is healthy and promotes weight loss. You can even fry foods in it. A little olive oil is fine for salads, in moderation. And don't forget to eat lots of local, organic and biodynamic produce and healthy organic grass fed meats, eggs and raw cheeses.
For exercise, very short but very intense training is the key to kicking your metabolism into gear for serious and permanent weight loss.
1) For cardio workouts--
High intensity interval training is as good as, or even better than, the traditional long slow cardio training, and it takes much less time.
Start with only 5-7 minutes a day of high intensity cardio burst training, and work slowly up to 20 minutes for very advanced training. The shortest intense workouts possible are the best. Choose the cardio exercise you are most comfortable with, or mix them up occasionally. Recumbent bicycles, stationary bicycles, elliptical machines, stair climbing, power walking, running, jump ropes, and rebounders are all examples of good cardio workouts.
Start with warming up for a minute or two. Then go all out, as hard as you can for 30 seconds. As you reach your peak you may feel short of breath, a little light headed, and possibly even a little nauseous. You should recover quickly and feel better in a minute.
Recover for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, by slowing down, or until you feel ready to do it again. Repeat it all over again several times. Start with only two or three repetitions, (or even just one) and work you way up to seven or eight repetitions at the advanced level.
Cool down when you are finished by cutting the intensity of your workout by 50% - 75%.
This is a powerful exercise routine for burning fat, but don't over do it. You only need to do this type of exercise training two or three times a week. You body does better if it has time to recover between training sessions.
And if you want to supercharge your health and weight loss, do resistance/weight training on the alternative days.
2) For strength training and resistance workouts-- Super-slow high intensity workouts are the most efficient way to go.
The majority of people who are working out for weight loss do cardio style workouts, and avoid weights and core training. But strength training is the kind of exercise that helps build muscle that will tone and shape your body, not to mention the other benefits like building bone density, slowing down the aging process, and burning calories 24/7.
This is another area where people are doing the workout the hard way. It is better to do only a few short, but slow and intense sets per exercise, than a lot of sets you can easily handle. Intensity is the key again. You want to push your body past what you think you can do. You slowly push that weight until you begin shaking and eventually fail. Slowly pushing your muscles will burn calories faster, and minimize the jerking motions that can lead to injuries. With this kind of strength training, you do not need to do lots of different types of exercises or weights. Just do a few of the main important ones. If you do not have a gym, try push-ups, sit-ups and squats.
Done correctly, an intense weight training workout should cause micro-tears in your muscles. This is good, because then your body will repair them, which will make your muscles a little larger and stronger each time.
Try to find weight training exercises that are appropriate for you and your situation. Try to make each workout progressively a little harder. Always use super-slow movements. If you are doing a push-up, go down for a count of 10 (or 20 is even better), hold for 5 seconds and go for a count of 10. This also works for doing core exercises, like Pilates and yoga.
You only need to do this kind of training two or three times a week as well. Target a different body area each time, so you are only doing weight training in that area once a week. Your body needs the time in between workouts to recover and rebuild.
For instance a typical routine might be:
Monday - Cardio exercise training
Tuesday - Strength training- Arms and upper body
Wednesday - Cardio exercise training
Thursday - Strength training- Legs and lower body
Friday - Cardio exercise training
Saturday - Strength training- Core (stomach, chest, back & center body)
Sunday - day off
You can arrange this differently to fit your schedule. You could do the cardio and the resistance training both on the same day, and take a day off between, so you are only doing workouts three days a week. Or you could even break it down to four days a week, doing two cardio and two resistance training days. But personally I find it easier to get into a daily habit of exercise. I tend to come up with excuses for not doing it, if I know I can several skip days. Of course, this is up to you and your schedule.
The benefits of incorporating these types of exercise workouts into your life are numerous, including losing fat, gaining muscle, improving your strength and agility, firming up your skin, toning up your body shape, having more energy, getting healthier, slowing down aging and improving your chances for living longer, activating your immune system, and increasing your stamina.
Remember also to add stretching exercises to your daily routine. These help help improve circulation and help make your joints more flexible and elastic. Stretching also helps prepare the body for daily activity.
Of course, check with your doctor before starting any weight loss program and be sure you are healthy enough for dieting and exercise.
Dianne's FREE ebook reveals the secrets of people who are losing weight and getting healthier with coconut oil at Coconut-Oil-Diet.com Coconut-Oil-Diet.com Check it out today!
By Dianne Ronnow ? 2011. All rights reserved. This article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.
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