When your body needs energy and nutrients, it asks for food. When your body has enough food, it stores extra for the winter.
When you exercise, you ask your body for more energy. This is the best way to lose weight.
Weight loss is simply math. Weight does not come out of nowhere, but instead comes from what you eat and what your body stores.
Consume 3,500 calories and you will have to burn 3,500 calories in order to cut the pounds.
Melt fat with interval training
The best way to strip off excess weight is to do interval training. This involves using 3 or more forms of exercise in one exercise session. Why is this better? When exercising, you are likely to exhaust some of your muscles.
When your muscles become exhausted, you will be less able to put as much effort into exercise. If you instead switch off with different muscle groups, you will be able to put more effort into each activity, thus burning more calories.
Slow vs. fast
Exercisers can use slow or fast cardio. Slow cardio involves steady exercises that are sustained for 45 minutes to an hour. These are better for the joints and burn more fat than carbs.
Fast cardio is more intense and involves explosive movements like sprinting. This form of cardio keeps your body metabolism high and only has to be done for 20 to 30 minutes.
So which form of exercise has researchers found to be better? Who cares? Try both and see which type of exercise works the best for you.
Slow cardio is easier to maintain while fast cardio saves an extra 15 to 30 minutes in a day. But if one isn’t working for you, try the other. Or try both.
Walk or swim?
On average, step aerobics, swimming, bicycling and racquetball are all equally effective at burning calories, though the success of each depends on how much effort is put into it.
Walking on the other hand burns half the calories of the exercises listed above. But walking can be more enjoyable for many exercisers.
Other great forms of exercise are running and elliptical trainers. If you want even better results, consider trying jump rope and sprinting. These are high intensity interval training methods that are known to have very strong results.
Getting yourself to exercise
The most important part of exercising is getting yourself to do it. If exercise is boring, you’ll find yourself not wanting to do it. If you don’t plan exercise in your day, you will never have time to do it. What really helps is to keep track of how often you exercise.
Skipping one day of exercise won’t cause you to gain 15 pounds, but if you realize how many times you really are skipping, you’ll realize how badly you really need to get back into the program. Remember, exercise gives you more energy and you’ll get more done in the long run if you stick to it.
