Best Weight Loss Exercise Options
Best Weight Loss Exercise
The best weight loss exercise should be free from any age or gender limitations, does not require any investment and can be carried out anytime and anywhere. And even a single session should be effective in burning a substantial amount of calories. However it is unlikely that one size fits all.
For Sure, shedding those excess pounds is all about burning more calories than you take in – and so the need to eat a bit less and work out a bit more.
However, there’s another part to the equation that will make a huge difference, and that is your lifestyle and how it will dictate your choice of best weight loss exercise.
OK, So what is the best exercise for weight loss for me?
People usually think of cardio workouts – running, stationary bike, rowing machine – but a closer look at the science behind weight loss exercise suggests that strength (resistance training) may be just as effective in the short term, and even more so in the long run.
Aerobic or cardiovascular, as the name suggests, is about raising your heart rate by making it work a little harder. Strength building is about increasing the amount of muscle in your body, replacing fat along the way.
While many think weight loss exercises needs to be aerobic, in fact you need both types for the maximum benefit.
Is Aerobic exercise best for weight loss?
Aerobic exercise burns calories, improving the balance if you take in too many calories through your diet. Aerobic exercise can range from a simple brisk walk to a game of squash. Obviously, the more vigorous the workout, the more calories you will burn.
Interval training pushes this to the limit, – because it is much tougher and more intense than a regular steady paced cardio workout, and substantially speeds up the metabolism. The result is that you burn more calories, not just during the workout, but for several hours afterwards.
For stay at home moms, or the elderly who maybe cannot always indulge in outdoor exercises due to domestic responsibilities or age limitations, being extra active while performing household chores and doing yoga may be the best weight loss exercise. Aerobic exercises at home may seem far less energetic but they contribute to physical flexibility which in turn causes loss of calories.
What about Strength Building exercise?
Strength building, or resistance training as it’s sometimes known, can be done with things like weights or resistance bands. The reason this helps weight loss is that lean muscle helps to burn fat by increasing your metabolism. Each extra pound of muscle you add burns between 15 – 35 calories per hour, 24/7. So as you can see, one of the most effective ways to rid yourself of excess fat may be to add a bit of extra muscle! It needs to be maintained though; if you go back to a sedentary lifestyle the muscle will in time turn back to fat.
Due to the relatively strenuous nature of these exercises they should always be preceded by a warm-up and stretching session so that it is easier to cope up with the exertion.
Ideally your best weight loss exercise should be performed under guidance for maximum effectiveness. eg: Having being trained to run, an individual is able to utilize their oxygen optimally, accelerate their fat burning potential and adapt their body to the exercise.
This article shows that both aerobic and strength building exercise, together, provide the best path to weight reduction combined with a healthy calorie aware diet. There is a wide choice of exercises in both categories to suite your needs.
If you are fit, the best weight loss exercise (ie: most rapid) is a combination of cardio interval training, circuit training and weight training.
If your fitness level is low and/or you are just beginning exercise just remember the rule “**be more active**” – the more activity you do the more calories you will burn to lose weight in your quest for your own best weight loss exercise.