To get the most out of your exercise program, geared for weight loss, a lot depends on your perception of the exercise regimen and what exactly you are aiming for. For instance, there is a common notion that aerobic exercises firm up and tone muscles. So if you take up aerobic exercises with this aim in mind, they you might get very disappointed as it does little in this regard. If muscle toning and firming is your goal, the way to go is to do resistance exercises (weight training). But if you combine the two, resistance training and aerobics, then you could find an effective way to burn fat and gain more in terms of muscles. In fact, studies show that weight loss can increase by 56% if you combine the two – aerobics and resistance training.
The important facet of exercise, which you need to understand, is that though muscles may weigh more but your muscle composition can effectively help you to burn fat, even when you are resting, as you have effectively hiked up your metabolism. You would be surprised to learn that a pound of muscle requires 350 to 500 calories for survival whereas a pound of fat can do with only 14 calories per week. In fact, building stronger muscles also help to strengthen your immune system too.
Strength training is gradually emerging to be one of the most beneficial parts of any fitness program. Research is showing that old people lose their muscle mass not due to their aging process but due to lack of physical activity. In fact, even a younger person, may lose muscular strength and mass if he or she lives a lazy lifestyle. Thus strength training, like weight lifting or doing weight resistance exercises, even twice a week, can help you build muscle mass.
The other misconception about strength training is that when you do repetitions using moderate weights, it might result i
Why should you do aerobic exercises? The importance of this type of exercises is that it strengthens your heart and lungs and helps the body to use the oxygen more effectively. It raises the heart rate and breathing for an extended period. This makes the heart and lungs work faster and more efficiently. There are several types of aerobic exercises, which you could do and these include, cycling, aerobic dances, swimming, walking, etc. The one that would suit you best depends on your present health status, goals and your interest area. Doctors say that alternating between two or more types can yield faster and better results. This in turn assists the strength training and help in your overall fitness program. The strength exercise complements the aerobics by developing muscle, reduce fat and maintain bone mass.
The whole essence of any physical workout is to help you lose weight the healthy way. The above would have helped in you in getting a better perspective of a typical physical workout schedule and hopefully you would put them into practice.
