I am always asked which is the best way to loose weight. But remember it is not weight that covers your six pack it is FAT, and fat being the optimum word not weight. Especially at this time of the year with summer upon us and the countless holidays coming up. People also, always give me their rendition of how one should do this. This information is something they obtain the gossip columns of some cheap celebrity magazine. The problem lies where most of these magazines tell us how one Hollywood star has lost 2 stones in weight by doing long sessions of cardio exercise and next week another super-star has dropped 8 inches around their waist by performing short periods at a higher intensity. This of course confuses them. So who’s right and who’s wrong? Well let me shine some sort of light to this.
There has been an ongoing debate about whether high-intensity or low-intensity workouts burn more fat. Many people, including personal trainers and fitness experts, are confused because low-intensity activity does burn a higher percentage of fat. This is because when we exercise at an easy to mid pace, our body has time to break down stored fat and use it for fuel. During high-intensity exercise, our body needs to access fuel fast to sustain your workout and therefore it burns carbohydrates, which are easier to convert to energy than fat. Nonetheless, because we end up burning more calories overall during high-intensity exercise, you ultimately lose more fat. The activity that expends the most calories maximizes fat loss.
Let's do the math and I hope I get this right because I do not want to confuse any more than it might already be. If we exercising at low intensity 60 per cent of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age), you'll burn about 300 calories an hour, or five calories per minute. Half of those calories will come from fat. When you do high-intensity workouts exercising at 80 per cent of your maximum heart rate you burn about 660 calories in one hour, or 11 calories per minute; that's more than twice as many as with a low-intensity workout. Although only 40 per cent of the calories you use come from stored fat, you burn more calories and fat overall at a faster rate during the high-intensity workout. So when you see those charts on the treadmill or the cross-trainer stating in a nice graph this is your fat burning zone and cardio zone, please ignore it.
So, if you want to lose body fat, consider your exercise options. To lose one pound of fat, you must burn 3,500 calories. To give you an idea that is, approximately a large meal at your famous fast food joint, one that is reverting back to what they specialize at, BURGERS. Any way I am digressing. If you do low-intensity exercise, such as walking or jogging for 30 minutes three times a week, you'll burn about 450 calories weekly. So, it will take two months to lose one pound of fat through exercise. If you upped the intensity of your workout and jogged or power walked on hills for 30 minutes three times a week, you'd burn about 900 calories weekly and lose one pound in a month. With a higher-intensity program, you'll see results faster.
Whether you prefer to tough it out or take it easy, it's important to find a regimen you enjoy and will stick with, be it 2 days a week to start with. I always suggest mixing it all up. It is important to know that if you exercise too hard, you are more likely to skip workouts, which, as you know, will get you nowhere. And you could end up with repetitive strain injuries or illnesses because your body isn't capable of exercising at a high intensity all the time. The way I would suggest to burn fat effectively, and create an exercise habit that you'll keep to, is to exercise at a variety of levels. One day a 20 minute session on the rowing machine, all out; 40 minutes at an easy pace the next time on a cross-trainer; and perhaps go for an hour-long walk another day in the park get some fresh air in your system (or even venture out to the lovely country side that surrounds us). Also add some resistance exercise to ultimately give that extra boost, but more about that another time. The key is not give up. Stick with it, and I can guarantee it that you will see the desired results.
For further information or to book your free consultation email: val@theholisticsystem.com or have a look at our website www.theholisticsystem.com. Personal Training in Leeds.
