By
Sabrina Hartel
Obesity is an epidemic today causing untold numbers of early
deaths and disabilities across the globe. Yet more people than ever
before spend a huge percentage of their days and evenings sitting down
and eating. As they do, their muscles shrink and their bodies cut down
on vital hormone production and before they know it losing weight seems
like an almost impossible proposition. These people are in desperate
need of some magic pill to speed up their metabolism so they can lose
weight.
They don't have to look far, however. The magic pill they are looking for is exercise. Here are some tips on how to maximize the metabolism boosting effects of your exercise program.
Older people and people who have spent years on the couch with no exercise should start out by building up a walking or running program over time. Walking consistently is a great way to get in shape, and running can cut fat off seemingly almost as fast as surgery, but what if you have already been exercising for a while and your weight loss results have hit a plateau?
Running burns a lot of calories and is an excellent weight loss regimen, but there are ways to make it even more effective. You need to increase the intensity of your workouts in order to break through that plateau, but at the same time you need to make more time to recover from those more intense workouts. After all, the true benefit of exercise happens when you recover from your workouts.
When you run, the number of calories you burn is a factor primarily of how fast and how far you run. Of course there are other factors at play as well. As you age your body slows down. Men generally burn more calories than women from any activity. If you have hills on your running route you will burn more calories. In addition, the longer you keep running the more calories it takes to keep going.
So those numbers that you see on the screens of the exercise equipment at your gym may not be absolutely accurate. They serve as a general guideline but don't really tell you much about the fat burning capability of your workout. The standard formula used to calculate the number of calories you burn every mile when running is.75 multiplied by your body weight in pounds. So, for example, if you weigh 200 pounds you will burn 150 calories per mile. At an easy pace, you will run approximately 6 miles in an hour and burn 900 calories during that hour run. If you run a faster pace you will burn more calories. However, as you develop more fitness over time, the number of calories you burn per hour is going to go down.
The flip side of this, however, is that as you get in better shape your body will begin to burn more calories all the time. You will build muscle and your hormone levels will rise in order to accomplish that. As long as you keep getting adequate sleep and recovery time that increased muscle will help to keep your fat furnace burning.
However, there is a very effective way to maximize your calorie burning and hormone production without having to spend every waking moment exercising. This method is high intensity interval training. If you decide to try this, you must be very careful not to do too much interval training and cause injuries. Here are some tips on how to get started with interval training.
Your imagination is the only limit when it comes to interval training. One of the simplest ways is to start running a little faster for short distances during your normal runs. Pick a type of landmark you see regularly and cover the distance between them at a faster pace, then follow that with a gentle jog for the same distance. If there is a track at a local park, you can go there and use the standard track and field interval distances. Be sure to warm up thoroughly, then sprint a lap or 2 laps followed by walking or jogging for the same distance. Start with a couple of repetitions and move up to as many as 20. Alternate periods with longer intervals as well.
When you start doing this, try to limit it to once or at most twice a week as part of your regular program. Be sure to concentrate on your recovery in between sessions. This is when your body will produce the fat burning and muscle building hormones you are going after with this type of workout.
You can also use only interval training for short periods of time. When you do this, keep the workouts short and have more days off than on during your workout week. However, don't use interval work all the time. Alternate periods of interval workouts with weeks of running only long slow distances. Consistency is the key to success and you always want to make sure you have plenty of recovery time, both during each week and after every training cycle.
Running might easily be the best fat burning exercise around. However, if you can't run for some reason, most of this advice can easily be adapted to other types of exercise. Plan your workout schedule and watch the signals your body is giving you carefully and you will become fit in no time.
They don't have to look far, however. The magic pill they are looking for is exercise. Here are some tips on how to maximize the metabolism boosting effects of your exercise program.
Older people and people who have spent years on the couch with no exercise should start out by building up a walking or running program over time. Walking consistently is a great way to get in shape, and running can cut fat off seemingly almost as fast as surgery, but what if you have already been exercising for a while and your weight loss results have hit a plateau?
Running burns a lot of calories and is an excellent weight loss regimen, but there are ways to make it even more effective. You need to increase the intensity of your workouts in order to break through that plateau, but at the same time you need to make more time to recover from those more intense workouts. After all, the true benefit of exercise happens when you recover from your workouts.
When you run, the number of calories you burn is a factor primarily of how fast and how far you run. Of course there are other factors at play as well. As you age your body slows down. Men generally burn more calories than women from any activity. If you have hills on your running route you will burn more calories. In addition, the longer you keep running the more calories it takes to keep going.
So those numbers that you see on the screens of the exercise equipment at your gym may not be absolutely accurate. They serve as a general guideline but don't really tell you much about the fat burning capability of your workout. The standard formula used to calculate the number of calories you burn every mile when running is.75 multiplied by your body weight in pounds. So, for example, if you weigh 200 pounds you will burn 150 calories per mile. At an easy pace, you will run approximately 6 miles in an hour and burn 900 calories during that hour run. If you run a faster pace you will burn more calories. However, as you develop more fitness over time, the number of calories you burn per hour is going to go down.
The flip side of this, however, is that as you get in better shape your body will begin to burn more calories all the time. You will build muscle and your hormone levels will rise in order to accomplish that. As long as you keep getting adequate sleep and recovery time that increased muscle will help to keep your fat furnace burning.
However, there is a very effective way to maximize your calorie burning and hormone production without having to spend every waking moment exercising. This method is high intensity interval training. If you decide to try this, you must be very careful not to do too much interval training and cause injuries. Here are some tips on how to get started with interval training.
Your imagination is the only limit when it comes to interval training. One of the simplest ways is to start running a little faster for short distances during your normal runs. Pick a type of landmark you see regularly and cover the distance between them at a faster pace, then follow that with a gentle jog for the same distance. If there is a track at a local park, you can go there and use the standard track and field interval distances. Be sure to warm up thoroughly, then sprint a lap or 2 laps followed by walking or jogging for the same distance. Start with a couple of repetitions and move up to as many as 20. Alternate periods with longer intervals as well.
When you start doing this, try to limit it to once or at most twice a week as part of your regular program. Be sure to concentrate on your recovery in between sessions. This is when your body will produce the fat burning and muscle building hormones you are going after with this type of workout.
You can also use only interval training for short periods of time. When you do this, keep the workouts short and have more days off than on during your workout week. However, don't use interval work all the time. Alternate periods of interval workouts with weeks of running only long slow distances. Consistency is the key to success and you always want to make sure you have plenty of recovery time, both during each week and after every training cycle.
Running might easily be the best fat burning exercise around. However, if you can't run for some reason, most of this advice can easily be adapted to other types of exercise. Plan your workout schedule and watch the signals your body is giving you carefully and you will become fit in no time.
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