Exercise - Lift Weight to Loose Weight!

In your quest to lose weight and stay fit, it’s pretty much common knowledge that cardio is a great way to burn fat while increasing your cardiovascular health as well. But, when you’re busy working out your cardio program, don’t forget to also include some weight training! Studies have shown that strength training plays an important role in ridding the body of extra weight.

Sure, aerobic exercise burns calories, but the body’s metabolism quickly returns to pre-exercise levels, usually within 30 minutes or so. Yet researchers at Johns Hopkins University have found that resistance training actually leads to increased calorie burning for up to two hours after the workout is over. In the study, research lead Carol A. Binzen and colleagues recruited 10 moderately trained women to perform three sets of 10 exercises at 10-repetition maximum with a one-minute rest period between each set. They found that fat burning was significantly higher after the strength-training session.

Why? Simple. If you lift weights, and eat healthy, you will increase your muscle mass. Which picks up your metabolism, burning fat! But, one thing to keep in mind is that weight training often results in a corresponding increase in weight due to increased muscle mass. While men usually don’t have a problem with that (since we’re suppose to have muscles!), unfortunately many women abandon their strength-training efforts, opting instead for strictly cardiovascular activities. There is this myth that as a woman, if you lift weights, you will gain muscle like a man. Those female bodybuilders you see – well, without either a bizarre hormone balance, or testosterone supplements, women won’t put on muscle like a man.

So, don’t give up your cardio workouts….just don’t forget to add some weights once in awhile! And, if you’re looking for help on finding weight lifting equipment, Fitness 4 Home Superstore can help!

Exercise - The Fat Burning Zone

So, you’re trying to lose weight, and are curious to how best to accomplish that goal. And, you also know one of the best ways to accomplish this is through a strong cardio program – and whether it’s on your treadmill, your elliptical trainer, or your exercise bicycle, you may have wondered how you put together a program that actually burns fat!

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you’re working in the “fat burning zone”. It’s easy to assume that the harder you work, the more fat you’ll burn – but, that’s not necessarily the case. Your body actually burns a higher percentage of calories at lower intensities. For example, a 130 pound woman burns calories during exercise in the following fashion:

Low Intensity Workout: 60-65% Mean Heart Rate
Total Calories Burned per minute: 4.86Fat Calories burned per minute: 2.43Total Calories Burned in 30 minutes: 146Total Fat Calories burned in 30 minutes: 73Percentage of Fat Calories burned – 50 %

High Intensity Workout: 80-85% Mean Heart Rate
Total Calories Burned per minute: 6.86Fat Calories burned per minute: 2.7Total Calories Burned in 30 minutes: 206Total Fat Calories burned in 30 minutes: 82Percentage of Fat Calories burned – 39.82 %

From The 24/5 Complete Personal Training Manual, 24 Hour Fitness, 2000

What is Your Target Heart Rate?

Now, how do you find out what your heart rate should be for the maximum fat burning? Simple. It’s called the Karvonen Formula. First, calculate what your resting heart rate is by counting your heart beat for 10 seconds, and multiply the result by 6.

Below is an example of the Karvonen formula for a 23 year old person with a resting heart rate of 65 beats per minute:

220 - 23 (age) = 197197 - 65 (resting heart rate) = 132
132 * 65% (low end of heart rate) OR 85% (high end) = 85.8 OR 112.2
85.8 + 65 (resting heart rate) = 150 112.2 + 65 (rhr) = 177
The target heart rate zone for this person would be 150 to 177

For this person to work in his 'fat burning' zone, he would need to stay around 150 beats per minute or lower. To work within his 'cardio' zone, he would need to work at 150 bpm or higher.

How Often Should You Exercise?

When it comes to cardio, it's up to you and your goals how much you do and how often. For weight loss, most experts suggest 60+ minutes of moderate intensity activity most days during the week. If you're a beginner, you may need to start at a lower level of exercise. For beginners, you might start with three days of cardio exercise for 20 or more minutes, adding time each week.

Below is a chart detailing a SAMPLE week of cardio workouts for a person who exercises five days a week. This is simply an example of how to incorporate different types of cardio workouts into a typical week. Modify the workouts according to your own fitness level, time constraints, and likes and dislikes.

Monday:
High Intensity-Duration: 20-30 minutes
Alternate 1-min sprint with 2 min walking.Perceived Exertion (PE) sprints: 8-9, walking: 5-6

Tuesday
Medium Intensity- Duration: 45-60 minutes
Walking or joggingPE: 5-6

Wednesday
Low-Medium Intensity - Duration: All day
Use a pedometer and try to get 10,000 steps

Thursday
Medium-High Intensity - Duration: 30-60 minutes
Treadmill / Running PE: 5-7

Friday
Medium-High Intensity - Duration: 30-45 minutes
Elliptical Trainer PE: 4-5

Saturday
Low-Medium Intensity - Duration: 30-60 minutes
Walking or aerobics classPE: 4-6

Don't forget to warm up and cool down for each workout, drink lots of water (take a sip every 15 minutes during your workout), stretch after your workout, and eat a small, well-balance snack an hour or two before you hit the gym.

Exercise – The Benefits of Cardio Workouts

Cardio workouts are an important, if not indispensable piece, of any effective exercise regime. High-intensity cardio training is a wonderful way to speed up your metabolism – as your metabolism stays revved up for some time after your workout. Cardio workouts can be just about any exercise, such as jogging, running, swimming, biking, elliptical machines, even jumping rope. Your goal is to raise and maintain your heart rate for a set amount of time.

Cardio workouts help strengthen your heart and lungs, and they also help lower your resting heart rate, which means over time, the same effort that would have produced a 10 minute-mile, now might result in a 9 minute-mile.

By doing cardio workouts, you burn fat. But, just as important, you strengthen your heart. As you work out, your muscles require more blood to remove waste byproducts as well as carbon dioxide, as well as additional oxygen for fuel. Sustained cardio workouts over time train your heart, like any other muscle, to produce the same effect with less effort.

Other benefits of cardio are an increased metabolic rate (which leads to your body burning excess fat that much better), and increased growth hormone secretion (which helps fuel additional muscle growth which helps speed up your metabolism). And, you also will feel more alert (since cardio workouts increase blood flow to the brain). Not to mention that you’ll reduce stress!

Finally – a consistent cardio training program helps you build endurance – which helps you persist in not just sports, but in life as well!

Healthy Protein Bars - Make Them At Home!

Protein Bars, aka Energy Bars. They end up making a great post workout snack, and are definitely much healthier than junk food for that quick energy boost.

But, not only are they expensive, but many of them make you feel like you're chewing on shoe leather! Here's an easy-t0-make protein bar recipe, which is much healther than the store-bought versions (as well as much more inexpensive). High protein, low fat, low carb, and the flaxmeal also gives you all important Omega 3's. And, a bonus - they also won't leave you feeling like your jaw got a workout eating them!

Ingredients
-6 scoops vanilla whey protein power
-6 egg whites (or, 1/2 of an 8oz. carton of egg whites)
-1 cup vanilla soy milk
-2 cups flax meal (you can find this in the natural foods isle)
-1 cup Splenda (or Stevia)
-1 tbs baking powder
-1 tbs vanilla extract
-Cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except the soy milk, adding soy until the batter is the consistancy of pancake batter. Pour into greased baking pan, and bake for about 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool, and cut into bars. Keep cut bars refrigerated - and they'll keep for up to a week!

Nutritional Information (estimated)
Serving Size: 1 bar
Servings per recipe: 16

Fat: 14g
-Saturated Fat: 1g
-Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g
-Monounsaturated Fat: 4g
Carbohydrates: 15g
Protein: 29g
Fiber: 11g

Exercise - Ignite Your Metabolism!

The harder you work out, and the closer you come to achieving the leanness you're looking for...the harder it seems to be to loose the last bit of fat you're looking to burn off. As frustrating as it is to try to loose weight, keep in mind that this is your body's way of self-preservation - your body is designed to protect your fuel reserves from running too low, just in case food becomes scarce. This was a nice biological feature in the past, but here in the 21st century, this "feature" is hardly necessary! How do you get around this problem? By igniting your metabolism! Here's some ways to make that happen!

1. Skip the long runs. Distance running doesn't enhance your fat-burning. It's much more effective to do short sprints of thirty seconds, interspersed with a slow jog.

2. As time goes on, the same amound of activity burns fewer calories - your body adapts to your level of work, causing you to keep "upping" the workout to achieve the results you were having before. For example, University of California at Berkley scientists found that to avoid age-related weight gain, runners needed to "up" their weekly mileage by 1.7 miles each year. So, think beyond your last workout - and think about what you can do on your next!

3 When weight training, do eight to 15 repititions of each set. This stimulates an increase in fat-burning hormones, compared to less or more rep's. Just make sure you use weights that challenge you. If you do eight repititions with a weight you could do 15 rep's with - you're not having an effective workout. Try to give 90 to 100 persent of your full effort for any given repitition range. If you struggle on your last repitition - you're in the zone!

4. Do two to four sets of each exercise. Yes, the more you do, the better...but only up to a point. Beyond 4 sets, you might be increasing your strength, but for fat burning, the extra sets above 4 don't really help! So, start with two sets as you start working out, and work up to four as your conditioning improves.

5. Keep your rest periods between sets no more than 75 seconds. Keeping your rest periods shorter builds lactate in your blodstream - and high lactate levels are associated with an increase in the release of fat-burning hormones. Resting too long lets your body process out the lactate in your bloodstream, negating the positive benefits.

6. Lift slow, not fast - and alternate between two exercises. Taking your time puts the stress on your muscles (which burn fuel) and off your tendons (which not only don't burn fat, but also can become injured from that stress). And, follow with a set that works a different muscle group. Not only does this help you limit your rest periods (keeping your lactate levels high), but also helps you offset fatigue!

7. Work your whole body. Work multiple muscles, rather than isolate specific muscle groups. And, the bigger / more muscles you work, the greater the benefit. For example - doing squats will elevate your metabolism far better than working your biceps - and working all your muscle groups in a workouut means more muscles burning fuel. And, as your muscles keep burning fuel even after a workout - up to 39 hours afterword! Plus, a University of Wisconsin study found that doing a full-body workout with just three big-muscle exercises (bench press, power clean, and squat) - you'll burn a greater percentage of calories from fat compared with only targeting a couple of small muscle groups.