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Dec 25, 2010

What Is The Best Exercise For Weight Loss?

Every workout to lose weight must be designed carefully. The best exercise for weight loss is something which you enjoy doing and are likely to continue doing, not just while losing weight but also as you maintain weight in the long term. Almost any exercise will help you lose weight if you are severely obese. Sustained exercises that work the whole body are the best exercises for weight loss. The best exercises for weight loss include walking, swimming, jogging, biking, or using an elliptical trainer because you have to use your whole body. However, you must use the right exercise to lose weight if you are just a little bit on the heavy side.
Correct timing should be applied to an exercise to lose weight. You also have to maintain a high heart rate for sustained periods of time. Your initial fitness goal should be to do 30 minutes of exercise each day. Thereafter, gradually increase this to about 60 minutes of exercise per day. The best combination of exercise is a mixture of aerobic and strength training. Aerobic and strength training exercises both assist weight loss but in different ways.
Walking
Walking is said to be one of the best exercises for weight loss. It burns around 55% of fat; however as with all exercises it really depends on the intensity of effort. Walking not only burns a good proportion of stored fat but can also burn a large amount of calories especially performed for longer durations and at a brisk pace. A good balance between the percentage of fat and the total calories burned should be the basis behind choosing any exercise for losing weight. Walking is a great start for people of any age wishing to lose weight fast.
Aerobic exercise or light Jogging
Aerobic exercises are very popular and the best exercises for many trying to lose weight. They can be very effective in burning a large amount of total energy in a single session. However if a person is overweight he has to do intense aerobic exercises for proper fat burning. For this individual breathing would become heavy and this will always result in carbohydrates becoming the predominant fuel, pushing the percentage of fat burning down around 30%. Initiate any new exercise program with gentle walking activities. After a few weeks try walking briskly until a little fitness is developed then aerobic exercise may be more effective. Light jogging will also help you to burn calories and lose weight.
Running
Running for about 7 minute per mile will burn more than 10 calories per minute. Looking at most runners on the street many may deduce that this must be the best exercise for weight loss. Most runners seem so thin and lean but in fact running at this pace would not be the best idea to lose weight since we would probably be burning about 80% carbohydrates and only 20% fat. Burning a high percentage of carbohydrates may increase rather than regulate appetite. Trained runners muscles have adapted to this level of intense running over years of training since they utilize oxygen much better which accelerates their fat burning potential even at higher levels of physical exertion.
Light housework like dusting or washing up
Doing the activities like dusting or washing also burn little calories that is around 2-3 calories per minute. You may find it unusual to include these types of activities or exercises when trying to lose weight but they can be a great aid for speeding metabolism and burn calories. Performing more chores around the house regularly would increase activity therefore increase the energy expenditure for the day. Total calories burned would be much higher and result in a great amount of fat burned. Adding these kinds of activities to an exercise program can accelerate the metabolism. When you start to lose weight fast you'll never look at housework in the same light again.
Weight training or Sprinting
Weight training or sprinting is one of the most intense exercises we can perform for losing weight. The energy to fuel these activities comes almost exclusively from carbohydrates and the amount of total calories burned is very high, however they can only be performed for short periods due to muscle fatigue.. Aerobic exercises are performed continuously for the whole duration of a session therefore total calories burnt are usually much higher. But plenty of rest periods are needed between each bout resulting in less total calories burned over the course of a training session.
It has been suggested that intense training can elevate the metabolism long after the exercise has stopped, resulting in many extra calories being burnt while at rest. Including a little weight training in our exercise program may be a best exercise for weight loss but it should only be attempted after fitness has increased a little.

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