I’m going to go out on a limb, here, and guess that you would love to lose a little bit of fat somewhere. I have only met a few people in life who don’t have at least one part of their body they wish they could shed some fat from. What’s the best way to get rid of fat. Two things affect how much body fat a person has: the amount of food you consume (and the quality of that food), and the amount of exercise you get. Recent issues have focused on the food going in, so in this issue I’ll focus on the exercise component.
Basically, exercise programs come down to one of two core components: build muscle mass or build endurance. The first includes strength training, many sports and team games, martial arts, and also “quick” workouts (like 5-minute abs programs). The second includes running, bicycling, and other long-distance, long-duration activities. Strength training will build bulk and tone in the worked areas; endurance training will generally reduce muscle size slightly and tone the heart and lungs extensively.
In either case, the body will burn a lot of fat during the workout up to but not past the point where the muscles start functioning anaerobically. After that point the muscles have to break themselves down to provide the necessary energy, so the physiological focus switches away from burning fat. If your goal is to reduce body fat, an effort should be made to stay withing the limits where you don’t feel pain after the workout is completed. After the workout is finished, the body will burn fat to replenish muscle energy stores; this process goes on for 12-15 hours after a moderate workout of an hour or so.
A nice side effect to regular exercise is that not only do you burn extra fat during and after the workout, but the body actually begins to burn more fat at all times through the day, even on days you don’t exercise. A well-conditioned body burns more calories per day than an unhealthy body. This is because maintaining muscles requires burning energy.
What kind of exercise is right for you? The single most important factor is that you must enjoy it; if you aren’t having fun you will quickly lose the habit. It should be something you will consistently do for 45-60 minutes at least two or three times per week.
Losing body fat really can be as simple as eating right and keeping active.
Resources:
Other news
- The hazards of hot-tubbing with sweaty football players: Staph infections rising among athletes
- Pop pills prior to puffin’: Vitamin E may protect against cancer, heart ills
- Relax during the holidays? What a novel idea! Holiday Stress Can Be Navigated
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
