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How Much Exercise do We Need for Weight Loss?
How much exercise you need to lose weight depends on several
things such as:
- Age
- Gender
- Fitness level
- Diet
- Body weight
First of all a proper weight loss program should include not
only exercise participation but also a healthy well balanced diet
that has been well thought out. The bottom line is weight loss
and weight gain result from how much food you eat and how many
calories you burn. It’s that simple. If you eat more calories
than your body burns you will gain weight. If your body burns
more calories than you eat you will lose weight. If you eat the
same amount of calories that you burn your weight stays constant.
Many people, however, find this confusing. Some come to realize that
as they get older they become heavier, even though their amount
of food intake, and exercise activity haven’t changed. What
they don’t take in to consideration however, is that as they get
older their metabolism slows down naturally. In order to account
for this fact you have to make certain changes.
You either decrease your caloric intake and/or change your diet
to include foods that fire up the metabolism; and/or increase
your level of physical activity. The fact is that certain people
tend to gain weight more than others. This doesn’t mean,
however, that they are doomed to be overweight. It does mean they
have to do a little more work to keep the fuel burning process
at adequate levels. One of the biggest causes of weight gain in
America today is lack or insufficient amount of exercise.
Many people that eat reasonably healthy just need to raise their
level of exercise to lose the extra pounds. Others need drastic
dietary changes as well as increased exercise participation. The
common denominator though seems to be insufficient exercise levels.
Countless scientific studies have proven that exercise improves
the body’s metabolic rate. So, how much exercise do we need
to lose weight?
According the American College of Sports Medicine, to attain
benefits of a fit and healthy heart and weight reduction you should
exercise for 20-60 minutes with an intensity of between 60%-85%
of your maximum heart rate, 3-5 times weekly. The more weight
you need to lose the higher the intensity, duration and frequency
should be. You have to start slow and gradually increase the pace.
See your doctor first, however, before you begin.
What is your maximum heart rate? You maximum heart rate (MHR)
can be found by subtracting your age from 220. So if you are 40
years old your maximum heart rate is 180. If you want to train
at 60% of your MHR your target HR would be 108 (60% of 180 is
180x60÷100=108).
Your heart rate is determined by the number of heart beats per
minute. To get your heart rate take your pulse for 10 seconds
and multiply that number by 6, which would equal the number of
heart beats over a one minute period.
What exercise do you choose? Find something that you will enjoy
doing, otherwise you will have a difficult time staying with it
for long time periods. There are various indoor facilities including
health clubs that offer many different activities. Some of them
include aerobics, boxing aerobics, dancing, yoga, walking or jogging
by treadmill, step climbing, rowing, basketball, indoor soccer,
badminton, and swimming. Many of these and other activities can
be performed outdoors.
You can even work out at home if you wish. There are many instructional
videos out there that have a variety of exercise methods you can
follow from home. Some may require certain additional equipment
depending on the method of exercise. There are many inexpensive
pieces of equipment you can buy such as, jump rope, hand weights,
step for step climbing, training balls, and so on.
If you plan to do most of your exercising at home you can invest
in more expensive equipment. These may include a treadmill for
walking or running, a stationary bicycle or even an elliptical
machine. You can surf the net freely to find out all kinds of
information and various product ratings on most pieces of training
equipment.
Once you narrow down what you want, search the internet for the
best price before you put your money down. One advantage of internet
shopping is the product can be delivered right to your door. Make
sure you choose ones that offer generous money back guaranties
– these tend to be better quality products.
Now that you picked your activity where do you start? Begin at
the lowest levels of the above recommendations. If you are new
to exercise one way to begin is by walking, regardless of the
exercise method you have chosen. Start with a moderate pace for
20 minutes, three times per week. Increase the intensity level
every couple of weeks or as your body adjusts and adapts to each
new training level.
When you get to the level of brisk walking, for a period of one
hour, 5 to 6 times a week, you are ready to begin your activity
of choice. Again start at a relatively low intensity level and
work your way up. If you picked jogging as you activity, begin
with a mix of brisk walking and jogging slowly. Increase the amount
of jogging time gradually until you are jogging the entire time.
Then the goal is to jog for 20-30 minutes, five times a week with
intensity between 70%-85% of MHR.
Keep in mind that if you are not physically capable of jogging
or performing other demanding exercises, brisk walking is still
an excellent choice as long as it’s combined with an adequate
and healthy diet. To lose weight your daily caloric intake should
equal to about your weight in pounds multiplied by ten (unless
you are extremely overweight). Remember it’s still all about
input and output. To lose weight you have to burn more calories
than you consume.
For many of us who are overweight, weight loss is not easy. At
the same time, there is no easy quick weight loss solution that
lasts. The way to achieve permanent weight loss is to change your
lifestyle. Make a few key changes in diet and increase your level
of exercise. That’s all it takes. Make it part of your life-your
daily routine. Don’t lose hope. You can do it, one small
step at a time, one to two pounds per week. You too can enjoy
the huge health benefits of permanent weight loss.
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