Exercising to Lose Weight

Many people might not know this but your body will burn a higher percentage of calories from fat with lower intensity cardio exercises. The best fat burning exercises are the slow, long duration exercises that involve many of the major muscle groups. These exercises include walking, jogging, biking and swimming. The more muscle groups involved in the exercise, the more fat that will be burnt. To effectively burn fat, you should exercise at a moderate rate for a longer period of time. This will help increase your metabolism, which allows your body to keep burning calories after you finish exercising. You will burn more calories overall with higher intensity cardio exercises, but the better bang for your buck will come with the lower intensity ones.

How do I begin?
One common mistake is for people to start exercising too much too quickly. This will exhaust your body and make you dread exercising. A good starting point is to exercise for 20 minutes a day 3 days a week. This will help ease you into exercising. The goal is to develop a pattern and make the exercise part of your everyday routine. Below are some more tips for helping you stick with exercise and establishing a routine.

Watch your Favorite TV Show
Do you have a favorite TV show that you normally watch during the week. Why not step on that treadmill or elliptical machine while you watch the show? The time will go by real fast and you'll forget that you are even working out.



Walk/Jog at Lunchtime
Do you have a 9-5 job where you sit at your desk almost all day long? Do you spend your lunch sitting in the cafe talking more about work?? Give yourself a break and get outdoors for a little while during your lunch hour. This gives you an opportunity to clear your mind, get some refreshing air and forget about work for a little while. I've been a lunchtime jogger for about 10 years now. It's the best way for me to stay stress free. Whenever I have a rough morning, heading out for a lunchtime run always refreshes me and I come back feeling ready for the second half of the day. Give it a try! Trust me it work!!

Find a Training Partner
Having someone to train with is also a great way to start and keep with it! Some days you just won't feel like going out and doing the exercise, but if you have a partner, it'll be that much easier to burn those calories. Often on my way to work, I pass by a couple of 50 year old women walking. The amazing thing is that every morning when I see them, they are always both smiling and laughing. When you can make exercising fun, you're going to start looking forward to getting out there and the pounds will come off real easy.

Switching up the Exercises
Once you've been exercising for 20 minutes a day 3 days a week, you should ask yourself "Am I enjoying the time I spend exercising?". If you are not, then it's time to switch things up. Maybe you are jogging 3 days a week on the treadmill and you find yourself dreading waking up to get it done. Why not switch it up and try going for a walk one morning or playing a game of basketball/racquetball with some friends one day instead. The best way to be consistent and not get tired of the same exercise is to mix it up and try some different exercises to see what works for you and what your body enjoys.

Check out the Fat Burning Calculator by clicking here. This will tell you the number of calories burned during each exercise you take part in.

Have a Goal
Another great way to stick with exercising is to set an achievable goal for yourself. Don't go from not exercising at all to signing up for the Boston Marathon next month. A better idea is to sign up for a 5K race or a 10 mile bike race. That will force you to stick with the exercising and see the reward once you finish the race.



Should I increase the time?
After a few weeks you should also ask yourself if the current exercise level is right for you? Do you find yourself bored or tired all the time. If so, give your body some more time to get adjusted to the 20 minutes a day - 3 days a week. If you feel like doing more, then great, but again slowly increase the exercise level. Don't jump from 20 minutes a day 3 days a week to an hour a day 7 days a week. The rule that I've always gone by is about 10% increase every 2 weeks. Try adding one more day per week or another 10 minutes per day and see how your body responds. Make sure you enjoy it because once you start dreading the exercise, it's going to be that much easier to quit.

Up the Intensity
If you are feeling good and are ready for a little more 'burn', try adding some intensity to your exercise routine. As stated above, the higher intensity of your workout, the more calories you will burn. Try running instead of walking or try upping the tempo one day a week and see your body responds.