Have you spent time on the treadmill or investing time in circuit training to only get nominal results? It works in the beginning and your weight loss starts to slow. So what do you do? Most people add more time to the treadmill and became a slave! When doing cardio or circuit training only – you see results initially, but that eventually comes to an unhappy ending. You see, the human body adapts over time and becomes more efficient.
Start by cutting out long “cardio” sessions that could potentially lead to weight gain. Many top-notch fitness experts believe that the body adapts to aerobic exercise by storing more fat. If a cardio session primarily breaks down fat, then shouldn’t the body adapt to that fat loss by storing more of it? That extra fat will ensure that the body has enough fuel for the next long haul of a cardio session. This is why the ’cardio maniacs’ make little to no progress in the fat loss department even after hours of exercise every week—not mention look a little flabby and BORED!
Lifting weights or body resistance training, breaks down muscle and creates more growth—thus making you stronger. The purpose for strength training is to build muscle. The muscle is your body’s built in fat burning equipment and burns calories 24 hours a day. Therefore, the more lean muscle you have, the higher your metabolism, the more fat you are able to burn and the more food you can eat!
You need to make strength training the focus for long term fat loss. Now, on the flip side, strength training itself doesn’t seem to compare to cardiovascular exercise on a fat burning basis. Strength training is typically done at a moderate intensity, so it tends to burn less fat.
High-Intensity Interval Training (often referred to as HIIT). Burning a lot of calories in a shorter amount of time AND experience an elevated metabolism for the rest of the day is what you want right??!! When you follow weight lifting with anaerobic exercise you increase your metabolism for an extended period of time and burn more calories. This type of cardiovascular training is so much more effective for fat loss! Initially, your intervals can be fairly long, but as you progress the low intensity interval will decrease. You always want to make sure your body does not become complacent and continues to burn fat! By frequently changing your workouts and incorporating this type of training, your body will be a lean, mean, fat burning machine!
If your primary goal is fat loss and long term weight loss then long cardio sessions and circuit training needs to become a thing of the past. Interval training is the weapon of choice against fat. In the end, spend less time working out and more time doing the things you love!
Guest Written by:
Lori Boyd, Owner of BODY 360, LLC
http://www.fitnesstrainingcolumbus.com/
614-653-8080
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