Hi Everyone! Nutrition is important in losing weight, but exercise is one of the other key components to effective weight loss.
In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend all adults perform 150 minutes of cardio (vigorous) exercise per week, and 2 strength training workouts per week. Studies have also shown that people who lose weight and maintain that weight exercise regularly.
My goal is to lower my BMI by losing weight at least 12 pounds. This will decrease my BMI by at least 2 points. So what are some of the best exercises to achieve this?
Strength Training Exercises
Strength training helps you reduce body fat, build muscle and burn calories more efficiently by using resistance to induce muscle contraction. The more toned your muscles are, the easier it is to control your weight. A big benefit is that it it can boost your metabolism for up to 38 hours after you finish your workout.
Resistance bands have become increasingly popular as a fun and interesting method of working out. But did you know they can provide effective strength training to improve your fitness in a range of ways?
Resistance bands are perfect for strength training because almost anyone can use them, no matter what their age or level of fitness. Even if you have not worked out in years, resistance bands are easy to use and safe provided that you follow the instructions from the manufacturer of your bands. They can give a great full body workout to slim and tone you all over.
There are three main kinds of resistance bands:
1-Therapy bands
2-Loop bands
3-Tube bands with handles
Working out with resistance bands can boost your stamina, increase your energy, and best of all, speed up your metabolism. Working out not only burns calories, it also develops long, lean muscle. Muscle burns more calories than fatty tissue. A faster metabolism means it will be easier to maintain or even lose weight. Losing weight can take a lot of pressure off arthritic joints, reverse diabetes, lower your cholesterol, and improve your fitness.
Resistance bands may look colorful and fun, but the truth is they can give you an excellent workout if you use them properly and safely to tone and trim your body and improve your strength.
So grab a pair of resistance bands and see how fun, interesting and effective they can be to boost your fitness.
Aerobic Exercises
Aerobic exercises are very popular among people who want to lose weight. Walking, jogging, cycling, tennis and swimming are just some of the most common examples. These exercises are known for burning a great amount of calories in very little time.
For instance, 30 minutes of brisk walking can burn 300 calories. This adds up to 1,500 calories burned per week if you brisk walk for 5 days. What’s more, you can brisk walk, jog or sprint without any exercise equipment.
Did You Know?
Walking is the #1 exercise for people who have lost weight and kept it off. This is according the the National Weight Control Registry.
Fitness Walking
We burn calories just by walking from the car to the grocery store. But fitness walking is brisk, vigorous walking that gets you moving at a faster pace. This in turn burns more calories while toning and strengthening muscles.
Good Shoes
Good walking shoes is perhaps one of the most important tips there is when it comes to fitness walking.
If you walk without the right shoes, you’ll find it’s more tiring to keep going and that you end up with painful ankles, feet and knees in no time.
I have problem feet, so a good pair of shoes is essential to me.
Good shoes should cushion you through your walk and even help you to travel further with less energy.
Activity Monitor
They say you don’t need any equipment to get started with walking certainly a pedometer isn’t an absolute requirement.
But I love my fitbit!
It keeps tracks of my steps and even reminds me to move. I can easily lose track of time when I am at the computer working.
This tool is great! It comes in a variety of styles.
Definitely worth the investment!
High Intensity Interval Training
While aerobic exercises work very well for burning calories, you can be even more efficient by engaging in high intensity interval training (HIIT). The idea is to perform an exercise at a high intensity for a given period of time, followed by a brief rest or decrease in intensity, then up things once again.
An example of HIIT exercise would be to run as fast as you can for one minute and then walk for two minutes. Then repeat the series for 5 time for a total of 15 minutes. fat blasting
This combination puts you in an anaerobic state which uses up all the glucose in your blood stream and thereby puts your body in a fat burning mode throughout the rest of the day. This is sometimes called the “after-burn effect.”
According to fitness experts, HIIT helps burn more calories in the same time as aerobic exercises, making them the top choice among plenty of weight loss enthusiasts.
The benefits of HIIT include:
1. Great for busy schedules. It is quick and efficient. Just 15 minutes 3 times a week.
2. Continues to burn fat. Even after you finish exercising, you continue to burn fat throughout the day.
3. No Equipment is necessary. You can select a regime that requires no equipment like combing jogging and walking.
Tools like the Fitbit Charge HR Activity Monitor not only tracks your steps, but also monitors your heart rate. This is important during workouts. With this type of monitor you can obtain an accurate measure of the calories that you burn during your workout to maximize exercise time.
Next Steps (no pun intended)
All exercises are not for everyone. You should ALWAYS check with your physician before starting any type of exercise program.
Reducing your BMI isn’t rocket science. You just have to know the right exercises to do and pair it with a healthy diet.
I plan on exercising at least 3 times per week. I just started playing tennis twice a week. I am adding strength training using resistance bands at least once a week.
What are you next steps?
Dianna 😉
