The key to successful weight loss is burning more calories than you eat. Regular exercise helps this equation because when you exercise you’re burning calories. But, it also continues to help when you stop. The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you’ll burn at rest. If you’ve ever tried to lose weight before you know it’s hard, but there are some things you can do to make the process easier. The first is understanding exactly what exercises can help with the weight loss process. These resources will help you learn the basics of weight loss exercises and apply them to your situation.
Almost everyone who decides to embark on a weight loss program has a specific area of their body they want to target. A lot of times that area is the abdomen. Many often target that area with daily exercise, hoping to reduce the fat. But spot reduction doesn’t work for fat, in any area of the body. If you assume that doing crunches will get rid of belly fat, you’re going to be disappointed. Crunches and other exercises will increase strength and endurance, but that’s all.
Weight loss exercises fall into two main groups, cardio and strength training. You should include both in your weight loss routine. Those exercises that get your heart rate pumping are cardio and there are two types of cardio-high impact and low impact. Neither is better or worse than the other, assuming you’re reasonable healthy and not struggling with any injuries. When you start adding cardio to your routine, you should start off slowly. Shoot for a goal of thirty to forty minutes per day, three days a week. Your ultimate goal should be five days a week for fifty minutes a time. Some exercises you might try are running, walking or bicycling. But the best kind of cardio is the kind you enjoy, because that way you won’t want to quit.
Strength training is the other kind of weight loss exercise you’ll want to include. It helps build lean muscle which will raise your metabolism rate. If you incorporate compound movements or exercises like lunges, pushups or squats, you’ll find that you burn more calories because you’re using more than one muscle group at a time. Each muscle group needs to be worked twice a week with a couple of days off in between.
However you choose to organize your routine be warned that almost everyone hits a plateau eventually. That point in your weight loss journey can be tough and even lead to a loss of motivation. If you know it can occur, you can take steps to head off defeat. The best answer to that is to keep your weight loss routine varied and interesting.
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