www.1001TopWords.com |
Walking for Fat Loss?
With obesity and disease increasing dramatically, many fitness experts are recommending walking for weight loss and fitness. Some are even going so far as saying that walking is the best way to burn fat and lose weight. I strongly disagree with this and am going to show you why walking is NOT effective at burning off body fat. Yes, you read that correctly... Walking is NOT effective at burning body fat and if your goal is fat loss you might be wasting your time. I am not saying that walking is not beneficial, I am saying that if fat loss is the primary goal, there are far better choices that will deliver far better results. The primary benefits of walking are increased blood flow and circulation, improved recovery, and a strengthened immune system. There are several reasons why walking in not the best choice when it comes to fat loss. Here are just a few: The lower the intensity of the activity or exercise the smaller the number of calories burned per unit of time. For example, you can burn more calories in 15 minutes of bicycling at a high intensity level than you can in 45 minutes of easy walking. Another downside to walking is that because it's generally low intensity it results in only a small increase in metabolism that will only last approximately 1-2 hours after the walk. On the other hand, metabolism increases are larger and last longer (4-24 hrs or more) when you perform high intensity cardio workouts. Low intensity exercise like walking does not deplete muscle glycogen levels and therefore, later that day if you have excess calories they will likely be stored as body fat whereas if you deplete the glycogen the excess calories will primarily be stored in the muscles. So why then do so many fitness and health experts recommend walking for weight loss? One reason is that people don't want to hear that they have to work hard so they figure some activity is better than none. Another reason is that the body burns more fat for fuel when exercising at an easy pace, however, the total amount of energy used is so small that you end up burning off little body fat. That's also why when you choose the "fat burning" program on your treadmill or bike it has you exercise at any easy level. Yes, you're burning fat, but so little that you'd have to exercise at that easy pace for hours and hours each day. High intensity cardiovascular/aerobic exercise is much more effective in burning off the excess body fat. In fact, several studies have been done to prove this. In one study they compared one group who did moderate level aerobics for 45 minutes with another group who performed high intensity workouts for 15 minutes. They did before and after fitness testing including body fat analysis and found that the group who performed the high intensity aerobics lost nine times as much body fat! Want more proof? Compare the bodies of a walker, marathon runner, and sprinter. If you are not familiar with what a sprinters body looks like, it is very muscular and has little body fat while on the other hand the body of a walker will likely have the opposite, little muscle and more fat. The sprinter does little or no low intensity exercise and does primarily short hard bursts of work while the marathoner overtrains so much they burn off both the body fat and the muscle and that's why they tend to look almost sickly thin. So what should you do then if your main objective is to shed those excess pounds of body fat? Two things: I know some of you by now are saying "I can't do high intensity exercise, I have a bad knee" and don't worry, I have a solution for you. The good news is that high intensity is all relative to you and your current fitness level. For example, fast walking up and down hills may be high intensity for you... it all depends. So don't think that you have to start running or something like that. Just slowly start to increase the intensity of your cardio workouts while also maybe decreasing the time because you can either work hard or you can work long. Also, you can make almost any activity or exercise high intensity.... here are a few examples:
Obviously, some exercises/activities or better suited than others but the point is if you want to burn more fat and make your workouts as productive as possible you need to increase the intensity. To learn more about high intensity cardiovascular exercise please check out the following articles:
Be sure to also check out my Burn Fat FAST! ebook and audio program here: http://www.burn-fat-fast.com - it covers everything from cardiovascular training to strength training to nutrition and more. As with any changes to your fitness program be careful and don't over do it. Just because high intensity workouts burn more fat, don't think that you'll get even better results by doing it everyday - that will quickly lead to over-training and a loss of muscle which will only make it even harder to burn off the fat. So if your primary goal is fat loss, don't waste your time walking and instead focus on progressive, high intensity cardio to maximize the effectiveness of your workouts. About The Author Jesse Cannone is a certified personal trainer and author of the best-selling fitness ebook, Burn Fat FAST. Be sure to sign up for his free email course as it is full of powerful weight loss and fitness tips that are guaranteed to help you get the results you want. http://www.guaranteed-weightloss.com info@guaranteed-weightloss.com
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Are You Losing Body Fat or Water? "I tried that diet and lost 8 pounds in the first week!" Barriers to Healthy Diets -- Removing them is not as hard as you think Barriers to healthy diets are placed into four broad categories: External BarriersPsychological BarriersPhysical BarriersDieting BarriersThis article examines only the most difficult barriers in each category. Let's remove the barriers to healthy diets...but first, "What is a Healthy Diet?" How Music Can Help You Burn More Fat Browsing one of the Russian websites I have recently found a little article claiming that music can affect our health both improving and worsening it. That sounded very interesting and I decided to research how can music actually affect our well-being. Gastric Bypass Surgery ? A Mortality Rate to Be Scared Of? Success stories on the gastric bypass are everywhere, but how about the fatalities from the procedure? Barely mentioned in the magazines and newspapers, there is a serious risk carried by the gastric bypass and that risk is a 1 in 50 chance of you dieing within 1 month of the surgery ? that certainly puts the frights up me. The study by Washington University is shocking to say the least. The figure is apparently four times as many fatalities when patients are in the hands of inexperienced surgeons. The 5 Keys To Finally Lose Fat Fast! Losing fat in my opinion is not all that difficult. You need to possess 5 Strategies and apply all 5. Six Super Easy Weight Loss Tips If you have been trying to lose weight permanently, then these six weight loss tips may be just what you need to kick start your weight loss program. You may have heard some of them before, but if you make them a part of your core goal, you will not have as much difficulty achieving your weight loss goals. Fast Weight Loss ? The Importance of Low Body-fat Levels! My name is Greg Ryan and I am a high profile fitness expert. In twenty years of being a personal trainer and health club consultant, I am frightened at how fast the health of Americans is deteriorating. You are being eaten alive from the inside out by diabetes, heart disease and obesity. And the scary thing is either you do not know it YET, or you are in denial of the problem. Your Eight Hormones and Weight Loss If you find this article helpful, please No Low Carb Diet Progress? Sleep In To Get Thin! If your low carb diet is going nowhere, maybe its time to get more sleep. In a paper presented at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, researchers found that people, who got little sleep, got fat. Weight Loss Options -- Infrared Radiant Heat Saunas (IR Saunas) Infrared Radiant Heat (IRRH) is a form of radiation that penetrates the outer surface of objects, including human skin. Heat is generated as the infrared energy interacts with and penetrates the skin surface.The depth of penetration is estimated to be 2-3 inches. The IRRH reaction is exothermic. The release of heat, if localized, is believed to be therapeutic by some health experts. Today, a number of businesses sell saunas equipped with infrared radiant heat (IR Saunas). They claim that at 2-3 inches deep, the release of heat is beneficial in many ways. For instance, chronic wounds tend to heal. How? No one knows for sure, but most likely it's related to improved blood flow and oxygenation of the wound. I have no problem with the theory behind IRRH and the healing of chronic wounds. But what about weight loss? Can infrared heat cause significant weight loss? More importantly, can it lead to Healthy Weight Loss? The business owners selling IR Saunas seem to think so.So the question is, can IR Saunas lead to Healthy Weight Loss?Infrared Radiant Heat Saunas (IR Saunas)Unlike older steel counterparts, IR Saunas are ceramic-coated and tend to be more efficient, producing the same amount of heat in a shorter time period when compared to the steel based saunas.According to supporters of IR Saunas, this efficiency translates into longer exposure times, up-regulation of your body's thermoregulatory system, and weight loss. A local Dallas newspaper printed an ad for an infrared sauna that stated , "Perspiring is part of the complex thermoregulatory process of the body that increases the heart rate, cardiac output, and metabolic rate. The process requires a large amount of energy and reduces excess moisture, salt and subcutaneous fat. Fat becomes water soluble at 110 degrees (F) leading to fat loss." -- Dallas Voice, February 12th, 2005There is no doubt that we could pick apart the ad and question it's validity. But, I decided to keep things simple and focus on one aspect of infrared weight loss...the thermoregulatory process. According to the advertisement, infrared heat penetrates deeply into tissue and up-regulates the thermoregulatory process. Is this up-regulation enough to cause significant healthy weight loss? For our purposes, healthy weight loss is defined as fat loss. Remember, a healthy diet program promotes weight loss in short increments, never losing more than 2 pounds per week. The drop in weight is from a loss of fat and nothing else. Weight loss by any other means isn't healthy and should not be considered as an option for losing weight.The Thermoregulatory ProcessThis is a very complex topic. Many factors are involved in keeping your body temperature constant. In the human brain, the hypothalamus regulates the entire thermoregulatory process with the exception of early responses to high temperature. Things like sweating, rapid breathing, and increased blood flow to the arms and legs are examples of the early responses not regulated by the central nervous system.The question is can these mechanisms cause weight loss by "burning" fat. Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise, says no. "The amount you sweat is indicative of your body's ability to maintain its normal body temperature. You sweat when your body starts to store heat so you can experience cooling via evaporation of that sweat. So it doesn't correlate to how much energy, or calories, is being expended. You are not going to utilize stored fat simply by raising body temperature...it's not going to happen." It makes sense too. Your body loves to store fat for future emergencies and it won't give up the fat very easily. You are well protected from starvation. Joe King, editor for the Journal of Hyperplasia Research said, "Evaporation accounts for increases in total oxygen uptake, which causes the working muscles to utilize more glycogen." Glycogen is the stored form of glucose, the main energy source for your body. In short, IR Saunas do not cause weight loss through utilization of fat. Instead, the high temperatures result in glycolysis (using sugars for immediate energy needs) and the water loss accounts for the drop in weight. What does this all mean? Infrared Saunas promote unhealthy weight loss.This reminds me of what a sales representative told me a month or so ago about IR Saunas. He said, "The heart receives a workout similar to a 6-mile run in an IR Sauna." He may be right, but it's not fat that you're losing. ConclusionAn infrared sauna is not a good option for losing weight.Healthy Living!Michael A. Smith, MDThe Weight Loss ProfessionalAdditional information on can be found at The Weight Loss Professional Website. Tired Of Struggling To Lose Weight? There are many factors that cause us to increase body weight, yet three stand out from the rest. Is Body Mass Index or BMI a Real Measure of Obesity or is It Flawed? Body Mass Index (bmi)A Misleading measure of Obesity Add High Water Content Fruits and Vegetables to Your Diet For Fast Weight Loss Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons. These things contain 90 to 95 % water so that there is nothing that you have to lose by feasting on them. They fill you up without adding to the pounds. 7 Tips to Help You Beat Your Sugar Habit Are you often overcome with an urge to splurge on candy, cookies, and cake ? and do you then hate yourself for caving into your cravings? Aerobics Imposters In health clubs, they run classes that call themselves "aerobics". As you will come to see, they are neither aerobic, nor are they the best way to lose the excess fat. The main thing they accomplish for you is losing weight from your wallet. How To Be A Big Fat Loser In 2005 Now that the temptations of the Holiday season have passed it is time to stop feeling like a big fat loser and become one by losing all the fat you gained. And I am here to tell you how to do it in seven easy to follow steps. How to Eat Out and Lose Weight Diners have become more health-conscious the last few years, and now want healthy choices whether eating at home or at their favorite restaurants. Luckily, the restaurant industry has been quick to accommodate the demand, so you'll find you have many options to "eat healthy" these days. A Clean Diet For Permanent Weight Loss Getting Started on The Clean DietIf you want to lose some weight then following a healthy eating plan is a good start, but allowing someone else to dictate exactly what, when and how much you can eat is crazy making. Guidance is good but ultimately you must learn to make better choices in your eating which leads to your gaining the ability to maintain your new shape after the weight has been lost. The Clean Diet is the answer. Questioning Cardio for Weight Loss? Q: I've heard you mention that you don't need tons of cardio to burn stubborn abdominal fat. Okay, I can live with that, but you've also said that it isn't absolutely necessary to perform direct ab work either. What gives? How You Can Eat Carbs and Still Lose Weight When I decided to lose weight I of course decided to do as much planning as possible. It seems the older I get the harder it is to do anything without completely planning it out. Anyways, I had already been on the all protein diets and knew that they worked. The only problem was I could never stick to them for very long. |
© Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |