The Best Exercise For Weight Loss

We will answer that, but first let's clarify a couple of things.

When we talk about exercise we're talking about any physical activity that get's you moving, preferably a little out of breath and sweaty, too.

Gardening, dancing, playing with the kids in the park...they all qualify. As busy people, going to the gym may not be an option but there are plenty of other ways to get active.

Secondly, when we talk about losing weight we really mean losing fat.

The weight that you lose when dieting is a combination of fat, muscle and water. Clearly, you want most of it to be fat.

You want to lose as little muscle tissue as possible, as it's your muscle that's responsible for most of the calories you burn each day.

In this section we're going to look at fat burning. The best exercise for weight loss causes your body to burn body fat as the fuel for that exercise.

It's in this sense that aerobic activity is the best exercise for weight loss.

We'll take a look at exercise to build muscle on another section of the site.

But, the only type of exercise that burns body fat directly is aerobic exercise...

The Best Exercise For Weight Loss is Aerobic...

Aerobic exercise is the best exercise for weight loss and includes walking, jogging, swimming, cross country skiing...

Anything that causes you to move continuously for more than a few minutes, 20 minutes or more preferably and that gets you moderately out of breath.

So, how does aerobic activity burn fat, then?

The science bit!

Fat burns in the presence of oxygen. In other words, aerobic activity causes you to move continuously for more than a few minutes at which point your body engages your aerobic metabolism.

Carbs will supply most of the energy for the first few minutes of aerobic exercise. More oxygen enters your blood stream as you breathe harder and your body utilises glycogen, the stored carbs in your muscles and liver.

Now, your body only has limited supplies of glycogen so it wants to conserve them. As long as your activity level remains constant and doesn't get more intense, your body begins to utilise fat to finance the exercise.

Your fat cells will grudgingly release fat to burn for energy. This happens when your lipolytic (fat burning) enzymes are sufficiently stimulated by the exercise to send fat off to the working muscles.

The mitochondria in the muscles, your body's little energy burning furnaces, snap up the fat and burn it for energy to keep your body moving.

An interesting point to note is that whilst fat requires oxygen to burn, fat burns in a carboydrate flame.

That is, your body can't burn fat without carbohydrates. If there are no carbs, it will break down muscle tissue instead and burn that.

Your fat burning metablism is called the Kreb's Cycle. Put simply, fat is broken down into acetyl co-enzyme A, carbs into oxyloacetic acid. Acetyl co-enzyme A needs the oxyloacetic acid to enter the Kreb's Cycle to be utilised as energy.

Still with us? Think of it another way, you're barbequeing. Can you put a match to the coals and light them? No chance.

Put some firelighters in amongst the coals and set light to them first. In time they'll ignite the coals.

The coals represent body fat, the firelighters carbs.

Get it? Good, let's move on.

Another really important thing to appreciate is that you need to reach a steady state of exercise for your body to burn large amounts of fat.

Your best exercise for weight loss will only be effective if you achieve this steady state.

Think of it this way. Try walking briskly. For the first few minutes you may struggle a bit, get a bit out breath, feel a little tired.

Keep going, after a few minutes, depending on your fitness level you start to feel more comfortable and get into a nice rhythm.

Stay at this pace and don't vary it. A pace at which you're breathing a little harder than normal. You're now in optimal fat-burning mode.

Speed up, run up some stairs, walk up a steep hill and you interrupt the steady state and your body switches from fat burning to carb burning to cope with the added intensity.

The bottom line...the best exercise for weight loss - to burn fat - is one where you reach a steady state and stay there.

The Fitter You Are, the More Fat You Burn...

The goal of your aerobic exercise routine should not only be to burn fat, but to improve your fitness so you can burn more fat.

Exercise increases your muscle mass, it's density. The more muscle mass you have, the more

Your heart will also get stronger and more efficient, it pumps more blood with each beat and therefore has to beat less at rest - your resting heart rate goes down.

Your lung capacity increases to enable your body to take in more oxygen.

Your body produces more red blood cells to carry more oxygen and nutrients around your body to the working muscles.

In short, as you get fitter, your body becomes a much more efficient fat burning machine!

Furthermore, whilst aerobic activity is the best exercise for weight loss, it does more than just burn fat, it helps to protect you from heart disease and other chronic conditions.

Another important point to realise is that you don't just burn off extra calories when you're exercising, you continue to burn them afterwards as well.

Your metabolism is raised by the exercise and stays raised afterwards... for several hours in fact as it gradually tapers back to normal.

So, say you burn 300 calories in a 30 minute workout on the treadmill. Your body will continue to burn more calories after you're done.

You'll be burning more calories when you're in the shower, on the way home, at work...

The result is you could have burned 500, 600, 700 calories as a result of your workout, both during and after it.

The fitter you get, the more pronounced this effect. It will soon add up, week after week, month after month!

See what we mean by the best exercise for weight loss is aerobic?

The Best Exercise For Weight Loss - How Much Do You Need...?

Fat burning is moderate, low level activity that gets you a little breathless.

As soon as you start breathing hard and your muscles start burning, you're exercising anaerobically. You're exercising without oxygen and you're no longer burning fat.

So, how do we ensure we stay in fat burning mode?

Besides how you're feeling whilst exercising, you can also work out the heart rate at which you're burning mostly fat, your training heart rate (THR). This should be between 50% and 70% of your maximum heart rate.

Firstly, work out your resting heart rate (RHR).

Sit down and relax for a few minutes and check your pulse for 15 seconds. Multiply this by four to get how many times your heart beats a minute.

Now for a bit of maths.

220 minus you age is your maximum heart rate (MHR). Work it out, eg 220-30=190.

(MHR-RHR) x 0.5 + RHR = THR 50%

(MHR-RHR) x 0.6 + RHR = THR 60%

(MHR-RHR) x 0.7 + RHR = THR 70%.

The best exercise for weight loss should be one done at a THR of between 50% and 70%.

There are other ways of working out your fat burning range. For instance, most decent exercise machines will do it for you once you've entered a few details before starting your program.

So, that's how hard you should train, how much and how often should you do it?

If you're new to exercise, we would suggest you check with your doctor before starting an exercise program. Particularly if you've had any health problems, are very overweight or have a history of health problems in your family.

Once you've got the ok to start exercising, take it easy at first.

We shudder to think of the number of middle-aged men that have taken up squash only to have a coronary on court in the middle of their first game!

For your first week or two, exercise at around your THR 50% for around 10-20 minutes.

From weeks 3-12 build up to your THR 60% for around 30 minutes.

After this, you should be fit enough to work out at your THR 70% for around 30-40 minutes.

To burn significant amounts of body fat the best exercise for weight loss is one done at a steady state for 20 minutes or more.

To improve your fitness, your stamina, you need to do this at least three times a week.

Remember, you need to work out, the emphasis being on the word 'work'! To get any significant benefit you need to get hot, sweaty and moderately out of breath.

Sorry, but we can't help a quiet laugh as we watch fashionable women in designer gear and trainers, immaculately coiffeured with face make up on, chatting away as they stroll on the treadmill without a bead of perspiration in sight.

The best exercise for weight loss? Best opportunity for a gossip more like!

If you don't need a shower after a workout, you ain't doing it right!

So, What is The Best Exercise For Weight Loss...?

The simplest, most convenient, easiest exercise to build into your daily routine is walking.

No special equipment to buy, just a pair of decent shoes, step outside your front door and off you go.

We had a client who'd recently had a baby. She claimed to have no time to exercise.

Yet she went into town most days, which was a couple of miles away. She folded up the pushchair, loaded it into the car and off she and baby went.

Her aerobic training program consisted of her putting on a pair of trainers and some loose clothing then pushing junior in his chair into town at a brisk pace and doing the same to get home.

She did this at least three times a week.

The results were astounding. She consistently lost 1.5-2 lbs a week, felt fitter, more positive and in control. She also got control of her appetite - regular exercise helps your body to attune much better to its energy needs.

Despite all the exercise, she ate less than in her sedentary days and felt less hungry.

Walking was her best exercise for weight loss because it was easy to integrate into her daily routine.

However, walking is also a good choice because we've evolved into the perfect walking machines. It's what we're designed to do. Try it, you might just like it!

Jogging is good. Swimming is good. Aerobics classes, spinning, body pump...all good.

Stairmasters, stationary cycles, cross trainers, treadmills...all the fancy bits of kit at the gym, once you figure out how to use them are great!

Again, pick something you like and will stick to. Vary it as well, do a couple of different things each week if you think you'll get bored.

First thing in the morning. Lunchtime, after work. At night. Exercise when you can. The best time to exercise is when you can exercise.

However, you do need to get sweaty and a little out of breath...if you're at work and have 30 minutes to spare before a meeting you're unlikely to want to get sweaty!

Every other day is fine. Try not to exercise every single day. You may overdo it and you're less likely to stick with it if you feel you have to do it every single day.

Remember, you don't have to build your life around exercise, you're not looking to compete in the Olympics. You just need to do enough.

So, the Best Exercise For Weight Loss...

Why aerobic activity is the best exercise for weight loss?

How it will help you to burn more calories, help you to get fit, in shape and become a fat burning machine?

And don't forget the feel good factor. You'll feel good about yourself, more in control.

Your brain produces chemicals called endorphins, which will lift your mood, help to deaden the aches and pains when you're exercising, give you a sense of euphoria...

The best exercise for weight loss is anything aerobic that you can do for 30 minutes, three or or more times a week.

So, go ahead and pick your own best exercise for weight loss, prepare to get sweaty and go for it. You'll be amazed by the results!

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