You've been hitting the gym lately. Who hasn't? The irony in fitness is that just because you go to the gym and workout doesn't necessarily mean what you are doing is indeed fat burning exercise. Here are the 3 things you will need to consider while exercises to burn fat exercising; type, intensity, and duration of exercise.
What comes to mind first when thinking about losing weight is diet in exercise. Once you add them both to your belt you are off to a great start.
Where you go from here depends... are you trying to lose weight or burn fat?
Losing weight and burning fat may seem like two parts of the same agreement you made with yourself before deciding to take up diet and exercise but they are not.
How you approach exercise in terms of the types of exercise you incorporate into your routine; at what intensity, how long, and what time you exercise will determine whether are not you are doing fat burning exercise.
Here we will introduce the 3 things that will make or break you in the fitness routine you are trying to burn fat.
Fat burning exercises: Putting together the best exercise plan starts with knowing "What exercise helps you burn the most fat"
There are 2 types of fat burning exercises you are going to have to get to know better to improve the effectiveness of your workout routine and burn fat with maximum potential.
- Aerobic exercise
- Anaerobic exercise
Aerobic exercise or aerobics in general is good if you want to burn fat. On the other hand, anaerobic exercise or anaerobics help you build strength, which may aid in fat burning. Effective workout routines for burning fat are not possible without a combination of both types of exercise even though aerobic exercise serves as a more direct approach to burn fat.
The main difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise has to do with energy pathways, what mechanism that is used by your metabolism to fire up energy reserves that you use to put your body in motion, before considering what it has to do with whether or not you are breathing during exercise. Oxygen is used to convert nutrients into energy. The type of exercise you do determines the pathway that is used by your body: aerobic (with oxygen) or anaerobic (without oxygen). Note that your aerobic metabolism that uses oxygen uses fat as energy.
The aerobic metabolism uses oxygen to convert carbs, fats, and protein into energy (ATP, adenosine triphosphate) while you exercise. Fats are used as energy for low intensity aerobic exercise continued over long periods of time.
In order to burn fat you are going to need a lot of oxygen. That is why aerobic exercise is long thought as fat burning exercise.
Examples of aerobic and anaerobic exercises
| Aerobic Exercise | Anaerobic Exercise |
|---|---|
| WALKING JOGGING JUMP ROPE SWIMMING(AQUA AEROBICS) CYCLING STEP CLIMBING AEROBICS (DANCING) ETC |
SPRINTING STRENGTH TRAINING (PUSH UPS,SIT UPS,ABS) WEIGHT TRAINING RESISTANCE EXERCISE (RESISTANCE BAND EXERCISE) ETC |
Aerobic exercise turns anaerobic with increased workout intensity
Jogging is aerobic exercise; but high workout intensity while jogging can cause your heart rate to rise making it an anaerobic exercise. The reason why this happens is because your body isn't able to supply your body with enough oxygen at higher heart rates.
The intensity at which aerobic exercise turns to anaerobic exercise varies from person to person.
If someone used to exercising and another person who hasn't exercised for a while went jogging, the person used to jogging will be able to keep up. However, the person who hasn't been exercising will lose their breath. No secret, right?
In order to burn fat during exercise, we will introduce next, what you need to know about workout intensity to keep your aerobic exercise from turning anaerobic.
[Intensity] What is the best exercise intensity to burn fat?
The best exercise intensity to burn fat is not always the hardest intensity. To burn more fat, all you need to do is prevent aerobic exercise from turning anaerobic.
Keeping in mind the importance of not doing too high intensity workout is the key to burning fat. That means catching yourself mid workout before running out of control. I know it is hard; but when you feel yourself running out of breath, ask yourself am I going overboard ?
Working out at low intensity for long periods of time doesn't always guarantee enhanced fat burn during exercise.
When trying to lose weight, the exercise intensity you want should be hard but not enough to make you lose your breath.
Breathing as a measure of workout intensity
Continuing high intensity exercise over long periods of time will make you lose your breath.
Conversely, exercising at too low intensity has no effect on your breathing.
Although there are different ways to figure out the intensity of your workout such as your heart rate or how many METS an exercise is, how you are breathing can be used as well.
| EXERCISE INTENSITY | BREATHING | PROS/CONS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low | Easier than cake. Easy enough to say you will have room for seconds (and maybe thirds). | No signs of uncontrollable breathing. Can talk with someone without interrupting you exercise. | Don't burn as much calories (To burn a sustention amount of calories exercise needs to be continued over long periods of time) |
| Less burden on the body / safe even for beginners | |||
| Med | Challenging but not hard | Signs of hard breathing but not enough to cause you to stop to catch your breath. Distractions should be avoided for uninterrupted breathing patters. | Burdens the body while efficiently burning calories |
| High | Hard (maybe more of a challenge than you are ready for) | Loss of breath at any moment (within a 10 seconds time frame). Involuntary hard breathing. | Burn large amounts of calories in a short period of time. Cannot be continued of long periods of time. |
| Hard on the body | |||
[Duration] Exercising for less than 20 minutes is for the best
It is common to hear "Fat doesn't start burning until 20 minutes after working out." That is why you may the exercise duration of your workout to 20 minutes minimum.
Recently it was found that exercising for longer than 20 minutes differs very little in results from exercising for exactly 20 minutes. Therefore, you get the same results without having to exercise for long periods of time by splitting your workouts into smaller, short length segments.
For people who say "I can't find time to exercise because I am so busy," exercising during the same you have to spare between thinks you have scheduled is on way to get results from diet and exercise.
Exercising on an empty stomach helps burn fat!?
When your stomach is empty, it is easy to burn fat, which is advantageous to know when trying to get slim. However you must be careful because it has a high burden on the body.
Stay away from high intensity exercise when exercising on an empty stomach, sticking with low intensity exercise. In addition, you should also stay away from low blood sugar levels, which may affect your mood. Taking energy refreshment prior to exercising is highly recommended. (For refreshing your energy eating something sweet is preferred. Candy or otherwise something light makes a great energy refreshment.)
When not to exercise
- Right after waking up
Right after getting out of bed you are not fully awake. During this time you want to stay away from high intensity exercise. - On a full stomach after eating
After eating digestion, requires a lot of blood. Exercising right after eating may interfere with digestion. That is why it is recommended that you wait at least 1 hour before exercising after eating a meal. - Before going to bed
Doing high intensity exercise before going to sleep may affect the quality of your sleep. That is why it is best to exercises no later than 3 hours before going to bed to minimize the negative effect it has on your sleep. It is key to avoid exercising too late in the evening while getting enough sleep at night. - When it is hot out
Avoid exercising outdoors when it is hot or when noon temperatures or high. When exercising on hot day, taking the necessary precautions may prevent unwanted heat strokes from happening.
