Most people start their fitness journey as simply a weightloss journey. That was the case for me! And no matter what method you choose to start that weightloss journey, it works. You follow the "rules" of the program and the number on the scale begins to fall and you have to start shopping for a new wardrobe. Yet a journey based on diet alone burns fat AND muscle. Now what you eat is the biggest part of this journey, however combining that with cardio/strength training is the most effective way to drop pounds.
Before you stop reading and call me crazy, remember when I began my journey almost 3 years ago, I relied solely on diet. And after a period of time, I stopped losing weight and was only maintaining the weight lost. Why? Because my body got smarter and said "oh you are making these changes so that I hold onto less fat, so let me start holding onto every bit of fat you give me". And what results - your body starts burning the muscle instead. When I started running, my weightloss journey picked back up and I eventually reached my goal. Yet it wasn't until I started adding regular strength training that I saw even greater results - not in the scale, but in the shape of my body.
Types of Exercise and the Results Achieved
Cardio - it's the most basic form of exercise and usually the thing people do first because it doesn't require anything more then a pair of shoes. You can take to the streets or hit the treadmill. A typical cardio workout burns 300 calories, however you only burn those calories during the workout. Not much happens afterwards.
HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) - doesn't require anything more then cardio except for you to PUSH yourself. Break up your walk with spurts of jogging or break up your jogging with spurts of sprinting. You can increase your calorie burn in significantly less time as your body can only endure about 20-30 minutes of this type of exercise. BUT, it will continue to burn calories for 2-3 hours afterward while you recover on the gym floor.
Weight Training - as stated in the picture above, the more muscle you have the more fat you burn. Why? Because that muscles causes your metabolism to work all day long and probably explains why you feel hungry all day after a weight training session. So in combination with a good diet, you reap the rewards of a weight training session all day long.
Still think I am crazy?
Alwyn Cosgrove, a fitness expert, wrote a great article discussing the Hierarchy of Weight Loss loaded with numerous studies highlighting the benefits of weight training in comparison to cardio. This is the best part:
Overweight subjects were assigned to three groups: diet-only, diet plus aerobics, diet plus aerobics plus weights. The diet group lost 14.6 pounds of fat in 12 weeks. The aerobic group lost only one more pound (15.6 pounds) than the diet group (training was three times a week starting at 30 minutes and progressing to 50 minutes over the 12 weeks).
The weight training group lost 21.1 pounds of fat (44% and 35% more than diet and aerobic only groups respectively). Basically, the addition of aerobic training didn’t result in any real world significant fat loss over dieting alone.
Thirty-six sessions of up to 50 minutes is a lot of work for one additional pound of fat loss. However, the addition of resistance training greatly accelerated fat loss results.
I encourage you to find what works for you and don't be afraid to try something new - the rewards might be greater then you realize.
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