Once you have decided to make the commitment to losing weight, you have several options that you can pursue. You can choose a diet plan, an exercise plan, or a diet and exercise plan. The changes you make should reflect healthy lifestyle changes you can keep up with and maintain throughout your life. One way to do this is to adopt both healthy eating habits and an exercise plan that involves both cardiovascular activity and strength training, an often underestimated component that can contribute greatly to weight loss success.
Strength Training and Weight Loss
Effective weight loss methods differ by individual, but one key similarity that is found in all successful cases is that all those individuals maintained a lifestyle of exercise, which included some from of strength training and healthy eating. Strength training builds muscle, which has a higher metabolic activity than body fat. In a 1988 study performed by Ballor et al, it was found that individuals who participated in a resistance exercise regime and healthy caloric restriction lost more weight and increased lean body mass more than those who either only dieted or exercised without resistance training.
Consistency
Getting in to a routine of regular exercise is a very beneficial method to a path of successful weight loss. Having a plan and sticking with it will allow you to track your success and see where you still may need to make improvements. By being consistent you also ensure that you are continually keeping up with your exercise, and once it is routine, it becomes a part of your day just like eating or going to work.
Get Large Muscles Involved
Working muscles burn calories, and the larger the muscle you are working, the greater the amount of calories you will burn. In strength training, performing such as exercises as squats and lunges, and whole-body exercises, such as push-ups and pull-ups, is a great place to start.
Intensity
The greater the intensity of the exercise you perform, the higher your heart rate and respiration. With exercise intensity, the more oxygen you consume, the more calories you burn. In between strength exercises, try incorporating some sprints on the treadmill or bike. This combination of strength and cardiovascular training, known as circuit training, is an excellent way to meet your strength training and cardiovascular activity needs, without having to find the time for separate workouts.
Healthy Weight Loss Rate
Weight loss should not occur rapidly, nor should you have the goal of losing weight rapidly, as there will only be health repercussions, such as greater weight gain, loss of lean tissue, and dehydration and vitamin and mineral deficiencies later on. A good range is 1 to 2 lbs. each week, which equates to approximately 1 percent of your body weight. This translates to a caloric deficit of 3,500 to 7,000 calories weekly, with 3,500 calories equal to 1 lb.. To do this, cut back the calories you consume each day by 200, and burn 300 through exercise. This amounts to 500 each day, and after seven days, it amounts to 3,500.
References
- "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition;" Resistance weight training during caloric restriction enhances lean body weight maintenance; Ballor, DL., Katch, VL., Becque, MD., and Marks, CR.; January 1988
- "Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance;" William D. McArdle, Frank I. Katch, and Victor L. Katch; 2007
- "Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise;" Gradual and rapid weight loss: Effects on nutrition and performance in male athletes; Fogelholm, G.M., R. Koskinen, J. Laasko, T. Rankinen, and I. Ruokonen; March 1993
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