Regular exercise is good for your health and can be very helpful for weight loss. However, too much exercise without enough recovery increases your risk of physical injury and can impede weight loss. If you want to keep exercising for weight loss, find enjoyable routines that allow for consistency and sufficient recovery.
Post-Exercise Recovery and Calories Burned
Exercise recovery is the physiological accommodation of the effects of hard exercise. As described by Peak Performance, recovery involves muscle repair, bone growth, the replacement of muscle glycogen, the production of recovery-related hormones and increased neurological activity. This requires that your body keep burning calories at a slightly elevated rate, a state sometimes referred to as post-exercise caloric burn. The caloric burning elevation is modest, 27 to 50 calories total, but Peak Performance notes that this could yield 5,000 extra calories burned per year, or a loss of about 1.5 lbs weight. FreeDiets states that when you insert short, hard efforts, or intervals, into your aerobic workout, you burn more fat than during a constantly moderate effort.
Cross-Training for Injury Prevention and Calorie Burning
When injuries prevent exercise, weight loss becomes more difficult. According to Science Daily, exercise controls appetite and decreases cravings, so if the goal is to stay active, use cross-training to engage different major muscle groups. For example, running emphasizes lower body muscles, so if you run one day, swimming the next day rests your legs while your upper body muscles are worked. If you prefer one sport, try alternating hard and easy days to encourage active recovery.
Comparison of Calories Burned Per Activity
Weight loss requires that the total calories burned be greater than calories ingested, so if you are looking for the best exercises to offset high-calorie meals, refer to rankings such as Mayo Clinic's list of exercises showing calories burned per hour for individuals weighing 160 lbs, 200 lbs and 240 lbs. For example, for a 200-lb person, running at 8 mph burns 1,229 calories, swimming laps or rowing burns 637, weightlifting burns 273, walking at 2 mph burns 228, and bicycling at 10 mph burns 364.
Routines Based on Exercise Rankings
Cross-training involves mixing and matching activities that complement each other per intensity, calories burned and/or particular major muscle groups used. For example, running and swimming balance each other in terms of muscles groups and intensity. Swimming and bicycling emphasize different muscles, as do rowing and bicycling. Single-sport athletes, however, should alternate hard/easy days; a runner could do six miles with intervals one day, and the following day perform four miles at an easy jog.
Train to Your Ability
Professional athletes train daily. If getting competition-fit requires weight loss, a football player, for example, could supplement team workouts with individual aerobic workouts to burn more calories. Professional runners expend significant calories even on easy days, with a one hour "recovery-run" at 5.5 mph burning 1,062 calories, per NutriStrategy. Thus, exercise recovery for weight loss must take into account your individual fitness and ability levels. Consistent exercise, without injury, can only help you lose weight.
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