Surge Training for Weight Loss

Surge Training for Weight Loss
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You might find yourself working out everyday and still the extra pounds seem stuck to your body. While traditional aerobic and resistance exercises can help you build lean muscle tissue and burn calories it is possible for you to hit a plateau. Surge training is becoming more popular for weight loss because it has been tested and proven itself to be worthy as a way to lose weight and inches.

Features

Surge training is a form of interval training used to increase muscle tone and burn body fat in 10 to 15 minutes. You alternate very fast, intense periods of exercise with rest periods for 30 to 60 seconds each. After completing three sets of each period allow your body one to two minutes to rest and repeat two to three more times. The goal of the surge or intense period is to work as fast and hard as possible. During the rest period move slowly and allow your breathing to return to normal.

Types

Surge training can be performed with cardiovascular exercise or strength training movements. Cardiovascular exercises that can be used include swimming, running, jumping rope and using an elliptical trainer. Examples of strength training movements include dead lifts, push-ups, pull-ups and dips. Select exercises that challenge several of your muscle groups at once and that can be performed in an explosive or fast way.

Benefits

Surge training helps to save time during your workouts because it only lasts 10 to 15 minutes and can burn more body fat than traditional exercise. During this form of training your body is forced to use stored body fat and this results in quicker weight loss than traditional aerobic exercise. According to Maximized Living, The Centers for Disease Control and the American College of Sports Medicine discovered that surges of exercise increase oxygen intake and improve the body's anaerobic capacity by 28 percent.

Expert Insight

A lot of people think that running or riding a bike for a long period of time is the best way to drop excess pounds. Dr. Dan Pompa disagrees and says during moderately paced aerobic exercise your body releases stress hormones that cause increased fat storage, muscle break down and an increased appetite. Surge training helps to burn fat at a faster pace than traditional aerobic exercise because it forces the type of fuel your body uses. Dr. Dan Pompa also says that surge training forces your body to quickly deplete stored sugar and turn to stored fat for energy.

Considerations

Surge training is very demanding on the body and should only be completed every other day. This form of training also does not help to improve your aerobic endurance. If you want to improve how long you can run, cycle or swim and keep your muscles conditioned for longer aerobic sessions you will need to exercise on your non-surge training days.

References

Article reviewed by Lisa Dittrich Last updated on: Nov 3, 2010

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