Cutting back on the number of calories eaten each day can help to shed those extra pounds. However, weight loss is easiest when exercise and diet are used together. Exercise becomes even more important after the weight-loss goal is achieved and the weight-maintenance phase is reached. To obtain weight-loss benefits, there is a certain amount of exercise that is required. Before starting any exercise program, talk with a doctor to make sure the program is safe, based on personal health.
Considerations
When it comes to losing weight there is no magic pill or plan. The bottom line is that more calories need to be burned of then are eaten, according to MayoClinic.com. This can be accomplished by cutting back on the number of calories eaten or by exercising enough to burn calories off. Since 1 lb. is equal to 3,500 calories, to lose 1 lb. per week, exercise must be intense enough to burn 500 calories a day. To lose 2 lbs. per week 1,000 calories must be burned every day.
Aerobic Exercise
There is no one exercise plan that helps everyone lose weight, each person's body is different and it will take some trial and error to find the right amount and intensity to get results. To achieve weight loss, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend getting at least two hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week, which works out to about 30 minutes on five days of the week. However if you don't cut back on calories more may be needed. Activities that help include aerobic or cardiovascular exercises such as brisk walking, running, hiking, swimming and biking. To burn off calories, the goal is to elevate the heart rate and sustain it at an elevated rate for the entire workout.
Strength Training
While aerobic exercises burn the most calories strength training also helps. Strength training involves moving the body against some kind of resistance such as weights, bands or machines with the goal of making the muscles stronger. The benefit is that muscle needs more calories to survive than fat does, even at rest. So when there is more muscle mass, the basal metabolic rate or number of calories burned to survive increases, states the American Council on Exercise. The goal is to aim for two to three strength training sessions every week. Each session should include one set of eight to 12 repetitions for each major muscle group, working the muscles to fatigue.
Benefits
The amount of calories burned during exercise depends on the activity, how intense it is and personal age, gender and weight. For example a 160-lb. person can burn close to 500 calories per hour when taking a high-impact aerobics class or swimming, around 350 during a low-impact aerobics class, about 200 when walking briskly for an hour or more than 900 when rollerblading or running for 60 minutes. The lower the intensity of exercise the longer the duration needs to be to burn off that 500 to 1,000 calories needed for weight loss.
Solution
It can be difficult to really know how many calories are being burned during activity and it is easy to over estimate the amount. For this reason wearing a heart rate monitor can help to establish the right intensity. Heart rate monitors can be programmed with personal information such as age, weight and gender. The device can monitor the exercise session to provide a more accurate idea of the amount of calories actually burned. The American College of Sports Medicine suggests talking to a physician first to establish a safe heart rate to work out at.
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