When you spend the money to join a gym, you want to see results. As a woman, you might feel intimidated at a gym if you are unsure how to use the equipment or whether the program you are doing is effective. Recommendations including equipment and programming can help to boost your body fat burn.
Measuring Body Fat
Body fat can be a better way of monitoring your progress than stepping on a scale. When you measure body fat, you are tracking the amount of body fat you lose and lean body mass you gain. You can do this by tracking your BMI, a measurement of weight versus height that reflects body fat percentage. If you belong to a gym, a professional there may be able to test your body fat for you using calipers. Another option is to purchase a specialized scale that can determine your weight as well as body fat percentage.
Programming
For weight loss, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends exercising five to seven days per week. You should train for 45 to 60 minutes at a time at a moderate to high intensity. Your program should include an aerobic portion as well as a resistance portion. An effective program will burn at least 2,000 calories per week.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise should make up the bulk of your workout. It will be the part of your program that uses body fat. Choose to exercise on machines at the gym such as the treadmill, elliptical or bicycle. As a woman, doing an exercise that is weight bearing is better. Weight bearing exercises challenge not only your cardiovascular system, but also your bones. Bone mass decreases with age in women, however, weight bearing exercises can help improve bone density. Measure the intensity of your workout using the heart rate monitors found on the equipment. You should be working at a moderate to high intensity of exercise. Your heart rate should be maintained around 70 to 85 percent of your maximum. If you are just starting out exercising, begin at a lighter intensity and increase as your fitness level does.
Resistance Training
A gym is a great place to do resistance training. Most gyms are equipped with many weight machines. These machines are a good way to start your training program because they keep your body in an appropriate position for performing an exercise. This limits your chance of injury due to improper mechanics. Your resistance training program should be limited to three days per week with at least 24 hours of rest between sessions. Resistance training is effective at decreasing body fat because it builds up lean body mass. It also increases your metabolic rate, because lean body mass takes more calories to function, meaning you will be burning more fat with everything that you do. Choose eight to ten exercises that work all of the major muscle groups, such as leg extension, leg flexion, leg abduction and adduction, leg press, lat pulldown, chest press, row, bicep curl, tricep pushdown and abdominal curl.
References
- "Exercise Testing and Prescription"; David C. Nieman; 2007
- "ACSM's Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription"; Mithcell H. Whaley, PhD, Peter H. Brubaker, Phd, Robert Otto, Phd (Eds.); 2006.
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