To lose weight, you need to have a negative calorie balance, which means you consume fewer calories each day than you expend. While you can accomplish this by reducing your food intake alone, a more effective way to pursue weight loss is by incorporating exercise as well. If you are looking to lose weight, you should perform exercises that will burn a high level of calories, as this can make your dietary restrictions less drastic.
Water Aerobics
Water aerobics is a unique form of exercise in which you perform aerobic movements in a pool. As fitness website Diets In Review explains, the aquatic setting is beneficial because it helps keep your body cool during exercise and provides resistance without using heavy weights. Performing exercise in water also prevents tough impacts against the ground, which can jar your joints. According to the Mayo Clinic, an hour of water aerobics burns 292 calories.
Bicycling
Bicycling helps strengthen your leg muscles and improves your cardiovascular capacity. In addition, because it is a functional exercise -- it can take you places you need to be -- it can be easy to fit into your daily routine. Bicycling can be quite beneficial for weight loss, as cycling at less than 10 mph can burn nearly 300 calories per hour. In addition, research detailed in the August 2010 issue of "Environmental Health Perspectives" concluded that potential health risks, such as inhaling emissions, are outweighed by the health benefits of cycling compared with automobile travel.
Swimming
As the website for U.S. Masters Swimming explains, swimming can be helpful for weight loss because it provides a workout for your entire body. In addition, the website suggests that swimming is more beneficial than other forms of exercise because there is no stress on your leg joints. The Mayo Clinic points out that swimming laps for an hour can burn more than 500 calories, making it effective for weight loss.
Lifting Weights
Weightlifting offers more benefits than just the amount of calories burned -- 219 per hour, according to the Mayo Clinic -- during the training session itself. Muscle mass burns more calories than fat, so building muscle can increase your daily caloric expenditure. According to MyFit.ca, performing compound lifts, or those that use multiple muscle groups, are ideal for fat loss; the use of multiple muscle groups results in larger amounts of calorie burn.
References
- DietsInReview.com: Top 10 Benefits of Water Aerobics
- Mayo Clinic: Exercise For Weight Loss: Calories Burned in 1 Hour
- "Environmental Health Perspectives"; Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?; J. Johan de Hartog, et al.; August 2010
- U.S. Masters Swimming: Fitness: Starting a Swimming Routine
- Mayo Clinic: Metabolism and Weight Loss: How You Burn Calories
- MyFit.ca: Weight Training: Lifting Exercises: Exercise Pictures Workout Exercises
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