Losing weight and gaining muscle require strength training and cardiovascular exercise. Besides weight loss and muscle development, strength training strengthens your bones, reduces your risk of injury and increases your endurance. Along with helping you manage your weight, cardiovascular exercise gives you more energy, improves your mood and helps prevent chronic diseases.
Strength Training for Muscle Development
You don't have to belong to a gym to strength train and build your muscles. Use your body weight as resistance by performing exercises such as push-ups, squats and crunches. Resistance tubing is also inexpensive and easy to use at home. Free weights are useful for developing upper-body strength. If you do belong to a gym, it probably has a variety of weight machines to help you develop muscle.
Lift a weight that fatigues your muscles after lifting it 12 times, or 12 repetition. According to Dr.Edward Laskowski, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, when you use the right amount of weight you can build just as much muscle from one set of 12 repetitions as you would with multiple sets. Try to strength train two to three times a week for 20 to 30 minutes and you could results within a few weeks.
Cardiovascular Exercise for Muscle Development
Cardiovascular exercise also helps develop muscle. Cardio machines such as stair steppers and elliptical machines build muscle endurance. Activities such as running or inline skating build leg muscles, especially when done on an incline. Swimming builds muscle because water is much denser than air, so each movement requires working your muscles to push against the water.
Strength Training for Weight Loss
Losing weight requires burning more calories than you take in. While lifting weights does not burn a lot of calories, it still helps you lose weight. Each pound of muscle you develop while strength training burns 30 to 50 more calories per day than a pound of fat.
Cardiovascular Exercise for Weight Loss
Burn calories by following a cardio plan. Spend at least 30 to 45 minutes doing activities that raise your heart rate four to five times a week. When you exercise, your heart rate should be between 60 and 85 percent of its maximum. Some cardiovascular exercises include running, swimming, biking, inline skating and group exercise classes. Swimming is both a cardio activity and a resistance training activity.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Strength Training
- MayoClinic.com: Exercise: 7 Benefits to Regular Physical Activity
- "Fitness" Magazine: Strip Fat, Build Sleek Muscles with Cardio Training
- "Fitness" Magazine: Will Running Uphill Make My Calves Bigger?
- "Fitness" Magazine: Will I Get Bulky Muscles from the Stair Climber?
- Gaiam Life: Why Women Need Weight Training
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