A common goal for anyone who starts an exercise program is to lose weight, which depends on the balance between calories consumed and burned; it can be achieved by combining a healthy diet with various exercises. To lose weight quickly, you need to maximize the amount of calories you burn in each exercise session.
High Intensity Exercise
The intensity of an exercise refers to the amount of oxygen consumed and energy used during a bout of activity. The higher the intensity, the more oxygen needed, which results in a higher energy output and caloric expenditure. The only problem with high intensity exercise is that it is hard to maintain over a long period of time. This is where interval training can be introduced. Interval training is a term that describes periods of high intensity mixed with periods of rest, or lower intensity. High intensity interval training, or HIIT, also produces higher post-exercise oxygen consumption, which results in greater caloric expenditure after an exercise session is over.
Increasing Muscle Mass
Strength training is important when it come to losing weight. A study at Tufts University had subjects perform a progressive resistance training program three days a week for a period of 12 weeks. After the 12 weeks, there was an average gain of 3.1 pounds of lean muscle mass, a loss of 4 lbs. of body weight and an increase in metabolic rate of almost 7 percent. Another study at the University of Maryland showed similar results, which demonstrates that muscle can burn calories at rest.
Interval Strength Training
Interval strength training would include the combination of high intensity cardiovascular exercise with strength training, or resistance exercises. Strength training exercises should involve multiple muscle groups at a time, combining upper body and lower body. Such movements could include: squats with shoulder presses, Lunges with side or front raises, deadlifts with upright rows or step ups into a bicep curl, then a shoulder press. Complete one set of 12 to 15 repetitions of an exercise, then move directly into a high-intensity exercise such as sprinting, jumping rope or squat thrusts for 60 seconds. Rest for 30 to 60 seconds and repeat.
Boxing Pounds Away
Three-minute rounds of continuous all-out punching and moving around a ring to avoid contact from your opponent followed by only 60 seconds of rest would be considered high intensity interval training. Many boxers also include jumping rope in their workout programs, which increases the difficulty and intensity. Try going 15 3-minute rounds of boxing or jumping rope with a one-minute break in between each. A 60-minute session of this kind can burn around 800 calories for a 155-pound individual.
Other Activities
There are a vast array of activities that burn large amounts of calories. Rowing can burn upwards of 800 calories per hour. If you live in a cold-weather climate where there is a lot of snow, cross-country skiing is one of the best cardiovascular exercises, which can burn more than 1,000 calories per hour for a 155-pound individual. Other activities that are similar in intensity would include cycling at a race speed, running, running uphill or up stairs, chopping wood and speed skating.
References
- Nutristrategy; Calories burned during exercising
- "Why the Confusion?"; Wayne Wescott
- Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise; "Effect of exercise intensity and duration on postexercise energy expenditure"; Darlene Sedlock; 1989
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