Getting those pounds to budge from your tummy or thighs can be a challenge, even if you're putting in hours at the gym. Cardiovascular exercise is critical for good health, preventing everything from heart disease to high blood pressure, but aerobic workouts alone won't take off weight. Balance your cardio workouts with diet and strength-training exercise to slim down and reach your health and fitness goals.
Cardio Exercise
Cardiovascular exercise increases your heart rate. Common cardio exercises include walking, jogging, biking, dancing, swimming or fitness machines, like stairsteppers and elliptical trainers. Weight-bearing cardiovascular exercise, like walking or jogging, is more effective than non-weight bearing types, like swimming. You may get more benefit from your workout if you vary your exercise routine to keep different muscles working and continue to challenge your body.
Enough Isn't Necessarily Enough
Working out for weight loss requires a substantial investment of time and energy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sets a bare minimum fitness guideline for adults of two and one-half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week. While this is a manageable goal, if you're looking to burn enough calories to drop unwanted pounds, you'll need to more than double that total, aiming for around an hour a day most days of the week.
Appetite
The increased hunger that sometimes accompanies a hard workout adds insult to injury. While an increase in body temperature may temporarily decrease your appetite, this isn't true for everyone. Women, in particular, are prone to find that cardiovascular exercise increases hunger. Without additional care, this can make it harder to lose weight. Even if you're not hungry after a workout, you may feel like you deserve that snack, a latte on the way home or even just a hydrating sports drink and consume all the calories you burned, plus some.
Improving Your Chances
Improve your chances of a payoff for your time at the gym with a smart diet and workout strategy. Include strength-training exercises, like yoga or weightlifting, at least twice a week to build muscle and speed up your metabolism, recommends CDC. Plan for post-workout snacks, like high-protein Greek yogurt or fresh vegetables and hummus, as part of your daily food intake to avoid sabotaging your plan with a protein bar. Keep up with your cardio after you shed weight. While it may not play a huge role in losing pounds, regular exercise can help you to maintain your weight.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Physical Activity for a Healthy Weight
- Cleveland Clinic: Exercise and Weight Control
- ABCNews.com: "Good Morning America"; Book: Kiss Cardio Goodbye, and Lose Weight; April 16, 2007
- American Council on Exercise: Does Aerobic Exercise Suppress a Person's Appetite?
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