Here are some reasons as to why
exercise works and why it will help you lose weight.
When you start to exercise, your
body makes immediate changes that help improve your health and fitness.
Repeating these changes on a consistent basis means that exercise becomes
easier and the gains become greater.
You need to do a mixture of “cardio” (ie,
walking, running, cycling – things that make you sweaty and a bit out of
breath) and “resistance” (ie lifting weights, including your own body weight)
Cardio - Current guidelines for health are30 mins per day in blocks
of 5 mins, with one block being 15 mins – but to get gains in fitness (and
health) then you need to get up to that 20min as a minimum, get breathless and
repeat the process for 3-5 sessions per week.
The benefit of this type of
exercise is hugely important to fitness, with significant gains seen in the
strength of the heart muscle, increased transportation of blood and oxygen
through increased building of blood vessels, increased energy production
through greater and more numerous cells called “mitochondria” that mean more
work feels “easier”. It has great protective capabilities for the heart – not only
by greater strength and resilience but also in the way that endurance work mops
up “bad” cholesterol, keeps arteries “clean”, regulates insulin and helps with
breathing problems. These are all
important considerations and it is easy to see why we should include some kind
of cardio work into our daily routine. The key to successful cardio response is
to be able to sustain a consistent pattern of training for about 20 mins.
Weights on the other hand, despite making you breathless, work in
an entirely different manner. Weight
training is hugely important for bone strength, joint stability and posture, as
well as its more pleasing aesthetic aspects of tone and shape. Weights can be
split into both strength and endurance, with both elements significant for
health and fitness. By increasing the
force and pressure on the muscles and bones, the body adapts and grows
stronger. You can work an endurance based programme by including repeated
lifting of one type of action for at least 15 times (reps) – this should feel
within your comfort zone up until the last few repetitions where you should
struggle to push with the same amount of ease and comfort. Please don’t be
fooled into thinking that 15 reps is some kind of magic number – ideally, keep
going until you can’t move the weight.
Strength and endurance gains occur most frequently within a range
repetition of 8-15. At this point you will get significant changes to muscle
mass and will see the most amount of muscle growth – more pronounced in males
due to the effect of testosterone.
Lifting in the lower ranges of 2-7 reps is for those who have been
training for some time and have good joint stability. This range of lifting gives
excellent responses in what is known as the “neural drive” where the nervous
system is primed to contract faster and with greater force – you will get
fantastic strength gains here but without the bulking of the middle range – so
a must for both sexes. The benefits of
weight training are tremendous. Not only do you protect your body, but it makes
all tasks from housework to sports feel much easier. It will make you run
faster, jumps higher, turn quicker and feel GOOD!!! Recovery from weights is always fat burning,
and this can be sustained for up to 2 hours after training leading to substantial
weight loss.
The cons for both exercises are
thus – in cardio you do not get the gains in improved posture, bone density,
core stability and power that weight training gives you. In weights, you do not
get the protective measures for your heart that is vital to sustained happy and
healthy life. So basically, you need to do BOTH. You can bias your workout
towards the elements that you like, but as a minimum, one weights or one long
cardio session per week. xxx
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