There are many factors that may lead to weight gain. It depends on your lifestyle, age, genes, hormones, and other factors. Your body deposits calories as fat to keep you safe and alive.
Maybe you heard a lot of information about fat-burning exercises, spot reduction, foods, or supplements that help burn more fat. There are many types of exercises that can help you to burn fat.
Basics of Burning Fat
Your body gets energy from carbohydrates, fat, and protein. To know better how to lose weight you should understand how your body uses calories. It depends on what type of activity you are doing.
Everyone wants to use fat as fuel because the more fat your body uses as fuel the less amount of fat you will have in the body. However, using fat as fuel doesn’t lead to losing more fat. The main source of fuel in your body is carbohydrates. Protein mainly is used to restore the muscles after exercises and a smaller amount of it is used during exercise. The fuel proportion will depend on the types of activity you are doing.
There are three types of activity: high-intensity, moderate-intensity, and low-intensity.
In case, your body uses as fuel more carbohydrates than fat then it is assigned to high-intensity exercises. If more fat is used than carbs as fuel then it is assigned to long and slower exercises.
When you want to lose weight it doesn’t matter what type of fuel the body uses. Losing weight depends on how many calories you administer compared to how many calories you are burning. That’s why is important to work harder and burn more calories than you take.
Burn Fat with a Mix of Cardio
You may have doubts about the right intensity of the cardio exercises, which may lead to the idea that high-intensity cardio is the only way. But it is important to burn more calories than you are eating.
Your exercise program should include different types of cardio exercises. It helps to stimulate different energy systems and may also protect from too intense workout injuries as well as enjoy your workout. One way may be to set up a cardio program that includes different types of exercise intensity.
High-Intensity Cardio
The high-intensity cardio ranges between 80 to 90% of your maximum heart rate (MHR). Another way to measure is the 10-point perceived exertion scale, about 6 to 8 points of your maximum heart rate means high-intensity cardio. One easier way to explain this cardio intensity is when you are too breathless to talk in complete sentences.
Training in high-intensity cardio may help lose weight and improve endurance. For example, if a person weighs 150 pounds, after running at 6 mph for 30 minutes would burn approximately 341 calories compared to a person with the same weight who walked at 3.5 mph for 30 minutes they would burn approximately 136 calories. You don’t need to do excess high-intensity exercises, because you have an increased risk of different injuries. For example:
- Overuse injuries
- Inconsistent workouts
- Burnout
- Increased risk of hating to exercise
- Overtraining
There are some examples of high-intensity exercises:
Utilize interval training: A good interval of high-intensity training, for example, maybe a 10-20-30 minute interval workout. It begins by running at a fast rhythm between 30 to 60 seconds. After that, you walk for one to two minutes to recover.
Incorporate Tabata training: This type of exercise is another form of high-intensity interval training. It includes very hard work for 20 seconds after you rest for 10 seconds. It is usually recommended a cycle of 4 minutes. If you are doing this exercise type, you’re usually not able to breathe.
Moderate-Intensity Cardio
Moderate-intensity exercises are ranged between 70 to 80% of your MHR. Also can be a level 4 to 6 on a 10-point perceived exertion scale. This type of exercise is more comfortable than previous, it means you breathe harder than normal but you can have a conversation without any problems. Moderate-intensity exercises have certain great health advantages. For example:
- More Choices: Many activities can get you in a moderate-intensity exercise such as shoveling snow as well as raking leaves.
- Comfort: Moderate exercises are at a more comfortable rhythm, that’s why you should be more consistent with your program. Furthermore, moderate workouts also can help to prepare your body for high-intensity workouts.
- Better Health: These types of workouts have some benefits such as decreasing the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, as well as diabetes.
Low-Intensity Workouts
This type of workout is at a lower MHR than 60%, or on a 10-point perceived exertion scale approximatively a level 3 to 5. These types of exercises are the most comfortable zone of training. Low workouts also can lead to burning fat more than carbohydrates, which makes it popular. If you are trying to lose weight, you should look out for high-intensity workouts, because you need to burn more calories. Low-intensity workouts include slow activities such as riding a bike, gardening, as well as taking a stroll. In addition, Yoga and Pilates are also assigned to low-intensity exercises, but they may help you to develop your core, balance, as well as flexibility.
