Posts Tagged ‘Cardio’

Weight Loss Cardio Workout – 3 Things To Remember Before You Start

Are you looking for a Weight Loss Cardio Workout ? Every Weight Loss Cardio Workout plan might tell you something different, but there IS an optimum Weight Loss Cardio Workout plan. Depending on your initial weight and body type, your Weight Loss Cardio Workout plan should include these 3 facts.

Weight Loss Cardio Workout – Fact #1 – Losing Weight Is Not The Same As Losing Fat

If you are looking for a Weight Loss Cardio Workout because of being a little or a lot over weight, you need to recognize your true goals. What you need to focus your attention on is losing FAT, not just losing weight. Now this may take some adjustments in your own mind, as we are all so tuned into what the scale says when we step on it. This paradigm shift must involve being more aware of what you look like in the mirror, than what the scale says.

Why must it be this way? We need to focus our attention on losing fat, because when we focus on just losing weight, we often go about it in an unhealthy manner. We do things to rid ourselves of water weight (which we really need in our bodies) or even worse, we do things that cause us to lose muscle weight (which we really, really need in our bodies!).

Weight Loss Cardio Workout – Fact #2 – Water Weight Loss is Not Healthy

If you are considering a weight loss plan that promises that you will lose 10 pounds this weekend, you need to run the other way! Any program with those promises is touting a plan to rid your body of water weight, not fat. Do you know what most of our body is made up of? You guessed it… water.

We need water to keep our bodies healthy. Statistics have shown that more than 80% of Americans are in some state of dehydration. This is not healthy, because all of our organs were designed to operate most efficiently at a certain hydration level. Take the water out of your body and you will soon see decreased function in your liver, intestines, pancreas, lungs, heart and yes, even your brain! We need water and lots of it.

Besides, as you probably already know, when it is just water that we lose, it is bound to come back – and then some! You see, the body has a self preservation mode. When it experiences dehydration, which it does not like, your body reacts to this problem by storing more water in the tissues for the next “drought”. Water weight loss will simply lead to more water weight gain in the end.

Weight Loss Cardio Workout – Fact #3 – Muscle Weight Loss is Even Worse

Some Weight Loss Cardio Workout plans promote their results without any nutritional changes. Though it is possible to lose weight without paying attention to your nutritional intake, the best kind of body shaping program (that’s what you’re really trying to do – reshape your body) will always include nutrition, fat loss and muscle gain. When we strengthen our muscles, our overall metabolism quickens and this in turn will cause our body to burn more calories, even when we are resting. To lose muscle as a weight loss option is absolutely detrimental to not only your overall health, but also your overall body shaping program goal. Muscles are a good thing! And no, I don’t mean Mr. or Miss Olympia proportions, just strong, fit muscles.

As we try to reshape our bodies, fat loss should be just one of our goals. A very reasonable fat loss goal would be 1½ – 2 pounds per week. We should also strive not to lose just water and never do we want to lose muscle. Don’t over do it, be sensible, have a plan and stick to it. You CAN achieve your goals!

The Skinny on the Weight Loss Cardio Workout

Experts believe that a weight loss cardio workout is one of the best exercises you can do to shed off those unwanted pounds. There are different weight loss cardio workout plans available but they depend highly on how much you weigh, what your body type is, and your overall health condition.

On losing weight

Before performing a cardio workout so you can lose weight, make sure you understand what losing weight is really all about. Get rid of the misconception that losing weight is equal to becoming stick thin.

What doctors are saying

Medically, weight loss happens with the reduction of your weight to something that is proportional to your body type. To check for your ideal weight, determine your BMI (body mass index) with online BMI calculators. With the guidance of your BMI, work gradually towards your ideal weight.

Weight vs. fat

Before doing a weight loss cardio workout, it is important for you to understand that losing weight is not like losing body fat. If you are a only a few pounds overweight, try recognizing your real goals for trying to shed off the excess pounds. Focus on losing not just the weight, but also the fat.

Lose weight and body fat healthily

Remember that you should not only be aware on what the mirror and the weighing scale are telling you. If you solely focus on losing weight, there is a tendency for you to lose weight in unhealthy ways. This is true especially if you fail to recognize what water weight can do for you. Some dieters do drastic things just to get rid of the water weight, including muscle weight, which are essential for our bodies.

A healthy weight loss plan

A weight loss cardio workout should be performed in accordance with a healthy weight loss plan. You also need to understand what cardiovascular workouts are all about, the best ones you can do, and the benefits they can contribute to not only to weight loss but also to your health.

What is cardio?

The “cardio” on the weight loss cardio workout refers to the cardiovascular system. Therefore, it is important to note that cardio workouts affect the heart and your blood vessels. Cardiovascular workouts are exercises that can raise your heart rate to a level for some time.

Check with experts

Every person has their limit when it comes to doing exercises. Before doing any weight loss cardio workout, check with your doctor first to see if your heart or your overall health can take it. This is also for the purpose of determining the highest level of heart rate your system can endure.

Benefits

Routine weight loss cardio workout can provide you with several benefits for weight loss because it helps burn more calories. The workout also helps your heart become stronger so your lung capacity can also strengthen. It also helps you to sleep better and lower your stress levels.

Burning calories

Burning calories with exercise simply means that you can reduce your calorie intake at a minimal level and not drastically. For instance, instead of lowering your daily caloric intake to 1200, you can lower it to 1400 since you can burn some 200 calories with a weight loss cardio workout. Furthermore, you won’t feel food deprived or hungry, which can aid in making you stick to your weight loss plan.

Frequency

Cardio workouts are recommended to be done everyday if you want to lose weight. Some people say that it is best to perform cardio before breakfast in the morning because it can burn stored fat. The workout should last around 45 minutes up to an hour. However, keep in mind that you should work on a progressive level and how much your body can endure the workout. If you are a beginner, do not exert too much effort. Do it gradually so you do not burn energy quickly.

Where do you want to do it?

Cardio exercises can be classified into those that can be done outside, at home, and at a fitness center. It all depends on your preference on how or where you want to exercise. Some people depend on a gym for working out, while others love to do outdoor exercises. You can even combine both if you have enough time. Just remember that finding a good cardio exercise routine that fits your preferences can make you stick more closely to it.

Examples

Some cardio workout routines for indoors include the use of a treadmill, stair climber, and the elliptical machine. For outdoors, you can go biking, swimming, running, and jogging. Just remember to find the workout that you are going to enjoy and can effectively raise your heart rate.

Is Doing Cardio Really Enough For Me to Lose Weight?

Known doctors explained it simply that excessive energy stored in the body leads to weight gain. The amount of food you take in turns into stored energy that acts as a fuel for you to be able to last throughout the day. Activities you do for the day uses the energy you acquired from food. Anything in excess is stored and stored energy turns into fat. This is the cause for weight gain.

One of the known ways to lose weight is doing cardiovascular workouts. Cardiovascular workouts or aerobic exercises increases your heart rate and leads to the consumption of energy that you do not normally use up with the normal activities you do within the day. Cardio workouts include a number of different exercises from simple walking, frog leaps and even the use of a stair climber or a lean steer. The output of energy required to do these exercises easts up any store energy in your body and help promote weight loss.

Cardiovascular workouts not only result to weight loss. Different exercises that you do can also increase your flexibility, builds strengths, improve your stamina and even improve your breathing and metabolism. You can choose basically any cardio workout that would suit you with little time you have in your busy schedule. This can be walking, jogging, running or cycling. Outdoor activities like rowing, hiking and mountain climbing can also give you the workout you require. You will never run out of options as more and more aerobic classes are being introduced like Zumba classes, Combat classes and Pilates.

Cardiovascular workout can also be incorporated with weight training for you to tone your muscles as you lose weight. This prevents unsightly flabs and keeps you tight. There are also high-intensity cardio that you can do if you barely have time to spend long hours at the gym. This leads to faster results but can be very tiring. Make sure you always warm up before working out and cool down after. This would prevent injuries and muscle pain. It is important for you to know the best workout that is well suited for your body. So, create a goal, create a plan and create a timeline.

Effective weight loss can be achieved by simply doing more cardio workouts in the gym or regulating the intake of food. Be aware of your calorie intake and the amount of exercise you do. Be mindful how much time you have to spend in the gym. Overdoing it can lead to loss of energy. So a balanced diet and sufficient amount of exercise is the key. You can consult your gym’s nutritionist for them to check your eating habits and workout routine. Check with your doctor, especially if you have a medical condition. There are a lot of exercises available. You would find one suitable for you. Also remember that getting a healthy diet and pairing it with a good workout routine would work wonders to your body.

Warning For Everyone Who’s Doing Cardio Workouts to Lose Weight!

A lot of fitness professionals, personal trainers, doctors and even some diet specialist are telling that moderate intensity cardio training will help you to lose weight and even prevent heart diseases. If you want to lose weight to get lean and are doing 60 minutes cardio workouts for 3 – 4 days a week or you want to do cardio workouts I recommend you to read this article for the true facts about cardio workouts.

First I want you to understand that our bodies need to perform physical activites in bursts or stop-and-go movements. Also these physical activities need be to performed in bursts of exertion followed by recovery or stop-and-go like basketball, volleyball etc. A recent study has shown that physical variability needs to be the most important part of your training workouts. Studies also tell us that too much steady state endurance exercises like cardio can increase free radicals in your body, reduce the immune system and even cause a pro-inflammatory response in your body which can lean to various chronic diseases.

These steady state exercises train the heart only at one specific heart range instead of training it on more to respond effective to everyday stressors. Also these steady machines don’t let your body to move in a natural line. When you lift weights with machines the machines to the work for you to stabilize the weights instead the core of your body which makes the workout less effective. But the fact that it’s less effective is less important than the fact that you’re more prone to injury in the longer rung because you don’t make use of the important stabilizing muscles in your body.

Most often you don’t have to use your core-musculature for stabilizing which makes the workout less benefit and it puts your spine in an unhealthy position because you sit in a fixed position doing the workout. This does not make all machines bad for your body or health, there are a few machines that are good though. But if you want to lose weight you should be focusing on more free weights and other full-body multi-joint exercises.

Cardio Workouts to Lose Weight

When you suddenly look in the mirror one day and realize you’ve gained a few pounds that you could certainly do without, you have two choices: reduce your caloric intake by eating less calories, or burn more calories by doing exercises like cardio workouts to lose weight. Those two options really put losing weight into terms that seem too simple, for what can seem like a very complicated problem.

There are plenty of people, whether they would admit it or not; who would rather over-complicate things, rather than go for the simple solution. The truth is you can lose weight quite easily by reducing your daily calories down to less than 1,500 – 2,000 calories per day (for most people). You can also do enough metabolism-boosting weight or cardio workouts to lose weight also (how much depends on how much you consume and how much exercise you do).

You can also seek to reach a happy medium, by combining a reasonable diet plan with weight training, circuit training, or other cardio workouts to lose weight at whichever pace feels comfortable to you. By happy medium we mean you can diet a bit less, and workout a bit less – by combining the two together.

Instead of starving yourself, you can eat a little more than someone who is using only diet changes to lose weight, while perhaps having to put in less time at the aerobics studio than someone who is only using exercise to lose weight.

It takes approximately an hour of walking or running to burn 500-600 calories. Circuit training, aerobics classes and other cardio workouts to lose weight can burn 400-500 calories in a 40 minute session.

Combine that 40 minute session, 3 or 4 times a week, along with cutting back an easy 500 calories from your diet per day and you could easily lose 2 solid pounds of fat a week (fat contains 3,500 calories per pound). This is a relatively conservative estimate, as many of us could eliminate 1,000 calories a day with little effort (E.g., chips, cookies, sodas, juices, etc). Not to mention, as you workout more, your metabolism will increase even while you rest.

Now get started, you could have eliminated 200 calories while you read this article.