What's The Best Form Of Exercise For Weight Loss?

When you think of weight loss, you think of exercise, right. It is usually the first step everyone takes to lose weight. Unfortunately, that is where everyone usually gives up because people do not have the right action plan. Exercise is just a catalyst for weight loss. Various factors play in weight loss from diet, stress management, and sleep. Exercise plays a significant role in the equation; some exercise is better than others, which I will discuss in today's article.

Cardio vs. strength training

While both cardio and strength training serves a purpose, they have different benefits that are used together. Cardiovascular exercise is aerobic or endurance exercise where your heart rate is raised and lowered through movement. By exercising your heart, you improve the strength and longevity of your heart. Cardio is excellent for increasing your endurance, reducing body fat, and decreasing inflammation in the blood. Endurance-based exercise has also been shown to help with stress management. Some activities that are great for your cardiovascular system are all of the including;

1. Walking

2. Running, jogging

3. Hiking, rock climbing, stair climbing

4. Swimming

5. Cycling

6. Jump rope

7. Rowing

8. Body weighted HIIT exercises

9. Boxing, Kickboxing, Martial arts

10. Rollerblading, skating

I recommend 20-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise 2-3 times weekly.

Strength training is a different form of exercise more focused on building strength within multiple muscle groups in your body. Strength training is excellent for bone density, and weight loss decreases the chances of chronic illnesses and enhances your overall quality of life. Strength training is your body working against an opposing force. Most of the time, you associate strength training with lifting weights when doing body-weighted exercises is just as beneficial if not more helpful in the long run. Calisthenics uses more muscles than lifting weights meaning your body burns more calories. I recommend having a blend of both to get the most out of each. Some different exercises that can build strength are the following;

1. Bench press, squats, deadlifts, overhead press, power cleans,

2. Pull-ups, dips, muscle ups, chin ups

3. Pushups, burpees, planks, handstands, air squats, squat jumps, lunges

4. Kettlebell swings, kettlebell snatches, front squats,

Doing 2-3 days a week of strength training for 30-45 minutes is recommended.

Low-impact vs. high impact

Every exercise listed above serves its own purpose and falls into different categories depending on your fitness level. What type of categories? When deciding what exercises or form of exercises, you must consider whether you can do high-impact or low-impact exercises. Low impact exercise is movements that do not tax the body too much, such as yoga, swimming, walking, and body weight exercises. Low-impact exercise is excellent for longevity but makes the weight loss journey a little more drawn out than if you were to do higher-impact exercises. High-impact exercises are running, sprints, CrossFit, weight lifting, and hiking. Though these can be a little more taxing on your body, they have excellent benefits for your cardiovascular system and overall muscular structure. Recommend balancing both in your training routine depending on your comfortability. Always consider past injuries and if you have any limitations that prevent you from doing some exercises. Always ask a doctor before introducing any exercises that could cause you harm.

Low intensity vs. high intensity

With high and low-impact exercises come low-intensity and high-intensity workouts. Both serve their purpose, but also both have different benefits. Lower intensity exercises are going to help with overall stamina and strength. Higher intensity exercises will burn more calories in a shorter period due to the energy you have to put out to get through those types of workouts. I recommend using them to your advantage to get the best bang for your buck. An example workout routine that uses both is:

20 minutes on the treadmill:

● Lite jog for 5 minutes

● Fast-paced run for 2 minutes x 5 rounds

● 5-minute cooldown, jog/walk

A workout with high and lower intensity increases your heart rate variability, which means your heart's ability to recover quicker and to get stronger. It also helps increase your metabolic flexibility with how many calories you burn per workout.

Does recovery play a role?

When we exercise, we tear our body down, and the only way it can get stronger is through rest. So recovery or how we recover is more important than the actual exercise. How much recovery is good? I recommend strength training to at least give the muscles you worked 48-72 hours of recovery time. Cardiovascular exercise suggests recovery time from 24-36 hours. You speed up the healing process by recovering daily through different stretches, foam rolling, and other massage therapy remedies. An active recovery day is also beneficial in helping the muscles heal where you go for walks, stretch, and lightly move your body to help mobile the muscles you worked that week.

One study found that active recovery after repeated, intense exercise resulted in faster returns to homeostasis than passive recoveries that used no movement.

Recovery is where you grow, which can be time-consuming, but it is the deal breaker in improving your exercise.

Where does your diet play a role?

What we eat determines how our body transforms. Eating the right foods before and after exercise decide how your body will lose or gain weight. You don't want to go to McDonald's before or after a workout. Your body demands specific nutrients daily, especially after a hard workout. Also, your diet is the most critical aspect of this equation when trying to lose weight. You want to eat a whole food-based diet, eating foods that contain nutrients that will support your body's work. An example meal you could eat before a strength workout is listed below:

2 hours before training:

● 3-4 oz. of protein

● 1-2 servings of vegetables

● One serving of fruit like a banana or apple

Yes, it is simple, but these nutrients are what you need for an energy-filled workout. You do not need many calories to work out; it is mainly about how many nutrients you have in your system. After you work out, you will need to replenish your body with glycogen, which comes from carbohydrates. An example of what a meal can look like after working out is the following:

● 4-5 oz. of protein

● Complex or simple carbohydrates such as rice or sweet potatoes

● 1-2 servings of vegetables

● And another serving of fruit

Your body is a machine; each day, it calls for specific foods and types of foods to function efficiently.

How to create a functional schedule

Creating a schedule for your workout routine can be stressful, but it doesn't have to be. Creating a program takes honest awareness of your time. Look at your schedule and see what kind of time you can give to work out. Also, consider what time you can sacrifice to give your time to the gym. For example, instead of watching TV when you get home, you could spend that time working out or going to bed earlier to get up early to go workout. Being intentional with your time is the proper way to create a consistent exercise routine for yourself. You don't have to spend hours in the gym; it takes 20-30 minutes daily. Start slow with your schedule; start by going and working out just two days a week for 20 minutes each, and as you enjoy it, you will begin to make more time on your schedule.

Where do you get started?

There is no better time than right now. So take some time today to look at your schedule and create goals that excite you to exercise. Some plans that might excite you are running a marathon for charity, getting more robust so you can do more around the house, or even doing it to be an excellent example for your kids. Having a goal that excites keeps exercise from getting boring because there will be days you do not want to work out, but it is about doing it for something much bigger than yourself. You have only one body, so cherish every day you have with it and take care of it the way you take care of everything else. A saying I love goes, "The way you do anything is the way you do everything."