Most people know that exercise is an important part of any
weight loss program, but there is considerable confusion
over what type of exercise and how much is needed to
produce maximum results. Even experts cannot agree as to
what the "right" exercise is to produce weight loss, and in
part this confusion lies in the fact that many experts rely
on only a partial analysis of the available research on
exercise physiology, and there is often a tendency to make
"one-size-fits-all" recommendations, when the reality is
that different people will actually get different results
from different approaches.
Let's begin with what the current research on exercise
physiology tells us. It is well-established that it takes
approximately 30 minutes of any kind of exercise for the
body to burn off its glycogen (stored sugar) reserves and
begin burning fat. So, most experts recommend at least 30
minutes of exercise, and generally 60 minutes or more may
be recommended to get a good amount of fat burning. Now, if
you are going to be exercising for 30 to 60 minutes, or
maybe more, what type of exercise would you be able to do
for that length of time? It probably would have to be low
to medium intensity. In other words, you're probably not
going to be able to run full speed or do any other type of
high-intensity exercise for 30 to 60 minutes without a
rest, unless you happen to be an elite athlete, and even
then you'd be struggling. So, by default, the common
recommendation for exercise to lose weight has been 30 to
60 minutes of low to medium intensity aerobic exercise.
Aerobic means "with oxygen", so you might think of aerobic
exercise as anything you can do without getting seriously
out of breath.
In recent years, some experts have changed their
recommendations to using a more intense anaerobic ("without
oxygen") exercise program for weight loss. This would
include things like intense weight lifting, and something
called "interval training". Interval training involves
brief bursts of high intensity activity with periods of
rest or low intensity activity in between. For example, you
might run full out for 30 seconds or a minute and then walk
for a minute or two until you catch your breath and then
run again full out for 30 seconds to a minute, walk again,
etc.. Since this type of exercise is much more physically
demanding, it is done over a much shorter overall workout
period - perhaps 20 to 40 minutes (with half or more of
that time being rest or low intensity activity), as
compared to the 30 to 60 minutes of continuous activity as
recommended for aerobic exercise. But how do the two types
of exercise stack up when it comes to fat burning?
The aerobic exercise promoters point to the research that
was mentioned earlier that has shown that any exercise, no
matter how intense requires at least 30 minutes to use up
the body's stored glycogen (the body will normally burn
glycogen before it will burn fat) before fat burning can
begin. So, they say, short periods of even highly intense
exercise won't burn much fat and is therefore not a good
choice for promoting weight loss. But they are only seeing
part of the story.
It is true that you must exercise for at least 30 minutes
to begin to achieve fat burning - but that's at the time
you are exercising. Brief bursts of intense anaerobic
exercise does something that even quite a lot of low to
medium intensity aerobic exercise does not. Intense
anaerobic exercise stimulates the production of growth
hormone, which is a strong stimulator of fat burning. The
thing is, the release of growth hormone triggered by
intense anaerobic exercise comes 24 to 48 hours AFTER the
exercise, and then it produces considerably more fat
burning than is possible with all but extremely long
periods of low to medium intensity aerobic exercise.
Because of this effect, most people will lose weight much
more easily by doing shorter periods of more intense
exercise. 20 to 40 minutes of heavy weightlifting, interval
training (which could be done on foot, on a bicycle,
swimming, kickboxing, etc.) , wind sprints, soccer,
basketball, or any other activity with quick bursts of high
intensity with periods of rest or low intensity activity in
between is typically much more effective in the long run
for weight loss than even hours of aerobic activity.
Now, you'll notice that I said "most people". There is an
exception to the rule. People under considerable stress,
either emotional or physical, or both, in their daily lives
are prone to overworked adrenal glands. The adrenal glands
do a lot of things in the body, but with regards to weight
loss, they produce two hormones. One hormone is cortisol,
which promotes fat deposition in the lower abdomen. This is
typically a saggy, pendulous fat held below the waistline.
The other hormone the adrenals produce is adrenaline (also
called epinephrine), which actually promotes fat burning.
Since the adrenals produce cortisol which causes fat
deposition and adrenaline which promotes fat burning, you
might assume that these two hormones cancel each other out.
The thing is, cortisol can be produced by the adrenals for
a much longer time than adrenaline, which is produced for
brief periods, so in the long run, the cortisol effects
(fat storage in the lower abdomen) win out when you are
under chronic stress.
The adrenals are influenced by physical stress as well as
mental stress, so for someone who is under a lot of stress
in general in his or her life, high-intensity exercise will
only add to the total stress and will tend to make the
adrenals produce a lot of cortisol, and therefore will tend
to promote lower abdomen weight gain. That's right - the
wrong kind of exercise in this situation can cause weight
gain! This can result in the frustrating situation in
which one exercises more and more and harder and harder to
try to get rid of that lower abdomen stomach "pooch", but
never can seem to get rid of it. Because the intense
exercise is stimulating more cortisol production, that
person is fighting a losing battle. Because of this effect,
it is recommended that people under a lot of stress and/or
who have most of their weight held in the lower abdomen
stick to relatively low intensity aerobic exercise. This
type of exercise tends to help with stress control and
lowers cortisol levels, allowing the lower belly fat to
gradually be burned off.
Hopefully you now have a better understanding of how to use
exercise to maximum benefit for weight loss.
About the Author:
Dr. George Best is a holistic healthcare provider in San
Antonio, Texas. He provides information on natural weight
loss through his website:
http://www.TrainYourBrain4WeightLoss.com and is a
consultant to http://www.MyFoodWithThought.com . For
additional information on exercise, Dr. Best recommends you
visit http://docbest.turbulence.hop.clickbank.net/ . He can
be reached at DrBest@trainyourbrain4weightloss.com.
