Lexington, KY - How hard should I workout to burn the most calories and get fit? Convincing you that a particular product or workout is the best answer for the above question is big business; unfortunately, many of the products and programs marketed to the consumer have no basis in science to substantiate their claims.
Current marketing has pushed very high intensity training as the best way to get fit and lose weight. Just cruise the web or flip through your TV channels and you will see lots of promotion for high intensity workouts, gyms, even individual trainers, all selling high intensity training as the way to go. High intensity, moderate and even low intensity workouts have their place, but you need some knowledge of the body and how it works to know what choice is best for you.
To help you gain the knowledge to find your way through the sea of misinformation out there, here are some insights on the body and how it works -
with these tools you can decide what is the best workout for you to accomplish your goals.
First, it is important to realize that working out to lose weight, or maximize the number of calories burned, and working out to maximize your fitness level are two different things. You need to identify what goal you are chasing before a proper workout plan can be developed.
The biggest difference between these two goals is the intensity at which you have to workout. Working out to burn calories and lose weight does not require high intensity work. That doesn't mean you can't lose weight with high intensity work -
it is just not necessary.
On the other hand, improving your current level of fitness can only be accomplished if you workout harder than you do now. Your body will only become more fit if it thinks it needs to be. If you run faster or lift more weight to a point that your body really has to struggle to accomplish the task, and you do this on a regular basis for several weeks, your body will adjust to be able to handle what you are doing. This adjustment is called a "training effect," and is only elicited when you overload your body. We know for certain that you can improve your fitness level, in any area, by pushing your body to do more than it can comfortably does currently.
Low or moderate intensity workouts will increase your fitness level, some, but your body's "overload" is reached quickly if the intensity or pace of your workout remains the same. This is not bad; there are distinct advantages to working out at the same moderate pace.
Most people who work out at all have a combination of both weight loss and increased fitness as a goal, so what kind of workout is best for them? A combination, of course.
Again, both high intensity and low-to-moderate intensity workouts are good, but for different purposes. If you want to increase, or maintain, a high level of fitness, then I suggest you incorporate some high intensity bursts of exercise into your routine. Generally, weight training is considered high intensity/anaerobic training. A set of 10-20 reps can really get you out of breath and push your body to that "overload" condition that results in increased levels of fitness.
Bottom line: You need both aerobic (long, moderate) and anaerobic (short, high intensity) routines to have a well rounded fitness program. Make sure you get both sides of this workout equation in your plan.