Maximize Your Weight Loss At The Gym Today
Many people want to get fit and lose some weight. Joining a gym and starting a good exercise program is a good first step but when you get to the gym you will notice that not everybody there is getting results. Going to the gym in not the answer but what you are doing once you get there is what will make the difference for you.
If you are going to see any results from an exercise program you are going to have to work hard and break a sweat. That means getting your heart rate up into the target zones and keeping it there. There is some evidence that if you keep your heart rate at the lower end of the zone for a longer period of time that your body will actually burn more fat than carbohydrates, however, that does not necessarily translate to weight loss.
Whether you are actually burning fat or carbohydrates as your main energy source during an exercise program is not nearly as important as how many calories you burn altogether. For example if you may burn 350 calories during an easier but longer workout and those calories may come from fat, but if you add in some challenging intervals of high intensity you may burn as many as 750 to 1000 calories in that same workout and even though you will be burning a combination of carbohydrates and fat you will still lose more weight.
High intensity interval training is extremely effective for fat loss. The idea is to get your heart rate into the target heart training zone and then for 30 to 60 second intervals work really hard and raise your heart rate to the higher ends of the zone and then let it come back down to the lower ends and repeat a few times. If you do high intensity interval training you can even cut your workout time by half or more and still burn more calories and have more success.
To get a rough idea of your maximum heart rate, take your age and subtract it from 220. Then take that number and multiply it by 60% and 80%. This would give you a target heart-training zone. This is the zone that you need to keep your heart rate at during your cardio training in order to see the best results.
If you want to drop fat and lose weight for the long-term you will need to pump some iron. Building more muscle is key to long-term weight loss success. Muscle tissue is biologically active and you will burn more calories in daily life just by having more muscle tissue. Fat is basically an inert substance and it does not boost your calorie burn whatsoever.
But the most important aspect to getting results at the gym and losing fat actually happens outside of the gym. It has been said that 6-pack abs are not built at the gym but rather they are built in the kitchen. Diet is the most important aspect of any fitness plan. You can exercise all day long but if you have a poor diet you will not see any results. If you want to get into shape, make sure that you are consuming healthy nutritious foods on a regular basis and that you are avoiding the junk and nutritionally empty foods that are so prevalent in our society.
You can achieve maximum fat loss by following these few fundamentals. Incorporate some challenging HIIT into your cardio routine, follow a good weight-training regimen and improve your diet. You will start seeing the results before you know it.