Which is the Most Effective Exercise For Weight Loss, Aerobics Or Resistance Training?

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I get this question a lot so it makes sense to write an article about it. To answer this question it would take more than an article but we will try to cover the basics in the next few lines.

Next to diet, what you eat, exercise is the most important part of your weight loss plan. Most people will concentrate on either the diet or the fitness workout, but I believe they are equally important for a healthy life, fitness, losing and keeping the weight off. So which is the most effective exercise to lose weight? Well to answer this question lets look at the two basic type of exercise routines so that we are all on the same page.

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The first is resistance training, and this simply is lifting weights, and engaging different muscle group, in order to stress then so they will not only become stronger, more flexible but will grow, and I am not talking about body building type growth. Most people, women in particularly always say they do not want to lift weight because they do not want to look masculine or build bulky muscles. Believe me in order to reach to that level you have to lift a heck of a lot of weight, and eat a heck of a lot of protein. So we are just talking about toning up.

Resistance training is important because it forces your muscles to burn more fat for energy, this increases your metabolism and your body becomes more efficient at burning fat. So this type of exercise is critical for weight loss. Apart from the weight loss component, studies show that weight training strengthens the bones and prevents osteoporosis or weakening of the bone or loss of bone mass. Better muscle tone means less workout injuries, and the health benefits goes on and on.

So what about aerobics workout? This is the second type of work out that I want to talk about. Aerobic exercise is the process of increasing the heart rate through a 15-20 minute sustains exertion thus increasing the oxygen levels in the blood stream and burning fat to fuel the increase energy require to sustain said exertion. If that went over your head then look at it this way, if you jog around the block for 15-22 minutes your heart rate will increase, and your body will require more oxygen for the increase energy required, this will force the body to suck in more air, (hence the deep breathing) more oxygen in the blood stream means more fat can be metabolized and burnt and fat burning is what we want.

Once again aerobics has multiple health benefits, such as lower cholesterol, increased the release of endorphins which gives you a feeling of well being and lowers the risk of depression, helps with insomnia, and have a general health benefit for the whole body.

Having said all of that, which exercises routine, is better? Is it resistance training or aerobics? You guessed my answer, they are both equally important.

They are so powerful in weight loss and keeping you in shape that imagine if you combined then in your workout? For optimal benefits you should do at least 35 min of cardio or aerobic activity per day, and that can take the form of swimming, running, biking, walking, roller blade, tennis, racket ball or a workout DVD. The important thing is to make sure it is sustained for at least 25-35 minute.

for weight training or resistance training your can do some push ups, pull ups, squats, bench press, arm curls or you can do a circuit style training where you work multiple muscle group within a 45 minute time frame. The goal is to put your muscles under pressure and push then to grow, this requires changing up the weights and increasing the intensity over time.

So there you have it, combine both type of workout into your weight loss plan and watch the weight melt away.