Exercises for Losing Weight

Having a regular exercise routine is a highly effective way to lose weight. The goal is to keep the excess weight off by engaging in physical activity. This helps to burn off extra calories that would normally be stored in the body as fat. Your body weight is calculated by the amount of calories you consume every day subtracted by the amount your body uses. Simply put, anything you eat has calories and any activity you do burns those calories. These activities include eating, digesting, breathing, and sleeping, in addition to your normal daily activities. Anything and everything you do requires a certain amount of calories. It is very important to balance the amount of calories consumed with the proper amount of physical activity for fast weight loss. In other words, the key to effective and safe weight loss is to balance caloric intake with physical activity or exercise.



There are three basic types of exercises people use for effective weight loss; they are aerobic exercise, anaerobic exercise, and moderate-intensity activities. Let's examine each of them.



Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise is considered to be any type of physical activity involving the larger muscles of the body. This type of exercise is used to specifically strengthen the heart and lungs. Aerobic exercise is also used for weight loss while improving cardiovascular strength. A few examples of aerobic exercise include walking, stepping, biking, jogging, cycling, swimming, aerobic classes, and dancing. Sports and games are also a great way to improve cardiovascular strength as well. Playing basketball, football, volleyball, racquetball, and tennis are effective aerobic sports.



Anaerobic Exercise



Anaerobic exercise is synonymous with resistance training. An example of anaerobic exercise would be "working out" or lifting weights. Anaerobic exercise is primarily done to increase muscle mass. Weight training is an excellent form of anaerobic exercise. It's great exercise to strengthen and tone the body, stay in shape, increase muscle mass and lose weight.



Moderate-Intensity Activities
Moderate-intensity activities include most of the activities you already be do on a daily basis. Some examples include landscaping and housework. Depending on where you work, moderate-intensity activities could be done on your job.These activities can be done in short 5 to 10 minute intervals. Individually, each action does not have a significant impact on your health, but if done consistently by for a total of 30 minutes of activity per day, your body can benefit and you will start to see substantial results.



If you are not use to exercising it's best to start off slow. Begin with less strenuous exercises such as swimming or walking. Start at a slow pace and don't strain your body. Eventually you will get in better shape and then you can gradually exercise at a more strenuous level. The point is not to overwork or hurt yourself, but to slowly strengthen your body and safely build up muscle mass and lose weight.