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the number of people lifting free weights has increased 76
percent in the past decade. Right now, weight lifting is among the
most popular sports in
North America.
This change is for the best because cardiovascular activity combined
with weight training will result in much more effective fat loss.
Cardiovascular exercises will raise muscle metabolism during the
activity and for a short time after the exercise session. Weight
lifting exercises,
on the other hand, will raise your muscle
metabolism during the exercise session, and for a long time after the
exercise session. Some high intensity trainers have even seen their
metabolism rise for several days following their training session.
Performing adequate weight training exercises should limit your
repetitions anywhere from 1 to 20 (more or less). Such resistance on
muscles will make their tissue leaner and stronger. The muscle
development will take place during the rest period following the
resistance training. Therefore sufficient rest periods are essential.
Whether your goal is to tone or build
muscles,
it is important to know what happens during the muscle training
process. When lifting weights, muscle tissues are torn apart (at the
microscopic level) from the stress, and it's in the recuperation
period that your muscles become stronger and therefore able to support
the extra stress. Usually the recuperation period required is 24 to 48
hours after the weight lifting activity.
During the recuperation period, the muscle metabolism is still
burning energy, and that's when it's time to perform cardiovascular
activities. Carrying out high repetitions of the same movement will
tire the body on a different basis. Combining low repetition exercises
(weight lifting) with high repetition cardiovascular exercise will
stress muscles in a complementary way to increase the total fat
burning effect.
Anybody who debates the fact that weight bearing exercises
don't help people lose weight and fat should lift weights for one hour
and see their heart rate go through the roof. Simply look at athletes
who specialize in short, intense bursts of energy and you still see
that they are very low in body fat.
The point is to combine a weight lifting routine with a
good cardiovascular workout to increase muscle metabolism and total
fat burning ratio.
An important factor to consider when
trying to lose weight is that lots of muscle mass can be lost as a
result. As muscle mass will keep your metabolism high, try to avoid
quick weight loss through miracle diets or starvation. This weight
loss will be regained just as quickly. Instead, opt for a gradual fat
loss routine by combining weight training and cardiovascular
activities,
and allow muscle mass to build up and
increase your metabolism. Results may take a little longer , but they
will last for a longer period of time. |
