Aerobic Exercise for Weight Loss
Updated on July 28, 2007
When we talk about weight loss, we're really talking about losing fat. Aerobic exercise causes us to burn fat.
Low-Intensity Workouts
Low-intensity workouts can be sustained longer than high intensity workouts. This means that you can burn more fat by exercising for a longer period of time. Low-intensity workouts are a good way for beginners to start exercising. You can aim for a short workout and lengthen the time as you progress. Eventually you may find yourself going long enough to walk a marathon. This is awesome for endurance, but it does get time consuming.
High-Intensity Workouts
During a high-intensity workout, you burn the same number of fat calories as you would in a low-intensity workout of the same length of time, but you also burn up carbohydrates (which could be converted to fat if not used), and after your workout you keep burning fat while you recover. Plus, your cardiovascular system gets even more efficient, and the increased intensity will require some extra strength, so you'll build some extra muscle (which burns fat even when you're resting).
Combination High-Low Intensity Workouts
A 150 lb. person would burn 136 calories during a 15 minute jog. That same person would need to walk for almost 30 minutes to burn that much. True, this person wouldn't be burning as much fat during the 15 minute jog as during the 30 minute walk, but he would continue burning fat after the workout, and there are ways to boost fat burning.
Instead of replacing a longer low-intensity workout with a shorter high-intensity workout, you can get the best of both worlds. Start with your low-intensity 30 minute workout. Now add some high-intensity intervals to it. Warm up for 5-10 minutes, then add 1-5 minutes jogging followed by 1-5 minutes walking, then another 1-5 minutes jogging, and so forth. You get the 30 minutes of fat burning, plus you get to burn extra calories during the workout, and you get to burn more fat during the recovery period after the workout, and it didn't take you any extra time.
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