All About Fitness!

Exercise and Weight Loss

The key to weight control is keeping energy intake (food) and energy output (physical activity) in balance. When you consume only as many calories as your body needs, your weight will usually remain constant. If you take in more calories than your body needs, you will put on excess fat. If you expend more energy than you take in, you will burn excess fat.

Exercise plays an important role in weight control by increasing energy output, calling on stored calories for extra fuel. Recent studies show that not only does exercise increase metabolism during a workout, but it causes your metabolism to stay increased for a period of time after exercising, allowing you to burn more calories. There are two basic forms of exercise: anaerobic and aerobic.

When Should You Exercise?

Among the factors you should consider in developing your workout schedule are personal preference, job and family responsibilities, availability of exercise facilities, and weather.

It's important to schedule your workouts for a time when there is little chance that you will have to cancel or interrupt them because of other demands on your time.

The two most popular times to workout are the hour just before the evening meal and early morning before the workday begins. The late afternoon workout provides a welcome change of pace at the end of the workday and helps dissolve the day's worries and tensions. Advocates of the early start say it makes them more alert and energetic on the job.

Anaerobic Exercise

Anaerobic activity is short in duration (0 to 2 minutes) and high in intensity. Anaerobic activities include activities such as racquetball, downhill skiing, weight lifting, sprinting, softball, soccer and football. This type of exercise requires immediate energy to be supplied by blood glucose