No Fail Fitness

The main value of exercise is not to burn calories, but to maintain muscle mass (protect the muscle from being burned) and to build muscle mass. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. The more muscle you have, the higher your capacity for burning off fat and the faster your weight loss. This because fat is the major source of fuel burned by muscle during sustained aerobic exercise. Also, the more muscle you have, the greater your protection against weight gain. Another reason to exercise is to expand your energy needs so you pull more fat from your fat stores. Here’s how it works: • Eat a low-fat (I said LOW not Non-Fat) diet and add less fat to the fat stores • Eat a diet high in fiber. High fiber carbs fill you up so you eat less. Also, think…take it in, get it out! • Exercising increases your energy needs and increases the amount of fat you withdraw from your fat stores So, now you understand that you NEED to exercise…but…what do you do to get the most results for your efforts?

Aerobic means “with oxygen”. Aerobic exercise is any physical activity done for an extended period of time that forces your cardiovascular system (heart, lunges and blood vessels) to increase the amount of oxygen and blood circulating through your body so you’re benefiting even when you are at rest. By increasing your cardiovascular fitness level, you are increasing the rate in which your body burns calories. How often do I need to do it? 30 min/day x 3times weekly is good place to start but for weight loss you could require more depending on metabolism. The first 20 minutes your body burns mostly carbohydrate. After that, the body burns mostly fat. So the longer you exercise aerobically over 20 minutes, the more you will burn.