How many times have you heard the phrase “no pain, no gain?” If you’re like many people, you might think that the harder you work out translates to the amount of weight that you lose — but this is not always the case!
The truth is that your body, diet and exercise are all unique — which means that the way that you lose weight (and fat) is unique as well. But, when you put the science behind exercise, you can be sure that you’re optimizing your weight-loss each time you work out. Let’s discover how!
How Do You Burn Calories?
Throughout the day, your body burns fuel that it gets from food. However — there are are three different food sources that your body takes from, and it uses them in different ways:
- Fat
- Carbohydrates
- Protein – Not an efficient fuel source because its main purpose is to build and repair tissue
Fat and carbohydrates are your body’s primary fuel sources, and how you metabolize or burn them depends on what you eat. For instance – if you eat a majority of your calories from fat sources, your body will burn fat. This is likewise for carbohydrates. Fat burning, however, is key to successful weight-loss.
Optimize the Way You Burn Fat
Although genetics play a role in the way you burn fat, there are a lot of ways that you can make up for (or supplement) your genes when you’re trying to lose weight.
- Maintain a Balanced Diet – A balanced diet with the right ratio of fats, carbs and protein will yield optimal fat loss. For instance: Diets higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates will force the body to burn more fat for fuel since it doesn’t like burning protein and there’s not enough energy from carbohydrates.
- Choose Your Exercises Carefully – Typically, you burn more fat from low-moderate intensity exercises whereas higher intensity exercise yields more calories burned from carbohydrates. Both aerobic and anaerobic exercises challenge your body in different ways and change the way you burn fuel.
- Identify Your Heart Rate and Monitor it with Exercise – Knowing your target heart rate can help you recognize the point at which your body is most effective at burning fat. Essentially, it is the level of intensity, measured in beats-per-minute, at which your body can burn the highest number of fat calories per minute.
When you’re working out, what are you burning more of — fat, or time? Putting the science behind your exercise can help you be specific about your workout plan and burn the right kind of fuel. Work out smarter, not harder!
Want to Learn More about Putting the Science behind Exercise?
You can view the full article from Your Weight Matters Magazine by CLICKING HERE.
