Fitness & Diet Articles
Strength Training For Weight Loss Success
Why Diets Don't Work
If you go "on a diet", what does that mean?
That you will eventually go "off the diet".
If you haven't changed your eating and physical activity
behaviors, what's going to happen? Rationally, you
know the answer, but emotionally, you engage in wishful
thinking, hoping that this time you will lose the
weight and keep it off. What weight are we talking
about? When people tell me they lost 12 pounds in
two weeks, I ask "12 pounds of what?" On
low-calorie diets, about 25 percent of the weight
loss may be muscle (Ballor & Polehlman 1994).
Losing muscle is a bad thing. Muscle tissue is very
active--it burns a lot of calories. Every pound of
muscle burns about 35 calories per day, just staying
alive. Using the above example, if you lost 12 pounds,
then, you lost three pounds of muscle. You would be
burning 105 less calories per day or 3150 per month.
Since there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, you
would gain almost one pound of fat per month just
from the muscle mass that you lost!
Why the Middle-Aged Spread Keeps Spreading
Inactive adults lose around one-half pound of muscle
per year, or five pounds per decade. Since most people
continue to eat as much as usual, what's going to
happen? If you take in more calories then you burn,
the extra calories get stored as fat. Fat is less
dense then muscle---a pound of fat takes up more room
than a pound of muscle. This means that as you lose
muscle and gain fat, your weight might remain the
same over the years, but your waistline will continue
to expand!
Rev Up Your Metabolism--The Key to Permanent Weight
Loss
How can we lose and keep off extra fat? You need
to increase your resting metabolic rate (RMR), which
is the pace your body burns calories at rest. Your
RMR is closely linked to the amount of muscle you
have--remember, muscle burns more calories than fat.
Adding muscle will raise your RMR and will greatly
increase the chance that the weight loss (more accurately
fat loss) will be maintained.
Strength Training Versus Aerobic Exercise
Contrary to what many people think, strength training
is as important, maybe more important to successful
fat loss than aerobic exercise. The reason lies in
the amount of calories that are burned when you aren't
exercising. Depending on the intensity and your weight,
an aerobic workout (walking, cycling, stair stepping)
will burn approximately 300 calories per hour. If
the exercise is strenuous enough (which is unlikely
in the beginning exerciser) the RMR will be elevated
temporarily up to a few hours afterwards. Compare
this to strength training which elevates the RMR permanently.
The RMR accounts for 60 to 75 percent of your daily
calorie expenditure, so even a modest increase will
help burn off more fat.
One study (Campbell 1994) found that a three-month
basic strength-training program resulted in the subjects
gaining three pound of muscle and losing four pounds
of fat, while eating 370 more calories per day (a
15 percent calorie increase). Remember, aerobic exercise
generally doesn't increase muscle tissue. In fact,
excessive amount of aerobic exercise combined with
a low-calorie diet can cause the loss of some muscle
tissue. This is not to say that overweight individuals
shouldn't do aerobic exercise--it offers many health
benefits and is a part of a weight loss program. It's
just that aerobic exercise by itself may not be the
best solution for permanent weight (fat) loss.
Don't think that you need to workout in a gym for
two hours to strength train. Significant gains can
be made with a consistent 30-minute workout performed
2 -3 times per week. This could be your key to successful
weight control!
5 Main Components of Physical Fitness
Overall physical fitness can be maintained only if
an individual exercises regularly and leads a healthy
lifestyle. This article reveals the 5 main components
of physical fitness.
Lack of activity destroys the good condition of every
human being, while movement and methodical physical
exercise save it and preserve it." - Plato (Greek
philosopher)
Before we dwell into the five main components of
physical fitness, you should understand the meaning
of physical fitness. The United States Department
of Health and Human Services has defined physical
fitness as "a set of attributes that people have
or achieve that relate to the ability to perform physical
activity". In layman’s language, an individual
is physically fit if he is able to lift a heavy weight
or run a long distance. However, if you really want
to measure the overall fitness of a person you have
to take into consideration the five components of
physical fitness.
5 Main Components of Physical Fitness
The five main components of physical fitness include
"Cardio respiratory endurance, muscular strength,
muscular endurance, flexibility and body composition".
Cardio-Respiratory Endurance
Cardio-respiratory endurance is one of the five components
of physical fitness. You can define cardio-respiratory
endurance as the ability of the heart to pump blood
rich oxygen for the functioning of your muscles. The
ability to remain fit without feeling tired or fatigue
during physical exercise measures the physical fitness
of a person. Swimming, cycling, walking, jogging and
aerobics are the classical examples of exercises and
sports related to cardio-respiratory endurance. Try
the above-mentioned exercises and sports to improve
the fitness level of your cardio-respiratory endurance.
Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance is sometimes confused with muscular
strength. The ability of the muscle to perform an
action without feeling fatigue is known as muscular
endurance. It is related to muscular strength and
cardio-respiratory endurance. To increase the fitness
level of muscular endurance, try exercises such as
jogging, bicycling and dancing.
Muscular Strength
Muscular strength is one of the five components of
physical fitness. The muscular strength is measured
by maximum amount of strength a muscle has while lifting
or during an exertion. In short, muscular strength
is the ability of the muscle to exert strength during
a workout or an activity. The physical fitness of
muscle strength could be improved through exercise
such as lifting weights.
Physical Flexibility
One of the major components of physical fitness is
physical flexibility. The fitness level is measured
by the flexibility of your joints. If you have good
flexibility in the joints, injuries related to joints
could be prevented. The exercises such as stretching
and swimming would help to improve the physical flexibility.
Body Composition
To know your fitness level you need to understand
your body composition. The reason is body composition
directly relates to the overall fitness level. The
fat, muscle, bones and other vital organs of the body
are known as the body composition. The overall physical
level of an individual depends on his body composition.
The physical fitness of a person depends not only
on the above-mentioned components but is a result
of his lifestyle, nutrition, and basic habits.
Increase your metabolism...pump it up!
Cardiovascular activity has many health benefits
and is an essential component in a healthy balance
in managing your shape. It is also often the first
activity that people default to when starting a new
fitness routine.
Cardiovascular activity has many health benefits
and is an essential component in a healthy balance
in managing your shape. It is also often the first
activity that people default to when starting a new
fitness routine.
Cardiovascular activity helps to boost your metabolism,
but primarily only during your workout. Resistance
training may burn fewer calories during the workout
but it helps you to increase your metabolism twenty-four
hours a day!
Your resting metabolism rate (RMR) is the rate at
which you burn energy or calories at rest. Your RMR
is the main factor in your overall energy expenditure
for the day, accounting for approximately 65-75% (1)
of your total metabolic rate. The remaining amount
results from activity, digestion and other metabolic
functions.
Your resting metabolism changes throughout your life.
It actually drops by about 25% between the ages of
six and eighteen (2)! Why so dramatic? You may have
heard that muscle burns calories faster than fat.
True - muscle is what we call "metabolically
active". Other metabolically active tissues include
the heart, liver, lungs, brain and kidneys. These
tissues are in a higher proportion in children than
in adults, so as we grow the proportion changes and
resting metabolism goes down. Although it doesn't
sound fair, there's not much we can do about this
drop!
After the age of eighteen, your resting metabolism
can drop between 2-3% per decade (3). Notice the word
"can". This drop in our metabolism doesn't
necessarily have to happen but typically results from
a loss in muscle mass, so you definitely want to keep
what you have! One pound of muscle requires between
35-50 calories a day to function (4). This compared
to one pound of fat, which takes fewer than 3 calories
per day to function! If you don't lose it, you really
will lose it - your muscle and metabolism that is.
An interesting fact to note is that inactive women
lose muscle mass twice as fast inactive men (5). You
can lose one-quarter to one-half pound of muscle per
year and if you are inactive you can lose five to
ten pounds of muscle between the ages of forty and
fifty-five (6)!
The good news is that you can stop the madness and
make a change for the positive at any age and stage
in your life.
Adding just five pounds of muscle can result a 10%
increase in your resting metabolic rate (7). Translation...it
becomes much easier to manage your shape without having
to give up the occasional indulgences you enjoy!
Whether your goal is to maintain or build muscle
mass, a great guideline for intensity to keep all
of your exercises or activity comfortable but challenging.
That's a common measure used in research and it will
always grow with you.
The bottom line is that muscle conditioning isn't
just for bodybuilders, it's an essential fitness component
for any age for better health and long-term results.
Why is it Important to be Healthy?
Have you ever thought of why is it important to be
healthy? Have you realized the importance of your
physical and mental health? Read on and find out.
Health, by definition, is a state of physical, mental
and social well being. It implies the absence of infirmity
or disease, but their mere absence does not define
health. Earning and maintaining health is an active
process. Good health is a result of proper nutrition,
regular exercise, health care and hygiene. One of
the most important factors determining the mental
health of an individual is his/her happiness quotient.
Hence, effective stress management forms a vital factor
in remaining healthy.
Why is it Important to be Healthy?
Human beings are the most important assets of a nation.
It is people who drive the world, it is we who make
the world go round. The absence of health can make
the world come to a standstill. Do I seem to be exaggerating?
I am not. The absence of health can actually mean
passivity, unhappiness and gloom. Would anyone like
to live in a somber atmosphere? Would we be able to
thrive in an unhealthy atmosphere? The true definition
of health brings out the real essence of a healthy
life. The concept of being healthy is a composition
of different facets of life. It includes physical
well-being, which can be brought about by a healthy
diet and exercise; it constitutes the maintenance
of health through proper precaution and cures for
physical ailments. The conveniently ignored facet
of being healthy is the mental well-being. One's happiness
and positivism are highly influential in the maintenance
of one's health.
To progress in life, one needs to receive some sort
of formal or practical education and then earn one's
living. To meet one's basic needs in life and survive;
one needs to be healthy. Different streams of education
involve different amounts of physical and mental activity.
Physical and mental activity is an integral part of
every profession or field of work. To perform these
activities effectively, one needs to be healthy. At
almost every walk of life, one needs to socialize.
During one's years of education, one is required to
socialize with one's classmates. Similarly, human
interaction accompanies every form of work. Most of
the professions need collective efforts of teams.
For each individual of a group to be able to give
his/her best, it is important for the individual to
be healthy.
As a part of society, every human being has a set
of duties to perform. Each individual has certain
family responsibilities as also some responsibilities
towards the society. For an individual to be able
to shoulder these responsibilities, it is important
for him/her to be healthy. To make progress in a society,
to work towards the betterment of society, to contribute
to an overall social welfare and thus be a valuable
asset of society, it is extremely important to be
healthy.
As one grows from a child to an adult, one's set
of rights and responsibilities expands. In order to
perform one's duties and implement one’s rights
effectively, it is absolutely important to be healthy.
To raise a family, to bring up your children, to take
care of the aged in your family, you need to be healthy.
Health and happiness go hand in hand. To live life
to the fullest and enjoy every bit of it, it is extremely
important for us to be healthy!
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