Weight Training Tips and Articles

Use An Elliptical Machine To Do Cardio

  Everybody knows that cardiovascular workouts are great for fat loss. Every time you walk, run, or jog for a sustained amount of time you’ll burn calories and boost your metabolic rate. However, some people have chronic joint pain in the knees or ankles and running or jogging can make it worse. Even if you don’t have any knee or ankle pain one misstep when you’re jogging or running may cause a muscle strain or pull. Running is a great form of cardio exercise, but if you have any joint pain or want to avoid it at all costs you should try working out on an elliptical machine.

  Doing cardio workouts on an elliptical machine will allow you to get all of the movement you get from running without your joints taking a pounding. When exercising on an elliptical machine you simply put your feet on the small platforms and move them back and forth as if you were running. Many elliptical machines have hand holds that allow you to move your arms back and forth so you’ll be exercising the entire body. You can also reverse your movement - going in a backward motion instead of forward. Another great thing about working out on an elliptical machine is that you can easily read a book or magazine to pass the time no matter how fast you’re exercising. Try running fast on a treadmill and see if you can read - it’s kind of hard to do.

  Whe you start doing cardiovascular training on an elliptical machine try to get 25-30 minutes every other day. Eventually you’ll want to work up to 45 minute workouts 5 or 6 days a week. You’ll get all the fat loss results of other forms of cardio exercise without having to worry as much about injuries.

The Best Times To Do Cardio For Fat Loss

  Everybody knows that cardiovascular training is very important for fat loss. The only problem is that your body will burn stored carbohydrates (glycogen) before it starts burning body fat when you do a cardio workout. Because of this you usually won’t be burning fat calories until 15 to 20 minutes into your cardio routine unless you do it at the right times.

  Since you burn glycogen when you sleep to maintain the bodies functions doing cardiovascular exercise first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is the best time to do it. When you do your cardio at this time you’ll be burning more calories from your fat stores. Another good time to do a cardio workout is after you weight train. Weight training will exhaust your glycogen stores so you’ll be ready to burn fat when you get to the treadmill or elliptical machine.

  To get optimal body fat loss from cardiovascular training try doing it at either of these times during your day. Whatever the case, try not to do it if you’ve eaten a meal within a few hours before.

Weight Train To Boost Your Metabolism

  While  people usually try to burn body fat by dieting and doing cardiovascular exercise, many don’t realize that weight training can also help them get rid of it. Adding muscle size through weight training will actually raise your metabolism - the rate at which the body burns fat.

  Since weight training is an anaerobic way of exercising, your metabolic rate may not get a huge boost while you are doing it. But, when you gain muscle mass that extra muscle will give you a higher resting metabolism. Muscle needs energy to sustain itself, so with more muscle size your body actually will burn more calories even when you aren’t exercising.

  Doing some weight training every other day is a great way to start gaining some muscle size. You don’t have to train for 3 hours a day to see results. In fact, if you weight train too much you may end up overtraining, which may actually cause you to lose muscle if you keep doing it. Losing muscle will have the opposite effect on your metabolism than gaining it - your resting metabolic rate will slow down, making it harder to lose body fat. Keep your weight training workouts at about an hour per session and split up your routine (training certain muscle groups at one workout and other muscle at the next workout). splitting your weight training routine will allow you to train each muscle with a lot of intensity and get plenty of recovery between workouts. Eventually, you may want to weight train 4 or 5 days per week and split your routine 3 ways.

  To further enhance your chances of losing body fat you can do your cardio training after your weight training workouts. Weight training depletes your muscles of glycogen, or stored carbohydrates. If your do cardiovascular exercise after you weight train you’ll be burning more fat than carbs from the beginning of your cardio workout.

  Whether you’re a man or a woman weight training will enhance the shape of your body so you’ll look better as you get rid of body fat. If you’ve been dieting and doing cardio to lose body fat and have hit a plateau you should try weight training. You’ll be glad you did.