Weight Training Tips and Articles

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.

Cardiovascular Training For Fat Loss

  If you follow a weight training routine you likely want to build some muscle to look in shape. However, to get into optimal shape you can’t neglect cardiovascular training to lose body fat. If you add muscle size you surely don’t want an extra layer of fat covering up all of your hard work.

  Cardio exercise can be performed many different ways. The most popular forms of cardiovascular exercises are running, biking, and jogging. All three are great for getting rid of that extra body fat. The only problem with running or jogging is the beating your joints may take. If you have knee or lower back pain you may want to avoid doing them too much. However, if don’t have any joint problems, running or jogging will help you burn body fat quickly. Bicycling is great cardio exercise, though you won’t be moving your upper body much while doing it.

  Doing cardio workouts on an elliptical machine is a great alternative to the usual cardio exercises. You can work out on an elliptical machine and not have to worry about your joints taking a beating. Most elliptical machines also have arm handles allowing you to move your upper body as well as your lower body.

  Boxing style workouts with a heavy bag, speed bag, and jump rope are another great form of cardiovascular exercise. Do some 3 minute “rounds” with each training apparatus to get a great aerobic workout. Boxing workouts are great upper body cardio workouts, though you’ll want to be careful not to overstress your shoulders and elbow joints. If you are bored with normal cardiovascular workouts, give boxing workouts a try.

  If you’re new to aerobic exercise you should try to do 3 or 4 30 minute workouts at first. Eventually, you should try to do 45 minute cardio workouts 5 times a week, switching what kind of exercise you do regularly to avoid hitting a plateau. For the best results you should do your cardio first thing in the morning or after weight training when your muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrates) is depleted. If you do this you’ll be burning fat instead of carbs when you’re exercising.

  If you are weight training and doing cardio training to help lose body fat you must be careful to avoid overtraining. Doing to much may actually cause you to lose muscle and slow down your metabolism. Experiment with how much aerobic exercise you’re doing and if it affects your weight training to find out what works best for you.