Cardio or strength, a lot or a little, dangerous or not, but will I become like that jock in the gym? Such questions arise in your head when you want to lose weight and do not know where to start. I want to be slim and fit, not to break loose, but not to overdo it with training. We share five universal weight loss rules for women and men that will help you correctly calculate the load and keep yourself in shape.
Combine Exercises
The question that needs to be answered first of all is what types of training should be included in the weight loss program, cardio or strength?
Cardio training is an aerobic workout that works the lungs and heart intensely, and the heart rate rises above 120 beats per minute. During it, fats are the main source of energy, they are oxidized by oxygen. Alas, these are not the fats that we first think about when we want to lose weight. Initially, intramuscular fats are consumed, and only the next stage is subcutaneous and visceral. Accordingly, to obtain the result, you need to systematically do cardio of medium intensity lasting 40-60 minutes.
Strength training is anaerobic, during which energy is produced without the participation of oxygen, which means that the body does not consume fat. It would seem that you can end there and opt for cardio. But no. Thanks to strength exercises, the volume of muscle mass and, as a result, the basal metabolism increases. Calories are spent more efficiently, and the body no longer needs to "store" them for future use in the form of body fat.
For weight loss, strength and cardio exercises should be alternated: for example, within one week or one session (combined training).
More base
From newcomers to a sports club, you can hear the phrase "I want to lose weight in my stomach" or "I just need to remove fat from my thighs. "Alas, the fat burning process does not work that way. By systematically pumping the press, you, of course, will form a beautiful relief, but it will be securely hidden under a layer of adipose tissue.
Any isolated exercise aimed at training one muscle or muscle group does not require a large amount of energy. And for effective fat burning, you need to spend more, and basic exercises will help with this.
Basic exercises are called exercises in which several muscle groups and more than one joint are involved at once: squats, deadlifts, lunges, gluteal bridge and others.
Let's look at an example. Let's imagine an average woman who weighs 65 kg, is afraid of heavy weights and loves to work out on simulators. To "lose weight in the hips", she most often does leg extensions in the simulator, 15 repetitions with a weight of 15 kg. At the same time, it consumes only 32 kcal of energy. However, taking a barbell weighing 40 kg and doing 10 squats, she will already spend 45 kcal.
In general, if we compare the calorie expenditure of a workout that includes only isolation exercises and a workout that consists only of compound exercises, the latter uses 50-70% more energy, and therefore it is more effective.
Calculate the intensity of your workout
The intensity of strength training can be simply calculated as the number of repetitions of an exercise per unit of time.
For example, you train for 60 minutes, during which you do 7 different exercises in 2 sets of 12 reps. The total number of repetitions is 168 per hour, this will be the intensity value. If in the same time you do 8 exercises in 2 sets, but 15 repetitions each, the indicator will rise to 240. Accordingly, the second workout will be more intense.
Fat is most effectively burned on long workouts of medium intensity, which can be varied by changing the number of repetitions and the rest time between sets.
The intensity of cardio training is determined by the pulse. The maximum number of beats per minute is calculated as "220 minus age. "So, for a thirty-year-old, the maximum heart rate during aerobic exercise will be 190 beats per minute, and for effective fat burning, 60-85% of this figure is enough, that is, 114-161.
Number of workouts
If for mass gain it is important that the muscles have time to recover after training, then in the case of weight loss this is not necessary. Accordingly, the number of workouts can be increased.
The degree of fat oxidation can be increased in just a month of regular exercise three times a week. If you train less, then classes will have a minimal effect. It is optimal to do fitness 4-5 times a week.
At the same time, it is important to observe the general regime, because fitness is not only about exercises, but also about a healthy lifestyle:
- sleep for at least 8 hours, otherwise tolerance to stress decreases and motivation is lost;
- observe a strict drinking regime in order to make up for the lack of water and maintain water-salt metabolism;
- maintain a small calorie deficit (more on that below).
Pay attention to food
Diet is an important factor in losing weight. A large amount of carbohydrates in the body inhibits fat oxidation. For example, if you eat sweets just before exercise, fat burning suppression can reach 35%.
The basic principles of nutrition for weight loss:
- Eat 20% fewer calories than you expend. Yes, you need to count calories, and it is most convenient to do this in meal planner apps. Popular products are listed there (some even have specific brands and manufacturers) with KBJU already calculated.
- Eat often in small portions. The longer we experience a feeling of hunger, the stronger the need for the body to "store" energy is manifested. Conversely, if you eat often, a smaller amount of substances will go into stock.
- Be sure to replenish energy after a workout - even a light snack is better than nothing.
- Reduce fats and carbohydrates in the diet, but increase proteins. Most of them are in meat, eggs, low-fat cottage cheese.
Active physical activities, such as cleaning or walking, can help reduce the desire to snack. It happens that the areas of the brain responsible for saturating food and water get confused and mistake thirst for hunger. Therefore, it is important to drink enough water - about 30-40 g of water per 1 kg of body weight per day. And, of course, plan meals, otherwise chaotic snacks and excuses from the category "now there is no time to cook, tomorrow I will start eating healthy food" are guaranteed to you.
If the recommendations do not help and the constant feeling of hunger does not subside after a week or two, you should consult a doctor. This condition may be due to hypothyroidism, an excess of prolactin, or a low sensitivity of the body to leptin, the hormone responsible for feeling full. Based on the results of the tests, it will become clear how to adjust the diet and whether it is necessary to connect drug therapy.
Effective exercises for weight loss
Based on the principles described above, we have chosen the most effective exercises for weight loss, which provide a high overall load and require serious energy costs.
With cardio, everything is simple - you can run, keeping an average pace and watching your heart rate. The disadvantage is that in this case the body will receive serious shock loads. Cardio equipment, such as a stepper or ellipsoid, allows you to reduce them, while being no less effective. You can also replace running with dancing, cycling, step and aqua aerobics.
Finding adequate exercises for strength training is much more difficult. The replicated training programs rarely take into account that someone wants to work out at home and does not have the necessary equipment: dumbbells, barbells, a training bench, and even fitness rubber bands. But there are a number of exercises that can help you start without preparation and equipment.
Without inventory:
- Bench push-ups.Instead of a bench, you can use a stool or a stable chair. We stand with our backs to the bench, we rest against it with our hands, slightly wider than our shoulders. We put our legs on the floor, straight or bent. We begin to push up and make sure that the body moves vertically up and down, and does not deviate forward or backward. The great advantage of this exercise is that it is easy to adapt to any level of training. It is easiest to do push-ups on bent legs, but it is more difficult if you straighten them and put them on a stand.
- Lying pelvic liftaka gluteal bridge. We lie down on the floor, arms along the body, bend our legs at the knees. We begin to raise the pelvis, at the highest point we linger and strain the buttocks, and descend back.
- Hip extension on all fours.The exercise is not quite basic, but it uses a lot of energy, it is good for them to complete the workout for pumping the buttocks. Get on all fours, rest on your elbows and knees. We raise the right leg up, trying to make the knee (namely the knee, not the toe) be raised as high as possible. We hold the leg at the highest point and slowly lower it down, pulling it to the chest. We repeat with the left foot.
With rubber bands:
- Deadlift.One of the basic exercises that mainly loads the buttocks, lower back and upper thigh. We take a long ring tape, folded in half, and step on it in the middle. We hold the loops at the ends with our hands. The legs are slightly bent, in the lower back we maintain a natural deflection, we do not hunch. We straighten the back and legs, making sure that the gluteal muscles work mainly, and lean back.
- Horizontal pull.We sit on the floor, legs straight. We cling to a long rubber band by the feet and lean forward. We straighten our shoulders, strain our back and lift the body straight, while pulling the tape with our hands. We linger in this position and lower ourselves back. Exercise allows you not only to work on the relief, but also to stretch the muscles.
With weights (dumbbells, weights):
- Squats.We take dumbbells in our hands or put on weights. You can start with a weight of 1. 5 kg and gradually increase the load. We stand straight, legs slightly wider than shoulders. We begin to squat and make sure that the back is straight (it is possible to lean forward, but not more than 45 degrees), and the knees do not protrude beyond the socks - otherwise it is very easy to injure the knee joints. We squat until the thigh is parallel to the floor, and then return to the starting position. The lower you squat, the more your glutes work.
- Lunges.We take dumbbells in our hands, stand on the right foot, and take the left back and put it on the toe. We begin to squat on one leg (you can, of course, do lunges, stepping forward, but there is practically no difference in efficiency). We make sure that the body does not bend, and the knee does not protrude beyond the toe. Engaging the thigh muscles, we rise back. We repeat with the other leg.
In general, a training program aimed at losing weight should be dominated by basic exercises and moderate-intensity cardio at a moderate heart rate. To increase muscle tone, you can add high-intensity workouts with light weights.
As you can see, fitness is not only about muscle building or "lose weight by summer", but about a healthy lifestyle, systematic exercise, proper nutrition and well-being. And if you correctly build this system, then the coveted result, expressed as a number on the scales, will not keep you waiting.