Athlete In The City » weightloss

exercise alone not always enough for weightloss

admin — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:00:38 +0000

Perhaps this article would be better titled referring to “exercise alone” rather than just exercise, but the point is well made. They point at that “Whether because exercise makes us hungry or because we want to reward ourselves, many people eat more — and eat more junk food, like doughnuts — after going to the gym.”

That’s why most fitness regimens recommend increasing cardiovascular training on the one hand, muscle training on the other to increase body density, bone density, and muscle density, *and* calorie monitoring and restriction in certain cases on the other hand.

Why Exercise Won’t Make You Thin

what exercise is good to keep my xxx firm?

admin — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:00:40 +0000

You’ve probably heard it, you’ve probably had a conversation about it, or maybe you asked the question… How do I keep my butt firm, or the back of my arms? The ladies ask, how do I keep my tummy firm, or my boobs?

Or maybe you’ve wondered, is there a certain diet or exercise regimen that is good for my skin?

There are a couple of points to keep in mind here. First off, the good news. Cardiovascular exercise is great for your circulation, and as such is great for your skin. Think: it removes toxins & improves blood flow, etc. Also, if you’re smoking, this is bad news for your skin, so stop, or at least cut down. And here’s another little gem, drink lots of water! Dehydration is bad for your skin. Don’t know if you’re dehydrated, well if you’re thirsty, you’re more than likely long since dehydrated. Better yet check the color of your pee. That’s right, yellow means your dehydrated, clear means you have plenty of fluids.

What else? How do I lose fat in this one location? Unfortunately it doesn’t really work that way. Your body distributes your fat exactly how it sees fit to. It does this by concentrating fat around your center of gravity. That is slightly different in men than women, but on the whole, what you need to keep in mind is that exercise overall reduces your overall bodyfat content, which reduces it everywhere at once. That’s right ladies, as you probably already know, when you lose weight, your breasts get smaller too. Less fat means firmer. One caveat to all of this though, as you gain muscle mass, the fat you do have sits better on your body too, so that is a small added benefit. In general try to do a combination of cardiovascular training such as running or other sport that gets your heart rate up, and on alternate days resistance training, which builds muscle mass. These two in combination will increase your metabolism, improve your overall body composition (or body density) so that your burn calories more efficiently.

Last but not least, don’t forget your diet. As my favorite write/speaker on nutrition Michael Pollan says “Eat food, mostly plants, not too much”. Check out his video below.

METs: Metabolic Equivalents

admin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:00:25 +0000

There are a few methods that personal trainers, and folks doing their own training, can measure their exertion level during exercise. METs are one of those methods.1 MET is defined by the American Council on Exercise as “a person’s oxygen uptake at rest”, or more technically at 3.5mL of oxygen per kg of bodyweight per minute.With that in mind you can quickly scan the list below and see what types of exercises require more or less exertion. With that in mind you can choose exercises that will hit the range you are targeting, and thus reach your fitness and weight loss goals.

backpacking: 5-11
playing basketball: 7-12
boxing in ring: 13
canoeing, rowing: 3-8
cycling 10mph: 7
dancing: 3-8
hiking: 3-7
judo: 13
mountain climbing: 5-10
jumping rope (60-80/min): 9
jumping rope (120-140/min): 11-12
running (10min/mile): 10
running (9min/mile): 11
running (8min/mile): 12
running (7min/mile): 14
running (6min/mile): 16
skiing downhill: 5-8
skiing x-country: 6-12
soccer: 5-12
stair climbing: 4-8
swimming: 4-8
tennis: 4-9

As you can see running is by far the hardest, and consequently it’s the reason why running in combination with weight training is recommended as one of the most effective ways at weight loss.