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Body Talk By Fadi
July’s Body Talk
06 Aug 2008
Wow! We are now into the
second half of the year.
Where has it all gone?
Hopefully, you are still
on track of your first
of the year, weight loss
goals. If you have
fallen off the wagon, it
is not too late. In this
month’s edition of Body
Talk we provide you with
inspirational stories
and articles that can
help you get back on
track and if you are
still hanging in there,
congratulations.
Hopefully, it is a
lifestyle that you have
adopted and will
continue to find
beneficial.
Strength Training
Versus Aerobic Exercise
A recent article
published by Simple
Fitness Solutions
promotes the benefits of
strength training in the
article it states that,
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
resting metabolic rate (RMR),
(which is the pace your
body burns calories at
rest) 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
2004) 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
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.
This could be your
key to successful weight
control!
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