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What is high intensity interval training?

March 30, 2017 by Skyler Madison 1 Comment

exercise-croppedThey call it HIIT – high intensity interval training. Here is why this is the best exercise to get and stay in shape.

We all know we should exercise, but what amount and what type of exercise maximizes your return best? That is the question.

A new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism and other research studies have been saying that it’s the high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is the best way to go in and has the best result in reversing the effects of aging.

HIIT, as it is commonly known, requires short bursts of intense aerobic activity, intermixed with longer stretches of moderate exercise. Participating in this kind of training encourages cells to make more proteins to fuel the energy producing cellular mechanism, which means you don’t get  hungrier and end of up eating more and it continues to burn fat even after you exercise..

The study found that younger people participating in HIIT showed a 49-per-cent increase in mitochondrial capacity and the older group saw 69-per-cent. (Mitochondria are the cells’ powerhouses, responsible for producing the molecule that transports chemical energy within cells.)

So how should you plan for your exercise week? The recommended amount of exercise is 225 minutes a week. If you could break it down daily it would be about 30 minutes a day. I would do 20 minutes at a moderate pace and 10 minutes of intense exercise. I would also do strength training at least two days a week. To find out what is moderate or intense, check out this post.

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: exercise, high intensity, strength training

Best exercise to lose weight

March 30, 2017 by Skyler Madison Leave a Comment

Best exercise to lose weight:

What type and how much exercise you need to do is important to understand.

There is a lot of misinformation around what type and how much exercise you need to do to achieve your lifestyle goals of losing weight (fat) and keeping if off.

A new study says we need to walk way more than 10,000 steps a day to get enough exercise. A new goal is to walk 15,000 steps, but this may still be off the mark in terms of what type of exercise you should do to lose weight and keep it off .

Here’s why:

There is a lot of research that shows how cardio or aerobic exercise helps us not only to lose weight, but to relieve stress, be more creative and healthier. Since one of the biggest reasons people overeat has something to do with unprocessed emotions and lack of satisfaction from life that spills over as stress, it is important to have an outlet in the form of physical exercise.

Before you embark on an exercise program you must of course consult your doctor.  It is important to start where you are and begin to increase it gradually.

Despite the proven benefits, most adults do not meet the basis minimum exercise guidelines which are 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise. If you want to lose weight, you double that to 300 minutes of moderate exercise and 150 minutes of vigorous exercise.  The problem with these numbers is that it does not explain what is moderate or vigorous. The term ‘aerobics’ was coined by Dr. Cooper in a book entitled Aerobics in 1968. He put forth the notion that there was a target heart rate to achieve in order to maximize the benefits of exercise that he called aerobic. It is recommended you start with moderate intensity.

For moderate-intensity physical activity, a person’s target heart rate should be 50 to 70% of his or her maximum heart rate. This maximum rate is based on the person’s age. An estimate of a person’s maximum age-related heart rate can be obtained by subtracting the person’s age from 220. For example, for a 50-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 – 50 years = 170 beats per minute (bpm). The 50% and 70% levels would be:

  • 50% level: 170 x 0.50 = 85 bpm, and
  • 70% level: 170 x 0.70 = 119 bpm

Thus, moderate-intensity physical activity for a 50-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between 85 and 119 bpm during physical activity.

For vigorous-intensity physical activity, a person’s target heart rate should be 70 to 85% of his or her maximum heart rate. To calculate this range, follow the same formula as used above, except change “50 and 70%” to “70 and 85%”. For example, for a 35-year-old person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220 – 35 years = 185 beats per minute (bpm). The 70% and 85% levels would be:

  • 70% level: 185 x 0.70 = 130 bpm, (71-84) and
  • 85% level: 185 x 0.85 = 157 bpm, (85-91)

Thus, vigorous-intensity physical activity for a 35-year-old person will require that the heart rate remains between 130 and 157 bpm during physical activity. You start with moderate and eventually you will do intervals where you do them side by side. If you have not exercised, it is recommended you start with moderate and then build your way up.

To track that you could obviously program this into a treadmill or elliptical at the gym or wear a heart rate monitor when you walk.  I would recommend starting with 10 to 20 minutes and working your way up. The initial goal for weight loss is to achieve the 300 minutes of moderate exercise or 150 minutes of intense exercise. If this seems daunting, just develop a plan that works for you and has you moving to a higher level than you had been doing.

Gradually increase the amount of exercise you do until you reach the target amount for weight loss and start tracking your heart rate to make sure you are exercising efficiently.  You can go to www.wareable.com and choose the heart rate monitor that is best for you.

 Next: Develop your plan to exercise:

Begin with the amount of days a week you can allocate to exercise. Ideally you want to do it daily, but that is not always possible.

Number of days divided by 300 = the amount of time you should exercise. Begin with moderate intensity.

For example, if you plan to exercise daily, you would do 40 minute sessions at the moderate intensity. If this is not possible, just identify a way to fit more exercise into your schedule so that are doing more than you were and perhaps can over time increase to the ideal amount or increase the intensity which would cut down the time. You can also factor your strength training into this which would ideally be three times a week for 25 minutes.

Write down my plan to exercise is:

Days of the week you will do aerobic exercise:

Amount of time:

Target Heart rate:

Days of week you will do strength training:

Amount of time: 25 minutes

It is possible as you begin your exercise that you will be hungrier in the beginning. This will subside as your body gets used to it and you feed your body the right fuel which will be covered in the next chapter. The important thing is to be aware of the real reason to eat and only eat when you are truly hungry. Try to space your meals out three to four hours apart. Eat when you feel hungry and stop eating when you are full. Do not eat if you do not feel it is the right reason to eat. Instead of eating, express yourself by doing the journaling.

Bottom line: You need to make exercise become your habit otherwise you will be having to use willpower and we have a limited amount of willpower to go around.

Filed Under: Blog, Uncategorized Tagged With: exercise, exercise to lose weight, weight loss

Best Exercise for Losing Weight

November 29, 2016 by Skyler Madison 1 Comment

Best Exercise for Losing Weight

jogger on beach doing the best exercise for losing weightThe problem when you are first embarking on a weight loss goal if you are not used to the best exercise for losing weight, it can make you hungrier.

 

Many studies have shown that if people start a new exercise program, their bodies begin to pump out much higher levels of the hormones that increase appetite. This reaction seems to be most pronounced if someone starts a new, moderate, aerobic exercise routine. However, recent research  shows that  if you do intense exercise that includes interval training, it may actually reduce your appetite.

 

So if we take up moderate jogging, swimming, walking or bike riding, for example, we will probably feel hungrier afterward, and often wind up consuming as many or more calories than we just expended. Let’s not forget that a moderate 30-minute walk burns only about 100 calories. We all know how easy it is to consume 100 calories.

 

What is the best exercise for losing weight? You need to identify how many calories you should consume to be at your ideal weight. An easy way to do that is to multiply your goal weight by 10. So if you want to weight 140 you need to ingest 1400 calories. But you also need to keep your carbohydrates down to below 75 or if you are very overweight, below 55, net of the fiber. Then you need to begin expending 10,000 calories a day from your daily movement and do moderate to intense interval exercise 2 to 3 times a week. I would also recommend including a weight program as a body that has more muscle will be more metabolically active than one that has more fat.

 

Now I know what you are thinking that is daunting. Well if you cannot do the exercise, the other choice is to change the food. That will be more effective than exercise alone for weight loss. That gets us to the next question of how to maintain the weight loss. You basically eat the same way and clock in your 10,000 steps. The extra high intensity is for weight loss not maintenance. If you want to eat more, you need to keep up with the high intensity too. Hope this makes sense.

 

Filed Under: Blog, Habit Change Tagged With: exercise, lose weight

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