One reason that makes us sick the most and increases the risk of suffering life-threatening diseases, such as circulation problems, diabetes, or cancer, among others, is being overweight. Exercise, along with a balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle, is one of the most effective and recommended remedies for preventing and fighting overweight.
However, many people become obsessed with increasing calorie burn during exercise to lose weight faster, whatever the goal. However, when it comes to losing weight or compensating for excess food, it is about burning calories and burning fat. What counts when it comes to losing weight is that this weight comes from accumulated fat.
The truth is that simple adjustments can help you burn more calories from fat and thus accelerate weight loss.
Check your heart rate
In a matter of caloric consumption, the section where more calories from fat are consumed is the one that goes from 70 to 80% of the maximum heart rate. Yes, the higher the pulse, the more calories burned, but fat for fuel decreases. If your goal is to burn fat, train longer on this stretch.
When walking, swing your arms
Walking is excellent exercise. To burn more fat and increase caloric intake during your walks, bend your arms to 90 degrees and move them. Not only does this automatically pick up your pace, but it also helps you burn up to 15% more calories.
For proper pumping, draw an arc from waist to chest as you swing. Also, make sure to keep your elbows close to your body and don’t allow your hands to go past the middle of the chest (in front of the breastbone). Too much side-to-side movement slows down the pace.
Help yourself to the music to increase the rhythm
The faster you walk or run your exercises, the more intense it will be. It’s not about going as fast as you can, but about keeping a light and steady pace. For this, there is nothing better than using music. And maintaining a constant rhythm or going from more to less is easier than it seems.
Look at any digital music provider for specialty music that is measured in bpm (beats per minute). There is a lot of material available. Find the speed that best suits your possibilities. For example, you can walk briskly from 135 to 145 bpm (keep slopes in mind). If you don’t want breaks, look for non-stop music.
Take thermogenic supplements
There are thermogenic supplements, in the form of drinks or pills (I prefer the former), that help increase the metabolic rate and thereby help “mobilize” the use of fat for fuel. You have to move at a good pace, but it is easier to obtain energy with these products.
Very little fat is burned in the first 25 minutes
Something that we have to take into account when calculating how much fat we lose is that in the first 25 minutes of any physical exercise our body will use very little fat as fuel.
During those first 25 minutes our body will use mainly glycogen as fuel. In addition, the intensity at which those first minutes are performed does not matter. Even doing exercises at low intensity we will hardly consume fat.
intensity
Therefore, if our goal is to burn fat, it is recommended that the physical activity we do, whatever it may be, has a minimum duration of about 45 minutes.
The amount of fat burned depends on the calories
In the first point we have seen that the percentage of fat that is lost at low intensities is greater than at high intensities. But this concept has a catch.
This consumed percentage depends directly on the calories consumed, and the calories depending on the intensity of the exercise. The more intense the exercise, the more calories are burned, and although the percentage consumed is lower, the net amount of fat can be higher.
In addition, high intensity exercises have an important advantage over low intensity exercises. And it is that when we perform high intensity exercises the metabolism accelerates and our body continues to consume calories for a time after having finished the activity.
Conclusions
In conclusion, the percentage of fat that is burned will be higher at low intensities, but at high intensities more calories are used, so the amount consumed may be higher.
The ideal is the combination of both exercises, since low intensity exercises are very important for proper muscle recovery and staying in tune.