The vast majority of people are under the misconception that the best exercise method to burn excess fat and speed up their metabolism is to regularly do 30 to 40 minutes of low intensity aerobic exercise, at least 3 times a week. They also believe that more is definitely better and that if you can get to the gym every day of the week for a 40 minute jog on the treadmill you will be well on your way to your desired perfect physique.
Many fitness professionals continue to recommend that by doing moderately paced aerobic exercise, getting your heart rate to a target range and keeping it there for 40 minutes, several times a week, you will burn your excess fat, increase your metabolism and increase cardiovascular efficiency.
I personally think that, unless you are extremely dedicated by nature, this type of repetitive exercise is more likely to lead to a situation where you get bored, dread going to the gym and give up your weight loss efforts totally. I know I did when I tried this route to lose fat and gain my perfect physique!
Yes, if you have the dedication, looking at a wall while jogging and getting nowhere on a treadmill or stair climber will indeed burn some calories and improve your cardiovascular system. But just doing this type of low intensity exercise on its own won't achieve the results you desire, and if you follow the advice given to do this as often as possible, who of us would have the time to complete any other type of exercise!!
While the benefits of burning calories and better cardiovascular system efficiency derived from low intensity aerobic exercise sound great, this form of exercise done in isolation can actually be counterproductive to your weight loss goals.
Doing repeated sessions of moderately paced aerobic exercise causes your body to use the fat you have stored to provide energy while you jog. This action fools your body into thinking it needs to store more fat ready for the next session...
Your cardiovascular efficiency will improve as your body gets used to doing frequent long duration easy workouts. But as your heart and lungs get used to working at a low level sustained rate, they can also lose their capacity to handle any additional stresses as you never actually push or challenge them to go beyond what has become the norm. This can actually lead to a host of other health problems.
I am not saying that you should never do any low level aerobic exercises, you should of course, but only as part of a complete fitness program and not as your main exercise regime.
The fastest way to lose fat
The quickest, most efficient way to burn body fat, get your metabolism into top gear and improve overall health is to gain lean muscle and the easiest way to achieve this is through resistance training.
I'm not talking about working out to the extent where you end up looking like a pumped up Arnie, just proper resistance training to build and tone lean muscle and gain overall body strength.
Even if you don't change your diet to aid with your weight loss efforts, which you should, you will need some of the calories you are eating to "feed" your new muscle and this will lead to a calorie deficit in your body and you will quickly start to burn your stored fat deposits.
With resistance training you will stimulate your body into creating an ongoing muscle repair and growth process which will call upon your stored body fat for energy, not just while you are working-out, you will still get these fat burning benefits while you are sitting around and sleeping in your bed.
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