Tag Archives: Exercise

Best Exercise For Weight Loss? I Will Cut The Fat And The Lies Right Now

Posted on by

Exercise is one of two main components and principles of losing weight. Some might say exercise is the key to weight loss and some say a good diet is the key. There is one thing for sure though that if you combine the two together they react to form an unbeatable team in the fight against weight loss.

Focusing on the exercise part of weight loss questions are brought forward daily concerning different exercises you can undertake and what really is the most beneficial exercise when trying to lose weight.

Exercise is split up into two different categories which are aerobic exercise and anaerobic exercise both aimed at producing different results at different intensities. So what is the difference between the two?

Aerobic Exercise

Firstly Aerobic Exercise is basically exercise that is carried out at a moderate intensity and for a longer period of time. Most types of exercise are actually aerobic including jogging , cycling, walking etc. Aerobic exercise is carried out at any intensity from 60-80% of your maximum heart rate and at an intensity you can carry on for a longer period of time. For weight loss aerobic exercise can be hugely beneficial as you are exercising for longer.

When exercising, for example jogging, your body uses the energy stored from food which is turned into glycogen to push you along. Now there is only a certain amount of glycogen in your body and as you use your energy stores up through exercise you will feel your body tiring and aching. This is basically your body running out of glycogen.

The fact is though when your body has used up its energy stores to keep going it has to find a new fuel source and this is where fat comes into the picture. Fat lies in reserve as an energy source and exercising for a longer period of time will have to call on your fat stores as energy meaning the stored fat in your body is burned.

From aerobic exercise you will most certainly witness an increase in your overall longer lasting fitness meaning overtime you can exercise for longer and longer meaning you maximise fat burning.

Anaerobic Exercise

Anaerobic exercise is the opposite of aerobic exercise. Anaerobic exercise is performed at a much higher intensity between 80-100% max heart rate. This obviously means it isn’t long lasting.

It is used by athletes to help build power, strength and speed into there bodies as exercises under an anaerobic intensity are examples like sprinting and weight lifting. Anaerobic defines exercise carried out without the use of oxygen. As your muscles don’t have sufficient oxygen they then have to utilize another source within your body known as creatine phosphate. The uses of these energy sources quickly burn up over a period and the use of fat as energy does come into play sometimes a lot quicker than if doing aerobic exercise.

This is all done in a matter of seconds as the creatine phosphate generates what we call ATP that produces muscle contraction and after furthur seconds other sources are made available to ATP which includes glycogen then lastly fat.

Muscles trained under anaerobic exercises obviously give different results than that of aerobic exercise and lead to greater performance in shorter duration activities and sports.

So Which Type Of Exercise Is The Best exercise for weight loss?

The fact is both will burn fat within your body and as you watch the Olympics its plain to see that both sprinters and marathon runners whom train differently have a similar outcome in physique excluding the amount of muscle between the two there fat stores are limited.

Extensive research does suggest that combining the two can be hugely beneficial as your body is made to train under different intensities meaning it isn’t able to adapt to one or the other which does maximise fat burn as the human body is always looking to adapt to what you do to it.

Depending on your goals and what sort of fitness you are looking at would depend on the type of exercise you undertake but for fat burning and weight loss a combination of the two would be most beneficial within you plan.

Weight Lifting Exercises & Their Affect On Different Muscle Fibers

Posted on by

Weight lifting exercises cause your muscles to generate heat and strength. Your muscles need to be strong, in order to help you move, breathe and so on.

This article on weight lifting exercises will look at the relationship between the exercises you use when weight lifting and your muscles.

Your actual muscle tissue is made up of 2 types of muscle fibers, actin, which are a slim fiber and myosin which are substantially thicker. Both of these fiber types help to give your muscles a striated look about them.

When performing any exercises used in weight lifting the muscle being exercised must be able to contract properly. To do this they need to become stimulated by motor neurons. These are simply nerves.

One motor neuron and the muscle fibers stimulated during exercises used during weight lifting activities are called a motor unit. These motor units or muscle fibers play a large part in the force your muscles can produce during a contraction.

The more motor units you can activate during your weight lifting exercises the stronger the contraction. Meaning you’ll be able to lift a greater amount of weight for an increased number of repetitions.

Your muscle fibers are categorized as Type I, Type IIa and Type IIb muscle fibers. The more common term for muscle fibers are “fast” and “slow” twitch.

When performing high rep weight training exercises it’s your slow twitch muscle fibers (Type I) that will be recruited to do the majority of the work. Your body uses this type of muscle fiber when endurance activities, aerobic activity or high rep sets are used.

Fast twitch muscle fibers (Type IIa and Type Iib) are used by your body during explosive contractions. It’s these fibers that have the greatest potential for growth resulting from the weight lifting exercises you perform.

Your body will used fast twitch muscle fibers during high-intensity, short-duration exercises such as weight lifting exercises that use heavy weight for very low reps, or sprinting.

People who seem to be able to build muscle at will when performing almost any weight lifting exercises, usually will have an unusually large number of fast twitch muscle fibers in their body.

In the majority of people the muscle fiber make-up in each muscle group will be relatively equal in most muscle groups. Therefore you need to recruit both slow twitch and fast twitch fibers at some point in your exercise program.

One exception to the rule of equal types of muscle fibers is when it comes to your hamstrings. The hamstring muscles in the vast majority of people tend to be made up of mostly fast twitch muscle fibers.

For that reason, when performing weight exercises for your hamstrings, you should try to use heavier weights for a lower number of reps.

Now, when executing any weight training exercises your muscles will go through a few different actions. There are isometric, eccentric, concentric, and isotonic portions of most weight lifting exercises;

Isometric contractions can best be described as the same stress your muscle would go through when pushing against a wall.

The lifting portion of weight training exercises such as a dumbbell bicep curl is known as the concentric contraction. Lowering the dumbbell in a controlled fashion is the eccentric portion.

The more common terms for this part of weight training exercises are positive (concentric) and negative (eccentric).

The fourth type of contraction that can occur during weight exercises is the isotonic contraction. This can occur more commonly during plyometric training.