How to Maximize Weight Loss From Exercise
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Vigorous activities like biking, running or swimming can really crank up the calorie burn, as can hour-long cardio classes at a gym. But you can boost your calorie output no matter what type of exercise you’re doing by just picking up the pace a bit, Riebe says. “The harder you work, the more calories you burn in a .” One caveat? Doing too much too quickly increases your risk of soreness and fatigue, and makes it more likely that you will get discouraged and burn out, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. So when in doubt, start slowly, advises Joseph Signorile, a professor in the department of kinesiology and sports sciences at the University of Miami, who notes that a gradual increase in intensity can also help you prevent getting sidelined by an injury. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. may help you shed pounds. In a study published in June 2021, Iowa State researchers found that middle-aged adults who did muscle-strengthening exercises at least twice a week were 20 to 30 percent less likely to become obese over time. Why might that be? Your muscle mass drops about 3 to 8 percent per decade after the age of 30. And the loss of muscle really accelerates , Riebe says. Because fat burns fewer calories than muscle, this decrease in strength means your metabolism slows and you burn fewer calories on a daily basis. When you lose weight, you risk losing even more muscle mass, Riebe says. Adding resistance training to your workout regimen can help prevent that.
How to Exercise to Lose Weight
New research suggests weights intervals and setting a timer on your phone may all be part of the plan
LWA/Getty Images Hoping to exercise off a few pandemic pounds? First, know this: Experts say it’s very, very challenging — but not impossible — to lose weight through workouts alone. As Kevin Hall, chief of integrative physiology at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), explains, most of us consume so many calories each day that we would have to do “a heck of a lot of physical activity to make a dent” in our body weight. But that doesn’t mean physical activity shouldn’t be part of your effort to lose weight. In fact, it likely needs to be, since plenty of research shows that the most effective way to drop unwanted pounds is to pair an exercise routine with . For example, one study of 439 obese or overweight postmenopausal women found that those who exercised in addition to dieting lost significantly more body fat than those who just dieted. Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. And exercise appears to be key in helping you keep the weight off once you lose it. When Hall and other NIH researchers analyzed contestants of the reality TV show The Biggest Loser, they found that those who incorporated exercise into their daily lives were significantly more likely to have maintained their weight loss six years later. The — a database of more than 5,000 Americans who have lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off — also backs up the combination approach. In surveys, 98 percent of participants said they modified their food intake, and 94 percent said they increased their physical activity. To maximize your own weight-loss efforts with exercise, read on for experts’ tips on everything from which specific fitness activities to combine to how to time your workout for maximum “caloric offset.”Aim for the sweet spot of 50 minutes a day it works br
If the bad news is that many people eat back the calories they burn through exercise, unconsciously compensating for the calories a workout required by eating more and moving less for the rest of the day, a new study points to how to avoid this caloric-compensation pitfall.AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. Entertainment $3 off popcorn and soft drink combos See more Entertainment offers >
Get your heart rate up without overdoing it
The basic equation to drop pounds still says you need to burn more calories than you take in, says Deborah Riebe, a professor of kinesiology at the University of Rhode Island. If you’re walking at a comfortable pace, chances are you’re not burning many calories.Vigorous activities like biking, running or swimming can really crank up the calorie burn, as can hour-long cardio classes at a gym. But you can boost your calorie output no matter what type of exercise you’re doing by just picking up the pace a bit, Riebe says. “The harder you work, the more calories you burn in a .” One caveat? Doing too much too quickly increases your risk of soreness and fatigue, and makes it more likely that you will get discouraged and burn out, according to the American College of Sports Medicine. So when in doubt, start slowly, advises Joseph Signorile, a professor in the department of kinesiology and sports sciences at the University of Miami, who notes that a gradual increase in intensity can also help you prevent getting sidelined by an injury. AARP Membership — $12 for your first year when you sign up for Automatic Renewal Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine. may help you shed pounds. In a study published in June 2021, Iowa State researchers found that middle-aged adults who did muscle-strengthening exercises at least twice a week were 20 to 30 percent less likely to become obese over time. Why might that be? Your muscle mass drops about 3 to 8 percent per decade after the age of 30. And the loss of muscle really accelerates , Riebe says. Because fat burns fewer calories than muscle, this decrease in strength means your metabolism slows and you burn fewer calories on a daily basis. When you lose weight, you risk losing even more muscle mass, Riebe says. Adding resistance training to your workout regimen can help prevent that.