Want to lose weight fast ? Stop crunching & stop lifting !

There is a saying about weight loss

“It took more than a day to put it on, it'll take more than a day to take it off. Be patient.”

So patience is the key skill but in order to have a potent & successful weight loss regime we must know which kind of exercises are the most effective ones. Weightlifting & crunches are overhyped weight loss solutions… a waste of time, energy & money. The parameters of finding a good weight loss exercise are :

1) Calories burned

2) Muscle toning

3) Skill addition

Exercise	Calories burned/hour	Muscles toned
Cycling	850 - 950	It’s a complete leg workout. Major muscles worked are thighs (Quadriceps & hamstrings) & calves. Shin muscles assists
Taekwondo	800 - 900	It is all about legs & will give you strong core (abs) & flexibility.
Rope Jumping	750 - 850	From forearms to your toe, skipping works all the muscles & if you do it regularly I guarantee you the best toned calves.
Swimming	700 - 850	No other exercise tones your upper body so well & burns this much calories. Swimming will sculpt your upper back, shoulders & chest.
Jogging/running	700 - 800	The complete leg workout.
Sports(football, basketball, tennis)	600 - 700	Complete body workout. The best legs are of football players, best arms bestowed to tennis players & the strongest upper body is of basketball players.
Zumba/Aerobics	400-500	Complete body workout.

*All the above approximate figures are given for a person weighing 160 pounds/73 kilograms. Calorie burning is directly proportional to body weight & intensity of workout. With every 3500 calories burned you lose 1 pound/0.45 kgs of weight.

Compared to the above exercises a hour of crunches will burn 342 calories (57 calories in 10 minutes on doing 100 sit ups), a hour of weight lifting will only burn 200 - 400(vigorous) calories.

Skill addition is something which we always ignore but it is a very important factor. Crunching 100 times, will it add to any of my skills ? It may help me get better at certain activities but otherwise it’s neither a wholesome workout nor very important unless you want to follow Arnold's footsteps & believe me abs are made in kitchen. Compare the torture of crunches to the refreshing cycling, joy of swimming or the benefits of knowing Taekwondo. All of these strengthen your core & tone your muscles too. The most awesome fact is that they keep your heart strong & healthiest.

The purpose of this article is not to tell you to refrain from crunches or weight lifting but to give you better options. To enable you choose wisely among the exercises & plan your sessions according to your goals. The best weight loss regimes can do without weight lifting & crunches.

Bodybuilding.com has come up with this awesome calorie burning calculator. Check it out & redefine your workouts. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/calories.htm

Train wise train hard.

Information sources for figures.

Weightloss.allwomenstalk.com

Ainsworth BE, et al. 2011 compendium of physical activities: A second update of codes and MET values. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2011;43:1575.
Bodybuilding.com

Five lies you will hear about losing fat

In contemporary times when all the hullabaloo is about making money, as any other industry Fitness is also plagued by streaks of lies. Here I bust some of'em.


I'll make you lose fat from your specific body part

Well this is the biggest lie of our times even propagated by some esteemed media houses. Yesterday only I saw a full page article in a leading news daily recommending different weight training exercises to lose fat from belly, thighs, chest etc.
The truth is body parts can't be targeted to lose fat & that has been established with many studies.Fat burning during workout is a complex process.  Doing those torturing crunches & going through hell is absolutely foolish, if your aim is only weight loss. Our bodies are formed according to the genetics. If your genes make you a pear shape obese person, fat will accumulate mostly on your lower body & stick there like a leech,  whatever times you may crunch because you are doing the wrong exercise !
Find here the best fat burning excercises


Steam bath & excess sweating will cut down fat heavily

Why didn't earth crumbled before such dumb claims were made. My dear 'farji' trainers, fat is not water soluble! Steam bath is not a weight loss solution !  The more you sweat more you lose those essential salts(electrolytes) & fluids. More than 90% of sweat is water. A decrease of 5-8 % of body water will result in fatigue, dizziness. Dehydration will give you cramps unless you gulp those rehydration drinks.
Steam & sauna are only purported weight loss solutions with no major, reliable study supporting their claim.


Eat less & all your weight problems will solve
Its not about eating less but eating right & adequate. Cutting down on food heavily will result in lack of necessary vitamins & minerals. On the contrary eating wisely will increase your body metabolism & work as cheat diet. You'll be surprised to know even some fat is necessary for body. Eat well but not in excess.


Whey protein will help you lose fat

This is the ultimate nonsense i have ever heard. Protein isn't going to get inside your body & push the fat out. Whey protein helps in hypertrophy(muscle building). Also when you are working out for longer durations, you may need some protein supplement but i.e. just for preventing muscle breakdown.


Less carbs less weight

Some trainers promote a carb less diet for faster weight loss results. This is again a no brainer, Our energy system needs carbs as fire needs oxygen. You can't burn woods in vacuum, similarly fat burning needs carbohydrates and as i said above it is a complex process.

Train hard Train wise !

If you find it helpful, do hit those f likes, g+ down on the page & share.

Read about how should you breathe during workout here.

Benefits of proper breathing

In the last blog we talked about how harmful improper breathing is & largely what is 'Valsalva maneuver'. Now lets talk about many benefits of a well breathed workout. Breathing well means, taking long deep breaths into your stomach, using your diaphragm to push air out which is metaphorically called 'belly breathing'. Inhaling from your nose & exhaling from an open mouth.

Best fat burner :
While you are busy surfing, asking your nutritionist/trainer/bulked up friends for the magic fat burner pill, you miss the best  fat burner element present all around you for free. Oxygen is the vital element in fat burning during workouts. When you do that heart pounding cardio, bone cracking weight workout even after all the moaning & groaning it might not be effective. Your calorie meter may give you a satisfying statistic but those calories aren't coming from your fat. Because in absence of proper oxygen supply  it is carbohydrates or in later hours of workout protein taken from you muscle being burned as fuel which is harmful.

Builds rhythm :
Rhythm is important it makes your workout easier & energetic. On contrast random breathing will leave you tired sooner. Synchronize your breathe with the lifting of weights and running. By synchronize i mean exhaling when you apply strength & inhaling when you release weight. For running take two steps(One right, one left) while breathing in, and two steps while breathing out also known as 2:2 rhythm. .      

More weights/more reps :
With more energy & good rhythm you'll see your weights are going higher, you are hitting more reps-more sets.You'll be able to run that extra mile.

Stress buster :
Stress pushes the body into survival mode, body secrets more cortisol which in turn slows down metabolism, stores fat. One also starts eating more.Oxygen fights stress, presence of more oxygen in body means less stress & less weight gain i.e. why Yoga is so helpful.

Good posture :
The muscles which help you breathe also play a part in maintaining body posture. Diaphragm, rib cage are connected with your spine. So if you breathe well you automatically maintain the right posture which is integral part of a healthy workout. Bad posture ruins your form & makes your workout injury prone.

So breathe well & workout harder

If you like the post please hit g+, f like, tweet & share so others can benefit too.