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Working Out / Fat Burning

Strategies to Maximize Your Workout

If you’re concerned about fat burning , the best thing you can do for yourself is to follow an exercise plan to help you do that. You’ll need to follow a healthy diet, of course, but it’s easier to lose fat when you’re doing the right exercises, too. You might have seen commercials or articles about how to lose belly fat , or drop fat off your thighs. You can tone the muscles in those areas to make them appear smaller, but when your body burns fat, it won’t pick one specific spot to burn it from. It’s an overall process, so trying to burn fat from just one area can be frustrating, to say the least.

The good news is that if you’re working out fat burning and you’re losing fat, you will lose fat from that troublesome area, too. It might not happen as quickly as you like, but it will happen. In fact, building muscle in the areas you feel are problems areas can make you feel much better about them. And the more muscle you build, the more the “burn fat, feed muscle” principle kicks in.

To achieve fat loss , your body has to burn it. There’s simply no other way. And the more muscle you have—the more toned, active muscle tissue—the more fat your body burns just as you’re going about your everyday activities. In fact, lean, toned muscles that you exercise regularly are some of the most important fitness tools you can have. They keep your metabolism up all the time, and make it easier for you to burn more fat.

You can and should be doing aerobic exercises (also known as cardio exercises) to keep your heart pumping and your lungs conditioned. These exercises also burn fat because your body’s using oxygen as fuel, and a byproduct of that act is fat loss. But including some strength training in your workout is an easy way to lose more fat - not because you’re necessarily burning fat during the workout, but since the workout is building more lean muscle tissue that keeps your body’s fat burning furnace stoked 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

Strength training simply makes you stronger, and can help you get through those fat burning cardio workouts easier. You’ll have an easier time going up and down steps, lifting the kids, and doing anything that requires strength. It can even help with issues relating to posture, back pain and knee problems.

So how much fat do you need to burn? How much weight do you need to lose? You can use a BMI calculator to help you determine that, if you choose. BMI stands for Body Mass Index, and by using your height, weight and frame size (small, med or large) it will tell you the proper weight range you should be in. More important than a BMI chart, though, is how comfortable you feel with your body. When you feel like you’ve had enough fat loss to be healthy and comfortable, that’s a better indicator than any chart or BMI calculator.