Working Out Like a Pro

I exercise at least 3 times a week, doing a mix of cardio and weight training exercises. For cardio, I run for 30 minutes, jog for another 15 minutes and brisk walk for the remaining 15 minutes to cool down. I prefer running outdoors than working it on the treadmill.

Running outdoors vs Treadmill:

Using the treadmill the machine actually assists you to move your feet back which makes the workload less than running outdoors. You also do not have to endure the outdoor weather when running on a treadmill. But a disadvantage would be that you do not have the benefit of the changing scenery while running to take your attention away from your perceived exertion.

Running outdoors means you can vary your route, take in a change of scenery, run hills and dales and it also presents more motivation, burns off more calories and helps you to feel more triumphant in your achievements. I usually try to take a different route when running outdoors and/or run further while taking the same duration of time, meaning to run faster. Its a sort of challenge for me and it pays off quite well.

Walking is most evidently one of the best exercises to start with to help you lose weight. With that being said, if you are serious about getting fit and back to shape, you need to follow a clear laid out plan comprising of the right diet and exercise combination to fast track your results and keep losing weight and extra inches consistently week after week.

The focus of any weight loss program is basically to burn more calories than you consume daily. Also, the focus should be on getting rid of the fat and not merely weight. Even by making you lose water content from the body, you can bring about a weight loss, but this type of weight loss will make you gain all the lost weight as soon as you are off those crash diets.

A lot of people tend to feel guilty and start overdoing tough exercises in short bursts. This will not help you burn the fat. For example, cardio workouts like brisk walking for a consistent period of time will burn more fat than a small burst of sprinting. This is because, sprinting will for sure burn calories, but the way the calorie burning works is that, the carbohydrate will get burnt out immediately to supply energy and only then does fat burning happen. Since sprinting is for short spurts, it will only burn carbohydrate calories and not much fat. Consistent walking for a long period of time will burn more of fat and is an excellent exercise.

If you are starting out, it is best to begin with walking long distances, then brisk walking, jogging, and work towards running. This is very important because you do not want to suffer any injuries, especially knee or ankle injuries.

Alternatively, other cardio workouts like slow jogging, swimming, dancing, could well be as beneficial as walking to lose weight. The trick is to do something fun, something that you enjoy so you always look forward to your next workout.

If you start to get tired or bored of running, alternate your workout days with a kickboxing workout, swimming, or inline-skating (which is what I do myself). Personally, I prefer to workout in my own space, and I feel more focused when I'm working out on my own so I don't go to the gym. Instead, I create my own gym at home. My tools of trade would include the workout ball (55cm, it's best to do sit ups), weights (two 2.5kg is just enough for me), a workout mat and some DVD videos of kickboxing and ab workout exercises.