Friday July 20, 2018
Being overweight and obese has become a struggle for many people in today’s generation. In fact, many still believe that decreasing food consumption can alone help in losing weight. Well, this is not entirely true. With food, there is a need for people to be active, to burn calories and to be able to lose weight properly. People who are active during the day tend to lose weight faster and in a healthy manner because their energy expenditure increases as they limit their muscle loss.
The higher the negative balance between daily energy needs and daily energy expenditure, the higher the weight loss. If a person has a negative balance of 500 calories every day, he can lose around one kilogram of body weight by the end of the week.
You can increase your daily energy expenditure by engaging in aerobic exercises, jogging or running for 150 minutes weekly at a moderate intensity. If you are short on time, you can do aerobic exercises or engage in activities like jogging and running for only 75 minutes per week at a vigorous intensity. It is always advisable to add resistance exercises at least twice a week to improve your endurance and strength.
At times, it can get confusing on how to determine the intensity of the workout, but your heart rate acts as an indicator. Firstly, it is important to identify your maximum heart rate that can be determined by subtracting your age from 220. For instance, if you are 30 years old, then your maximum heart rate is 190 beats/minute (220-30=190). A moderate intensity workout is defined for a heart rate ranging between 50-70% of your maximum heart rate. While a high-intensity workout ranges between 70-85%.
How do you calculate your target heart rate? Well, this can be done by using the Karvonen formula. The target heart rate can be calculated by subtracting the resting heart rate from maximum heart rate. This number multiplied with the percentile of the intensity and then add the resting heart rate. For instance, a 25-year-old man wants to find out his target heart rate for a 50-70% intensity, then,
His Maximum Heart Rate = 220-25 =195
His Resting Heart Rate identified during 1 minute = 75 beats/minute
Target Heart Rate = [(Max. Heart Rate-Resting Heart Rate) x Intensity%] + Resting Heart Rate
For a person aging 25 years old,
Target Heart Rate = [(195-75) x .60] + 75 = 147
Hence, if he wishes to do a workout with an intensity of 50-70%, then his heart rate should be between 135-159 beats per minute.
There are many other ways of spending energy and being active other than a scheduled workout. For instance, you can be active if you take 10,000-15,000 steps a day. You can do this by taking the stairs instead of the elevator, by walking your dog every day or even by parking the car a little farther from your destination. For more information contact Slim n’ Lite as we offer the best weight loss program in the UAE.