In Part 1, I talked mainly about the diet portion of losing weight, and now its ‘exercising’. Exercising goes hand in hand with your diet. Today, it seems like everyone will do anything to lose weight except for dieting and excercise. There are no pills out there that can substitue a good meal and a good old fashion workout. Most people, at least my friends, are weary of exercising as its time consuming, and that they think they’re not athletic enough. Exercise has nothing to do with being athletic.
If you play sports and play for a team it makes the workout much more fun and less of a chore. For those who don’t play sports going to the gym may seem like the only option. As for me, I don’t perfer the gym as I work out at home; it’s more convienent and I don’t have to pay a membership fee. Some people solely rely on the gym for their workout which can limit the amount of exercise they get.
Workouts that involve your legs are usually the most efficient at burning calories as leg muscles are the largest in the body. That means running is the King of exercising. It give you those shapely legs and buttocks, helps your cardio, and burns the most calories per unit of time compared to any other exercises. Also, running doesn’t require going to the gym; just a good route around the neighborhood. Here are some other good lower body / cardio exercises:
Squats
Lunges
Running/Jogging
Jump roping
There are more varieties of workout for the upper body, but it requires a bit more effort to burn the same about of calories compared to lower body workouts. Combining upper and lower body workouts is even better. Here are some good upper body workout:
Bench press/push ups
Military press
Pull ups
Rowing
Arm curls
All forms of sit ups
I won’t go into detail of each exercises, but the important thing is that you should set some time aside each day to fit in a workout; at least 30-45 mins. Try to alternate each day with different workouts. For example, Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday for lower body. Tuesdays and Thursdays for upper body. If you’re just starting out you may want to working out three days a week then slowly increase intensity then increase to four then to five days. Gradual increment is key as it will prevent injury. Stay tuned for part 3.