Best exercise for burning calories?
- Thread starter aqualady
- Start date
I personally think weights and a good diet are the best but as said why not do both and also throw in some running if you can? I have read OF "studies" that say swimming is not a good calorie burner though, but I see no reason why not to do it as fun. I swim sometimes though not specifically for burning calories, just for leisure. Anything that makes you more active though is going to help and much more fun and beneficial that watching TV or something :-D
Major difference
I agree with bipennate, why not both? If you swim, which is an aerobic exercise, you will actually burn fat while you are doing the exercise. But, you need to do it for about 45 minutes to an hour. Secondly, lifting weights will increase your resting metabolism, which means that you'll burn more calories while you are not exercising. The only tendency with swimming though is that consistent swimmers will sometimes have a slightly higher body fat percentage (not much though) possibly because of the body wanting to keep as warm as possible in cold water.
If you look at swimmers though, they have great bodies because of the water. It's resistance and your muscles have to develop in order to accomodate the exercise.
Chillen is also right, diet is crucial to losing weight. It's not that you're damned if you don't fix, but it will help a lot more than if you workout and then eat a pepperoni pizza.
Just my thoughts though
I agree with bipennate, why not both? If you swim, which is an aerobic exercise, you will actually burn fat while you are doing the exercise. But, you need to do it for about 45 minutes to an hour. Secondly, lifting weights will increase your resting metabolism, which means that you'll burn more calories while you are not exercising. The only tendency with swimming though is that consistent swimmers will sometimes have a slightly higher body fat percentage (not much though) possibly because of the body wanting to keep as warm as possible in cold water.
If you look at swimmers though, they have great bodies because of the water. It's resistance and your muscles have to develop in order to accomodate the exercise.
Chillen is also right, diet is crucial to losing weight. It's not that you're damned if you don't fix, but it will help a lot more than if you workout and then eat a pepperoni pizza.
Just my thoughts though
If she cares about losing weight, and if the diet is in fact broken, she would care to fix this. As the two excercises combined could quite possibly not cause a deficit in calories to lose weight. If doing this exercise and one is not interested one way or the other on the weight side of the equation, then this is a different matter.
Why 45 minutes-hour?
That is one theory, but no one actually knows why that seems to be the case. For the record, it would have to be extremely cold water for bodyfat retention to occur as a protective mechanism. I wrote about it in Leigh's book that you can get by signing up for her newsletter here:
Yup
I said possibly...which means that it could be one reason, but there could be another. Just putting out some info.
The reason 45 minutes to an hour, is because the ACSM recommends 30 minutes of light to moderate aerobic exercise per day to maintain body weight. Additionally, it takes about 45 minutes of straight aerobic exercise done at a light to moderate pace for fat to become a source of energy.
There are other ways and really any kind of exercise is beneficial, but the 45 minutes-1 hour most, if not all days, is enough for about 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week, which is what is recommended.
I said possibly...which means that it could be one reason, but there could be another. Just putting out some info.
The reason 45 minutes to an hour, is because the ACSM recommends 30 minutes of light to moderate aerobic exercise per day to maintain body weight. Additionally, it takes about 45 minutes of straight aerobic exercise done at a light to moderate pace for fat to become a source of energy.
There are other ways and really any kind of exercise is beneficial, but the 45 minutes-1 hour most, if not all days, is enough for about 1-2 pounds of fat loss per week, which is what is recommended.
I know: I was trying to add to that info
The ACSM cardio exercise recommendations (all of their recommendations, actually) are fairly conservative and outdated at this point. SS cardio as a primary weight control device has been shown to be not only poor as compared to other methods such as weight training and interval training for fat loss in more progressive research as well as practical real-world applications. At this point, I view SS cardio as a recovery agent or mixed protocol tool at best, definitely not as a fat loss tool by itself. Also, the energy substrate used during activity makes little difference: fat loss has more to do with total energy expenditure coupled with maintaining metabolic rate.
I would disagree with that statement: endocrine response alone will complicate the process, and that's ignoring energy intake as well as metabolic and physiological adaptations. The ACSM is significantly behind the times as far as general population training is concerned (special populations and clinical physiology is still very good).
Going off that logic nobody would ever reduce their bodyfat by doing 20 minute HIIT sessions, and there are plenty of people who have done that....
EDIT: Sorry I need to learn to read, you said at light to moderate pace which would not constitue HIIT would would be at a high intensity pace.
But either way swimming should still burn calories, I don't want to get into how effective it actually is but I would focus on energy consumed and energy used when trying to lose weight. The OP needs to be in a caloric deficit to lose the weight they desire regardless or how long they exercise for. Personally I would not focus on swimming as my main calorie burning activity, running and weight training with a good diet are the way to go!
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I totally agree with you about the ACSM being conservative...I think most organizations like that are because they have to be so as not to get sued and other legal stuff.
As far as interval training and weight training, I totally agree with you there also. I tend to be conservative with my recommendations if I don't know the person and if I don't know their fitness level. If I know the person and their fitness level, then it's a different story. We're on the same page as far as what we know...I'm just a little more cautious. I appreciate you keeping me on my toes though, that's what professionals do.
I do think aerobic exercise is one of the best exercises because of all the health benefits. If ppl do it with weight training and change their diet, they will become healthier and lose weight...which is what we all want to accomplish.
As far as interval training and weight training, I totally agree with you there also. I tend to be conservative with my recommendations if I don't know the person and if I don't know their fitness level. If I know the person and their fitness level, then it's a different story. We're on the same page as far as what we know...I'm just a little more cautious. I appreciate you keeping me on my toes though, that's what professionals do.
I do think aerobic exercise is one of the best exercises because of all the health benefits. If ppl do it with weight training and change their diet, they will become healthier and lose weight...which is what we all want to accomplish.