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Exercise to Burn Calories

by Ashley Staker on July 25, 2009

It is recommended that a weight loss program should include an exercise program for it to be a success. The Medifast diet is no different. Like most diet programs, Medifast encourages you to exercise as this helps us burn calories.

Exercise helps us lose weight in two different ways.

1. It makes our body muscles to work more.
2. It enlarges our muscle tissue which raises our metabolic rate or the amount of calories we burn while resting. This is because muscle is more metabolically active than body fat. Physical activity then leads to immediate calorie expenditure during a particular workout, and also helps us to continue burning extra calories even when our fitness routine is over.

There are two basic types of exercise:

1. Aerobic

Aerobic exercises refer to physical workouts that require oxygen to be delivered to the muscles via the lungs and blood supply over an extended period. Aerobic activities are typically sustained for a period of time, rather than short bursts of effort. Aerobic training is also referred to as “cardio” exercise because it strengthens the cardiovascular (heart) and respiratory (lungs) systems

Examples of aerobic exercises include walking, jogging, swimming, jumping rope, rowing as well as general sports like football and tennis Aerobic training is the best activity to engage in if you want to instantly burn calories.

2. Anaerobic

Anaerobic exercise refers to fitness routines that don’t rely on oxygen for fuel. Anaerobic workouts typically involve short bursts of energy which are powered by non-oxygen fuel sources such as adenosine triphosphate and glycogen stored in the muscles.

Examples of anaerobic exercises include weight-lifting. Anaerobic training is the best type of activity to engage in if you want to raise metabolic rate and increase “longer-term calorie expenditure.”

It is recommended that you consult with a fitness professional when you structure your program. The ideal calorie-burning training program involves a combination of both the aerobic and anaerobic exercises. As a rough guide, if you are doing a 60-minute workout, divide your program into approximately 40 minutes cardio and 20 minutes weight-training. Alternatively, you can also do aerobics one day and weights the next.

It is recommended that you eat three to four hours prior to engaging in any type of exercise. Choose those which are low in fat and high in carbohydrates as this would help you burn fat at an optimal level as well as give you the necessary energy to enable you to exercise for up to one hour at a time. Some good examples would be breakfast cereal, fruit, yogurt, fruit juice, bread, pasta and rice. It would be best to avoid fried food and other high-fat options.

During exercise, it is advisable to drink water instead of sports drinks as these drinks typically have a high calorie content. Sports drinks are not required unless you are exercising vigorously for more than one hour at a time.

After exercise, refuel your energy stores with a high-carbohydrate, low-fat meal again. For those who do not feel like eating after exercising, it is recommended that you stay away from any form of exercise within 12 hours unless you have replenished your energy stores with sufficient carbohydrate. If you don’t recharge your energy stocks correctly, you will end up too tired to do any exercise at all.

Keep eating and drinking, but choose high-carbohydrate foods and plenty of water. Here are some Medifast diet coupons which you can use.

Working Medifast Coupons

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