Thursday, January 27, 2011

Perfect Weight America: Component 6: Get FIT For Your Perfect Weight


We all know we should exercise, but "knowing" the good we ought to do, and actually doing it are two totally different things! Back in the days of farming and pre-industrialization, exercise wasn't something you needed to plan into your Palm Pilot, because your life centered around physical exertion.

Nowadays, we do need to schedule exercise into our hectic lives, because it is often the first thing to go when things get crazy! (In addition to healthy eating!)

But if you want to reach your perfect weight this year (don't give up on your resolutions yet) or simply extend your lifespan and stay healthy, with less colds & flu, then you'll want to plan on getting some good exercise in.

The good news is that it does not have to take long! In Perfect Weight America, Jordan Rubin advocates a specific type of fat-burning, strength enhancing exercise called Functional Interval Training.

Now, this is one chapter of the book (chapter 9) that you really need to read for yourself, as Rubin confronts some commonly held beliefs about what fitness is truly beneficial, and specifically, which kind causes you to lose weight.

On page 156 of Perfect Weight America, Jordan Rubin says:

"Engaging in intense workouts designed to deplete oxygen stores will cause the body to switch on the fat-burning cells. In other words, the standard "cardio" exercises- that is, walking on a treadmill like a mind-numbed robot for forty-five minutes- are somewhat helpful; however, intense oxygen-depriving anaerobic exercise does two important things to help you lose weight:

Anaerobic exercise increases the percentage of calories and fat burned as compared to the percentage of carbohydrates burned.
Anaerobic exercise raises your metabolic rate, which helps you burn even more calories when you're at rest.

So what is the difference between anaerobic & aerobic exercise? Well, Rubin defines anaerobic exercise on page 158 by saying,

"Anaerobic exercise causes the body to make energy without oxygen because the demand for energy is so fast and huge that the body must create it from numerous body chemicals."

Here are some examples of aerobic exercise:
  • Aerobic classes
  • Bicycling
  • Dancing
  • Golfing
  • Soccer
  • Walking
  • Basketball
  • Volleyball
  • Tennis
Here are some examples of fat-burning anaerobic exercise:
  • Lifting weights
  • Using strength-training machines such as Nautilus and Hoist
  • Jumping rope or jumping on a rebounder
  • Sprinting
  • Working the body's core muscles through the use of functional exercises with rubber bands, stability balls, medicine balls, and kettleballs
For more on how to create the perfect fat-burning, FIT workout just for you, read the Perfect Weight America book!

1 comment:

Heather's Blog-o-rama said...

Yeah, excercise has definitely fallen by the wayside in my home. So I'm going to get back itno my dancing workout videos. I LOVE dancing..so maybe this will work better, since it's actually fun :) :) We'll see :) :) Thanks for sharing this :) Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)