Stop obsessing about calorie counting when exercising!
Why?
Well, it’s all about basic simple science.
So, you ate a 1000 calorie cheeseburger for lunch. You head to the gym and do your regular workout. You’re breathing hard and the sweat is running.
“Should have burned the thing off by now!” you think. But the calorie counter on the machine says you only burned 500 calories.
“Rats!” you say, “I’m doomed”
Wrong! You did good!
The first thing to know is that many of the calorie burners on these machines tend to be inaccurate for one thing.
In this Livestrong.com article, we discovered that:
Determining a good calorie burn for a workout isn’t easy because of the inaccuracy of machines. Machines, such as ellipticals, can be off as much as 25 to 30 percent either way, says John Porcari, a professor of exercise and sport science at the University of Wisconsin in La Crosse, as reported in the “Los Angeles Times.”
And that’s not just the half of it.
Most of you probably don’t know that the body keeps metabolizing – AFTER YOU STOP THE WORKOUT!
This simply means that you are still burning those calories off long after you quit the gym, or put the bike away.
The fancy science term is known as EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption).
In this informative article, “How to Burn Calories After You Work Out”, we found out why this is so.
How body continues to breakdown calories is as follows:
The equation is simple: the harder you work out, the more energy your body needs to recover—and that means you’re burning more calories.
It’s also true that different types of exercise trigger this effect. But, the good news is that you don’t have to kill yourself at the gym or add extra training time.
For example, Ryan shows us some highly effective exercises you can do at home that will help you burn calories all day:
This means that when you thought you had only just burned off 500 calories form that awesome cheeseburger, you are likely burning off a bunch more calories while relaxing at home.
And, you’re still burning them off when you hit the sack.
So, don’t despair and just ignore those gym machine calorie counters. Just do your workout and relax knowing that know those calories are still melting off long after you leave the gym.
But, there is a bit of a catch for this to work I’m sorry to say.
The key to a successful exercise routine is to include very short bursts of intense exercise such as 5 intense periods of 30 second burst followed by several minutes of moderate periods.
Here’s some more food for thought – pardon the bad pun!
You may think the more calories you burn during a workout the better, but the quality of your workouts is really what counts toward your fitness and health goals.
An emphasis on calorie burn as a measure of the effectiveness of your workout is actually quite shortsighted and may undermine your goals.
From the article above, the best way to approach a workout is by:
It’s easier to approach a workout when you know what you want to achieve, and a basic knowledge of your body lets you understand how best to reach your goals. Different training methods will give you different results. If you want to burn fat, then you need to tailor your workout in a different way than if you want to build flexibility, for example
The other thing to keep in mind is that during the day there may be many other routine ways that you are also burning calories. Check our article on the “10 Best Mental Hacks for Achieving Your Fitness Goals” to get started.
It could be simple things such as walking to the corner store, or doing some housework around the homestead, or puttering outside.
And, it also depends on your height and weight and current fitness levels. Different people burn calories at different rates.
You’d also be surprised at how many calories you burn by doing an assortment of routine recreational physical activities such as bowling, dancing, golfing or even Yoga.
If you think I’m just blowing hot air, this is direct from the knowledgeable folks at the MAYO Clinic in their Healthy Lifestyle Weight Loss article, so I’m inclined to be a believer.
I’m sorry to say that you can’t burn off the cheeseburger sitting at your desk.
But, if you are overweight and not fit to begin with, then start by taking the time to get a few brisk walks each week. Remember to swing those arms because that also adds to the calorie burn off.
Every journey to becoming fit and losing weight begins with taking that first step.
You can also find out you can improve your health by discovering how food acidosis affects your body.
Certain foods are more acidic than others and the body needs a certain pH level. Too much acid makes the body unhealthy.
Another great way to lose weight is by learning to eat healthy.
There are certain supplements such Alkalete byYoli, and you can read our “Yoli Diet Review” here as that can also help you reach your weight goals.
The best news is that method even allows for cheat days where you can still eat what you might consider the FORBIDDEN FOODS!
We all cheat and that’s okay!
