How To Burn Calories Simply By RESTING!
Anyone who has been in the fitness world runs into the question about weight loss quite a bit. People want to know the best way to lose weight, especially when people want to be Fit After 50!
Being in the “Fitness Over 50” crowd, I often hear phrases like: “Your metabolism slows after age 50”. “I just don’t burn calories like I used to” “What’s the easiest way to lose weight?”
Of course, the easiest answer is to just say, “Burn more calories than you take in”. Most people are satisfied with this answer, but not me. I want to make sure people understand what I believe to be a BETTER answer!
So, let’s dig a little deeper into this topic, shall we?
It goes without saying that it’s easier to take in calories than it is to burn calories, right? So, if we look at it that way, the natural progression for the next type of question would be “what is the best way to burn calories?”
But if we are looking for a way to burn the most amount of calories, then we have to look beyond the workout, right? We need to look at what happens AFTER the workout is over, during your resting time. Does that make sense?
Now, before I go on, I want to make sure it’s understood that I believe ANY kind of physical activity is better than NO activity, ok?
Let’s look at two basic kinds of workout activities, both of them are good for you. Both will make you fit and both are used by millions of people around the world. But remember our question… what burns the MOST amount of calories?
I’m sure I’ll catch some flack from this one, but everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I’ll give you mine.
The two activities are a cardio workout and a weights/resistance workout, so let’s compare the two in terms of calorie burning.
If you give a solid, honest 1 hour effort for each workout, research has shown that the cardio type of workout actually burns more calories than the resistance type workout…DURING THE WORKOUT ITSELF!
Another factor is WHAT kind of cardio workout….HIIT, Intervals, Fartlek, etc. Notice I did NOT say “steady state cardio”. Yes, that’s a good workout, but we are talking which workouts burn the most calories.
BUT, not so fast, the weights/resistance workout may not burn as many calories DURING the workout, but will burn more calories for the next 24 hours or so, compared to just a few hours after a cardio workout. [there have been literally hundreds of studies to support this]
So, you’ll actually be burning MORE calories while your resting after a resistance type of workout.
But, (there’s always a but) here lies the problem with the weights type of workout…
Most people, especially beginners, don’t give a true honest effort because it’s “too hard”.
Another thing people do is spend WAY too much time doing nothing between sets, which causes the actual workout to be longer. This longer workout is less appealing to people so they don’t continue this type of workout.
Then, their only option is the cardio type of workout, which is still a good workout. Again, I’m not knocking a total cardio workout, I’m just comparing which workout burns the most, overall calories, ok?
If you want to ride the bike, walk, run, or do anything like that for an hour, I’m backing you 100%, and I’ll encourage you to do so.
BUT, to burn MORE TOTAL calories, a weights/resistance workout is the way to go…..IF you give it the full attention you should.
By full attention, I’m saying at the MOST, only rest a maximum of 2 minutes between sets. It should be a lot less, but I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt on this, assuming you NEED that kind of rest.
If you don’t know how to pace yourself with proper rest, I’ve actually written and outlined a basic, at home workout program which utilizes the little rest between sets concept. It’s called the “In and Out, Top to Bottom Fitness Program.” I’m actually quite proud of it, too!
So now, I’ll encourage you to make sure when you ask a trainer what the best way to lose weight, make sure the trainer gives more than just “you need to burn more calories than you consume.”
Hey, do you like what you’ve read? Would you like to read more? I do more than just write about fitness stuff. Check out the articles below.
