Monday, August 4, 2008

Your Heart Will Help Your Weight Loss

By Doughnut Hugger


Home is where your heart is. That old adage applies to the poetic meaning of heart and the physical meaning of heart. Your heart is the key to losing weight and having a happier home.

The ever-resent diet pill has been touted as something that makes weight loss possible without exercise. This is the biggest lie in advertising today. Without exercise, even in the smallest form, there can be no weight loss.

In America, the average amount wanted to lose is 20 pounds. These people are the people who have been trying to work out but have not been successful in keeping their goal met after they are done with the diet. Exercise, eating right and self-control will get those 20 pounds gone for good.

Moving around a bit more than usual and eating right will not lose a person those extra 20 pounds. Cardio and aerobic exercises increase blood and oxygen flow and adrenaline and muscle growth. In order to lose that weight, these are what are truly needed.

Cardio exercises are those that are performed with the heightening of the heart rate in mind. The ideal heart rate for optimal exercise is 220 minus your age times 75%. An example would be, a person who is aged 40 would have an optimal heart rate of 135 beats per minute because: 220-40=180*.75=135.

It is difficult to check your pulse while exercising. You can do it by holding your wrist just above the thumb and counting the beats for fifteen seconds and then multiplying that by four. Another, easier way is by purchasing a small device that can either wrap around your index finger or neck.

The heart rate isn't the only way to determine if your exercise is at the level you need it to be. If you cannot speak to a companion while working out, then you are working too hard. If you can hold a conversation but you are not working up a sweat, then your workout is too weak.

As long as you are working up a sweat of some kind, then you are working your heart, this is the difference between cardio and aerobic exercises. In aerobic exercises, gardening and cycling are considered the same type of exercise. Getting your heart pumping is the key to aerobic exercises.

Aerobic ideals are that a good work out is about 10-20 minutes a day. If you are looking to lose more than just slim down, then about 30-40 minutes is recommended. Working out every day for hours on end is not necessary to reach your goals.

With aerobic exercises, a person can lose that average 20 pounds quickly depending upon the amount of time spent exercising. It is wise to allow yourself, if you have not been active in the last couple of years, at least a year to lose that weight. Also, if there exists heart problems or another physical problem that may be effected by exercise, it is wise to take it easy at first.

A medical professional should be consulted before starting any new programs like exercise. Your medical professional will know exactly the amount of exercise that is good for you. This professional will also be able to give you a list, both cardio and aerobic, of exercises that will be most beneficial to your health.

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