One pound of fat contains 3500 calories (or 1 kilogram of fat contains around 7800 calories). So it is quite clear that in order to shed those pounds you need to burn more calories. Unfortunately in this hectic lifestyle, it is quite difficult to spend more time at the gym so that you can burn more calories. Many people don't even have the time to workout for an hour every other day. The best alternative method is to burn more calories in the same period of time. But how is this possible?
If you have tried to lose weight, you would know the frustration that kicks in when the pounds are not being dropped at the pace that you like. Well worry no more; we have got you some awesome tips that will help you to drop those pounds faster and push through plateaus.
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Drink cold water: Drinking cold water before and during exercise can help improve your endurance. A study conducted in the UK revealed that cyclists who drank chilled drink were able to bike 23 percent longer than riders who drank warm liquids. The subjects claimed that they felt more comfortable while riding and felt more energetic. Drinking cold water may help bring your core body temperature down, so it takes you longer to heat up and slow down.
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Keep moving: Many of us at the gym do a particular exercise and then rest for a while until we go to the next one. Why not utilize that time as well and keep moving instead of sitting in a place. Swing your arms, drum your fingers, bounce your knees and you may burn more calories than before.
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Play some music: A study published by the Brunel University revealed that listening to fast pumping music when working out can help you to increase your endurance by 15 percent and burn more calories. The synchronous application of music results in much higher endurance while the motivational qualities of the music have a significant impact on the interpretation of fatigue symptoms, so you feel more positive even when you are working out at a very high intensity. So pop in those headphone and pump it up!
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Weight lifting: Weight lifting can result in your body burning calories even after workout. A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that women who completed an hour-long strength-training workout burned an average of 100 more calories in the 24 hours afterward than they did when they hadn't lifted weights. This is enough to lose around 2 kg (around 4.5 pounds) fat in a year. This is because weight lifting is a very strenuous activity that causes a protein breakdown in the muscles. The repairing of these muscles require the body to spend more energy and burn more calories.
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Circuit training: Instead repeating the same sets 2 or 3 time, you should do one set of one type of exercise and then immediately move on the different set of different exercise type. This is called circuit training. It can result into more calories burnt after workout as your heart rate stays elevated longer after circuit training.
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Hit the road: Instead of spending 30 minutes inside a sweaty gym, head outside for a walk/run. This not only will spice up your workout but it will result in a faster weight loss. How? You may ask. Researchers have found that you burn 10 percent more calories when you walk or run outdoors than when you do on a treadmill at the same speed. This is because when you run/walk on natural grounds, your body has to use more energy to propel itself. Even better way to burn more calories is to walk/run uphill. This will surely drop those pounds fast.
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Swing arms while walking: Swinging your arms properly will give you a better aerobic workout and help you burn up to 10 percent more calories. It will also engage more muscles while walking. Bend your arms at the elbow at a 90-degree angle and swing them toward the center of your body.
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Interval training: Interval training can radically boost your calorie burn in an average workout. Instead of running at a steady pace for your entire workout, mix in short bouts of sprints. An Australian study found that people who did 20 minutes of interval training (8 seconds of high intensity exercises and 12 seconds of low intensity exercise) 3 times a week slimmed down faster than people who exercised longer at a steady pace.
As you can see, you don't have to increase your time spent at the gym to burn more calories. All you need is a more focused effort and the above tips to achieve your weight loss goals.
