Exercises to lose weight quickly;
Boost your metabolism naturally

When it comes to exercises to lose weight quickly, strength training/resistance training is the answer. Strength training will boost metabolism naturally and burn more calories faster because healthy, strong, working muscles need a lot of energy. In other words, muscle burns more fat for fuel! This is why strength training and weight loss go hand-in-hand.

There are 4 types of exercise categories (cardiovascular, strength/resistance, flexibility and balance/coordination) - and they each help the body in different ways. Your body needs a combination of all types because they all do different things to keep you healthy and fit.

Cardiovascular exercise, such as aerobics, walking and bicycling also contribute to weight loss by helping our heart and lungs work better. That means better circulation of nutrients and oxygen to all the cells of the body, where energy production occurs. (That means fat and carb burning.) But adding strength/resistance exercises to your weekly lifestyle will contribute to faster weight loss that's stable.

"What is strength training?" one might ask. Isn't that what guys do for body building and get all muscle-bound? No, body building is a sport, just as weight lifting is a sport! In those cases, strength training is done very differently and with a completely different purpose.

The definition of strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, endurance and size of skeletal muscles. There are many different methods of strength training, the most common being the use of gravity or elastic/hydraulic forces to oppose muscle contraction, which is known as resistance training. The terms "strength training" and "resistance training" are often used interchangeably.

So the answer to the question, "What is resistance training?" is that it's a type of strength training that uses elastic (like resistance bands) or hydraulic forces (like weight machines).

The resistance could be in the form of hand-held or barbell type weights or anything with weight like a gallon of water, a elastic bands (resistance bands), the weight of your own body or the pull of gravity as you jump up and down on a mini-trampoline.

Examples of different strength exercises to lose weight quickly include:

• Weight machines, such as a Bowflex® machine, which strengthen different muscle groups depending on the exercises you do. My husband and I use a Bowflex® once or twice a week and I love it. The inches really started "melting off" after a few weeks of regular exercise - and it wasn't straining or grunting hard work.
• Resistance bands, which also strengthen different muscle groups. The picture shows a gal using one type of resistance bands plus an exercise ball, which is a large ball used for exercise that introduces an element of instability to exercise resulting in increased strength in the back and abdominal muscles; also called a Swiss ball, physio ball or stability ball.
• Swimming and water exercises are excellent exercises to lose weight quickly. Swimming is great cardiovascular exercise and the resistance of the water make swimming and water activities superb exercises to lose weight quickly
• Isometric muscle contraction: Isometric contraction is a type of strength training exercise where you contract and relax muscles, but don't move any joints. Squeezing your buns together is an example of isometric contraction. It's fast and simple and can be done practically anywhere, anytime. Find out more about isometric exercises at Fitness Made Fun.
• The Pilates exercise system includes a focus on strengthening the core, or torso muscles.
• In the U.S., the "Curves®" franchise is a gym with a 30 minute routine that combines strength training exercises for women with cardiovascular exercise. I've only heard excellent reviews of the system.
• My favorite form of exercise is mini-trampoline, or rebounding exercise. This gives me resistance, cardiovascular and flexibility exercise all together. It's extremely adaptable to any fitness level and it's very enjoyable... I turn on the music and bounce away!

This should get you headed in the right direction! When you engage in strength/resistance exercises to lose weight quickly, find exercises that you enjoy doing so you can stay motivated!

Cheers,
BB

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