New to starting a fitness routine? Don’t worry, we’ve got the answers to your most frequently asked fitness questions.
1. What type of cardio is best for fat loss?
There is a lot of debate over whether low or high intensity training is better for fat loss... so which is it?
While high-intensity exercise, like sprinting/running, pushes your heart rate closer to its max and therefore burns more calories in comparison to low-intensity exercise, like walking, both are excellent ways to achieve fat loss.
Doing either on a regular basis leads to healthier hearts, stronger bones, and lower body weights. The key difference between the two is how many calories you are burning per minute of exercise.
What’s most important is finding something that you can stick to!
2. What diet should I follow?
There’s no doubt that your nutrition plays a huge role in your fitness goals, whether that be to gain muscle mass or lose weight.
So it’s no surprise that we’re always looking for the best possible diet to achieve our goals. There is no shortage of diet options to choose from either (keto, vegan, intermittent fasting… the list is endless).
But which one should you follow?
The thing is, all of these diets have the potential to work. Truth be told, you can even lose weight eating only junk food (just not a lot). “Diets” are inherently temporary, as many of them are so restrictive that sustaining them probably aren’t realistic.
The real question is, what diet are you going to stick with? What diet are you going to be able to carry out for a lifetime? The real solution to achieve your goals is to find a balanced, non-restrictive eating plan that is realistic.
Because without consistency, without sustainability, you’ll be right back where you originally started.
3. Do I need to workout everyday?
The simple answer: no! If you’re performing moderate or vigorous physical activity at the gym, rest days are essential. The recommendation is at least 1-2 days of rest each week; it’s unrealistic for your body to undergo strenuous activity day in and day out.
However, this does not mean that you should be sedentary during your rest days. While breaks between planned exercises are needed, general physical activity (such as walking, foam rolling, or stretching) can and should be done on a daily basis!
4. How long should I workout for?
Forget the notion that you need to be at the gym for hours to achieve results. Especially when you’re beginning your fitness journey, slow and steady wins the race: the length of your workout will largely depend on your fitness level.
If you’re looking for a specific amount of hours you should be exercising each week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity as well as two muscle-strengthening activities each week. Ensuring that you’re hitting these guidelines is a great way to keep your health in check; of course, if you go beyond these recommendations, you'll gain even more health benefits.
However, if you’re just starting out and are not yet able to reach this benchmark, don’t worry! We all have to start somewhere.
5. What exercises should I do to lose weight?
Whether it’s lifting, playing a sport, running, or even walking, any form of physical activity can help facilitate weight loss.
That being said, adding strength training into your routine can help increase lean muscle mass, subsequently boosting your metabolism. So the more muscle tone that you have, the more calories you burn on a daily basis.
6. What are the benefits of a trainer?
As with any realm of expertise, working with a fitness professional gives you access to their knowledge base. They’re able to educate you on all aspects of health, exercise, and fitness, and are able to create appropriate programs catered for your goals.
Furthermore, having a trainer provides accountability: if you’ve made an appointment to meet your trainer for a session, then you are far more likely to follow through.
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Have questions about exercise or nutrition? Email me at josephine@kenmethod.com. Just let me know you read this article and I'll get back to you within 24 hours.
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