Health News and Scoops

It has been recommended and proven by many weight loss advisers and individuals that a combination of cardio and resistance training will help you lose weight faster and more effectively. You can either do resistance training on certain days of the week and cardio exercises during rest days; do cardio training in an earlier session and resistance training in a later session on the same training day; or do both cardio and resistance exercises in one workout session.

The fast burning of calories brought about by cardio exercises combined with increased and continuous metabolism caused by resistance training would surely make your weight loss program faster and more effective. The best way to integrate these two exercises would be to find the best program that fits your time, your resources, and your endurance. Here are three different programs you can consider:

Do resistance training on certain days of the week and cardio exercises during rest days

Especially if you are just a beginner, always be reminded that when you do resistance training, you must give time for your body to recover. Three to four times a week would make a great resistance training program for you to lose weight and build up muscles. What is important is that you do it on a regular basis and you follow a strict program on progression of frequency and resistance applied. To integrate cardio exercises on your resistance training program to lose weight better, you can perform cardio exercises on your rest days to allow yourself to build up the lost energy and worn out muscles from resistance training.

For example, if you wish to follow four-days-a-week resistance training program, you can group certain muscle exercises on one day, making the second, fourth, and sixth days of the week your rest days, thus your time to do cardio exercises. Consider the following program as an example:

• Day 1 – legs and calves resistance training, such as leg presses and calf raises

• Day 2 – slow-intensity cardio exercise, such as biking at slow pace and strolling

• Day 3 – back, abdomen, and chest resistance training, such dumbbell row, exercise ball crunch, and push ups

• Day 4 – slow intensity cardio exercise that you can progress to medium-intensity after a few weeks or months; example: brisk-walking, 30 to 45-minute medium-paced workout at the gym, and jogging

• Day 5 – triceps and biceps resistance training, such as dumbbell triceps extension and alternate dumbbell curl

• Day 6 – slow-intensity cardio exercise

• Day 7 – shoulder and abdomen, such as dumbbell press and machine abdominal crunch

For your resistance training program, you can also use multi-purpose equipment similar to Total Gym 3000 that addresses multiple muscle exercises. Other equipment you can also use for resistance training are dumbbells, barbells, benches, elastic bands, weighted vests, leg presses, and exercise balls.

Do cardio training in an earlier session and resistance training in a later session on the same training day

Especially if you work out in a crowded gym or with limited training equipment, this combination would be advisable if you have time to exercise in the morning and in the afternoon. This combination of cardio and resistance training involves cardio training in the morning and resistance training in the afternoon. Especially for beginners, it is advisable not to do both exercises simultaneously as all your energy may be exhausted on your first weight loss activity.

Cardio training is better done in the morning, especially when you have not taken a full meal as you are able to burn the calories and fats that have been stored overnight. Never do cardio exercises with an empty stomach, though, as you need energy to endure your training. As long as you have not fasted the previous day, you are sure to still have enough energy to undergo up to an hour of slow to medium-intensity cardio exercises in the morning. It is also particularly recommended to be performed after about thirty minutes of being awake as you need time to get yourself more active. Thirty minutes to one hour of running, biking, or brisk walking would do great to burn enough calories and stored fats and to enhance your metabolism for the day.

As you give your body enough time to rest and recoup some energy, you can perform resistance training in the afternoon. One hour is enough for resistance training to be effective in losing weight and at the same time to keep your muscles for overworking.

Do both cardio and resistance exercises in one workout session

This step begins with the usual ways to begin an exercise, which is to warm up. After warming up, you can start with a medium-intensity cardio exercise limited to 30-45 seconds only. This short period of exercise is important to keep your energy until you finish your workout for the day. After your first cardio exercise, you can move on with a particular resistance training exercise with the exact frequency and resistance applied, and then go back to cardio training. Repeat the sequence until you finish your workout for up to forty five minutes only to keep your body from overworking. Always cool down and do not forget to drink water and other fluids in between exercises to keep you hydrated during your workout.

There are other individuals who endure cardio exercises after long minutes of resistance training to lose weight faster. This method is definitely not the best nor is it recommended, since your body gets tired and weary after resistance training, usually resulting to increased risk of injuries and less effective cardio exercises. Again, the best way to combine cardio and resistance training exercises to effectively lose weight is to consider your time, resources, and endurance.

When perusing the isles of the local grocery store, many people check the nutritional label before throwing the item in the cart. Various people look for different things. Some people check the calorie count, and decide based on that factor alone. Others check fat content alone, or maybe fat and calories. Those who read a lot probably check calories from fat, fiber, and sugar content. Most people nowadays don’t have to read the nutrition label to know that there is “Zero Trans Fat!” in their item. When information about the negative health effects of trans fatty acids became known to the public, a craze began that worked quickly and efficiently: trans fatty acids were removed from foods if the supplier wanted to avoid bankruptcy, and legislation in many states made this change unavoidable. A linear correlation of grams of trans fatty acids and risk of coronary heart disease combined with no possible health benefits of trans fatty acids made the culprit officially “bad for you.” This is all well and good, but a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this week warns that those trans fatty acids have to be replaced somehow, and it is important that we understand what is replacing them.

When brands remove fatty acids from their products, something has to take their place. The study looked to research the compositions of popular foods by buying 19 items with a high trans fatty acid concentration, and 19 similar food items with a low concentration of trans fatty acids due to removal by the supplier (removal of trans fats means that the company who prepares the food uses different fats in place of trans fats when making the food). The researchers wanted to find out if removing trans fats was indeed beneficial to health. It was cautioned that perhaps by removing the trans fatty acids from a product, companies were just increasing saturated fatty acid content in its place, which is only minimally healthier. What they found was that thankfully, in most cases the trans fatty acids in popular foods were replaced with “a mixture of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.” This mixture was found to be healthier and not overloaded with saturated fatty acids.  For those of you who do not recall what that means, saturated fats are the most stable fatty acids because their molecular structure allows better packing (yep, fatty acids literally pack together as tightly as possible). The unsaturated variety have kinks in their molecular structure that makes packing more difficult, just like trying to stand close together in a group of people with your elbows out. Saturated fatty acids would be standing with your arms by your side, monounsaturated similar to one elbow out, and polyunsaturated similar to both elbows and a leg sticking out. You get the point, I think.

The conclusion? Well, the food industry actually hasn’t done a bad job in making sure the removal of trans fatty acids has not led to a similarly unhealthy option. Next time you look at the food label, check the composition of fats, and if you remember my analogy, go for the ones with the better fats. Avocados, peanut butter, nuts, all have these kinds.

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