Workout and Read – Why Mixing the Two is the Reason for Your Shape

People going to the health club with the latest edition of National Enquirer in hand to read while they do cardio workouts is a common sight in gyms everywhere. But despite the popularity of reading while working out, the gym is not a lounge that moves.

When performing cardio you will witness many who are simply reading, flipping through pages as if they are not doing any work at all. Their legs are moving, but if it was that easy to get rid of fat, we could sit on the sofa and do the same thing.

In order to burn fat, people need to let go of the idea of a fat-burning zone and focus on the main thing: burning as many calories as you possibly can in the shortest amount of time.
In the past, people have said that you must be at 65 percent of your heart rate maximum in order to burn a high percentage of fat. It is very true that low intensity cardio does burn a higher percentage of fat than high intensity does.

The problem with this logic is that if this was the case, then when we do nothing at all, which is the lowest of low intensity of cardio, we should be burning off fat. But we all know someone who is sitting down watching television or always sitting at a desk in the office… and they are not losing weight.

That is because the low intensity cardio does not burn as many calories as high intensity cardio.

High intensity cardio is the way to go to get a new leaner look. High intensity means alternating between a pace you can only keep up for one minute and then coming back down to a lower intensity pace for two minutes and repeating this five or six times. This means that you can finish a cardio workout in as little as 15 minutes.

High intensity cardio burns calories when you are doing the actual workout and also keeps your metabolism elevated for up to 24 hours. You gain an extra 15 percent of calories burned even after you have stopped working out.

Also when you think about achieving a body that burns calories all day long, the word that comes to mind is known as resting metabolic rate. Simply this is the rate that your body burns calories while at rest. Performing low intensity cardio does nothing for your resting metabolic rate. In fact, it’s been shown that too much of low intensity cardio can actually be detrimental to you increasing your resting metabolic rate. Often many will lose muscle while going on extreme weight loss plans that are targeted to get them quick results. High intensity cardio though specifically interval training is crucial not only if you’re going to increase your resting metabolic rate. An increase in your resting metabolic rate will lead to the ultimate goal of weight loss.

So keep your magazines at home, I promise they will not go anywhere. Continue to read them while you’re working out though and your fat won’t go anywhere either. Get involved in your high intensity cardio today.

Geovanni Derice is the founder of 4everToned, which is a home based personal training business in Brooklyn, New York. During his stint as a certified personal trainer, Derice has helped many frustrated men and women achieve bodies they only dreamed of until 4everToned. For more information see http://www.4evertoned.com and receive exclusive body changing tips instantly for a limited of time.

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