Best exercise for weight loss
It’s essential to combine exercise with a healthy diet if you want to lose weight. But what type of exercise is best?
Aerobic and Resistance training
For many people exercise means activities such as walking, jogging, cycling or swimming. However, these activities in fact mainly involve a type of exercise that’s called aerobic training. It involves using oxygen to burn glucose (sugar) or fat and create energy in your body. The longer you jog, the more you burn, which can help you lose weight.
Resistance training is a type of exercise that makes your muscles stronger. Muscles are made to work hard when they move a resistance force. Examples include lifting a heavy weight or doing a push up. It’s also called strength or weight training. Additional benefits include increased tone and size of muscles, improved balance and it burns some energy.
What to do
- Aerobic training is best for weight loss if you’re overweight or obese. The current recommendation is 5 hours/week of moderate-intensity exercise (e.g brisk walking, gentle swimming) or 2.5 hours/week of vigorous-intensity exercise (e.g aerobics, jogging).
- Resistance training can improve glucose control (which may help with diabetes) and reduce blood pressure. But when compared to aerobic training, it’s less effective for weight loss.
- A combination of aerobic and resistance training can also help with weight loss. Indeed, recent studies have found it‘s more effective compared to aerobic training alone. But more research is needed to confirm these findings. An example of combination training is: 15 minutes of jogging and 15 minutes of muscle strengthening, 5 days/week.
More information:
- Speak to your GP
- Visit www.exerciseismedicine.org.au
