Thursday, February 19, 2015

Getting Healthy- Diabetes Edition: Cardio VS Strength Training

Cardio VS. Strength Training


Okay, you’ve started eating healthier.  Now What?  Well you need to get some exercise right?  Yep!  You not only need cardio but resistance, strength training as well. 

What’s the difference between Aerobic and Anaerobic activity?
My doctor’s recommendation is to aim for at least 30 minutes of activity a day, 5 days a week.  You might find yourself saying Holy Crap!  But don’t fret, it’s not as bad as you may think.  The key word here is “activity!”  Some call it cardio others call it aerobic activity.  You and do anything your little heart desires as long as it raises your heart beat and gets you moving!  Aerobic activity uses fat energy!

As long as the activity is “repetitive, long and hard enough to challenge your heart and lungs, and is over 20 minutes in duration,” it can be considered aerobic activity according to Bamboo Care Fitness! There are all kinds of things you can do to raise your heart beat and stay active.  You can garden, walk, swim, play outdoor games, work on your hobby or even clean the house.  Anything that requires you to get up, move, and not be sedentary!  The key to activity is to get up and move!

Now when it comes to anaerobic activity, there are tons of ways to get your body working.  This kind of activity is also called resistance or strength training.  It’s any form of exercise that uses carbohydrates as its energy source.  When you work your muscles and eat protein, it promotes muscle growth! 

The 2 MUST Do's here are:


Build Muscle

Eat Protein


You can increase your muscle mass simply by being involved in activities that use your muscles.  It can be natural exercise movements, flexibility movements like yoga or stretching and resistance training like lifting weights which build testosterone which is a hormone that burns fat!  Just get moving and move those muscles!


According to an article at Fox News, just by consuming 20-30 grams of protein a day you could increase your lean muscle and reduce your body fat percentage!  So a high protein diet is a must to help fuel your muscles for fat burning! Did you know that it’s said 1 pound of fat is approximately anywhere from 2900-3800 calories!  (Zoeharcombe.com). While only 1 pound of muscle is approximately only 600 calories!  Wow, that is a huge, huge difference.  So that’s why I say it is imperative that anyone trying to lose weight and especially body fat needs to build muscle!  
e



No comments:

Post a Comment