Arushi Bidhuri
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Now that you have started your journey to effective weight loss, this begs the question what is the best way to burn excess fat? With so many exercises and diets out there, it can be overwhelming to find one that works for you. Everyone is created different and responds differently to things. The same goes for exercises!
To start on your journey to fitness, let's understand the difference between two types of exercises: aerobic and anaerobic! You might be able to find an answer by the end of this article.
Coach Niranjan Deshpande says, "Before even writing about which exercise is good for weight loss, it is important to address this assumption that exercise 'leads to' weight loss or some type of exercise is 'better' for weight loss. If that were true, every person who goes to the gym or for a morning walk would have lost weight. The calories you burn during exercise is not really the 'fat' being burned or weight being 'lost'."
He further explained that energy deficit over some period is what helps with fat or weight loss. You must burn more calories, while also eating slightly less for some period. This energy deficit forces your body to use stored body fat as an energy source.
Now, let us understand the role of exercise in weight loss. Coach Deshpande explains, "exercise enhances our physical capabilities to perform more, which also helps us to burn more calories, thus helping us create larger energy deficits - the only role of exercise in weight loss."
"Aerobic exercises are typically long duration, low intensity, low effort exercises which keep our heart rate steady and use oxygen for energy generation. They improve our heart's capacity to send oxygenated blood to working muscles for a long period of time- which we also refer to as stamina. A person who lacks stamina runs out of breath and has to stop the activity, thus lowering his capability to burn calories," he explains.
Further explaining what anaerobic exercise is, "Anaerobic exercises are typically short duration, high intensity, high effort movements which rapidly increase our heart rate and don't need oxygen for energy generation. These exercises help us build strength, speed, power and endurance, which allow us to build or retain muscles, thus contributing to higher metabolism. A person with poor strength will not be able to perform more 'work', will have a lower metabolism, thus lower capability to burn calories."
According to the fitness expert, the best exercise for weight loss will be a combination of 'aerobic' and 'anaerobic' that keeps your metabolism high, your muscles stronger and your heart healthy to perform an activity and do more 'work' for a long duration of time- which eventually will help you burn more calories to create more energy deficit for weight loss.