3 Rules to Burn Fat and Lose Weight

Cardiovascular Exercise
Cardiovascular (aerobic) exercise has been the key to effective fat burn. A fitness program with the main goal of achieving weight loss must include at least three weekly cardio workouts. This means 20 to 30 minutes of any high-intensity physical activity that gets your heart to beat at a rate that’s 60 to 90 percent of your average heart rate. Its not important what you do, as long as it increases your heart rate and exercises the major muscles of your lower body in a continuous, rhythmic fashion. Activities such as brisk walking, jogging, riding a bicycle, swimming and jumping rope all qualify as aerobic exercise and should be incorporated into your weekly fat-burning regimen.

Strength Training
Often the neglected one, strength training is as important as aerobic and cardio for a healthy weight loss. When you lift weights, you challenge your body against some form of resistance, and when done right, your muscles will adapt and grow stronger as they anticipate a progressively more difficult workout.

This muscle growth will take the form of a sculpted and more toned physique, and unless taken to an extreme, will usually not materialize into big and bulky muscles. Lifting weights also increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR), which will help you burn more calories and fat, even when you are not exercising!

Stretching, Flexing and Adequate Resting
People often tend to neglect stretching altogether before climbing on to a treadmill – big mistake!! It is extremely important to stretch and flex your muscles before any kind of rigorous exercise, to avoid hurting them. Stretching improves performance, balance and speed of motion, allowing you to perform more work in less time.

Interspersing some stretching exercises into an otherwise strength training routine keeps you moving between sets, adding to the overall caloric consumption of your workout. Yoga, with its unique blend of stretching and strengthening exercises, has gained unprecedented popularity as a counterpart to an exercise program And don’t forget to give your body some well-deserved rest! Remeber, your muscles need time to recover and regrow after a day of intense strength training, and a day of rest is essential for every muscle group.

Achieving healthy weight loss by burning fat is not an unattainable dream. it just takes some patience, perseverence, and a well laid-out fitness plan that incorporates 5 days of exercise per week, with equal dedication to Cardio, Strength-training, and Stretching, followed by 2 days of rest. If you follow these 3 simple golden rules to achieve fat loss, you will do good to your body, which will then return the favor by burning more fat!