Is Cross Training the Key to Weight Loss?
By making routines, we give ourselves a sense of order to living in a seemingly disorganized world. In the realm of health and fitness, especially in weight loss, this can be a counterproductive practice. Doing the same exercises over and over has been shown to lead to plateaus decreasing desirable results. Moreover, without varying weight loss regimens, it tends to get boring before we can even see results.
Repeatedly performing the same exercises repeatedly makes the body more efficient. Eventually, this results in lower energy expenditures, which is not a good thing for weight loss, and research shows that caloric expenditure may drop to as low as 25% when following the same program over and over again. This is a one of the big stumbling blocks when it comes to weight loss. Cross training was developed by fitness professionals to cut exercise plateaus and boredom which is detrimental to weight loss.
Essentially, cross training is a way to mix of different exercise activities creating a varying exercise program and its success lies in concept of adaptation. This means that the body has familiarized itself to a certain type of exercise after some time. By varying your weight loss routines, you are basically surprising your body and it responds by using more energy, which helps in weight loss, in an attempt to adjust to the new exercise program. For example, playing soccer and running for extended periods of time will make your body sore the next day and as you play more, time and again, it gets easier to adjust feeling sore the next day gets lesser and lesser.
Instead of spending 30 minutes on a treadmill every time you go to a gym, hop on an exercise bike for 15 minutes, and spend the next 15 minutes on a stair climber. Another way of cross training for weight loss is to go swimming on one day and then do weight training the next day. Gyms today have a wide-ranging choice of group exercise classes specifically designed for weight loss making cross training a cinch.
Scientific studies have shown that most people reach a plateau after the sixth and eighth week of their exercise program. Making sure to change your exercise routines, especially for weight loss, here and there ensures workout efficiency and it helps prevent boredom. Taking out the routine when training for weight loss, you can obtain positive results which keeps you engaged in your workouts. After all, trying out new things from time to time is the way to spice up your life.
Recent Comments: