Exercising to Lose Weight

Sorry I've taken so long to post! We've been out of town for the past 5 days and I haven't had access to a computer! Let's jump right in to answering Jen's question about the best exercises to lose weight. The best exercises to achieve weight loss are going to be cardiovascular exercises. These should be weight bearing exercises such as walking, jogging, swimming, etc. If you're just getting started on an exercise program, start slow. Lots of people want to jump in full force which will lead to overtraining injuries (such as pulled muscles) Let's say you're going to go with walking to start off your exercise program, you need to make sure that you are working and not just out for a Sunday stroll (although a Sunday stroll is better than nothing at all!) To gauge your intensity, use the talk test: if you can carry on a light conversation while exercising, then you are in a good intensity range. Once your speech starts to break, slow, or cause discomfort, you’re working too hard and you might want to take it down a notch. This test is easy to use while you're exercising. If you are on a machine that tells you your heart rate calculating your target heart rate (where your body burns calories most efficiently) will tell you if you are exercising at the right intensity. To calculate your target heart rate subtract your age from 220. For example, if you're 25, 220-25= 195. 195 is your maximum heart rate(the max number your heart beats per minute). You would then multiply 195 by 70% (.70) to get your target heart rate -->  195x70%=136.5 (137) So if you are 25 years old your target heart rate is 137 beats per minute. Try to exercise at your target heart rate for at least 20 minutes of your workout. It is important not to exercise over your maximum heart rate because you are making your heart work too hard which can cause potential problems.