Is it possible to burn more fat with low intensity workouts? Are crunches the answer to shedding belly fat? And will pumping iron make a woman bulky? You may be surprised by the answers to these commonly asked exercise questions.
1) "Crunches Will Get Rid of Belly Fat"
Losing belly fat requires an equal combination of things: correct nutritional intake, cardio and resistance training. Research has shown that weight training actually burns a substantial amount of fat. An increase in muscle tissue results in an increase in calories expended.
As far as cardiovascular training, alternating between intervals of low- and high-intensity exercise has shown to speed up metabolism. Lastly, the best exercise routine will get you nowhere without considering nutrition. A healthy diet plus a great exercise routine is by far the best way to lose belly fat.
2) “Lifting Weights Will Make a Woman Bulky”
Resistance training is just as important for women as it is for men. Many women are afraid that participating in weight lifting will cause them to develop a masculine body frame. Naturally, women don’t produce as much testosterone (one of the main hormones responsible for increasing muscle size) as men.
For a woman to develop a bulky or masculine body, she would have to have an intense workout regime along with consumption of drug supplement. Resistance training alone can’t bulk up a woman like it does a man.
3) “Low-Intensity Exercise Burns More Fat”
A common belief about exercise is that low-intensity aerobic training will use more fat as an energy source and accelerate the loss of body fat. This is partially true, in that a higher proportion of the calories burned during low-intensity exercise come from fat. However, during high-intensity exercise, the body burns more calories from fat in total.
For example, 30 minutes of low-intensity aerobic exercise (50 percent of maximum exercise capacity), burns approximately 200 calories. About 120 of those calories, or 60 percent, come from fat.
However, exercising for the same amount of time at a high intensity (i.e., 75 percent of your maximal exercise capacity) burns approximately 400 calories, and 35 percent of them, or 140 calories, will come from stored fat.
