There are multiple factors to be considered in developing an exercise program that promotes your fitness goals. The most important is determining your primary objective for exercising. Are you trying to build muscle mass? Do you want to build muscle strength? Is your goal to lose weight? This decision sets the course of your fitness or exercise program.
If your main goal is to lose weight, you will need to develop an exercise program that will burn the maximum number of calories possible. Your program should include 30 to 60 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 to 4 days per week and resistance training also 3 to 4 days per week. The manner in which you implement the two programs is completely up to you. You can perform aerobic exercise on alternate days with the resistance training. As an alternative, you can combine the aerobic exercise and resistance training together. This is known as circuit training.
Circuit training is resistance training with almost no recovery time in between sets and/or exercises. To create a circuit training program, devise an exercise regiment that includes 10 to 15 weight training maneuvers. Perform each exercise for 8 to 15 repetitions. Since your goal is weight loss, you can perform 1 to 3 sets for each exercise. Do not rest for more than 30 seconds between sets. When you complete one exercise, move on to the next exercise with a rest interval of 30 seconds or less. This will keep your body in an aerobic condition and will strengthen and tone your muscles at the same time.
Losing weight is a difficult and often daunting task. But it is feasible. Your body will respond to the exercise if you remain dedicated and don’t give up. The program you devise should require you to exercise at least 5 days a week for 30 to 60 minutes each session. Your body burns the calories circulating in your body after 8 minutes of continuous exercise that raises your heart rate (aerobic exercise). After the initial 8 minutes, your body begins to burn the fat stores in the body for energy. The longer you keep your heart rate elevated and your body moving, the more calories you will burn. The resistance training maintains an elevated rate of caloric burn for up to 17 hours. So not only does it strengthen and tone your body, but it facilitates weight loss, too.