Oxygen is important to sustaining life so it is natural that in order for something to grow (whether gaining muscle or losing weight) you need oxygen. When doing exercises, people know they should breather properly but never really bother to learn why it is important thus they continue to breathe normally. If you have ever used a heart monitor while running on a machine, you will see your estimated heartbeat. On that machine, you should also see a chart that will tell you the proper range you should be in. If you are drastically above that rate then I can guarantee you that you are breathing incorrectly. When you breathe properly, you will be able to run longer and focus more. Why? Breathing pushes out the carbon dioxide in your body and the oxygen enriches your cells oxygenating your blood. It is like a burst of energy actually. Also if you notice that faint feeling while running it is more than likely do to your breathing. You are over working your body if you are not breathing correctly. So try this while running, Breathe in during the first 3 steps of your run and exhale on the last 2 steps. Literally breathe like this, left, right, left, exhale right, left. It will be hard at first but you will see how easy it is. You will be in control of your breathing and not your breathing in control of you.
Breathing is important also during weight lifting and intense cardio exercises like jumping jacks and core routines. When lifting or pushing the weight, you should breathe in before you lift or push the weight and exhale when you lift or push that weight. Think of it as driving. When you want the car to move, you pull it out of park and press the gas pedal to make the car move. When you want to move some weight, especially heavy weight, you take a nice deep breath and blow it out when lifting or pushing.
Just think back to when you are doing house work like moving furniture. You probably never thought about it but you took a deep breath and exhaled on the pushing of that heavy couch or dresser didn’t you?
Last tip that you probably never thought about, proper oxygen balance in the body will help you lose weight. Water and Oxygen work together to burn fat. In order for this to happen you need to be doing some form of physical activity and an increase in your water intake has to happen. You thought it was going to be easy huh, just drink water and sit there. LOL, no you have to do some form of physical activity to oxygenate your body. Your body wants to get rid of things but it will hold on to any form of water if it doesn’t have anything to excrete. So hydrate yourself properly with water and get to moving. Help your body use its fat as an energy source.
Posts Tagged ‘Fitness’
The importance of Oxygen
Posted: July 16, 2014 in MotivationTags: Breathe, Breathing, Burn, Fat, Fitness, Healthy, Weight. Weight Loss
Want to lose weight? Lift weights!
Posted: July 7, 2013 in FitnessTags: exercise, Fitness, HIIT, weight loss
Cardio exercises are important. You will burn calories consistently whether you walk or run. However, if you want to tone you should add resistance training to that cardio workout. Exercises such as lunges, squats, leg lifts and 90 degree leg curls with just your body weight alone can increase the way your body burns fat. When you add dumbbells to your workout routine some people can burn up to 50% more calories in their workout. It is also important to tone as you lose weight. Weight training will build stronger muscles, stronger connective tissues and improves the stabilization of your joints. You don’t have to go hard and heavy to reap the benefits of weight training but you must push yourself. If you don’t challenge your body you won’t see the change you want to see. The next time you are at the gym try this. Try a HIIT run on the elliptical or the treadmill for 10 – 15 mins. Get that heart rate up. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) you see these workouts used in the videos P90x and Insanity. For 10 – 15 mins, you go as hard as you can on these machines. Of course walk it out or jog it out slowly if it becomes too much for you but you don’t stop. You keep going until your 10 – 15 mins are up. You should be hot and sweaty, if you aren’t a sweater than you most certainly should be hot. Get you some water and head straight to the weights. I do a total body weight training session each time I go to the gym. I start with my arms since I just got off a machine that used my legs. On each arm machine I will do 8 – 10 reps and 4 sets. Breathing and your form is important in these exercises. Breathing will help you push it out when your arms get tired and form will help you isolate your biceps, triceps, shoulders and avoid injury. Then I will go to my legs, I do the leg press, both curls, again 8 – 10 reps with 4 sets. I will do the crunches with the weights after the legs. I do as many crunches as my body will allow me to. I don’t count those. Then last weight machines will be for my back. I do 8 – 10 reps with 4 sets. If I still have energy after all of that (which I usually do) I had over to the floor exercise area and do squats, lunges and an abdominal workout that usually kills my body for the rest of the day. The amount of calories I burn during this type of workout is estimated at 1100 – 1400 cals ( I am usually in the gym for 2.5hrs)
WEMAFIT 