subject: Running - The Most Productive Fat Burning Exercise [print this page] Exercising can prove beneficial in a variety of ways. Proper amounts of exercise can increase cardiovascular condition and reduce the potential for illness. And, of course, regular exercise can help burn off a lot of unwanted fat. And no, excess fat on the frame is never wanted! Most people would wish to get rid of it as soon as humanly possible. That is why they look for the best fat burning exercise they can find.
But, is discovering the best fat burning exercise an elusive process? Actually, it is a fairly simple one if you follow the research many sports and fitness professionals have conducted over the years.
Basically, the very best fat burning exercise of all is running. It is the most practical calorie burner you can take part in. Yes, you can burn more calories cross country skiing or swimming but the accessibility to an area where you can run is a lot easier than access to other environmental based activities. Basically, you can run anywhere.
Why It Works
There are a few reasons why running is considered the best fat burning exercise. First, running revs the heart rate up significantly. This means you will burn a great many calories more than you would with a lower intensity exercise. Also, gravity plays a large role in burning calories. When you run, gravity literally pulls on your head and hind quarters. So, in order to be able to run, you need to maintain symmetry in your body's position.
As such, you burn additional calories since you are working against greater resistance that you would walking or jogging. Finally, running can develop lean muscle mass. The way the human body operates, it will start to make the muscles more solid based on the stimulus it receives from running. This does not occur to the same degree as it would with other lower impact exercises. And, of course, when you increase lean muscle mass, you expedite the metabolism further. This reduces stored body fat dramatically.
Calories and Metabolism
Actually, you would increase your metabolic function significantly for an hour or two after a running session. Again, your heart rate will be revved and it will take a little time for it to come down. This will increase the number of calories you would burn in whatever activities you perform during the cool down session.
If it turns out to be an additional 50 calories and you run four times a week that means you would get an additional 200 calories burned doing nothing! That comes out to 10,400 calories over the course of a year which is roughly 3lbs. Consider that a bonus that comes on top of the 300 calories you might be able to burn per 20 minute running session.
It would be tough to find an exercise other than running that could credibly claim to be the best fat burning exercise. Running simply delivers tremendously with these expectations which are why it is so well worth exploring by those looking to drop a significant amount of weight.
