Aerobic exercise should be included in the program of any individual interested in getting and staying lean. Everybody knows that aerobic exercise burns calories; what is not so well know is that aerobic exercise increases the capacity of the body to burn fat.
Strength training is anaerobic (without oxygen) exercise. It requires short bursts of high-intenstiy effort. The energy for this type of stop-and-go exercise comes from glycogen, a carbohydrate, stored in the muscles. Weight training burns almost no fat, because fat cannot be converted to energy fast enough. Aerobic (with oxygen) exercise, on the other hand, is low-intensity effort that can be continued for a long period of time. The energy for aerobic exercise comes mainly from fat.
Champion marathon runners are veritable fat burning machines. Long-distance runners hit the wall when they use up the glycogen stored in their muscles. These type of athletes, in essence, train their bodies to conserve glycogen and burn fat. They do this through aerobic exercise. Aerobic exercise (prolonged continuous exercise) stimulates the production of enzymes that convert fat into energy. The more fat-burning enzymes an individual has, the better he or she is able to burn stored fat. In technical terms, aerobic exercise increases the ability to mobilize or metabolize fatty acids. Fatty acids, from fat deposits or from a recent meal, are carried by the blood to muscle cells. Fat-burning enzymes enable your muscles to use the fatty acids as fuel.
Marathon runners are lean not only because they burn a lot of calories through running, but also because they have developed the capacity to use their body fat as fuel. People who are out of shape, and have few fat-burning enzymes, burn mostly carbohydrates (rather than fat) for fuel. Fit people, on the other hand, burn fat readily. This is true during exercise and at rest. The fat-burning benefits of aerobic exercise go on around the clock. If you are aerobically fit, you burn more body fat even when you are sleeping.
The benefits of aerobic fitness cannot be touted enough. They lead to efficient pulmonary and circulatory systems as well as to a lean, fit, good looking body. Start an aerobic program slowly, maybe about 10 minutes per day of fast walking, then increase it gradually until you are walking at least 30 minutes five or six days per week. Here is to your long life and fitness!
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.massagebyben.com/articles/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites 