Treadmill HIIT vs. Elliptical Machine: Pros & Cons
Which is better: HIIT with the elliptical or HIIT with the treadmill?
The best answer to which is better, elliptical HIIT or treadmill HIIT, begins with evaluating your goals. (more…)
The Best Barbell Routines for Obese Beginners
When an obese person starts working out with barbells, something magical happens: dramatic weight loss and a change in body shape. And isn’t that what you want? (more…)
Uphill Walking Tips for Overweight: Get Fit, Lose Weight
Whether uphill outside or on a treadmill incline, being overweight need not be an obstacle to getting fitter & leaner.
You can speed your progress with a technique called high intensity interval training—or its derivative, interval training.
I see overweight people walking uphill on long hiking trails, and they do a pretty good job of it.
Oddly, when I see overweight people using a treadmill incline, nearly 100 percent of them are holding on.
This will have zero carry-over to walking hills outside, and it will do very little for achieving their fitness and weight loss goals.
Tips for Walking Uphill Outside for Overweight Adults
• Make sure you’re broken into your athletic footwear; wear the shoes on neighborhood walks, for instance, before you take off on the trails, to screen for any blister development.
• Bring with you for the trail a bottle of water.
• Do not use walking sticks, ski poles or Nordic poles. These act as assistive devices and subtract work from your core, spine, hips, legs and feet.
• If you’re completely untrained for uphill walking, proceed as a thinner person would: Don’t try to do too much at once. Don’t try to tackle unstable terrain.
• Stay local, meaning, loop around hiking trails that are close to the trailhead rather than venturing further and further out.
Otherwise you may suddenly realize how fatigued you are—when you’re a mile from the trailhead.
Tips for Walking a Treadmill Incline for Overweight Adults
• Do not hold on. This is the biggest issue. I just can’t say it enough: Holding on unteaches your body ambulatory efficiency.
It’s common sense, not just science: Which walk looks more realistic for a hill?
• Holding on burns 20 percent fewer calories than walking hands-free. The calorie readout is not reliable; it’s triggered by the motor speed and incline setting, not the person on the machine.
• Focus on deep steady breathing and moving your arms in synch with your lower body.
Interval Training
The work interval is a brief period in which you’re walking faster than what’s comfortable, getting you winded.
The work interval lasts 10 seconds to a minute or more. If you’re going beyond several minutes, though, this won’t be as effective as if you moved faster for a briefer period.
Moving your absolute fastest over a 10 to 30 second period — and I mean your FASTEST, to the point where you’re really huffing and puffing at the end — is an intense version of interval training.
You’re so out of breath that it’s very uncomfortable to speak at the end of that 10 or 30 seconds.
With non-intense interval training, your movement is slower, allowing you to go beyond 30 seconds, but you can stop at 30 seconds, or even 15 — it’s just that at the end of this work interval, you’re not huffing and puffing, but you are still quite winded and feel like you really need to rest.
The rest interval should be one to several minutes of easy paced walking. If you’re on a hill outside, adjust this easy pace to correlate to the steepness.
So if the hill is really steep, go really, really slow, but do not stop. You may want to do switch-backs (walking diagonally back and forth as you slowly ascend) if there’s room on the trail.
With a treadmill, lower the incline and speed, or just the speed, whatever it takes so that the rest interval recovers you.
Final Tip for Uphill Walking for Overweight Men & Woman
Don’t right away jump into high inclines, as this will cause sore calves the next day.
In fact, your calves will probably burn right then and there. Always warm up.
Slow down and/or move to a milder incline or lower the treadmill grade, and remember, if you’re using a treadmill, do not hold on.
Overweight people who want to get fitter walking uphill can also join a hiking group.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Shutterstock/DedovStock
Why Some Fat People Can’t Lose Weight Despite Diet & Exercise
Don’t blame “fat genes” if you’ve “tried everything” & still can’t lose weight.
There’s a humbling reason for your chronic weight loss failure. The good news is that you can solve this problem! (more…)
How to Make Walking Undo Obesity Genes and Burn Fat
Not just any ordinary walking can reverse the effect of an obesity predisposition, because the walking must be done with rhyme and reason.
A person may have a tendency to become overweight under certain circumstances, but this genetic hand can be played intelligently by a solid program of walking.
Researchers at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology and Prevention/Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism 2012 Sessions have a particular recommendation.
And that is to walk briskly for an hour every day. As a former personal trainer as well as lifelong exercise enthusiast, I can’t begin to tell you how many people I regularly see walking slowly on a treadmill, and holding onto it at that.
This kind of walking (if you want to even call it that) will not produce results.
Obese and overweight people can learn to walk briskly for sustained periods — on a treadmill and outdoors. Every once in a rare while, I see a quite hefty individual walking briskly or even jogging on a treadmill.
“While previous studies have looked at how physical activity affects genetic predispositions, this is the first study that directly looked at the effect of the sedentary behavior of television watching on the body mass index (BMI) of individuals with a genetic predisposition to obesity,” explains the study’s author, Qibin Qi, PhD.
Obesity has a genetic influence in that some people are more prone to developing obesity than others, under certain circumstances: eating large quantities of food and avoiding exercise.
However, with the right lifestyle choices, one does not have to become obese.
The study showed that a brisk walk of one hour a day reduced the genetic predisposition towards obesity – by a whopping one half, as measured by body mass index.
Shutterstock/New Africa
The obesity genetic influence was raised by 50 percent with four hours a day of watching TV.
The average U.S. person watches TV 4-6 hours a day. The irony is that sedentary people typically believe that two hours a day of exercise is excessive, even one hour a day.
What exactly is brisk walking? Unfortunately, this gets subjective. I’ve known people who believe they walk briskly, when in fact, they walk slowly.
A true brisk walk is between 3.5 and 4 mph on a flat course.
However, to an obese, sedentary person, a sustained 2.5 mph walk will be taxing and feel “brisk.”
Walk as fast as you can for one hour. If all you can do are 10 minutes nonstop before having to rest, then walk as fast as you can for 10 minutes.
Don’t shuffle or putter; really walk hard, pumping the arms. Forbid yourself from holding onto the treadmill if you prefer this equipment. Increase duration over time.
Do not count the walking you did at the mall as part of your walking exercise. Also do not count walking you did around the house while cleaning it, or on the job!
Set one hour aside daily for walking, even if you must break it down into six, 10-minute sessions.
Obesity will not go away on its own. Lifestyle choices can override the so-called obesity gene.
Don’t give the obesity gene power. The obesity gene is weaker than you think.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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Top image: Depositphotos.com
Source: sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120314142833.htm
Pull-up Training for Mildly Overweight People: Yes, You Can!
Yes, overweight people can learn to do a pull-up with my safe, motivating approach to training for this stellar exercise. (more…)
How Tall Women Can Get Confidence from Short Envious Women
Very tall women can get confidence from short women.
This article is for very tall women who are unhappy or self-conscious about their height. (more…)
Anti-Cancer Diet for Dog with Cancer
Don’t make the mistake of feeding your sick dog “normal dog food,” only to brutally regret not feeding him an anti-cancer diet after he’s gone. (more…)
Which Large Dog Breed Sheds the Most?
Beware of the dog breed that sheds the most, year-round.
My parents have this type of dog, and there isn’t a place in the house that’s free of this dog’s white “hairs.” (more…)
The Best Cardio Machines for Burning Fat
If you want very effective cardio workouts for burning fat that involve using machines, you’re in luck.
Does this describe you:
Can’t get rid of ugly cellulite no matter what you do?
Have trouble pulling up your favorite pants because your “huge” thighs get in the way?
Or maybe you can easily slip pants on, but then when it’s time to zip them, a big stomach gets in the way.
When you look in the mirror, what do you see? A sleek, lean and tight body, or a big, lumpy body?
Don’t give up hope when it comes to finding the right workouts for burning fat.
Workouts for burning fat can be very effective on cardio equipment.
If you’re wondering, “Well, which kinds of cardio equipment provide the best workouts for burning fat?” the answer is whichever cardio machine you like using the most.
- Treadmill
- Stationary Bike
- Elliptical
- Stair stepper
The most effective workouts for burning fat involve generating a hormonal reaction in your body.
Have you been doing cardio (machines or elsewhere) for what seems like forever, and you’ve lost only a few pounds, or you still look like a cow?
What have you been doing wrong with your exercise?
I’ll tell you: You’ve been doing what’s known as steady state aerobics.
Steady state cardio has its place, but this place definitely is not in the arena of great workouts for burning fat!
If you normally do three cardio sessions a week, it’s perfectly okay if one – just one – is steady state.
But for incredible workouts for burning fat, it’s essential to do two (2) “hormonal” cardio sessions per week.
This is the only way you’re ever going to eradicate that blubber on your stomach, thighs, butt, or wherever your hot spots are.
Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified through the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness she trained women and men of all ages for fat loss, muscle building, fitness and improved health.
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