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All about fat burning.
In the body there are three different types of fat and, sods law, it is the one we want to shift is not the one that we burn during exercise, at least not initially.The most readily available form of fat for energy production is free fatty acids. This is produced from dietary fat, which is the fat content of the food that we eat. The second type of fat is the subcutaneous fat, which lies just under the skin. This layer is normally thicker in women than men. The third type of fat is like the suet that you see in the butcher's clinging to lambs' kidneys, and can be found around the major organs deep inside the body.
Free fatty acids and subcutaneous fat are largely broken down in the muscles and burn up through exercise. This leads to a rise in "Good Cholesterol" HDL. The deep-seated suet moves directly to the liver and is broken down there causing high blood fat and the "Bad Cholesterol" LDL.
So what type of exercise is best for fat burning and how best can you change your shape through the removal of the subcutaneous fat? Of course the best way is regular exercise from an early age and not to let the fat accumulate in the first place.
"I hate it when I read things like this because if I had done the exercise and watched my diet, I wouldn't need to read this bloody article in the first place."
Good point but maybe you have kids of your own or young people you are responsible for and in this case the point is well made.
The plan: what, when and how.
What to eat: cut down on your intake of dietary fat, as the body then has to look at the parked fat stores as a form of energy.
When you train also has a bearing. Ideally the last meal of the day should be something light followed by a training session, then again in the morning before breakfast.
How: long low intensity or shorter higher intensity? Two things to consider. If you are substantially overweight and have not exercised for sometime you need to start at a low intensity, gradually building up the duration of the sessions. Then, once you are used to exercise, you can vary the programme because if you can only manage to exercise 3-4 times a week then the intensity of the sessions will need to increase. The more times a week you can exercise then the lower the intensity.
To make a significant change in shape following a long low intensity programme you would need to exercise 8 or more sessions a week. 5-8 high intensity sessions a week would have a very positive effect. Less than this and you're in for a long haul to get the weight off. You won't take off in weeks what you have put on in years.
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