Do you exercise regularly and watch your diet, yet still see fats accumulating on your body, especially your thighs, butt, tummy and maybe arms? Those who suggest that you exercise to lose your fats really have no idea what you go through. It’s not as if you have not tried; the fats simply won’t go away.

The solution to your problem is not to give up on exercising though. Exercise is still an important aspect of losing fats and weight (other than a good diet, which will be discussed another time). The crucial question is – are you doing the right type of exercise to help you lose your fats?

Several health experts have pointed out that steady-state aerobic exercises like brisk walking, jogging, cycling or even swimming could do your heart and cardiovascular system much good, but when it comes to losing fats, they fall short.

This is because aerobic exercises help you burn calories and fats while you exercise, but when you stop, your fat-burning mechanisms stop too. And in fact, some suggest that steady-state exercises for long periods of time can actually encourage your body to hold on to its fats, as a survival instinct. That sounds like the opposite of what you want to achieve!

Losing fats ultimately boils down to burning more calories than you consume. You definitely burn more calories when you exercise or engage in physical activities. However, when you stop these physical exertions, more often than not, your calorie-burning levels revert to normal. A more permanent way to be constantly burning more calories (even after your physical activities) is to increase your metabolism. And one way to increase your metabolism is via increasing your muscle mass.

And to increase your muscle mass, it is exercise you will have to do! But not just any type of exercise.

The most effective exercises for increasing your muscle mass include resistance or strength training, as well as short intense exercise sessions.

My personal experience with the short intense exercise sessions is that they take only a fraction of the time – a 20 min exercise session, with only 4 min of intense workout, could give you double or more the effectiveness when it comes to building muscles and burning fats.

I will share a bit more on the 4-min-intense workout that my hubby and I engage in, in my next blog article. So stay tuned!

References
[1] http://renegadehealth.com/blog/2014/06/24/steady-state-aerobic-exercise-promotes-weight-loss-not
[2] http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/12/24/a-fountain-of-youth-in-your-muscles.aspx

Cindy L. TJOL is trained in Psychology, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has several years of experience writing on natural health on the internet. Follow her on her blog and read her other articles at All 4 Natural Health.com.