The type of exercise you choose plays a vital role in your weight loss journey. The debate between low-intensity exercises and high-intensity workouts is about understanding what each offers and how they can help you achieve your health goals. A successful weight loss exercise plan involves a balanced approach, integrating both types of exercises. This combination caters to different fitness and health aspects, making your plan more comprehensive and practical.
Understanding Low-Intensity Exercise
Low-impact exercises are defined by their minimal stress on the body’s joints, making them ideal for people seeking a gentler approach to fitness. These exercises, such as walking, swimming, and cycling, are pivotal in a weight loss exercise regimen, offering a sustainable and effective way to burn calories without the risk of injury.
Low-intensity interval training (LIIT) is a workout approach that dials down effort levels while still delivering fitness gains. The idea behind LIIT is to exercise for longer periods at a low to moderate-intensity level with built-in recovery breaks. You’ll exert yourself, but not too much. During a LIIT workout, you should be able to talk and carry on a conversation instead of being out of breath, and your heart rate should stay in zone 2, or at roughly 60% to 70% of your max exercise heart rate.
LIIT requires lower energy demands than most workouts. The point is to challenge yourself a little bit with an effort level that you can sustain. Pretty much any exercise activity can be turned into a LIIT workout. It’s just a matter of adjusting your exertion level and breaking the session into intervals of activity and rest.
Benefits of Low-Intensity Exercise
Low-intensity exercises are joint-friendly and versatile, offering numerous health benefits beyond weight loss.
Read also: Weight Loss Treadmill Guide
Joint-Friendly
Low-impact exercises are gentle on the joints, which is why most fitness professionals advise incorporating them into your workout regimen. This form of exercise allows you to stay fit-both cardiovascularly and in terms of strengthening muscles-without incurring a ton of wear and tear on your joints. This enables you to comfortably workout at every stage in life, and can help to prevent injury that may be debilitating down the line as well.
Improved Heart Health and Muscle Endurance
Such exercises are excellent for improving heart health and muscle endurance without putting undue stress on the body. They are particularly beneficial for recovering from injuries or chronic conditions like osteoporosis.
Stress and Anxiety Reduction
Low-impact workouts like tai chi and Pilates can improve overall health, reducing stress and anxiety, which are often overlooked aspects of a weight loss exercise plan.
Minimal Recovery Time
Putting less demand on your body allows it to recover more quickly. With LIIT, you shouldn’t experience excessive muscle soreness, and you’re not going to need days to bounce back.
Reduced Injury Risk
Lowering the intensity level on a workout reduces your chances of straining a muscle or joint. LITT is much lower risk, and the lower injury risk also makes LIIT ideal if you’re recovering from an injury.
Read also: Comprehensive HIIT Guide
Accessibility
LIIT workouts are doable for just about everyone, no matter where you are in your wellness journey. It’s a great way to start exercising if you’re just getting into working out, or it can be built into an established exercise plan.
Weight Management
Exercise burns calories whether you’re moving fast or slow, so if you devote time and energy to LIIT, it can help you manage your weight and reduce body fat.
Feeling Happier
Exercise triggers the release of feel-good hormones known as endorphins, which can improve your mood.
Brain Boost
Want to keep your mind sharp? Exercising is a great way to do it! There’s evidence that regular exercise can reduce your risk of dementia and other conditions affecting mental function.
Low-Intensity vs. High-Intensity Exercise
High-intensity exercise, characterized by short bursts of intense activity followed by rest, is a powerful catalyst for weight loss. Choosing between high intensity vs low intensity for weight loss depends on individual health conditions, fitness levels, and personal preferences. High-intensity exercises offer quick results in calorie burning and metabolic benefits, but they may require higher fitness levels and recovery time. Conversely, low-impact exercises provide a sustainable, injury-minimizing option that can be equally effective for weight loss when performed consistently.
Read also: The Iron Claw Training
HIIT is best for higher-level athletes on a consistent workout program. When you go very hard at the gym, it can put a toll on your body and a lot of stress on your heart. That’s not for everyone, and even if you do HIIT workouts, you may benefit from occasional LIIT sessions to help your body recover.
Benefits of High-Intensity Exercise
High-intensity exercises are practical for quick calorie burning and improving aerobic capacity and insulin sensitivity, making them particularly beneficial for people with or at risk of diabetes. Furthermore, high-intensity exercises have been shown to boost metabolism significantly, leading to continued calorie burn even after the workout.
Balancing Intensity
Balancing these intense activities with adequate rest and recovery is crucial, as overtraining can lead to burnout and injury. People choosing between high vs low-intensity exercise should consider individual health conditions and fitness goals. While high-intensity exercises are excellent for rapid results, they may only be sustainable for some in the long term. Conversely, low-impact exercises for weight loss offer a more gradual approach, but they are easier to maintain, leading to consistent, long-term results. A combination of both, tailored to personal capabilities and preferences, can yield the best results for optimal health and weight management.
Examples of Low-Intensity Exercises
Pretty much any exercise activity can be turned into a LIIT workout. It’s just a matter of adjusting your exertion level and breaking the session into intervals of activity and rest. For example:
- Running: Run for one minute at a moderate pace and then walk for two. Go back and forth between running and walking for as many intervals as desired. (Adjust the run and walk times to your fitness and comfort level.)
- Walking: It’s the same basic theory as with running. Walk faster for five minutes and then slow your pace for two minutes in a “recovery” period. Repeat as many times as desired.
- Cycling: Pedal at a moderate intensity level for five minutes and then slow your pace for two minutes. Repeat as many intervals as desired.
- Rowing: Row for 100 meters at a moderate intensity and then slow your pace for two minutes. Repeat as many intervals as desired.
- Weightlifting: Increase reps and lower the weight used for your lifts. For instance, if you usually do 10 reps with a 20-pound weight for a biceps curl, try doing 20 reps with a 10-pound weight.
Other Low-Impact Exercise Options
- Exercise walking. The goal is to walk fast enough to elevate the heart rate and gently work the muscles.
- Elliptical trainer or step machine.
- Stationary bicycling. A stationary bike mimics the pedaling motion of a bicycle, providing aerobic exercise without the jostling impact of riding on uneven ground.
- Swimming and water aerobics.
Incorporating Low-Intensity Exercise into Your Routine
Ensuring that your workout aligns with your lifestyle is the key to sustaining any weight loss exercise plan. Whether you choose low-impact workouts or high-intensity exercises, your fitness routine must fit seamlessly into your daily schedule. For busy professionals, shorter high-intensity workouts might be more practical. In contrast, those with more time or needing a gentler approach might find low-impact exercises like long walks or yoga sessions more suitable. Additionally, consider other lifestyle factors such as family commitments, work hours, and personal preferences.
Creating a Sustainable Exercise Schedule
Creating a sustainable exercise schedule is key to successful weight loss. For optimal results, aim to include 3-5 sessions of low-impact cardio each week, with each session lasting 30-60 minutes. Variety is important for both physical results and mental engagement. Consider alternating between different low-impact activities to work different muscle groups and prevent boredom. Intensity progression is essential for continued results. As your fitness improves, you’ll need to increase either the duration or intensity of your workouts to continue creating a caloric deficit.
Tips for Getting Started with LIIT
The following tips can help you create your own personalized HIIT routine:
- Pick an exercise you’re familiar with at lower intensity. For example, don’t go all-out on running if you have not done any jogging lately.
- If you deal with joint pain, begin with lower impact movement such as cycling or swimming.
- Take long enough rest periods. You can maintain sufficient intensity for HIIT only if you take rest periods equal to or longer than your work periods.
- Keep work periods under 30 seconds. Work periods longer than 30 seconds will be difficult to sustain at the intensity required for HIIT.
- Start with just a few cycles twice per week. HIIT training is very demanding, especially with higher impact exercising. Adequate recovery between training sessions is a must to avoid injuries.
Nutrition and Weight Loss
No weight loss plan is complete without considering nutrition. A balanced diet combined with either low-impact or high-intensity exercises can significantly enhance your weight loss results. Understanding the nutritional requirements that support your chosen exercise style is essential. For instance, high-intensity workouts require more protein for muscle recovery. At the same time, low-impact exercises align well with a balanced diet. Remember, the goal is weight loss and overall health and wellness.
Monitoring Progress
Tracking progress is crucial in any weight loss exercise regimen. Whether engaging in low-impact or high-intensity exercises, regularly monitoring your progress helps you understand your workout plan’s effectiveness. Use fitness trackers, journaling, or professional assessments to gauge your improvements. This data can guide you in tweaking your routine, whether it means increasing the intensity of your low-impact workouts or incorporating more rest days into a high-intensity exercise schedule. Remember, your exercise routine should evolve as your fitness level improves.
The Role of a Health and Wellness Coach
A health and wellness coach, mainly those trained by Weljii, plays a crucial role in weight loss by focusing on the root causes of weight gain rather than just the symptoms. These coaches conduct a detailed body evaluation to assign a holistic health score, emphasising the impact of lifestyle factors such as anxiety, depression, stress, and sleep on weight gain. Weljii-trained coaches are adept at empowering individuals with specific lifestyle skills for sustainable weight loss, creating personalised nutrition plans that cater to one’s lifestyle, age, and nutritional needs. They establish healthy lifestyle habits based on scientific evidence, develop enjoyable customised weight loss exercise plans, and provide unwavering support throughout weight loss.
Understanding Fat Burning
Before diving into the specifics of low-intensity exercise, it's essential to understand how the body burns fat. The body uses a combination of carbohydrates and fat as fuel sources during exercise.
- Low-Intensity Exercise (Aerobic): This type of exercise primarily uses fat as a fuel source because it requires oxygen to break down fat for energy.
- High-Intensity Exercise (Anaerobic): This type of exercise relies more on carbohydrates (glycogen) because it provides quick energy bursts without the need for oxygen.
- Fat Oxidation: The process of breaking down fat molecules into fatty acids and glycerol, which are then used for energy.
- The Fat Burning Zone: This refers to a specific heart rate range, typically 60-70% of your maximum heart rate, where the body is more efficient at burning fat.
How Low-Intensity Exercise Burns Fat
- During low-intensity exercise, the body primarily uses fat as a fuel source. This is because at the lower intensities, there is enough oxygen available to convert fat into energy.
- Low-intensity exercise can be performed for longer durations without causing excessive fatigue. This extended duration allows for a greater total amount of fat to be burned compared to shorter, high-intensity workouts.
- Regular low-intensity exercise improves insulin sensitivity, which helps the body better regulate blood sugar levels and reduces the risk of storing excess fat.
VO2 Fat Max Test
Understanding your personal fat burning zone can significantly enhance your fitness routine and help you achieve your weight loss and body composition goals more efficiently. A VO2 fat max test is a specialised assessment that measures your body's ability to burn fat as fuel during exercise. It determines the intensity at which your body burns the maximum amount of fat. Typically conducted on a treadmill or cycle ergometer, you will wear a face mask that is connected to a metabolic cart, which measures your breathing and gas exchange. Normally you will be fitted with a heart rate monitor to measure your heart rate. The test will begin at a low intensity that will increase gradually in stages throughout the test. At each stage of the test your oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production are measured. This data collected during the test is then analysed to determine the intensity at which fat oxidation is highest, known as your ''fat max'' intensity.
Potential Downsides of High-Intensity Workouts
What if all of that hard work is having the opposite effect on your body? High-intensity workouts have their benefits. They burn more calories and keep your metabolic rate elevated for hours after you work out. As a result, you might lose fat and possibly gain muscle. But, everyone lives in a different body, and for some people, intense workouts have major downsides.
The Impact of Cortisol
When you exercise at high-intensity levels, your body might kick into fight or flight, as if you’re in trouble. This is useful if you’re in danger because it gives you a sure of energy to fight, flee, or strategize ways to get out of a bad situation. On top of that, frequent release of cortisol can signal to your body to store fat, especially in the abdominal area. If your cortisol levels increase too much, your body may produce less testosterone, leading to issues like weight gain, especially in the abdomen. Interfering with testosterone levels isn’t just a problem for men. Cortisol is particularly touchy in women, especially women in perimenopause, which can start as early as the 30s and 40s.
The Importance of Recovery
Have you ever heard that you build strength during recovery from a workout, not during the actual workout? With too little rest between intense workouts, your body doesn’t have time to carry out those crucial recovery processes. Your body recovers during sleep. This is when your body does its most important work.