Burn more calories during your workout - Military Health, military health and wellness, military physical fitness - Military Times

Burn more calories during your workout

When you stick to a routine, it’s easy to become, well, stuck.

“We fall into a comfort zone, and we keep doing the same thing even when we’re not seeing any improvement,” said Barbara Bushman, Ph.D., a professor of exercise physiology at Missouri State University in Springfield. If you’re not trimming down, toning up or feeling any fitter, it’s likely because of one of the following exercise errors. Read on for how to reboot — and get the body you want — pronto!

• You rely strictly on cardio to peel off pounds.

For most women, sweaty aerobic exercise alone isn’t enough. “Research shows that weight loss is minimal if it isn’t accompanied by dieting,” said Amy Luke, Ph.D., a nutritional epidemiologist at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago. “We may compensate for the extra energy we’re burning during physical activity by doing less the rest of the day or, more commonly, we feel famished after working out, so we eat more.”

The solution: To drop a pound, which is 3,500 calories, in one week, aim to eat 300 fewer calories every day (300 x 7 equals 2,100) while burning 300 calories from exercise five times a week (300 x 5 equals 1,500). Plus, to beat the post-workout hunger attack, pack a low-cal snack such as a piece of fruit. “You plan for exercise. You need to plan what you’re going to eat afterward,” said John Porcari, Ph.D., a professor of exercise physiology at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse and a Fitness advisory board member. Drinking lots of water helps too.

• You overcrunch your abs.

If you’re doing more than three sets of 15, you’re wasting your time. “Extra crunches aren’t going to cinch your waistline,” said Michele Olson, Ph.D., a professor of exercise science at Auburn University in Montgomery, Ala., and a Fitness advisory board member. “You’re working the rectus abdominus, which is only one of four muscles in the abdominal wall. But it’s the other three deeper muscles (internal obliques, external obliques, transverse abdominis) that give you a leaner look by helping you with your posture.”

The solution: Olson suggests trying these Pilates-based moves: the plank — balance on floor on forearms and toes and hold for 30 seconds; double-leg stretch — lie on your back, knees bent 90 degrees with feet in air and shins parallel to the floor, shoulders off the floor with arms loosely hugging knees, and extend your legs and arms out in a wide V, then return to start; the side plank — lie on the floor on your right side, propped up on right elbow, feet stacked, and lift your hips up, using your left hand on floor in front of you for support, holding for five counts, then lowering. Do 10 reps; switch sides and repeat. Do 10 reps of each move, three or four times a week.

• You do only yoga.

Although it’s great for flexibility and helps improve strength, the typical yoga session is not going to incinerate calories. A recent study found that it takes 90 minutes of hatha yoga to burn 200 calories — about the same as window-shopping or a casual stroll.

The solution: If you’re doing an hour of yoga five days a week, you need to shift three of those days to aerobic activity, said Kara Mohr, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and founder of MohrRe-sults.com, a fitness and nutrition consulting company.

• You always run at a steady pace.

If you want to increase your speed, you won’t improve your time without interval training. “It teaches your muscles to burn energy more efficiently, so you can go faster,” Porcari said. “You’re also training your legs to move quicker and getting mentally used to the idea.”

The solution: Porcari recommends starting out with a one-mile warm-up, then doing four to six rounds of running at slightly faster than your regular pace for a quarter mile and slightly slower than your regular pace for a quarter mile. If you’re outside, try going from telephone pole to telephone pole.

“The goal is gradually to lengthen the faster-paced intervals and increase the tempo,” Porcari explained. He added that to prevent injuries, it’s best to keep such speed work to once or twice a week.

• Your workout is the sole activity you get.

Sit all day and you’re missing out on burning an easy 900 extra calories. That’s the difference between what people who aren’t sedentary melt in non-exercise activity during a day versus what couch potatoes burn, said Dr. James Levine, an obesity expert at the Mayo Clinic and author of “Move a Little, Lose a Lot.”

“Humans are basically built to be moving. The mechanisms that drive metabolism switch on when a person stands and they switch off as soon as she sits,” Levine said.

The solution: The more active you are, the better. At the very least, you should get up every hour and walk or march in place. One easy change Levine recommends: Pace the floor when you’re on the phone. Make it a habit and weight loss will be just several calls away!