http://getcrazyfit.blogspot.com/2011/04/tone-deaf.html
Here is an excerpt from an article by Dr. Johnny Bowden about maintaining weight loss ( NOT LOSING WEIGHT) and the truth about "toning"
But exercise does have a relationship to weight -- it's just not as perfect a relationship as most of us would like. While exercise by itself is fairly useless for losing weight, it appears to be critical to keeping the weight off once you've lost it. But to do that, you may have to work harder or longer than you thought.
A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association followed the exercise habits of over 34,000 women and concluded that it took about an hour a day of moderate (3 mph walking) exercising to maintain weight. This research supports the findings of the National Weight Control Registry, which reports that 90 percent of people who have successfully lost weight and kept it off exercise on average for an hour a day.
Now that sounds like a lot. But remember that nearly all of this research focuses on moderate-intensity exercise like walking. And walking is fine -- for all the health benefits mentioned above -- but it's pretty inefficient for weight loss.
A much better and more efficient way to exercise -- and one that research is clearly showing works a lot better -- is to do high-intensity circuit training. Put the beauty bells down and lift some iron. Shorten your rest periods. If you're doing "aerobics," do some interval training where you sprint for a while then jog to catch your breath.
And by the way, forget about "toning." It doesn't exist. You're either building muscle,maintaining the muscle you already have, or your muscles are slowly shrinking. The first two are accomplished with weight that's heavy to lift. The third is accomplished by doing nothing.
So, there you have it. For more information about what it really takes to get fit, give us a call at the Fitness Asylum. Be committed!
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