Hi,

Just how long should your exercise time be? 

Well, that depends upon what you are trying to do.  Are you trying to build muscle or to burn fat?

Are you trying to get in better shape or just maintain what you have?

As with most things in life, everything starts with a goal in mind.  It is no different with your fitness life. 

Most people think long term, moderate pace aerobics are the best for fat loss.  Everyone “knows” you have to walk or jog for at least 20-30 minutes to reach the fat burning zone. 

Problem is, that what everyone “knows” is wrong. 

Yes, you can burn some body fat if you walk or jog for 20-30 minutes or more.   The problem is that you will only burn fat during the last few minutes of those 20-30 minutes. 

And your fat burning will stop as soon as you stop exercising. 

So if your goal is to burn body fat, then you have to walk or jog for way longer than 20-30 minutes or you have to do something different. 

You could increase your pace so that you are running and this will help you burn more fat than a walk.  But, still it isn’t very efficient. 

And it isn’t the healthiest way to lose body fat.  Now, if you do run long distances – like a marathon runner – you will lose fat and weight over a period of time.  

This will also increase your risk of developing all kinds of runner’s problems.  Like shin splints, sore ankles, sore knees, sore hips and back pain. 

If you are older, this is not the way to go. 

Not only that but there are other adverse health problems that people develop with long distant running.  That is another story though.

For now we are still concerned with fat loss. 

If you do stop this long term running, or jogging or walking, you will be more inclined to regain the weight you lost faster. 

The reason is that this type of aerobics does nothing for your muscles.  So the weight loss is not only body fat, but also muscle loss. 

You will be just a smaller image of yourself. 

Tommorrow we well talk about how to cut your exercise time way down, develop muscles and fuel your fat burning furnace 24-7. 

Stay tuned,

Mike Val

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