The Best Exercise To Lose Weight Is NOT Aerobics

The health-conscious people who sweat through aerobics classes may be a wee bit upset to find out that aerobics may be bad for you!

The best exercise to lose weight is NOT aerobics.

Here's a quote from a well-respected doctor's website:

Researchers in the area of muscle biology and aging have been finding growing evidence that prolonged aerobics training increases the risk of oxidative damage in the muscle. This type of training causes overwhelming accumulation of free radicals in your muscle, which eventually increase the risk of oxidative damage in your tissues (myofibrils and mitochondria). And this risk of oxidative damage becomes increasingly higher as you get older.

OOPS! Maybe You Should Try . . .

The author recently tried something called Peak 8 exercise - it's intensity-based exercise of any kind.

For example, you get on a stationary bike, and warm up for 3 minutes. Then, you go all out for 30 seconds and recover for 90 seconds. Repeat 8 times (you need to build up to this) and then cool down for a few minutes.

No stationary bike? Walk fast and then slow down for the recommended times. A heart monitor helps to view your progress but is not absolutely necessary.

Anyway - it works and it costs zip. I finally lost several pounds after trying for months! And this happened over the holidays - even more impressive. I had been doing the peak 8 exercise on a stationary bike and elliptical machine 3 times a week for 2 weeks.

My disclaimer - see a doctor before you try this type of exercise - by the time you reach the 8th repetition, your heart rate gets up there, and if you are older, you don't want to exceed 80% of max (220 - age).

What Equipment Do You Need?

If you want to find out if you're doing Peak 8 exercises and raising your rate to 80% max heart rate [(220 - age) times 0.8] which is the most effective last rep, get a heart rate monitor. Pulse checks are ineffective.

Here's an inexpensive but highly-rated heart rate monitor watch: