Learned something new

I got my butt out of bed at 5:20 this morning and went to an early water aerobics class. Anyone who knows me, knows that me getting out of bed that early is nearly the equivelant of Moses parting the Red Sea. Special thanks to my workout buddy for getting me there with a little encouragement and extra accountability. I can't tell you how glad I am that I went, though. The instructor was great and she taught me something very interesting about breathing while exercising...

If you are taking shallow breaths while exercising, then your body will be burning glucose instead of fat. Huh?! That's right. If I exercise at a moderate intensity and pay attention to breathing deeply, then the fat will have the required oxygen for the body to burn it away. How great is that! That means that If I'm working out so intensely that my heart rate is super high and my breathing very fast and shallow I won't be burning the fat that I could be by slowing down a little. But by slowing down the intensity level to a range where I can talk, although uncomfortable to do so, and paying attention to breathing deeply, I will burn more fat than working out harder will. I love that! That IS why I'm working out in the first place, right?! What an epiphany!! I actually did some research about this just to verify what she said, and everywhere I looked I found more information that confirmed this. Water is an important factor in that equation, as well.

Here is an excerpt from one of the sites I used as reference in my research:

The bottom line is that, if you want to burn fat, you should stick to lighter, longer exercises. Walking, swimming, light aerobics and weight lifting, exercises that allow you to take your time, get your breath and burn at your leisure will help take off pounds of fat much more quickly than more demanding exercises like endurance sports and hard aerobics. Quick Tips • Breathe a little more deeply than usual to burn fat, but do not hold your breath. www.weightlossforall.com/burn%20fat.htm I actually learned two new things today, but the other I will share in my next post. :~)