Use active recovery workouts to burn more calories and get fit faster
Beginning and advanced exercisers use easy workouts differently. For beginners, low intensity exercise lays the groundwork for building a fitness program.
If you are new to exercise or if you’ve had no luck maintaining an exercise program, start with a program of easy weight loss workouts. But if you are an intermediate or advanced exerciser, use easy exercise on your active recovery days.
What is Active Recovery?
An active rest day, or a recovery day, is part of a complete workout program that includes high intensity, moderate intensity and low intensity exercise. During the low intensity recovery days you still exercise, but you keep your heart rate low (around 60% of your maximum heart rate) and focus on activities that loosen the muscles, increase your range of motion, and allow your body and mind to recover from more intense sessions.
During a typical week, you should schedule a recovery day after each high intensity workout day. So, if you do high intensity intervals on Mondays and Thursdays, you should schedule easy workouts for Tuesday and Friday. If you do a high intensity workout on Sunday, make Monday your active rest day.
Why Easy Workouts Burn More Calories
It’s tempting to flop on the couch the day after a high intensity exercise session, but if you’re trying to lose weight, you should choose to do an active recovery workout instead.
In the end, you’ll burn more calories and lose weight faster. Weight loss benefits of easy workouts include:
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