Exercise should be a pivotal part of your weight loss regime, and it is a great way to burn calories. Cardiovascular exercise (cardio) such as running, swimming, and cycling are all great fat-burning exercises. In fact any activity that gets you sweating and raises your heart rate is giving you a cardio workout.
It can be a real struggle for a lot of people to find the time to exercise around their busy lives, you really do have to work smart as well as hard. If your main reason for exercising is to lose weight, then you will want to burn the maximum amount of calories in as little time as possible. The more intense your workout and the harder you push yourself, the more calories and fat you are going to burn. Hill running provides you with an awesome calorie-burning workout when done properly.
How To Do Hill RunningWe are not just talking about running up a hill once during your run, but doing it repeatedly for 30-60 minutes. Hill running will not only burn calories, it will also build character, mental strength, stamina and speed. Running hill repeats can be demanding and is not ideal for newbies, build up your fitness over a couple of months with jogging and sprints before moving on to running hill repeats.
Running hill repeats is very effective workout as it allows you to run up a hill fast while really pushing yourself, then recover while you are walking or jogging back to the bottom. Don’t choose a hill that is too easy and won’t challenge you or one that is too long and difficult for your current fitness level, anything between 150 meters to 250 meters should be ideal. You should also consider how steep (its incline) the hill is before attempting to run up it. It needs to be steep enough to present with a challenge, but not too steep that you are unable to keep good running form (upright with a straight back) as you accelerate up it. Poor running form will lead to injuries and muscular pain, such as a bad back.
A good warm up is crucial before starting hill running, begin with walking followed by light jogging before finally hitting your full pace. When you are running up hills, make sure you avoid looking at your feet and look 15-20 feet ahead of you. This will help you stay positive and focused on the task ahead of you. Rather than going at the hill flat out from the start, aim to climb the entire hill at a steady and consistent pace. The number of repeats you do should increase from a couple as you build up your fitness.
Running up hills will also firm up your thighs and buttocks, which can be problem areas if you are overweight. So go and try hill running for weight loss, and burn a ton of calories.
By: Chris Waddington About the Author:
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