Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Treadmill Versus Bike for Calf Muscles

The key to slimming down your calves is losing weight. The healthy approach to long-term weight loss is what the American Council on Exercise refers to as "energy balance:" balancing the act of calorie consumption with calorie burning. When trying to lose weight, you must simply burn more than you consume.

Spot Reduction vs. Weight Reduction
The reduction of only your calves is not possible. Spot reducing is a myth: You can’t target one specific portion of your body, because weight is lost from all over. The best way to ensure a full-body slim-down is through a combination of diet and exercise. Cardiovascular exercises such as running, walking and biking are all effective ways to get you slimmer calves. Since running burns more calories than biking, you'll see faster results with the treadmill.

Slimmer Calves on the Treadmill
Walking and running are weight-bearing exercises: Your bodyweight acts as resistance. A 150-pound person running at a pace of 5 miles per hour for an hour can burn 576 calories. Endurance running, longer but slower-paced runs with little to no resistance or elevation, melts away excess fat without building any additional muscle bulk in your legs. You could also increase your calorie burn by incorporating intervals, alternating between a moderate and fast pace. The American Council on Exercise recommends a program that balances high-intensity exercise with equal or longer recovery intervals.

Biking for Slim Calves
Any type of bike will provide you with a cardiovascular workout with impressive calorie burning. A 150-pound person can spend an hour on the bike at a moderate pace and burn 477 calories. A vigorous pace bumps up the burn to 774. Since biking is not a weight-bearing exercise, perform high-intensity intervals for maximum calorie-burning potential. Pedal at a moderate pace for two minutes, then speed up to maximum speed.

Preventing Additional Bulk
Cardiovascular activities can be performed every day. Strength training, on the other hand, should be performed no more than three times per week on non-consecutive days. Avoid over-training your leg muscles and don't work with weights alone. Excessive resistance or sprinting, muscle-building activities of any kind, not properly balanced with slimming cardio, can create some bulk. While working your calf muscles is crucial to developing shapely legs, not slimming down through diet and cardio will only add to the size of your calves, leaving the muscles unseen beneath the fat.

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