How to lose weight while having fun, too? Try riding a scooter
| Vendula KosíkováForget about any miraculous methods, which promise you fast weight loss, impossible to maintain in the long term. The basis of any healthy weight loss is an energy deficit, which you can best achieve by regular movement. In this article you will find out, why it is good to hop on a scooter when trying to lose weight, and in its second part you will find the most useful weight-loss tips from coach and scootering trainer Michal Kulka.
Movement that you will stick to
Although you may often get fairly sweaty from riding a scooter, scootering is connected to playfulness, freedom of movement and feeling wind in your hair. And that’s where its charm lies.
Riding a scooter is something people mostly look forward to, and because they do not need to convince themselves to do it, they stick to it longer, perhaps even all of their lives. With a reasonable diet, excess kilos do not stand a chance.
You will strengthen your whole body
Scootering, if performed correctly (see scootering technique) involves muscles of the whole body in the movement. Due to its complexity, it shapes the figure evenly, and because of strengthening the back muscles efficiently, it is also suitable as a compensation to sedentary lifestyle. Who does not need this nowadays?
Riding a scooter will easily keep you at a heart rate, during which fat is burned
In order to move, we need energy, which the body generates from its various sources, depending mainly on the duration and intensity of the movement. Under high strain, the body focuses mainly on sugars, which can be transformed into energy quickly and efficiently.
Therefore, at the time of high performance we are 80 % propelled by saccharides and only 20 % by fat. But only until the time that the supply of glucose in the bloodstream and glycogen in the muscles and liver decreases below a critical level and the body has no other choice than to start using fat to a higher degree as well.
Calculate your heart rate for weight loss
You can estimate your maximum heart rate approximately, if you subtract your age from the number 220. Sixty percent of the result will give you the heart rate, at which you will be burning fat the most efficiently.
With a heart rate above 70 % of your maximum, it is an anaerobic activity, which is suitable for building physical fitness. Why the anaerobic interval is also important during weight loss is something that the trainer Michal Kulka will reveal to you.
But only few people can sustain the high pace in the anaerobic zone (without sufficient supply of oxygen), and besides, an untrained body will begin to oppose exertion by creating lactate, which is manifested through muscle pain.
During calmer and more long-term activities, on the other hand, the body mainly generates energy from fats (approximately 70 %) and only approximately 30 % of energy come from saccharides.
So, in order to make the body burn fat, we should give it more moderate activity at a rate, which corresponds to approximately 60 – 70 % of our maximum heart rate and to remain in this activity for a certain period of time. This is easily and quite naturally achieved with a scooter.
Do not forget to maintain a healthy diet
In addition to movement, a reduced intake of calories is also an inseparable part of weight reduction. Although there are many nutritional styles, they have one characteristic in common. And that consists in fresh, not industrially processed food products rich in nutrients, among which fruit and vegetables have their indispensable place.
In addition to the duration and intensity of movement, the burning of fat also depends on the amount of saccharides currently circulating in our bloodstream. The body always chooses the easiest way and therefore blood sugar has priority over other energy sources. So, we should exercise for long enough, leaving also a due gap between the last meal and exercise.
The fitness of the individual and the amount of muscle tissue we have also play a role. Muscle tissue requires far more energy for its activity than fatty tissue does. This is why power training, which focuses on building muscles, is also important in addition to endurance training.
You can be losing weight on your way to work
The above-mentioned facts suggest that we will lose weight the most efficiently before breakfast, when blood sugar is on a low level. The body will begin to take energy from the fats sooner than perhaps after lunch.
For this reason, especially if you wish to reduce weight, it pays off to go wherever you can using your own propulsion. You will combine the pleasant with the useful and save yourselves quite a bit of time for other activities.
What does scootering trainer Michal Kulka recommend?
A combination of aerobic (endurance) and power training will contribute to efficient weight loss as well as building fitness at the same time. What does an ideal training plan look like and what will help you with weight reduction are things that Michal Kulka will reveal in part two of this article.
