If you’ve made the difficult decision to take off some weight – congratulations! For most, making a pledge to their own good health is a difficult aspect. But even with self-motivation, many people discover they do not know what exercises to incorporate for rapid weight loss.

There are three key kinds of exercise: aerobic exercise, such as jogging; flexibility exercises, like yoga and other forms of stretching; and strength training, like weight lifting and resistance exercises.

Aerobic and strength training will help you burn the most calories. Because weight loss depends on either burning more calories or consuming less, it is best to focus on these at the outset to make sure your self motivation persists as you drop pounds.

Generally, 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is suggested. Build the time and frequency as you advance.

But many people whose self-motivation has helped them to begin an exercise for weight loss program neglect the importance of strength training. Aerobic exercise burns more calories in the beginning, but weight lifting increases muscle mass, and muscle burns more calories than fat. A pound of muscle uses 35 calories per day to function at rest; a pound of fat uses only two calories for the same function.

The fitness consensus used to say that to “build” muscle, you should do fewer reps (3-5) at higher weights, and to simply “tone,” higher reps (12-15) at lower weights was the best way. But there’s no such thing as “toning.” Definition that happens with what is incorrectly called toning happens because you have lost the layer of fat covering muscle, making it more visible. The size of the muscle underneath depends on how vigorously you train.

You must “tear down” the muscle so it can rebuild itself afterward. In fact, you do not build muscle during workouts but you do in the days afterward when it’s “resting.” The broad guideline for strength training is beginning with three sets of 8-12 reps at a weight that leaves you nearly incapable of executing the entire set. Then, rest for 30-60 seconds before beginning your next set.

Don’t be disappointed if you are not able to complete all of the reps on every set. In fact, use that to gauge when to add weight. If you’re doing each set without any muscle strain, you will want to add weight.

Self-motivation helped you to begin, but most have problems keeping the pace. It helps to know that the source of our motivations is a belief. Think about it: If you did not believe the gnawing sensation in your stomach meant you were hungry, you wouldn’t feel motivated to eat.

Figuring out what ideas motivate you is important to losing weight, because when you feel powerfully motivated, you will exercise without fail. NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) is a form of self-hypnosis. And there are NLP techniques that can create exercise motivation because, over time, desire to exercise for weight loss alone likely will not be enough to keep you working out. Exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can help.

Your primary task is identifying the most important things in your life. We call these things your highly valued criteria. Highly valued criteria are generally intangibles: money wouldn’t be highly valued criteria, but the fun, freedom or security that money can provide would be.

Next, determine what you need to believe to feel highly motivated to exercise. It is necessary to remember that logic has nothing to do with belief. Things do not have to be logical to believe them. You may find you already have a belief that opposes this new idea. That’s okay.

While understanding what motivates us is important, hypnosis exercise motivation therapy can put these ideas to work by ensuring self motivation persists. Hypnosis for motivation does this by modifying the computer codes in your brain, so you accept thoughts that motivate you.

Belief systems are based in our unconscious mind, which is like a computer. Computers do not have any power to reason. The input controls the output. The techniques used in exercise hypnosis motivation therapy can make you believe nearly anything, as long as you’re willing to believe.

You start by creating a picture in your mind’s eye that illustrates something you already believe, like, “I love my children.” Then you learn to calibrate the elements or ‘Submodalities’ of that mental belief picture.

Next, you make a mental image that illustrates your motivational idea. Let’s say your motivational idea is, “If I exercise, then I’ll look great and my marriage will improve.” Then you learn how to alter the Submodalities of this mental image to match with the Submodalities in your calibrated belief picture. On the other hand, if a belief is holding you back, the same technique can change that belief to doubt.

Self-hypnosis for motivation that uses NLP can give you something of an internal personal motivator. Using a hypnosis for exercise motivation program ensures that the zeal you began with lasts until reaching your objective, and then helps you maintain that objective.

Alan B. Densky, CH has specialized in all aspects of weight loss hypnosis cd recordings, including hypnosis motivation CDs since 1978. Visit his Neuro-VISION self-hypnosis website to benefit from Free hypnosis newsletters, videos, and articles.