Best Exercise To Lose Weight: Losing Weight Tips
What is the best exercise to lose weight? Although I’m very happy with my current weight loss workout, let me jump right into the debate…
Your Best Exercise To Lose Weight
The short answer to the question is, the best exercise to lose weight depends on you.
That is, what exercise do you enjoy? What are you most likely to stick with? What are you good at?
There’s no point in my saying, the best exercise is running, if you’ve got bad knees, tend to trip frequently, and hate running!
So when trying to find the best exercise for weight loss, go for something that you like.
Love dance? Then pick a dance workout like Zumba. Love talking with people while doing something slower? Go for long walks and hikes with friends. Love the water? Go swimming.
In short, the first step to finding your ideal exercise for weight loss is to find what you love and build on it.
Best Weight Loss Exercise – High Calorie Requirement Exercises
Another factor when choosing your ideal weight loss workout is to determine how many calories per hour you’ll burn doing this.
Spinning is thought of as the best workout for burning the most calories per hour – so if you’re up for it, go to a spin class.
Running is another high-calorie exercise. However, keep in mind that running is a sport, and you’ll need to build up your ability to run, as with any other sport. For more details on running, you could check out my article on running for weight loss.
Another option for exercise is to use an exercise machine.
Primary cardio machines are great for weight loss exercises. These include treadmills, ellipticals and stationary bikes. However, beware that stationary bikes can lead to bulking up of leg muscles for some women.
Treadmills are very versatile and will cater to all fitness levels – the same holds true for ellipticals.
Personally my favorite workout is the elliptical machine – I find it’s more interesting that walking on a treadmill.
Best Exercise For Weight Loss – HIIT?
HIIT, or high intensity interval training, is one of the best ways to exercise in order to burn fat. If you have the chance to, I recommend trying to do HIIT at least twice a week, in addition to your regular workouts.
HIIT basically cycles through incredibly intense workouts with normal workouts. So for instance, you’d walk at a normal pace for one minute, then sprint at max capacity for 30 seconds. The proportion of normal: intense activity will depend on your fitness level.
Many aerobic workouts have an element of HIIT in them, in that the instructor will design the workout to cycle through intense and not-so-intense phases.
You can do HIIT on any cardio machine – for instance, I do HIIT on the elliptical by cycling intense and not-so-intense exercise.
HIIT has really helped me burn fat. Plus, this is great for people who are in a rush – you can burn more calories in less time using HIIT.
Exercises For Weight Loss – Strength Training
If you’re serious about losing weight then I highly recommend including some strength training in your workout.
Strength training will help you be stronger, fitter and will help you burn more calories. Ideally, you should do this right after your HIIT for maximum benefits. This is a trick I picked up from Rusty Moore’s Visual Impact training course. I did the one for females, which has lots of great tricks on not “bulking up” on muscle but instead creating a slim, “Hollywood” female physique. I love Rusty! His training for men is also pretty awesome, and focuses on creating a “footballer” kind of compact physique rather than a bulky bodybuilder physique. You can read more about him and his techniques on his blog here.
Remember, that when you do strength training you should have a fish oil or krill oil tablet as a supplement to increase muscle recovery speeds. You should also get enough rest between sessions. If your muscles are too sore initially, you could look into getting a massage or soaking in a spa to loosen your muscles.
Best Ways To Stick To Your Weight Loss Exercises!
Yes, identifying good exercises that will help you lose weight is just the first step! You actually need to go ahead and do those exercises.
There are a couple of things you can do to ensure that you go ahead with your exercises.
The first is to have an accountability partner or two. Make sure you’re honest with your partner and you’ll be more likely to stick to your exercise routine.
You can also try to exercise with friends. I’ve found that this really makes things easier. Form a walking group with your neighbours, and go walking regularly. Or you can work out with your spouse or significant other, or even your sibling.
Another thing you can do is to join a gym. I know that this doesn’t work for some people, but it does work for a few others who feel the pain of paying money and not getting results.
Whatever kind of exercise you pick, make it convenient to do. Pick a time when it’s easy for you to exercise – for instance, stop at the gym on your way home from work each day. Or go for a run each morning. Make sure that it isn’t difficult for you to schedule time for exercise.
More Losing Weight Tips
If you’re serious about losing weight, then exercise alone will not be enough. You also need to have a proper diet. As they say, great abs are made in the kitchen!
So make sure you stick to eating healthy foods and don’t go over your caloric requirements. Ideally you would eat fewer calories than you need each day, and supplement your diet with one or two “Stop” days of the Eat Stop Eat diet each week.
One thing I like to do to ensure I lose weight is to cut out liquid calories from my diet. This means that I don’t drink juice, soda or alcohol. Instead, I stick to black coffee and decaf, sugar-free herbal tea and green tea, and sometimes freshly squeezed lemon juice with soda water. I’ve also learnt to create a customized, flexible diet for myself by using the guidelines in the Anything Goes Diet.
Don’t get disheartened if you have a few “off” days. Everyone has days when they stray from their diet, or can’t make time to exercise. The important thing is to recover from those days – don’t let them get you down for good! It’s ok to give up for a day or two, but don’t let those days dictate that you give up forever.
Category: Cardio, Exercise Plans, Lose Weight, Strength Training
About Alisha: Alisha is a Melbourne-based blogger who is happy to have lost a lot of weight recently! She is now trying to be more fit and lead a more healthy lifestyle. In this blog she shares tips for losing weight quickly and easily. You can read more about her on the "My Story" page.
Interval training is the best, saves time it is the most efficient way to train. In 20 min you can get so burned up that you would never reach on treadmill. Sometimes I see people at the gym running on the treadmill and having a can of “Monster Energy” in front of them. It is a sign that they have no clue how the body works.
Good Luck and Keep Training.