Losing weight is a goal that many people want to achieve, but many don’t know how to get started. In fact, exercise is one of the best ways to lose weight. Exercise can help you burn calories, increase muscle mass, and raise your metabolic rate to achieve your weight loss goals. In this article, we’re going to cover the 7 best exercises for weight loss that will help you burn fat and lose weight fast.
Exercise for weight loss: why it matters
Exercise serves many important functions that improve physical and mental health and quality of life while reducing the risk of chronic disease. It supports stability and balance and helps prevent falls and fractures, especially in older adults. And, in combination with a balanced diet, it can accelerate weight loss efforts.
What’s more, weight loss due to decreased muscle mass is common for people who are losing weight. Exercise helps reduce muscle loss while increasing the chances of fat loss and enhancing the body’s ability to maintain its target weight once it is achieved.
Exercise burns calories
Body fat is essentially stored energy. Each pound of body fat provides about 3,500 calories of energy, which means that when you take in more calories than you burn, you gain body fat at a rate of one pound for every 3,500 extra calories. Likewise, for every 3,500 calories you lose, you lose fat at a rate of 1 pound. All forms of exercise burn calories, so your workouts and physical activity increase exertion.
Whether you choose to walk, swim, lift weights, take a yoga class, or do jumping jacks, you’ll burn a certain number of calories, depending on the intensity of the workout, the muscles involved, your weight and composition, and the strength of the exercise. Duration of the workout. High-intensity exercise and exercise that involves the entire body or large muscle groups will burn more calories than low-intensity exercise or muscle exercise alone.
Exercise increases metabolic rate
Exercise can increase your metabolic rate. While you will certainly burn calories during your workout, depending on the intensity of your workout, you will also continue to burn more calories than your baseline rate for several hours after your workout.
This metabolic acceleration is known as Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) and is caused by your body trying to repair everything and bring it back to baseline. Additionally, over time, a consistent exercise program can increase your overall metabolic rate for as long as you are building muscle, as muscle is almost ten times more metabolically active than fat. Therefore, adding muscle can help you burn more calories day in and day out, which can create the deficit you need to lose weight.
What are the seven best exercises for weight loss
Here are seven of the best exercises for weight loss, each with their own characteristics for different people and workout levels：
01 Running
Needless to say, running is one of the popular weight loss exercises. It can effectively improve cardiorespiratory function and speed up metabolism while burning a lot of calories. For optimal weight loss, it is recommended to run 3-5 times a week for 30-60 minutes each time, gradually increasing the intensity according to one’s physical ability.
02 Aerobic exercise
Such as jumping rope, running, swimming, etc., can burn fat quickly and improve cardiorespiratory fitness. Performing aerobic exercise 3-5 times a week for 20-60 minutes each time can help you lose weight quickly. At the same time, aerobic exercise can also effectively improve cardiopulmonary function and enhance cardiovascular health.
03 Gym Workout
The gym offers a wide range of equipment and classes that can help you get a comprehensive physical workout. With a reasonable training program, it can help you build muscle, increase your basal metabolic rate and accelerate fat burning. At the same time, gym workouts can also improve your body shape and make you more confident.
04 Yoga
Yoga is a great exercise for both mind and body. It improves flexibility, strength and balance, while helping to relax and relieve stress. Regular practice of yoga improves the endocrine system and speeds up the metabolism, leading to weight loss.
05 Dance
Dance is a fun and energizing exercise for weight loss. Whether it is Latin dance, jazz dance or street dance, it allows you to burn calories in a joyful atmosphere. In addition, dance enhances coordination and rhythm, and improves flexibility.
06 Brisk Walking
Brisk walking is a simple and easy exercise for weight loss. It can be done almost anywhere and requires no special equipment. By picking up the pace and frequency, brisk walking can burn a lot of calories while strengthening your cardiorespiratory fitness. Brisk walking 3-5 times a week for 30-60 minutes can help you lose weight easily.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT is a form of training that alternates between high intensity and low intensity. It burns a lot of calories in a short period of time and improves cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic rate.HIIT training can give you efficient weight loss results in a short period of time. However, as HIIT is more challenging to the body, it is recommended for beginners to do it under the guidance of a professional.
When choosing a weight loss exercise, it is important to consider the individual’s physical condition, exercise level, interests and goals. Different weight loss exercises are suitable for different people. Through a reasonable exercise program and persistent exercise, you can find the most suitable way of weight loss exercise for yourself.
In addition to choosing the right weight loss exercise, you should also pay attention to the following points:
- Adhere to exercise: you should develop good exercise habits and exercise consistently. Only by sticking to your workouts can you get long-term weight loss results and health benefits.
- Moderate increase in intensity: Gradual increase in intensity during exercise can improve weight loss. However, it is important to increase intensity moderately to avoid excessive fatigue or injury.
- Combine with diet: A reasonable diet combined with exercise can achieve better weight loss results. Be careful to control the intake of calories in the diet, while ensuring balanced nutrition.
- Avoid over-exercise: Pay attention to moderate rest and hydration during exercise to avoid physical injury and fatigue caused by over-exercise.
- Find a partner or coach: Having a partner or coach with you can increase the enjoyment and motivation of your workout. They can provide helpful advice and support to help you better stick to your exercise program.
Conclusion
Above are the 7 best exercises for weight loss, and each exercise has its unique advantages and applicable people. If you want to burn fat and slim down quickly, you can choose one or more of these exercises to train. However, exercise is only a part of weight loss, you also need to pay attention to the adjustment of diet and lifestyle habits in order to achieve the best weight loss results.
