Losing weight is no easy task, and toning your belly can be an absolute nightmare. While eating a healthy diet is all fun and dandy (…or not), it needs to be complemented with an optimum amount of physical activity to get well-rounded results.
The good thing is you have a wide variety of physical activities to choose from—walking, jogging, swimming, running, and yoga, to name a few. And let’s not forget about intensive fat burning workouts if you are willing to take your fight against fat up a notch.
Irrespective of your choice of exercise, there is no doubt that you are bound to shed those extra kilos. Even better, you will be rewarded handsomely in the form of stronger bones, muscle build-up, improved mood, and a reduced risk of contracting life-threatening ailments. Who knows, you could be the next health freak in your group to whom everyone goes for lifestyle advice!
But before you start daydreaming, let’s talk about your path towards weight loss, aka fat loss exercises. But first, let’s talk about how much exercise you need to do to lose weight.
How Much Exercise is Necessary to Lose Weight?
Generally, it is recommended that individuals should perform aerobic exercises at least thrice a week, with each session lasting for at least 20 minutes to stay fit. Depending on your weight loss goals, you might have to increase the time devoted to strenuous exercises—something along the lines of 30 minutes or an hour.
Weight watchers can also consider adding daily walks—10,000 steps a day—to their routine. Daily walks can immensely help in losing weight, provided you don’t gorge on high-calorie food. But, if this isn’t possible for you, then read on to know more about some of the best exercises to lose weight.
Match Your Fat Loss Exercise to the Cause of Weight Gain
Before latching onto intensive workouts to lose weight, you must first judge what has been causing you to put on extra kilos. Is it poor dietary habits, a sedentary lifestyle, genetics, hormones going haywire, or an after-effect of some medical condition and medication?
After recognising the cause of weight gain, you can choose your weight loss exercises that can help resolve this issue. For instance, if you haven’t been exercising at all for a few months (or years!), then start off slow by getting into yoga or brisk walking. If you have a history of spine damage, then don’t jump onto intensive workouts without consulting with an expert.
Finally, children and adults alike should strive to exercise daily to stay fit and maintain their weight.
Different Types of Exercises to Lose Weight
Before we give you a detailed roundup of some of the best fat burning workouts, let’s lightly touch upon the various kinds of weight loss exercises based on their intensity.
Yoga
While it may not be as intensive as cardio or weight training, Yoga is fairly popular among those looking for ways to combat weight gain. Yoga is a great exercise to lose weight as it not only helps in burning calories but also helps in toning your muscles.
Yoga is also known for improving mood and curbing emotional eating, thus regulating stress levels—a primary cause of weight gain in today’s fast-paced world. Yoga is also a great weight loss exercise option for those suffering from joint pains.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercises, such as dancing, cycling, jogging, and swimming, are known to get your heart up and pumping, thus making them one of the best, if not the best, exercise to lose weight. You can also add fitness machines to your fat burning workout, including a treadmill, stair stepper, or elliptical.
Weight Training
Some of the best workouts to lose weight include weight training. This is because, through weight training, you can hit two goals with one stone, i.e., build muscle and shed unwanted, unhealthy fat. What makes weight training even more appealing is that it kickstarts a healthy feedback loop, where you build muscle, which in turn burns calories, and then you are back to more muscle building. Sounds like a win-win situation, doesn’t it?
A good intensive weight training workout involves working on all the major muscle groups—abs, biceps, calves, chest– thrice a week. To take advantage of weight training, you will need to raise the number of weights that you can comfortably lift with time.
Now that we have highlighted the broad categories of fat burning exercises, let’s talk in detail about the best exercise to lose weight.
Best Exercises to Lose Weight
As mentioned before, your weight loss exercise routine will need to be optimised as per your health conditions and comfort levels. Besides, there are a lot of exercises out there that you can do and reap brilliant weight loss benefits just as well. Still, we will try to help you sort through all the noise and elaborate on the best exercise to lose weight below.
Cardio Exercises to Lose Weight
Jumping Rope
If you are working out at home, then jumping rope is most likely the best exercise to lose weight for you. Not only does it improve your coordination functions manifold, but it also raises your heart rate, thus boosting metabolism. Based on the intensity of your workout, you can lose up to 1300 calories an hour. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
To start off with jumping rope, ensure that your hands are at your hip level and then swing the rope by rotating your wrists. Warm up by jumping 8-10 times and once you get into the flow, you can start jumping continuously for 90 seconds. Take a break of 15-30 seconds and jump again for 90 seconds. It would serve you well if you manage 3 such sets daily.
You can also switch up this fat burning exercise by alternating sets based on a single leg, both legs, and another while running. Truly, jumping rope is the best exercise to lose weight at home.
Burpees
Another great cardio exercise to lose weight is Burpees, which combines squats, jumps, and push-ups. It is one of the fastest ways of burning fat since it is super vigorous and intensive. Doing 3 sets in a row can be super exhausting but highly rewarding.
For Burpees, you need to first get into the squat position, which means bending your knees while keeping your back straight and feet wide apart. In case you are unsure how wide, then compare it to your shoulder width.
After getting into the squat position, jump and lower your hands to the floor while keeping them between your feet. Then get into a push-up position by balancing your body on your hands and toes. While doing a push-up, ensure that your body lies straight at all times so that you don’t end up hurting your back. Also, do not point your butt into the air.
Finally, do a frog kick and get your body back into the squat position. Stand up and jump again while raising your arms over the head and land back again in the squat position. Do 10 such reps after resting for 30 seconds each time.
Phewww, even writing about it is exhausting. Imagine doing it. Well, no, not imagine, do it. This is the quickest and the best exercise to lose weight if you are ready to sweat it out.
High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
Next up is the fad, the legend, the ever-popular HIIT- a brilliant exercise to lose weight when you are starved of time. This cardio workout maximises fat loss and is apt for all you busybodies out there. How does it ensure maximum calorie burn (for cardio), you ask? By expending bursts of energy in short intervals. Generally, for HIIT, the rest period in between the exercises will last only 15 seconds.
Please note that there are different kinds of HIIT routines. One example includes starting off with butt kicks for about 45 seconds and then resting for the next 15 seconds. This is followed by performing jumping lunges → rest → burpees → rest. Repeat this routine for 10 to 20 minutes, for as long as your stamina permits. And if you want to make this fat burning workout even more strenuous, feel free to add more movements, such as jump squats or mountain climbers.
Alternatively, you can also do HIIT with a treadmill. In this case, you initiate by warming up for about 5 minutes, followed by a highly-vigorous sprint lasting about a minute. Then, walk for about 30 seconds and get back on the treadmill for another 60-second run. You can do about 8-10 such sets each day.
Strength-Training Exercises to Lose Weight
Lunges
A good strength-training exercise to lose weight is to lunge. For beginners, the lunge is a popular leg-strengthening exercise. This fat loss exercise has plenty of forms to work on different muscles of your lower body.
The most basic version of a lunge involves standing with your feet hip-width apart and then stepping forward with your front heel flat on the ground and the rear heel rising a little. This is followed by bending your knee at right angles while always keeping your back straight. Hold the position and then return to your initial position.
People with knee joint pains can consider doing static lunges or split squats, another great exercise to lose weight. Here, instead of stepping forward, you just bend your knee at right angles while standing in a split stance position. You can up the difficulty level by explosively jumping in your position, thereby turning it into jumping lunges.
Other variants of lunges include back lunge, lateral lunge, curtsy lunge, and walking lunges. You can further add weights to your lunges by holding dumbbells or a kettlebell next to your chest. Else, you can lunge with a barbell on your shoulders.
Step-ups
Step-ups are another great exercise to lose weight and strengthen your leg muscles. This fat loss exercise also stabilises the core and lower back muscles. If you are new to exercising, then start off by choosing a small step, with a height in the range of 6 to 12 inches. As you gain your footing in this fat burning exercise, you can increase the step height gradually to somewhere between 24 to 30 inches.
To perform step-ups, you need to simply place your foot on a step, and stand on the bench after pressing through your right heel. Then, you go back to your starting position by first putting down your right foot on the floor. The target should be to do either 3 sets with 15 steps per foot or to do 5 sets with 5-10 steps per foot, in case you wish to break it down even further.
Step-ups can be made even more vigorous by adding weights. For example, you could hold dumbbells in your hands or next to your chest while stepping up.
Planks
Another effective exercise to lose weight is the Plank exercise. This is because it targets all the major body muscles at the same time. So, planks not only help in burning calories but also strengthen the muscles present in the core, back, arms, shoulders, arms, and hips. Beginners are usually recommended a standard plank, where they lift their bodies and balance them on their toes and hands. Another variation can involve balancing on their forearms.
However, the real challenge lies in performing mountain climbers—a super strenuous variation of the plank workout. In this plank version, you will first need to get into a standard plank position or a push-up position. This is followed by bending your right knee, pulling it to your chest, and then pushing it back to the starting position. Repeat the same process with your left knee. Your aim should be to do 20 of these at least 5 times a week.
Reverse Plank, another variation of the standard plank, is an excellent exercise for losing weight. It drastically cuts down on extra calories and helps burn fat, while improving the body’s core strength. For a reverse plank, you will need to initially sit down and extend your legs while placing your hands under your hips to provide support. Then, you should lift your hips to form a straight line with your body. Try to hold out for a minute and repeat it another 20 times.
And believe us when we say this if you think a minute is no big deal for holding a plank position, you are wrong!
Now that we have answered the golden question about the most effective exercise to lose weight, how many calories can one really expect to burn after all that effort?
How Many Calories Do You Burn Per Exercise?
Realistically, the body fat that you end up shedding through exercise is dependent on several factors. For one, it is easier to burn calories initially when you are seriously overweight till it gets harder, and you may almost reach a weight plateau.
Two, as you age, it gets harder to lose weight as your body begins to carry more fat mass, instead of muscle mass.
Three, unfortunately for some people, they are just bound to put on weight easily due to their genetics.
Lastly, lifestyle conditions. If you have been losing sleep, undergoing high-stress levels or depression, and have been indulging in emotions-driven binge-eating, then burning calories will be more challenging.
However, as a ballpark figure, we tabulate below the number of calories that you can expect to lose by doing the best exercise to lose weight.
| Exercise | Calories burnt |
| Jogging/ Running | 372-700 per hour |
| Jumping Rope | 500-1300 per hour, depending on the intensity |
| Burpees | 10 per minute |
| HIIT | 450 per half an hour |
| Lunges | 90 every 15 mins |
| Step-ups | 14 per minute |
| Mountain Climbers Planks | 650–700 per hour |
Wrapping Up
Although we understand your zeal to burn your extra fat quickly, you are better off losing weight gradually, lest you develop any health conditions. Weight-watchers should target losing about half a kg weekly and supplement their workout regime with diet control. Always remember the best exercise to lose weight is the one that you actually enjoy doing!
FAQs:
Q: Which exercises should you do to lose weight?
A: Cardio is generally recommended as the best exercise to lose weight and trim your belly fat. Weight watchers can also experiment with High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) if they are open to trying out intensive workouts. At the end of each day, you must do the exercises that you enjoy the most, as you are more likely to stick to a routine. Some of the other options that you can explore include running, jogging, swimming, cycling, weight training, Pilates, and Yoga.
Q: Does heavy weight lifting help in losing weight?
A: Yes, lifting heavy weights is a great exercise to lose weight. By building muscles, you boost your metabolism and end up burning more fat. In fact, a pound of muscle is known to burn 10-30 calories a day, versus only 5-10 calories for a pound of fat. However, you must take on more weight than your muscles can generally handle for weight loss to take effect.
Q: What is the optimal time of day to exercise for weight loss?
A: As per a new study, women burn more calories when they do their fat burning workout in the morning, while men, on the other hand, end up losing more weight when they work out at night. Having said that, the best time to exercise to lose weight is whenever you have time. After all, exercising a little is better than not exercising at all!
