Losing weight requires a calorie deficit where you burn more calories than you consume through diet and exercise. While diet plays a huge role, exercise is critical for weight loss as well as overall health and fitness. Different types of exercises provide varied benefits in terms of calorie burn, toning muscles, reducing stress etc. This article discusses the top 10 best type of workout for weight loss.
1.Walking
Walking is one of the most basic and easy forms of cardiovascular exercise. It is an activity that can easily be incorporated into your daily routine by parking further away, taking walks after meals or simply playing active with kids. Walking burns calories without putting too much stress on joints.
A 150-pound person can burn about 100 calories walking at a pace of 3 miles per hour for half an hour. The calorie burn also depends on factors like speed, elevation, weight etc. Brisk walking ensures a higher calorie burn than casual strolling.
Walking improves heart and lung health, lowers blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It builds lower body strength and burns belly fat. Regular walkers have lower risk of many chronic diseases. Walking can be made more challenging by adding some intervals, hiking trails or weighted vest.
2.Jogging or Running
Jogging and running are more intense cardio workouts compared to walking. They require more effort but provide higher calorie burn in less time.
A 150-pound person can burn about 300 calories jogging at 5 mph for 30 minutes. Running ups the calorie burn even more. Running enhances cardiovascular fitness, lowers disease risk and helps lose weight faster.
The key to running is to start slowly and gradually increase time and distance over weeks to minimize injury risk. Opt for trails or add some intervals to keep it interesting. Proper footwear, posture and warmup-cooldown routine are important for runners. Running clubs provide motivation to stay consistent.
3.Cycling
Cycling is a low-impact cardiovascular exercise that is easy on joints. It provides an efficient calorie burn whether outdoors on a bike trail or indoors on a stationary bike.
A 150-pound person cycling moderately for half an hour can burn around 200 calories. The calorie burn depends on factors like speed, hills, bike weight etc. Cycling is especially effective for burning abdominal fat.
Cycling helps strengthen lower body muscles, boosts aerobic capacity and lowers blood pressure. It reduces stress and provides a nice cardio workout without pounding on knees like running. Adding some intervals can elevate the heart rate for better calorie burn.
4.Weight Training
Weight training or strength training with weights helps build and retain muscles. It boosts metabolism and aids weight loss by increasing lean muscle mass which burns more calories even at rest.
Adding or maintaining muscle mass with weights ensures pounds lost are fat pounds rather than muscle mass. Weight training strengthens bones, improves mobility and posture as well.
Focusing on compound, multi-joint exercises like squats, deadlifts, overhead presses and rows provides the best total body workout. Lift weights 3 times a week with adequate rest to see muscle gains. Higher intensity weight circuits can elevate heart rate for a cardio boost too.
5.Interval Training
Interval training incorporates short bursts of high intensity exercise followed by recovery periods of lower intensity exercise. This spikes metabolism and elevates calorie burn for hours after a workout.
Some examples are bursts of sprints/jumping jacks followed by easy jogging or walking, high-intensity indoor cycling intervals or swimming laps fast then slow. Even bodyweight exercises can be done in interval format.
Interval training is time efficient for weight loss as it provides great calorie burn in less time than steady state cardio. It increases fat burn and improves cardiorespiratory fitness. Start with short intervals and gradually increase time spent at high effort.
6.Swimming
Swimming provides a full body low-impact cardio and strength training workout. It is zero joint stress form of exercise and suitable for all fitness levels.
A 150-pound person burns roughly 200 calories swimming laps for 30 minutes at a moderate pace. More pounds can be shed by adding intervals and varied strokes like backstroke, breaststroke etc.
Swimming targets abdominal and back muscles, builds overall muscle tone and improves lung capacity and endurance. It lowers stress, aids recovery and helps lose inches off the waistline. Warm up stretches are a must before and after swimming.
7.Yoga
Yoga incorporates physical postures along with deep breathing and meditation. Gentle yoga varieties like hatha and restorative yoga help reduce stress levels which impact food choices and digestion.
Higher intensity vinyasa yoga with continuous flow of poses provides a full body workout. A 150-pound person can burn 100-200 calories in a 60-minute vinyasa yoga session depending on pace.
Yoga tones muscles and improves flexibility. It calms the mind and helps manage emotional eating. Studies show regular yoga practice facilitates weight loss and lowers disease risk factors. Make yoga a daily unwinding habit for overall well-being.
8.Pilates
Pilates uses controlled movements and focused breathing to engage the body’s core and improve flexibility and balance. Mat Pilates helps tone and define deep abdominal and back muscles.
A 150-pound person can burn around 100 calories in 45 minutes of pilates. Adding props like balls and rings can make it more challenging. Greater intensity reformer or apparatus pilates classes boost calorie burn further up to 200 calories.
Pilates improves posture and aids back and joint issues. This results-driven workout helps reduce stress and inches from stubborn areas like hips and thighs. Most beginners can start with two-three Pilates sessions per week.
9.Rowing
Rowing is an efficient full body cardio and strength workout that targets up to 86% of muscle groups. It raises heart rate quite effectively to burn calories efficiently.
30 minutes of moderate rowing can help shed 100-200 calories for a 150-pound person depending on intensity. It strengthens back, shoulders, arms, abdomen and legs and firms glutes.
Rowing is low impact on joints, improves cardiorespiratory endurance and builds core strength for overall fitness. Add some interval rows and vary speed for further calorie burn. Proper form is essential to prevent injury while rowing.
10.High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)
HIIT workouts incorporate very short periods of intense anaerobic exercise followed by recovery periods. This style of training puts metabolism in an ‘afterburn’ mode to keep burning calories for hours post-workout.
During a 20 minute HIIT session, a 150-pound person can torch 300 calories and more. Exercises like sprinting/running, jumping jacks, burpees and mountain climbers can be done at maximum effort for 30 seconds with 60-90 seconds of lower intensity work between intervals.
HIIT stimulates fat loss, retains lean muscle and improves aerobic capacity. No gym equipment is needed for effective bodyweight HIIT. Manage impact on joints by substituting with exercises like cycling/rowing. HIIT has many benefits but moderate frequency is important.
Incorporating a combination of different types of exercises listed above into your weekly routine provides the best results for weight loss. Do cardio workouts a few times along with muscle building strength training and flexibility work like yoga. Interval training spices things up and keeps workouts time-efficient. Choose activities you enjoy and maintain consistency above all else to achieve fitness goals in a healthy sustainable manner.
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